Political Activities
Blackwell was Barry Goldwater’s youngest elected delegate to the 1964 Republican National Convention in San Francisco, California. His Louisiana delegation was headed by former gubernatorial Charlton Lyons of Shreveport. In the spring of 1966, he worked for the election of the late Roderick Miller of Lafayette as only the third Republican member of the Louisiana House of Representatives since Reconstruction.
He was a national convention alternate delegate for Ronald W. Reagan in 1968 and 1976, and a Ronald Reagan delegate at the 1980 Republican National Convention. In 1980, he organized and oversaw the national youth effort for Reagan. From 1981 to 1984, Blackwell was a special assistant to President Reagan.
On January 24, 2008, following the departure of Fred Thompson from the field of candidates seeking the nomination, Blackwell threw his support behind former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney.
Blackwell is considered something of a specialist in matters relating to the rules of the Republican Party. He served on rules committees of the state Republican parties in Louisiana and Virginia. He serves now on the RNC’s Standing Committee on Rules and has attended every meeting of the Republican National Conventions’ Rules Committees since 1972.
During the 2012 Republican National Convention, Blackwell wrote letters warning against rule changes that he indicated would support a trend toward a national presidential primary, reduce influence from the party's grassroots, and concentrate power in the RNC Chairman. Soon after the convention, he stated that the changes would not contribute to a Romney victory in 2012 and were advanced by Romney lawyer Ben Ginsberg and "friends".
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