GOP leaders warn of election disaster

Politico ^ | 5/6/08 | JOHN BRESNAHAN

[Dawnsblood]

Shellshocked House Republicans got warnings from leaders past and present Tuesday: Your party’s message isn’t good enough to prevent disaster in November, and neither is the NRCC’s money.

The double shot of bad news had one veteran Republican House member worrying aloud that the party’s electoral woes — brought into sharp focus by Woody Jenkins’ loss to Don Cazayoux in Louisiana on Saturday — have the House Republican Conference splitting apart in “everybody for himself” mode.

“There is an attitude that, ‘I better watch out for myself, because nobody else is going to do it,’” the member said. “There are all these different factions out there, everyone is sniping at each other, and we have no real plan. We have a lot of people fighting to be the captain of the lifeboat instead of everybody pulling together.”

In a piece published in Human Events, the Republicans’ onetime captain, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, warned his old colleagues that they face “real disaster” on Election Day unless they move immediately to “chart a bold course of real reform” for the country.

And in a closed-door session at the Capitol, National Republican Congressional Committee Chairman Tom Cole (R-Okla.) told members that the NRCC doesn’t have enough cash to “save them” in November if they don’t raise enough money or run strong campaigns themselves.

Although a top House Republican brushed aside Gingrich’s broadside as “hype from a has-been who desperately wants to be a player but can’t anymore,” the harsh words from Cole were harder to ignore.

“It was a pretty stern line that he took with us,” said one House Republican.

[ghostrider]

With our current state of our politics, I am thinking honesty and integrity matters more than anything else. None of the remaining candidates seem to have either. Joseph Lieberman (big liberal) and Zell Miller (big conservative) seem to have integrity and to be honest. I wonder if they could come to some consensus on the key issues and run together as independents in the fall.

[pnh102]

The problem is that the GOP as a party needs to stay in business. As an organization, it could not care less if conservatives vote GOP or other people vote GOP. If every conservative vote for the GOP was replaced by 2 non-conservative votes, that grows the party's customer base.

The GOP is throwing conservatives under the bus simply because the majority of the electorate is dependent on government. It is all about customers.

[NeoCaveman]

“There is an attitude that, ‘I better watch out for myself, because nobody else is going to do it,’” the member said.

When I read this line, I swore it was my Republican congressman saying it.

[pnh102]

You don't understand Newt's position on "global warming" at all, do you.

Newt is as much of a socialist as Al Gore with regards to the issue of global "warming."

And where the heck is this warming anyway?

[Nickname]

“Do they? Or is this some other version of Operation Chaos?”

I think there’s a mix.

Some are genuinely pleased with McCain as the nominee, others consider themselves pragmatic in their support, and still others who don’t much care as long as there’s and (R) in there somewhere.

I’d also guess that there are a few campaign operatives out and about, mingling amongst the rabble, trying to gin up enthusiasm for their candidate and/or tear down their opponent.

[doodad]

And isn’t it amazing that bad laws are never rescinded, just added to with tweaking and more poor law creating an indecipherable mess? The tax code being the most glaring example.

[Sgt_Schultze]

I have to disagree. Blacks will overwhelmingly vote for Obama, obviously. But he has also brought in millions of youngsters who historically don't vote. They are impressionable, they are idealistic, they are wrong, they are used to having somebody else pay the bill and they want more, but they are stoked for Obama. They will vote absentee in their hometowns and they will vote in the districts of their out-of-town colleges. They want a cool president.

The rest of the dems will come along because they hate Republicans and everything W has done. They want more freebies and don't care how much it costs you. They think government run health care means more of it and more affordable, but if everyone had a right to a car, how many Lexus' would there be and how many Kias would be sold?

Sorry, Obama's win with the 60+ democrat senators will guarantee 60 - 80 million new Americans (legalized illegals plus the family members they will be entitled to bring to the US), more spending and then a permanent constituency for ever expanding government. An Rx for more democrats.

BTW, McLame would go a long way to accomplishing the same goals.

[NeoCaveman]

What's troublesome is that we haven't won back a single House or Senate seat from the rodents since before 2006, and they've already picked up 2 more of our House seats (neither of which had gone Democrat since 1974 and 1972, respectively, one of which was the seat of the former Speaker) and perhaps a 3rd may fall by next week.

This bears repeating. Thanks.

[DManA]

I don't care if they treat ME badly. I care that they treat the principles I hold dear with contempt.

the last several years treating its base shabbily

[rintense]

Double ditto.

[NeoCaveman]

Woody Jenkins may indeed have been a bad candidate in LA, but what about the loss of Dennis Hastert’s seat??

Oberweis, now a four time loser, is atleast twice as bad a candidate as Jenikins, but that's no reasons to make excuses for these loses. They are historic.

[verity]

I think you just have written the Prologue to ‘The Decline and Fall of America.’

[calex59]

It will be a disaster. When Obama receives less criticism than John McCain here you know something’s not right.

Apparently you don't read the anti-Obama threads on FR. On the other hand McCain does receive a lot of criticism, mainly because he is a left wing Rino and not a conservative.

He is supposed to be a republican but most of his ideals are not conservative, we expect a**hats such as Obama to be marxists, they are Dems, we don't expect the candidate for the Republican party to be a marxist, which McCain appears to be in many of his thoughts and statements. He has thrown the conservatives under the bus but he, and guys like you, expect us conservatives(not neocons but real conservatives)to stand by him while we try to heal the tire marks.

[Obadiah]

I concur.

[TADSLOS]

Are you sure, the USA to be very blunt, is not ready for a black President.

Take a hard look at the crowd at Obama's N.C victory speech last night. The fact is that Obambi has been able to transcend his race as an issue via his message. His message is all socialist oratory, but sheeple come in all colors and dispositions and his clueless flock is growing, not receding- despite his racially tainted political disasters that are less than a week old from his win and near-win last night. His race is not holding him back.

[popdonnelly]

McCain is better than Obama, who is a truly whacked-out socialist.

[Southerngl]

You get what you get when you shove someone like McCain to the forefront in an attempt to garner the Independants and moderate Republicans. You find those people are more likely to go the way of the Democrats and you just alienate your base.

[Southerngl]

Obviously not.

[Biggirl]

Your posting reminds me of what I had brought up a few months back to the same local radio morning talk radio show host about what has made Obama very attractive to the younger crowd. Told him that this all reminds me of 1960 all over again between Kennedy and Nixon.

[Southerngl]

They want a cool president.

*****************************************

And alot of them want the thrill of ‘being part of history’.