Representatives Jack Kingston (GA-1) and Marsha Blackburn (TN-7) are running for the Republican House Conference Chair position. Kingston has been a great communicator with the blogs (he has his own blog which he updates at length) and has more of the experience necessary for the position, but has been weak on earmarks (he voted for 0 of 19 of Jeff Flake’s amendments this year). This can be explained by his leadership role as Vice Chairman of the Republicans in the House, and the fact that with higher leadership aspirations he didn’t want to tick anybody in the caucus off - not a great excuse, but on other areas he has been strong and has been an excellent communicator.

Marsha Blackburn is constantly heralded as one of the Movement Conservatives in Congress, but she has less experience and leadership qualifications than Kingston appears to possess. Below are first Rep. Blackburn’s letter to her colleagues, followed by Rep. Kingston’s video that he made for YouTube in which he makes his pitch for the post. What do y’all think?

Dear Colleague,

In 1980 and again in 1994, our Party created a vision for America that not only resonated with Republicans, but also encouraged people from all walks of life to support our candidates. Last Tuesday’s election results made it clear that in order to win and sustain a majority we must emulate those successes and do so in a new media era.

Over the past few days, I have talked with many of our colleagues — beginning with those who lost races, our returning Members, and the incoming freshman class — to ask for their analysis of what we must do to improve both our message development and deployment operations.

Several themes consistently dominate these discussions regardless of the region where a Member’s district is located. The consensus is that we did not craft a communications plan that all our Members could utilize and benefit from. Too many Members had no input in message development. Our message deployment has not evolved with the times and changes in media and outreach technologies. The first lesson learned is that we must spend time in strategic and thoughtful preparation, plan ahead and set the stage for our message, and then implement a vision — not simply respond to current events or our opponents’ attacks.

Members want bold action, an inclusive message framework, and a Conference operation that runs like a business and strategically micro-targets with Members’ interests as a top priority. I could not agree more, and therefore I ask that you consider allowing me to serve as our Republican Conference Chairman.

I have served as a Minority Whip in a State Senate, and I have decades of professional experience in the business world in marketing and message development.

My professional experience in sales, marketing, and message development began in 1970 when I chose to pay my way through college selling books door-to-door. I went on to create and manage a sales division for that company. In 1975, I headed the promotions division for a department store chain with thirteen stores in three states, and in 1978 I founded a marketing consulting business that specialized in creating and implementing sales and marketing strategies.

For twenty years I made my living helping small and large clients develop successful outreach plans, and I both appeared in and produced local television consumer affairs segments. I would like to put this experience to work for our Republican Conference.

It is very likely we will be faced with the first woman Speaker of the House in American history and a Democratic leadership that successfully framed House Republicans as a “rubber stamp” and “do-nothing” Congress. They developed a plan and stuck to it. Now it is our turn to effectively communicate why their plan for America is wrong and present our vision for the country — a vision that will lead to a better future.

My Best,
Marsha Blackburn
Member of Congress

Hat Tip to Human Events.

UPDATE: RedState has endorsed Kingston for the role.