For Republicans, A Win/Win In Michigan?

Peace?

There's a good chance that Saul Anuzis will be re-elected as chair of the Michigan Republican Party. And despite misgivings, Sen. John McCain’s team in the state will be happy.

Anuzis, the current chair, had been targeted for ouster by forces aligned with RNC nat’l committeeman Chuck Yob, who supports the candidacy of 3rd District GOP chair Dave DiShaw. Broadening out the picture, Anuzis is viewed as biased in favor of Gov. Mitt Romney by McCain’s supporters like Yob.

What began as a power play (or maybe, just another iteration of the McCain/Romney proxy fight) quickly turned into a rehash of historical grievances, circular firing squads, and even a heated debate about race and diversity.

It may have ended yesterday with two developments. Anuzis, in a letter, endorsed a semi-open primary. That’s a big concession to the McCain forces. And a key McCain ally endorsed Anuzis. That’s a big blow to DiShaw’s candidacy. He may soon withdraw.

Also, several other McCain poo-bahs in the state seem to…well… like Anuzis. They include Amb. Ron Weiser, who will play a major role on McCain’s presidential finance team. When he stepped down from his tenure as state party chair, he thanked Anuzis in a letter for “all that you did both in providing the leadership and hard work that was necessary to make our efforts successful.” Weiser’s letter wasn’t an endorsement, per se, but it undercut the argument that Anuzis’s tenure is widely viewed as a failure.

Earlier this week, Mike Cox, the highest-ranking Republican office-holder in the state and a likely ally of Sen. McCain’s, endorsed Anuzis. That put Cox at odds with Sec/State Terry Lynn Land, another McCain ally, who endorsed DiShaw. On Wednesday, in a letter to top Republicans in the state, Anuzis endorsed a presidential primary, where “any voter to cast their ballot for the Republican Presidential Nominee at their respective polling place as long as that voter chooses a designated Republican ballot at his or her ballot place. The same terms would be true for the Democrats. We do not support a closed primary or caucus system.” That’s a “semi open” primary in politese.

Anuzis had, in the past, supported a closed primary or caucus, types of contests which generally favor more conservative candidates because they disproportionately empower the party’s activists. . McCain won Michigan’s open primary in 2000, and Anuzis’s work to change the rules was a major reason why McCain’s allies in the state did not trust him.

Does the grassroots like Saul?. Never before has a state chair been so accessible to them. National conservative bloggers love him: the editor of the influential Red State blog, which has frequently published Anuzis’s commentaries, wrote that the attempt to “take over” the party was part of a larger effort to “to slay state Republican Chairmen who are not already loyal lieutenants in the McCain '08 Army.” [MARC AMBINDER]