RNC Shields Its Next Chairman from Public View

January 07, 2009 1:00 PM

ABC News' David Chalian Reports: Whether or not Barack Obama is indeed following through on his promise to run his transition in a more open and transparent manner than any previous transition is a debatable point.

But the President-Elect and his team need not worry that Republicans are going to try to compete for the "most open and transparent" mantle.

Members of the Republican National Committee voted to keep a forum featuring the candidates running to become the next chairman of the RNC closed to the press and any non-members of the committee.

Lacking the requisite 85 RNC members for a quorum, RNC co-chair Jo Ann Davidson announced from the podium that "this is no longer an official meeting" and that the members "made the determination to proceed with the candidate forum only for members and their proxies." 

The six men seeking to become the Republican Party chief at the dawn of the Obama Era have participated in public candidate forums in Washington, DC over the course of the last couple of days. 

In addition to announced candidates including Former Lt. Gov Michael Steele of Maryland, Michigan Republican Party Chairman Saul Anuzis, South Carolina Party Chairman Katon Dawson, former Mike Huckabee campaign manager Chip Saltsman, former Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell, and the current RNC Chairman Mike Duncan, Florida Republican Party Chairman Jim Greer arrived in Washington today and is expected to announce his intentions later today.

Today's closed candidate forum may prove to be the last chance RNC members have to size up the field of hopefuls side by side before the full committee convenes in Washington, DC on January 28 when the 168 members are slated to elect the party's new chairman.