Rachel Maddow compliments a Republican about as often as it snows in Miami.
Chris Jankowski ’93. Photo: RSLC.com
That is to say, hardly ever.
But last week the MSNBC political pundit lavished praise on Richmond-based Republican consultant and strategist Chris Jankowksi ‘93, the former president of the Republican State Leadership Committee and former executive director of the REDMAP project. As the leader of REDMAP, or the Redistricting Majority Project, Jankowski helped channel contributions from national Republican donors into competitive state legislative races. Jankowksi and his associates sought to capture control of state legislatures so as to then control Congressional redistricting. In other words, Jankowksi helped elect Republicans to statehouses so those state politicians could gerrymander districts and help elect Republicans to Congress. Currently, Republicans control entire state legislatures in 31 states.
Maddow, who hosted Jankowski on her March 2 show, admitted admiration for the strategy, even though she wished it had been created by Democrats.
“When it comes to political genius, I hereby maintain, that there is nothing comparable in the last five years in American electoral politics, at least, probably considerably longer, that’s anything like this,” said Maddow.
Specifically, Maddow credited Jankowski for the Republicans’ impressive gains.
“If the Democrats could wave a magic wand and undo the political work of one person in the past five years, it would be the red map guy, right?” said Maddow. “If I were a Republican, I’d be lobbying to put this guy’s face on the penny.”
Jankowski, who was featured as part of MSNBC’s “Seven Days of Genius,” insisted the Republican strategy was a team effort that relied on capable people to pull it off.
“There’s a lot of great ideas in politics, but the ability to execute is what makes the difference,” said Jankowski, who returned to campus last year as the keynote speaker for the William V. Moore Student Leadership Conference. Watch below to hear Maddow’s glowing introduction of Jankowski, and then see him join her on set.
https://youtu.be/MiAq9sIvTJE?t=7m50s
