Former Tennessee GOP Chairman Chip Saltsman, fresh off a strong showing as manager of the Mike Huckabee Presidential Campaign, has stumbled badly in his efforts to become the new RNC Chairman. It's hard to imagine how he can recover from this bad mistake, and he would be well advised to withdraw his candidacy now, repair his reputation, and resurface again some time in the future.

The issue arose last week, as most who follow the RNC Chair Race know, when Saltsman sent out a gift CD to all 168 RNC members. The CD included what some might call a racially insensitive song.

The issue isn't whether the song creator had a right to create the song (he did) or whether Saltsman has a right to listen to the song without fear of being labeled as something he is not (he does).

The real question for Chip Saltsman is this:

What were you thinking ?

Why, Chip, did you think it would be a good idea to send this particular CD out as a gift to 168 RNC members ? Didn't you think to talk to someone for advice before you did this ? Didn't you consider the possibility that one of these 168 RNC members might not be your friend, and that if the CD Gift was reported in the Mainstream media, they might not treat you so kindly ?

In the very important arena of public relations, you made several mistakes at once on this one. You set the agenda of public discussion by your gift, and, it's really not a discussion where you have a comparative advantage. Then, after the news hit the mainstream media, instead of acknowledging your error in judgement, you inexplicably defended yourself.

Better to withdraw now from the RNC Chair race than to run the race to the finish. You have no chance of winning. Time to think about the good of the party as well as your own future career.