Posted on 11/12/2006 4:32:20 PM PST by Omega Man II
The White House is trying to soothe Republicans who say the party might have fared better on Election Day if President Bush had not waited until after the vote to oust Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld.
"You could argue that either way, of what political effect an earlier decision on Secretary Rumsfeld would have had. But it doesn't matter," White House chief of staff Josh Bolten said Sunday.
"The president correctly decided that this decision does not belong in the political realm. And a decision as important as your secretary of defense should not be made based on some partisan political advantage. It would send a terrible signal to our troops, to our allies, even to our enemies," Bolten said.
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich has suggested that if Bush replaced Rumsfeld two weeks before the election, voters would not have been as angry about the unpopular Iraq war. Republicans would have gained the boost they needed, according to Gingrich, to retain their majority in the Senate and hold onto 10 to 15 more House seats.
Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., the outgoing chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, agreed with that assessment.
(Excerpt) Read more at forbes.com ...
I recall at least one poster here coming down hard on Mike McGavick when he called for Rumsfeld's resignation. That poster said McGavick had lost his vote. I bet that poster feels just a betrayed by Bush and I did by Delay.
God help us.
Sect. Rumsfeld tendered his resignation, along with all of the rest of the Cabinet, before President Bush was re-elected. That envelope is old, and dusty.
/johnny
Gingrich did his part in bringing this around. He did more than his fair share of backstabbing.
Maybe they are mad enough to fight him, Kennedy and Pelosi on amnesty for the criminal aliens and their enablers. If not they can start looking at a worse thumping in 08.
He didn't fire him, he accepted his previous resignation letter. Before he could be supoenaed by the new demoncratic congress.
Looks like a win-win, to me.
/johnny
Or something like that.
I'm a conservative but Randy Graf in that district made no sense.
You kick out the rinos in districts that conservatives can win. Case in point club for growth kicked out schwarz and got a good conservative walberg in to replace him.
Randy Graf being nominated was putting heart over head. It was a stubborn vote.
If you don't hold the house you are opening up amnesty and a lot of other bills.
That is why I have always been against going after rinos in districts that they and only they can win.
The gop also has to get rid of that term limit for chairmanship rule. It cost a lot of rinos to retire in districts that you needed them in to win the house.
The house is all about winning. Having the gop leadership is what counts. Now we are stuck with murtha, conyers, rangel.
Randy Graf was conservatives being stubborn and not looking at the big picture. Now saying that it didn't matter because huffman would have lost anyway. But I'd rather have rino kolbe voting for pence as speaker than giffords voting for pelosi and murtha.
See that is more stubborness.
The gop house is in no position to stop the amnesty now.
Blaming them for not stopping it now with your 08 vote will only hurt conservatives more.
That is what I didn't understand about the send the message crowd you were sending a message to the only conservative firewall and opening up a liberal agenda.
Now you have a liberal congress with a rino president. There is no conservative firewall left.
I always argued against the gridlock theory. The media is giddy about the full speed ahead liberal agenda. This isn't gridlock it is a liberal agenda.
Delay had no shot at re-election. His negatives were through the roof and he was losing by 8 points to lampson.
All delay had to do was in november last year step aside and he would have won.
Sekula gibbs with her name on the ballot was leading 52 to 35 while delay was losing 48 to 40.
The gop house is in no position to stop the amnesty now.
Blaming them for not stopping it now with your 08 vote will only hurt conservatives more.
#####
They might not be able to stop it, but they can, and better, fight it if they want to stay in office.
I've posted this elsewhere, but it is what needs to be doen if the GOP wants to regain all three branches of government in 08.
In 2008 Republicans have a wonderful chance to retake these votes and add many more. They just have to give Blacks a reason to vote for them. They have to do what Rove did in Ohio all over the country and get to the Black Christians with our conservative message on social issues.
They must also differentiate themselves from the Democrats on the illegal immigration issue. Blacks are hurt the most and hurt by these criminals invading our country. Support for closing the border and opposition to amnesty is over 80% in the Black community. Republicans must show the Black community they are different from the Democrats on this vital issue and are not just aware of the plight of working Blacks but on their side in fighting the criminal invasion.
There are very few states that Democrats can carry in a statewide election if they don’t get at least 90% of the Black vote. There is no way they can get 90% of that vote if Republicans push a conservative social agenda and stand tough on illegal immigration.
Hold the base and add 20 to 25% or more of the Black vote and Republicans are looking at a landslide on a par with Reagan’s 1984 win.
People who think conservatives stayed home because of Iraq and Rumsfeld are delusional. If the Republican Party doesn't return to a true conservative philosophy, the party will cease to exist. That has zip to do with Iraq as currently constituted.
Gingrich has become a fool -had Rummy exited earlier, we would have seen a 100-seat loss.
But then she didn't, did she? And she lost by 10%. It's Delay's fault.
I've stood by Bush and made a lot of excuses for him the last six years but I was really disheartened Tuesday night when the first reaction out of the WH about the GOP losses was that now we may be able to get comprehensive immigration reform...now that those damned republicans are out of the way...and then on the heals of that he dumps Rummy...the best thing that administration had going for it. The whole damned thing makes me sick and I'm so disgusted with the president that I can't see straight. He's going to throw whatever conservative principles he had left overboard in order to make nice with Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid.
If the GOP wants to spare itself a long term in the minority it had better produce a new Ronald Reagan real soon...compassionate conservative phonies need not apply.
The control over judges will be the greatest long term loss I fear. Oh well. Life goes on.
The GOP lacked a coherent, bold message and didn't stand up to the Dims when it counted. They lost, period.
I think Bush timed it correctly for the optimal political effect. If he had nominated Gates-Baker for Sec of Def 3 weeks ago, the uproar from the pro-WOT base would have been explosive.
I've seen hardly any of the pro-WOT people on this forum that likes the Gates-Baker nomination.
He waited cause the base would have fallen apart over it.
Rob Simmons should be the most ticked off not clay-shaw.
Simmons would have won if 85 votes had changed.
Clay-Shaw lost by 7,000 he was hurt a lot by the foley case.
Florida went for christ by 7 percent but the foley case hurt those districts in his area.
Foley's seat gone, clay-shaw gone, and katherine harris's seat in recount.
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