Chairman Gleason’s big day

You have to wonder state GOP Chairman Rob Gleason knew exactly what was going to happen when he sat down with my buddy (and good friend of the site), PoliticsPA reporter Alex Roarty.

In an interview that Alex released in excerpts throughout the day Tuesday, Gleason essentially said that Toomey didn’t really want to be a Senator but could win election anyway. The interview has dominated the news today. See my story on it here, with links to all the interview excerpts.

Alex comes off as a pretty low-key, unassuming guy when you talk to him, a good trait for reporters to have—and one sorely lacking in yours truly (that means it’s a compliment, if you’re reading Alex). So my first instinct was that Gleason just didn’t realize the can of worms he was opening. But as the day went on, I started to wonder if Gleason did, in fact, know exactly what he was doing.

The Chairman’s in a tough spot right now. The rank-and-file members of his party absolutely despise Senator Arlen Specter, who Toomey is looking to unseat. The few remaining moderates in the party—as well as the moderates who have left and the GOP is hoping to bring back—absolutely love Specter. Meanwhile, the people at the National Republican Senatorial Committee, and other national Republicans, have clearly settled on Specter as their best bet to hold the seat next November.

So what’s a state party chairman to do? Well, rattling a few cages might just be so crazy as to work. By saying the things he said, Gleason accomplishes several things. He asserts his leadership over the state party. He assuages Specter supporters by saying that moderates are still important to the party. He puts national Republicans on notice that he’s handling things. And he covers himself in case Toomey is indeed the state’s next U.S. Senator.

My biggest reason for thinking Gleason knew what he was doing? He said that Toomey was just as viable in a general election as Specter. Whaaa?

That’s certainly a theme the Toomey people would like to push. But I haven’t found a single independent analyst or pollster who agrees. And Gleason’s certainly not a dumb guy, so it’s hard for me to believe that he actually believes in that statement.

Only Gleason knows for sure. But two things are certain: Alex was brilliant in releasing the interview in three excerpts, and all of this makes for fascinating political maneuvering.