Weigel

Reince Priebus, The Least Interesting Man in the World

God bless Jon Ward, trying to get newsworthy or revealing quotes from RNC Chairman Reince Priebus. But it’s not possible. The point of Reince Priebus is, and always has been, that he has all the flash and color of vanilla pudding in a dixie cup. He replaced Michael Steele, because you could say none of these things about Steele.

One example:

WARD: And you interned at the NAACP, right?

PRIEBUS: For the [NAACP] Legal Defense Fund out in California.

WARD: Is that because you found yourself in alignment with them ideologically?

PRIEBUS: No, but like Condi Rice did – you know, back then there was nothing strange at all about a Republican working with the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. I just think, in different places at different times, the organization has changed.

The chairman of the RNC used to work for the NAACP – in a minor role, sure – and when asked, his only observation is that “the organization has changed’ since then. Compare this to the way Steele talked about the NAACP.

Steele was a character, good copy for profile-writers, who struggled – comparatively – to raise money for the party. Priebus makes no news and raises bank. If you have to choose from 100 surrogates to explain Republican policy on your airwaves, you’ve got to put Priebus in the 100-slot. That’s the point. Gaffelessness is next to godliness.