Suzanne Gallagher is a decent and smart woman. She is also the latest victim of the eat–your-own mindset that pervades the Oregon Republican Party. After months of sniping, Gallagher’s opponents finally came out from behind their blind and opened fire– BLAM! during a regular party meeting. Wounded, Gallagher stepped down before she was taken out. She’d been at the job for less than a year.

Scientist, conservative and two time congressional candidate Art Robinson has been installed as the new chair.

Poor Art.

Besides coming close to knocking off Oregon Congressman Peter Defazio (D, NZ), Robinson’s finest moment in recent memory was frustrating MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow as she tried to savage him. He turned the tables on her so successfully that the twitter hashtag #headdesk must have been coined for it. 

But like the Hogwarts “Defense Against the Dark Arts Teacher” or Spinal Tap’s drummer, the ORP job is a temporary thing. The Chair’s name is always written in invisible ink. Eventually the chair runs afoul of some cadre of red staters who just aren’t fill-in-the-blank-enough. 

What Suzanne never quite mastered, I’m told, was the essence of the ORP job. The top job of any party chief is raising money. It’s a high octane sales job. Selling people on the idea of running for office. Selling people on the idea of giving money. Money drives turnout, candidate support, and builds other new support. Mere cheerleading, pretty canvas bags to give to students on campus and tchotchkes won’t cut it.

Art Robinson is a smart guy. Very smart. Is he wise enough to figure this out? I hope so.