Ann Wagner, a newly announced candidate for chair of the Republican National Committee, tells National Review Online she has a “full-package skill set” that distinguishes her from the pack.

“I’ve been involved in politics for over two decades,” Wagner says. Her résumé is extensive. In 1996, she became chair of the Lafayette Township Republican Committee, a position she held for nine years. Next, she was chair of the Missouri Republican Party for six years, during which the party made large gains. Most significant was Republicans’ winning both houses of the state legislature for the first time in 50 years. In 2005, then-president George W. Bush appointed her ambassador to Luxembourg. When she returned to the states in 2009, “I thought socialism had followed me across the pond,” she says. Most recently, she served as chair of senator-elect Roy Blunt’s campaign.

Like her only declared opponent, Saul Anuzis, Wagner emphasizes fundraising as her goal. “I just think the process this year — I don’t think it was a recipe for success in 2012. We’ve got to do this more efficiently — be fully funded in order to win in 2012. The opportunity is there,” she argues.

One riddle for Wagner is the recent donor flight from the party this cycle. “Donors obviously want to give, and they want to support Republican causes. And they didn’t have the confidence or weren’t reached out to — probably a combination of both,” she warns. “What I intend to do is put forward a good business perspective and tell them our plan for winning.” Wagner also stresses that the party cannot rely on third-party organizations to make up the gap: “We can’t let this go on cycle after cycle. Otherwise, the RNC will never be fully funded again.” She promises to spend “morning, noon, and night flying all over this country — living out of a suitcase” to bring donors back into the fold.

Wagner also promises to remain neutral in the upcoming presidential primary: “In 2008, I was serving my country as U.S. ambassador in Europe and I was prohibited from being involved in partisan politics. So I’m not in anyone’s camp. I think I can be an honest broker and a true advocate for all of our nominees.”

Later today, Wagner will attend FreedomWorks’ forum for RNC–chair candidates, where she hopes the “breadth of [her] experience” will set her apart from the rest. “I’ve worked at all levels of this party. . . . I’m hoping that mine is kind of a full-package skill set that I’m going to offer and we’ll see. This is a decision that’s made not by the press, not by the other leadership. It’s made by 168 members of the RNC.”