Posted on 09/12/2009 4:59:28 AM PDT by MinorityRepublican
With tens of thousands of conservative protesters expected to gather in Washington on Saturday for a "Taxpayer March on D.C.," Republican officials are attempting to capitalize on a movement that lately has galvanized anti-Obama activists more effectively than the party's elected leaders in Washington.
Searching for ways to compete with Democrats after two consecutive electoral drubbings, Republicans have moved past earlier uncertainty about the protesters, who organized nationwide rallies this summer that have threatened Democratic health-care plans and eroded President Obama's standing with the public.
Several key Republican lawmakers, including House GOP Chairman Mike Pence of Indiana, have helped to drum up support for the march and are slated to deliver speeches to the crowd.
But top Republican strategists and many party observers also worry about the impact that the most extreme protesters might have on the party's image, including those who carry swastika signs or obsess over the veracity of Obama's Hawaiian birth.
Mark McKinnon, a former adviser to Sen. John McCain (Ariz.) and other Republicans, said there is an "opportunity for Republicans" to tap into legitimate fears about an overreaching federal government. But he said that "right-wing nutballs are aligning themselves with these movements" and are dominating media coverage.
"It's bad for Republicans because in the absence of any real leadership, the freaks fill the void and define the party," McKinnon said.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
bttt
This should not be seen as an opportunity for Republicans. This should be seen as a threat to big government, of which both parties are guilty of.
It's pretty clear that McCain wants to accumulate and hold power that he thinks he has and not to accede that power to conservatives.
>>”It’s bad for Republicans because in the absence of any real leadership, the freaks fill the void and define the party,” McKinnon said.
I’ll finish that thought for him: “The Democrats did that from 2001 to 2006 and all it got them was total control of the US government. My boss, Senator McCain, thinks the Republicans should be the party of gracious losers.”
“in the absence of any real leadership, the freaks fill the void and define the party”
An excellent example of the pot/kettle analogy.
Guilty as charged. I am a freak whose thinking is more in lime with Madison's, Jefferson's Locke's and Sam Adams' than McKinnon's "mainstream" former boss' thinking is.
BTW, Was this story really written by Eggen and Bacon?
You couldn't possibly be more RIGHT!!!!
I'm a Conservative, I left the Republican Party in 1990 when "Read my lips, no new taxes" became a broken promise.
During the Bush Administration, the Republican's - who are supposed to be fiscally responsible - spent like drunken sailors (and that's an insult to drunken sailors!)
The Bush Administration started this bailout mess, Obama just mashed the gas pedal to the floor.
To those Republican's who think they can "use" the Tea Parties to further their own political agenda's I say this:
I'm a "Drain The Swamp" kind of guy, it's just high time we voted all these idiots out of office and replaced each and every one of them with someone who's had to balance their checkbooks and pay their bills each and every month because WE'RE the ones who understand how to budget and truly value our hard earned money.
Right now, I am for geting rid of anyone who votes for this Health care bill no matter their party.
RINO’s need to go , too.
McCain needs to sit down and shut his mouth. He doesn’t represent most Republican’s values.
There needs to be an organized national effort by the conservatives to get rid of McCain.
Of course it should...IF they represent your positions.
That's a big "If"
The Senate...not so much.
Fellow “Freaks” and “NUTBALLS”!
Political death to all RINOs and “moderates”! (Can't help it, I'm a “nutball” you know?)
Mark McKinnon needs to go back to the Dem party where he started. I am so sick of this leftwing tool being the arbitrator on the appropriate image of the Republican party.
Here’s a man who had to leave the McCain camp because he was “uncomfortable criticizing Obama.” Enough said.
Perry Bacon on C-SPAN until 9:30 AM.
Now that right there ... that’s pretty funny.
And he wonders why he is such a loser.
Its people like this who are responsible for us losing.
AMEN!!!
If they are smart they will just stay out of the way and take notes.
But they're not smart. They're part of the problem.
“It’s bad for Republicans because in the absence of any real leadership, the freaks fill the void and define the party,” McKinnon said.
There may be 1 or 2 but nothing like the anti-war, socialist, anarchist freaks at Gathering of Eagles that were surrounded by the thousands of Veterans and Patriots.
RINO’s are a problem just like the liberal left. Liberal left freaks got Barack Insane Obama elected.
Off to the 9-12 Protest.....
