Meet the MOGOP's Chairman Emeritus, Crazy Eddie Martin

To anyone who's read the papers over the last month, it's become abundantly clear who has become the de facto leader of the Missouri Republican Party.  

Though the various factions and (few remaining) prominent Republican electeds have been unable to decide on who should hold the official title of party chair, Crazy Eddie Martin has emerged unchallenged as the public voice of Show Me State GOPers.

Martin, despite having recently been unquestionably outed for his embarrassing role in the a series of events that effectively ended Matt Blunt's run for re-election, is now apparently the chief authority on the political and policy priorities of Missouri Republicans.­  

In just the last few slow weeks since the election, Martin has already rolled out efforts to place term limits on statewide elected officials, ban life-saving stem cell research and help Team Blunt craft scurrilous attacks on state media outlets and reporters.  There has been no other individual or group --including the sitting governor-- who has been more engaged in setting the course of the party than has Ed Martin.

It is, of course, impossible to say how Martin's resurrection from punchline to power-center will sit with Republicans at-large.  Maybe the sort of guy who actively undermines his boss's choices with base communities is just what Missouri Republicans are looking for?  Perhaps there is a deep, unmet demand among the Missouri Right to Life set for a Republican leader who is out doing his best to create alternative groups that impinge on their mission?

Whether those feelings exist broadly, though, seems to matter little.  Missouri Republicans have their Chair Emeritus, and Ed Martin is clinging to the post whether they like it or not.