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Team of rivals: GOP base rips new group
Politico ^ | 5/7/09 | Andy Barr

Posted on 05/07/2009 3:37:24 PM PDT by pissant

Social conservatives are blasting the National Council for a New America, House Minority Whip Eric Cantor’s (R-Va.) nascent effort to rebrand the Republican Party, as a misguided and weak-kneed initiative that is out of touch with the GOP rank and file.

The council, unveiled last week by Cantor and Sen. John McCain, is designed to be a “forward-looking, grass-roots caucus” that formulates policy prescriptions and communicates with voters in a way that could expand the Republican ranks. In announcing the formation of the group, McCain said he hoped the group would attract moderates and “like-minded Democrats” to a series of public forums around the country.

But social conservatives couldn’t help but notice that the policy areas the group will focus on included no mention of same-sex marriage, immigration or abortion. And the roster of GOP luminaries who signed on to the effort was missing a few of the pols who are most popular with values voters.

“The moderates have been saying the same thing all these years, and now they’re just seeing a renewed opportunity to push their ideas,” said Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa), a leading opponent of gay marriage.

“It’s a losing proposition to try to divide social and economic conservatives,” Ken Blackwell, a one-time Ohio secretary of state and former candidate for Republican National Committee chairman, told POLITICO. “They will constantly find themselves backpedaling and apologizing and repositioning because the composition of that group does not reflect a basic reality, which is that social and economic conservatives complement one another.”

Blackwell noted that the slight did not go unnoticed among social conservatives, as they “have the experience of being used and then abused and then forgotten.”

Mike Huckabee, the former presidential candidate who was not invited to join the so-called GOP panel of experts involved with the effort — a list that included Govs. Bobby Jindal of Louisiana, Sarah Palin of Alaska and Haley Barbour of Mississippi and former Govs. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts and Jeb Bush of Florida — said that it was “sad day” in Republican politics when “we think it is necessary to form a ‘listening group’ to find out what Americans think we should be fighting for.”

“Our problem is not lack of ‘experts,’ but too many of them and not enough attention to the hard working people in our communities that aren’t connected to the Beltway, but to the heartland,” he said in a statement.

The former Republican presidential candidate also knocked Bush, who suggested at the group’s first town hall event on Saturday that it was time to get past “nostalgia” for the Reagan era.

“Frankly, the party was in pretty good shape then and can be again, but Ronald Reagan didn't summarily dismiss values voters like this new group of ‘experts’ has by not listing any of the issues that still matter to many of those common Americans this group wants to listen to,” Huckabee said.

Rob Collins, Cantor’s deputy chief of staff, said the expectation that every top national Republican would be included in the council would be “unrealistic.”

“Were we perfect in the rollout? No,” Collins said. “We want to get all these national leaders on board and we’re going to try to do that.”

Collins said the seeming omission of certain issues from the domestic policy categories the council is examining isn’t a sign that the group is excluding social conservatives or overlooking the issues that matter most to them.

“How is the life issue left off when we’re talking about the economy and education?” he asked.

Indeed, the council’s roster is stocked with prominent Republicans with nearly unassailable conservative credentials, ranging from Bush to Barbour to Jindal. Palin was also invited to join at the same time as the others, though she did not sign up until after the group’s rollout.

A source close to the group’s planning said McCain personally called Palin to urge her to join before the group’s announcement.

Cantor has insisted that no slight toward any of the party’s constituencies was intended.

“The National Council for a New America is meant to be a wide-open policy debate,” he said Monday during a CNN interview. “There is no exclusion about what we'll talk about.”

Still, for some the very creation of the council has proven to be a sore spot. Nearly a dozen conservative politicians and leaders contacted for this story either declined comment or did not return multiple calls.

“Too many Republican leaders are running scared on the claims of the left and the media that social conservatism is a dead-end for the GOP,” the Family Research Council’s Tony Perkins said in a statement. “If that were the case, why are pro-family leaders like Mike Huckabee creating such excitement in the conservative base? The Republican establishment doesn't draw a crowd.”

Another critic, influential conservative radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh, ripped the group’s proposed “listening tour” as a “scam” on his Tuesday show.

“Maybe we've gotten to the point where you have to scam the American people in order to get their votes. I hope not,” Limbaugh said. “See I'm enough of an idealist, probably a little naïve, and hopefully a bit of a realist, to understand that it really works out best if you respect your audience, respect their intelligence, approach them that way.”

Cantor’s team, which is planning a phased unveiling of the council, is not planning to announce any new members or appearances for a few weeks. In addition to Palin, the council has gotten Sens. John Ensign of Nevada and Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas to sign on in recent days.