They [the Republican Party] are th Democrat’s first line of defense. john mc cain, lindsey graham, snow, etal are living proof of this. They will defend a Democrat before the Democrats begin defending other Democrats.
Help bolster the march. An electronic Tea Party if you will.
I emailed the Speaker (Pelosi the witch), Majority leader Reid (Yellow bellied liberal puke) and Charlie Rangel (The tax law making...tax dodger).
This is what my message said:
YOU'RE SERVANTS OF THE PEOPLE, NOT ROYALTY. STOP SPENDING.
Maybe if we jam the phone lines, email boxes and fax machines today it will heighten the impact of the march of those who could make it to Washington.
Of course, no democrats ever got involved with any anti-war protests.
McKinnon is a SLEAZY DEMOCRAT!!!!
GREAT observation! What a unique perspective.
In effect, that is exactly what takes place, isn't it?
Republicans run interference for Democrats and Democrats run over Republicans.
.
Expect a near total blackout on reporting the 9/12 march today, limited, of course, to ridicule and name calling.
When was the last time a Republican represented your position on an issue?
Was it when they didn't stop Bush from starting this whole bailout mess? Was it when Bush signed the bill giving free drugs for seniors (and the Republicans voted to approve it) and drove our deficit up while simultaneously expanding the size of the Federal Government further and faster than the Democrats could've ever hoped for at the time?
Was it when Bush (and many Republicans) advocated for amnesty for illegal aliens? (Don't kid yourself here, "path to citizenship" was the same thing as amnesty.)
I can go on for days about how the Republican party failed this country. I don't have to go on for days about the Democrats - that's just a given. The point is the Republican Party was supposed to know better. They were supposed to be the party of fiscal responsibility and reigning in the size of the Federal Government. They failed on both counts during much of the Bush Administration. If Ronald Reagan were alive today surely he'd be asking what the hell happend to the Republican Party, he wouldn't recognize it anymore.
I'll never ever vote for a Democrat. At a fundamental level they're in favor of everything I'm vehemently opposed to. The Republican party as it stands today isn't any better. The two parties are just two sides of the same coin. As long as they can keep us fighting against each other, they keep their power.
Enough. This isn't about political parties anymore. This is about restoring the Government of We The People, and kicking the entrenched political ruling class OUT of Washington DC. It's time to drain the swamp, and there's just no way on God's beautiful earth that I'll vote for a single incumbent in 2010 and beyond. Heck, I haven't been for several years now, and it's about damn' time the rest of the American population woke up.
I've been watching Fox News for more than an hour now, they've made one reference for less than 30 seconds since I've been watching. I know there's tens of thousands of people on the mall already, I've talked to a few folks that are there.
By the way, a few Democrats have said they expect "2 million" people to show, so when 2 million do not, they can brand it a failure. Others are pretending there's nothing going on today.
I personally am hoping and praying for a half-million or more to show up, but that won't mean in my view that if less show it'd be a 'failure.' Hardly the case. The more people that show up at the rallies or in D.C. today the better, at least it demonstrates this electorate is (hopefully) waking up from a long slumber.
There is a certain brilliance to your post that frankly I didn't think about before ..... You're absolutely right.
Case in point: McCain telling Joe Wilson he should apologize for yelling "YOU LIE!" at Obama the other night. Really? Obama lies? I'm shocked .... SHOCKED I tell you to learn that a politician would actually LIE to the American people.
Joe Wilson was the only person in the entire House Chamber the other night who told the truth. You know it, I know it, and dammit right-thinking American people know it too. To demand an apology is simply absurd.
Joe Wilson should apologize when the Democrats apologize for openly boo'ing Bush during several State of the Union addresses' and for their 8 years of belittling Bush as "stupid" and portraying Bush as a chimpanzee.
Of course we know that'll only happen when hell freezes over.
If it’s too big to be ignored, the MSM will do a major trashing of it. Otherwise, we’ll hear nothing but silence.
Can't vouch for the veracity of the 1,000,000 and growing estimate, but the pictures I've seen on the Fox News Interactive site indicate at least several hundred thousand ..
“GOP Sees Protest As an Opportunity”
They’d best see it as an opportunity to change their spots or they can pound sand.
So you elected Obama then?
What a stupid comment, not worthy of a response.
I see, so you actually voted for McCain.
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