Campaigns are about one thing: winning.

Sometimes the victories require more than a single election cycle to attain, so in the absence of an actual win those in charge must at a minimum demonstrate progress.

When Ronna Romney McDaniel was handpicked by President Donald Trump to lead the Republican National Committee, the new GOP leader had done two things of note.

First the niece of 2012 Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney had stood by Trump’s candidacy while her uncle went out of his way to sandbag him to the benefit of the Democratic candidate (a Romney tradition as Mitt’s father George had done the same to Barry Goldwater in 1964).

Secondly, as Chairwoman of the Michigan Republican Party, Ronna had helped deliver her state to Trump in the 2016 election – the first time a Republican presidential candidate had won the state since 1988.

Ronna is a fairly personable party leader and has a knack for raising loads of money- the latter part cannot be discounted.

And the RNC chair has been remarkably steadfast in supporting Trump, which can be a challenging task due to the personal nature the former president practices in his politics and his inclination for making sweeping political gambits of consequence by seemingly sudden whim.

Trump would make the endorsements but it would be on Ronna the party chair, Sally the small donor, and Cooper the College Republican volunteer to back it up.  And in a few cases in 2022, the political deficit could not be made up.

And I’m sure holidays at extended Romney family gatherings have been far from idyllic.

You’d think the Utah US Senator would try to make life less difficult for his niece or would show some gratitude by being supportive to the party that invested tend of millions of dollars and countless volunteer hours. But nah.

Mitt gonna Mitt.

I don’t even know why Ronna would even want the job anymore at this point.

That said, she shouldn’t have it – because results matter.

And the Republican Party nationally hasn’t had a really good year since before she took over the RNC from the most accomplished chairman in my lifetime, Reince Priebus.

Consider the following:

In 2017 we lost the gubernatorial races in Virginia and New Jersey.

In 2018 we lost the US House of Representatives with Nancy Pelosi reclaiming the speaker’s gavel, leading to the first sham impeachment.

In 2019 we lost gubernatorial races in Kentucky and Louisiana- the former potentially becoming a major problem if for whatever reason Mitch McConnell is unable to finish his Senate term.

In 2020 we lost the White House and the US Senate while the Democrats retained control of the House.

2021 was perhaps the best year of Ronna’s tenure where the GOP finally won back the Virginia state offices yet the governor’s race was far more competitive than it should’ve been considering the awful candidate the Democrats ran, ex-Governor Terry McAuliffe, who practically woke up every morning determined to lose.

Unfortunately an opportunity to win New Jersey was needlessly wasted.

And then there was 2022.

Every metric favored the GOP, from the unpopularity of President Joe Biden, to runaway inflation and the uptick in violent crime, people’s pessimism the direction of the country, and the historic trend against the party in the White House.

Yet instead of surfing to victory atop a Red Wave the GOP the Republican Party had their expectations dampened by losing a seat in the US Senate and barely taking the US House of Representatives.

2022 proved to be 1998 all over again, when the Republican Party thought they were about to reap a historic windfall in the face of the Clinton scandals. Ironically it was Newt Gingrich who exited the national stage, recognizing that someone needed to be held accountable for the lackluster showing.

And bear in mind the Republicans didn’t lose control of either house of Congress, but rather failed to make expected gains.

McConnell has already won his caucus vote for Republican leader of the Senate minority; Kevin McCarthy is still favored to become speaker of the US House of Representatives with a slim majority. In a way the tight margin benefits McCarthy as the necessity for the House caucus to stick together is greater now.

There’s only one practicable place for a change in leadership: the RNC.

I’m not advocating change for the sake of change nor am I for doing something different “just because.” The party foolishly did that in 2009 when they elected Michael Steele RNC chairman despite warnings from those who were familiar with his track record.

But though she’s a very successful fundraiser, the electoral tally sheet does not reflect well on Ronna’s leadership at the RNC.

Yes, there are extenuating circumstances that no other previous chair has ever previously encountered or had to manage. But those circumstances weren’t effectively handled.

To serve even one term as chair of a national or state party organization is a tremendous privilege. But incumbency alone is not credible justification for remaining at the post.

You have to earn your term with every election cycle.

And as I know far too well in my own time in the state GOP how people enamored with titles believe that a position is a reward to enjoy or a political end to itself rather than an opportunity to produce results.

It cannot be said after three unsuccessful two year terms that Ronna Romney McDaniel is an indispensable leader.

Any party officer operating under this mindset has transcended from entitlement to arrogance with the next stop being a state of delusion.

If Ronna were to remain as chairwoman people’s confidence in the party would plummet as would the donations from small contributors who cannot reconcile maintaining the status quo after a succession of defeats.

The responsible thing for Ronna to do is to quickly announce she will not seek reelection thus encourage more candidates to offer their vision and credentials for consideration and avoid the January contest from becoming merely a simplistic choice between keeping the status quo and something else.

That game of political chicken by creating a “false choice” might be in Ronna’s best interests but it would be in the party’s.

The RNC membership should given the opportunity to  choose the best candidate for chairman from a broad field of alternatives.

And that starts with Ronna removing herself from the race.