After the council’s initial events, invitations were also extended to former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) and Gov. Mark Sanford (R-S.C.), though neither has agreed to sign on yet.

“We got the invite on fairly short notice,” said Joel Sawyer, Sanford’s communications director.

Sanford may join the group, Sawyer said, but will wait until the conclusion of his state’s legislative session to look more closely at the group and make his decision.

Collins, Cantor’s aide, said that despite some sniping, the overall response among the Republicans he has talked to has been very positive.

“It’s been an incredibly successful rollout,” he said, noting the inherent difficulty of organizing any group comprised of political figures. “There has been some grumbling, but there has been an incredibly positive response.”


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption
KEYWORDS: cantor; gop; limbaugh; limpwristers; mcbama; mccain; mccaintruthfile; mcqueeg; moderates; nc4na; ncna; palin; rebuilding; rinos; romney
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To: pissant
the council’s roster is stocked with prominent Republicans with nearly unassailable conservative credentials

bwaaaaaaaaahahahahaha! That's funny!

41 posted on 05/07/2009 4:37:22 PM PDT by calcowgirl (RECALL Abel Maldonado! - NO on Props 1A 1B 1C 1D 1E 1F)
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To: Clemenza

I love it when some pull figures out of dark, stinky places.

LLS


42 posted on 05/07/2009 4:37:30 PM PDT by LibLieSlayer (hussein will NEVER be my President... NEVER!!!)
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To: pissant
Reagan never needed a listening tour. He knew where he stood and knew what he believed. Sadly..the present Pubbies haven't a clue!
43 posted on 05/07/2009 4:38:00 PM PDT by Don Corleone (Leave the gun..take the cannoli now reads "Oil the gun..eat the cannolis.")
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To: SolidWood
And no... she has not "damaged her standing" with anyone. If she wants to be a national candidate, she has to work with the RNC.

Per what I've read, the NCNA group is not associated with the RNC.

In fact, they say they aren't even aligned with Republicans and want "bipartisan" participation.

44 posted on 05/07/2009 4:40:27 PM PDT by calcowgirl (RECALL Abel Maldonado! - NO on Props 1A 1B 1C 1D 1E 1F)
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To: pissant

Surprise, the Liberal Politico at work dividing Republicans.

I may not like some of the cast of characters, but the focus should be on what Obama is doing to America,
Pelosi’s lies and the reality that Marxist Obama and his Democrat congress are running things.

Many don’t want to deal with those facts and go off on Republicans as if they are in the White House


45 posted on 05/07/2009 4:40:33 PM PDT by SoCalPol (Reagan Republican for Palin 2012)
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To: Clemenza

Palin would have won the most recent election if she was the Presidential candidate with a year and a half of exposure like everyone else had. She carried a stiff like McCain to 47% of the vote and nobody had ever heard of her four months before the election. But you keep running Romney out there, he’s a great candidate. Couldn’t even beat McCain. What a stiff and a phony.


46 posted on 05/07/2009 4:45:43 PM PDT by raptor29
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To: pissant

ping.


47 posted on 05/07/2009 4:47:27 PM PDT by BufordP ("I've abandoned free market principles to save the free market system."--George "the Abandoner" Bush)
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To: pissant; rabscuttle385

pardon me. meant to ping rabs.


48 posted on 05/07/2009 4:48:15 PM PDT by BufordP ("I've abandoned free market principles to save the free market system."--George "the Abandoner" Bush)
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To: Dick Bachert; 50mm; stockpirate; Eaker; ducdriver; ChrisInAR; AvOrdVet; MaggieCarta; indylindy; ...

The Juan McCain Truth File.

"I have great respect for Al Gore."
—John McCain, October 2, 2008

FR Keywords: mccaintruthfile, mcqueeg, mcbama

Please tag all relevant threads with the aforementioned keywords.

This can be a very high-volume ping list at times.

To join the ping list:
FReepmail rabscuttle385 with the subject line add  mccaintruthfile.
(Stop getting pings by sending the subject line drop mccaintruthfile.)
 
Republican Commissar’s Warning: By joining this ping list, you may be subjected to the delusional rants and ramblings of McCainiacs, of "moderate" Republicans, of pragmatic conservatives resigned to voting for the lesser of two Democrats, and of countless RNC shills who simply want to meet a new overlord.


49 posted on 05/07/2009 4:50:26 PM PDT by rabscuttle385 ("If this be treason, then make the most of it!" —Patrick Henry)
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To: Kimberly GG
..... INCLUDING pro-amnesty Sarah Palin. ....

