First ambassador to the moon

     Katon Dawson, the former SCGOP chair (and all-white country clubber) who lost the Republican National Committee chair to The Brainwave That Was Michael Steele, keeps turning up in the media, trying to matter. Now he's hoovering up cash for Fat Elvis:

          “Newt is no shrinking violet,” says Katon Dawson, an adviser to Winning Our Future, a pro-Gingrich super PAC. “His whole life, nothing has every come easy to him. I’ve known him for many years. He’s having a good time running for president. He’s not going to end this.”

          “Remember, these conventions are odd animals,” Dawson says. “If nobody gets this thing on the first ballot, all hell will start breaking loose. If you start to think about who wins debates, and then think about Gingrich getting up there, in that moment, talking about his life and why he should be president of the United States, you can see it.”

     (Of course, the last time the GOP had a floor fight for the nomination was in 1976. Dawson was 20 years old then. The last time the GOP went more than one ballot to choose a presidential nominee was in 1940. As animals go Republican conventions are pretty tame.)

     You can see why Newt wants him rattling the stick in his swill bucket. Running for RNC chair in late 2008, Dawson revealed his sensitive side when it comes to relieving donors of their funds:

Katon Dawson:  I rebuilt the Republican Party in South Carolina from the bottom up, with an effective, robust-yet-genteel fundraising effort that has brought donors into the fold.

     He has a remarkable ability to bridge racial divides:

          The Palmetto Scoop, [a now-defunct SCGOP conulting firm mailroom kid's blog] where people subscribe as an article of faith to the old Reagan joke, "there has to be a pony in there somewhere," describes the Dawson Breakthrough in tones worthy of word that Hattie McDaniel and Butterfly McQueen are endorsin' Cap'n Butler for overseer at Tara:

At a time when Republicans are recovering from a thorough butt-whooping, it’s Dawson’s inclusive brand of leadership that we need running the party. And it says a lot that 66.6 percent of the black members of the RNC are supporting him when there are two African-Americans also running.

It also says a lot that only three of the 168 members of the RNC are black....

     And he enjoys the past support of one of Newt's Spiritual Dream Team, an all-American hater.

     Dawson proved his loyalty to Newt in March, 2011:

            "I think he fits pretty well with South Carolina ideologically," said Dawson. "Me and a team are going to work for someone we think can really change America."

     Gingrich announced his candidacy in May, 2011. Dawson bailed on him in June. Then Dawson proved his loyalty to Texas Governor Rick Perry in August. In November 2011 Dawson dissed Mr. Speaker as a sideshow:

          Dawson dismissed Gingrich’s current success as the most recent in a string of meteoric rises by various candidates, Perry among them, who later have stumbled.

          “This primary season has kind of been like NASCAR,” Dawson said. “People are looking more to see the wreck than they are to see really who’s going to win the race.”*

     But by January 2012 he was back in his slot as Newt's Palmetto remora, with Perry's blessing:

          “Certainly the heat and energy in South Carolina was for Newt Gingrich,” said Katon Dawson, a former state Republican chairman who backs Gingrich. “It takes heat and emotion to win a national contest.”

     As Winston Church remarked after leaving, and then rejoining, the Conservative Party, "Anyone can rat, but it takes a certain ingenuity to re-rat."

     He's candid, too. From a Slut Wallah post quesioning Dawson's lavish travel spending, a reader comment that reveals Katon at his best: "Have you ever talked with him one on one at a cocktail party? The guy will tell anyone way more than they want to know about any subject – including personal stuff."

     In an article on Steele's troubles at the RNC, Dawson revealed the insights into publicity a controversial figure like Gingrich will need:

          “Lee Harvey Oswald had 100 percent name ID and none of it was any good,” Mr. Dawson said.

     He can see through short term challenges, too:
    
“We have the wind at our back,” said Katon Dawson, the former chairman of the South Carolina Republican Party. “We just have to find our momentum.” 

     And he shares Newt's passion for tech:

          He said his party faces a technological deficit, but it’s a weakness he thinks can be overcome in just one year, before the next big round of national elections in 2010. That may be a difficult task against a Democratic president with an email list 10 million strong.

          “We’re going to have to up-fit the Republican Party, or re-boot it as they’ve said on TV, and move forward,” he said, noting the Obama campaign’s use of cell phone technology, Internet fundraising and fresh marketing techniques.
____________________
*Dawson's a legendary political talent scout:
          The good news, Dawson said, is that a fleet of new GOP faces are ready to help polish the GOP brand in the coming years. In particular, he named younger Republican legislators like Palin [1], South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford[2], South Carolina Rep. Gresham Barrett [3], Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal [4], Indiana Rep. Mike Pence [5] and Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels [6] as future faces of the party.
          1.  Not running for president, 2012. Poll numbers in a crater.
          2.  Don't cry for me, Argentina...
          3.  Defeated in 2010 GOP gubernatorial primary by someone called Haley.
          4.  After 2009 State of the Union rebuttal triumph, now widely known as Kenneth the Page.
          5.  Left safe congressional seat to run for Indiana governor, to succeed-
          6.  Ruled out seeking either prez or veep in '12.