Palin is pro amnesty? If so, I won't bother voting for her for dog catcher..... :^(

50 posted on 05/07/2009 4:50:40 PM PDT by investigateworld ( Abortion stops a beating heart.)
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To: reaganaut; BufordP; ejonesie22; AmericanSphinx71; 383rr; jenk; big'ol_freeper; mountainbunny; ...

The Mitt Romney Truth File.

FR Keywords: romneytruthfile, slickwillard, mcromney

Please tag all relevant threads with the aforementioned keywords.

This can be a very high-volume ping list at times.

To join the ping list:
FReepmail rabscuttle385 with the subject line add  romneytruthfile.
(Stop getting pings by sending the subject line drop romneytruthfile.)
 
Republican Commissar’s Warning: By joining this ping list, you may be subjected to the delusional rants and ramblings of Romneybots, of "moderate" Republicans, of pragmatic conservatives resigned to voting for the lesser of two Democrats, and of countless RNC shills who simply want to meet a new overlord.


51 posted on 05/07/2009 4:51:40 PM PDT by rabscuttle385 ("If this be treason, then make the most of it!" —Patrick Henry)
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To: Zhang Fei

What kind of stupid RINO platform is this?

No mention of social issues? No mention of the faith and family issues that have won countless elections for Republicans? No mention of abortion that kills a million babies a year? No mention of the pro-life issue that is rallying millions of Americans against the Obama speech at Notre Dame?

What kind of platform is this? No mention of the collapse of marriage and the homosexual assault on religious freedom? No mention of genetic engineering and human embryo destruction?

I’m all for tax and budget cuts. But I am not for cutting the heart out of the Republican Party.


52 posted on 05/07/2009 4:53:28 PM PDT by heye2monn
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To: pissant
The National Council for a New America

I'll say it again - I'm not interested in a NEW America. I don't want Obama's NEW American and I don't want the Republicans' idea of a NEW one. I like the OLD one, the original, and I want it back.

53 posted on 05/07/2009 4:58:53 PM PDT by penowa
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To: investigateworld

Looks like Cantor has fallen prey to the cocktail party circuit like so many other “elected” ones, be they R’s or D’s,


54 posted on 05/07/2009 4:59:06 PM PDT by AdaGray (uw)
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To: investigateworld

Looks like Cantor has fallen prey to the cocktail party circuit like so many other “elected” ones, be they R’s or D’s,


55 posted on 05/07/2009 4:59:29 PM PDT by AdaGray (uw)
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To: Sensei Ern

Super Happy ping


56 posted on 05/07/2009 5:22:49 PM PDT by BufordP ("I've abandoned free market principles to save the free market system."--George "the Abandoner" Bush)
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To: pissant

a listening tour?

Huckabyte got it right.. wow.. (pinch me)

my God, dems go on listening or is it learning tours..

ohhh, the depths of despair.


57 posted on 05/07/2009 5:40:14 PM PDT by NormsRevenge (Semper Fi ... Godspeed.)
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To: investigateworld

Here’s her UNIVISION interview. She tried to Fred Thompson us with her...”not TOTAL amnesty”. But when the interviewer asked for clarification, she said:

UNIVISION:
To clarify, so you support a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants?

PALIN
I do because I understand why people would want to be in America.

http://community.adn.com/node/133209


58 posted on 05/07/2009 7:11:45 PM PDT by Kimberly GG (SARAH PALIN - Supports a "path to citizenship" for ILLEGAL ALIENS.)
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To: Kimberly GG
Thanks - sad to see another globalist trying to destroy the USA.
Maybe she should stay home and help her kid keep from making another baby... :^(
59 posted on 05/07/2009 7:24:22 PM PDT by investigateworld ( Abortion stops a beating heart.)
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To: pissant
Spoiler Romney threw Election2008, but that was not enuf for him.
Romney imposed socialized medicine, but that was not enuf for him.
Romney imposed gay marriage, but that was not enuf for him.
Romney usurped the Mass. Constitution (see #2), but that was not enuf for him.
Romney imposed murderer-freeing judges by ignoring GOP and conservative candidates, but that was not enuf for him.
Romney covered up the BIG-DIG for a few contributions, but that was not enuf for him.
Romney and his team directed attacks on Gov. Palin leading to Obama as President, but that was not enuf for him.


60 posted on 05/07/2009 7:39:55 PM PDT by Diogenesis (Igitur qui desiderat pacem, praeparet bellum)
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