The House GOP Retreat

Red State ^ | January 29, 2010 | Brian Faughnan

[NavySEAL F-16]

Today I attended the House GOP retreat in Baltimore, at the invitation of House Republican Conference Chairman Mike Pence. I got to play at reporter, and to chat with some Members of Congress and staff. I also got to attend the speech with the President, and the subsequent question-and-answer session.

As others have noted, the speech very much seemed to be an attempt by the president to show that he is bipartisan, friendly, and open to GOP ideas - no matter how the facts might appear to you. Both sides took the opportunity to play to the cameras of course, with long questions centering on deficits and broken promises, and well-rehearsed answers about the trillions in deficits inherited from President Bush.

[truthandlife]

While a session with pollsters Kellyanne Conway and David Livingston was not open to the press, Republican Members were delighted after the presentation. One told me that the pollsters stressed the importance of winning independent voters, rather than turning out the base. They said that a critical reason for the GOP landslide in 1994 was that independents favored the GOP by a 14 point margin. The latest polling - the GOP was told - puts Republicans ahead by 15 points.

Don't agree with this one at all. Look what happened when "Independent" John McCain got the nomination. When Republicans campaign conservative members with a conservative banner THEY WIN! I would be very skeptical of pollsters Conway and Livingston.

[Balding_Eagle]

Politics is perception. It appears the perception is that Obama skillfully reached out to the Republicans.

Correction:

It appears the perception is that Obama skillfully reached out to the STUPID Republicans.

Whoever set this up needs to be voted out this November.

[onyx]

Livingston and Conway also stressed that voters are not personally rejecting Barack Obama, and they cautioned against being seen as opposing the president personally.

I'm sick of hearing THAT fallacy too. Rassmussen polls put that LIE to rest.

Campaign against him, his broken promises and his Marxist policies.

[berdie]

I thought I read that the GOP retreat was going to be in Hawaii?

Was that MSM propoganda...or is this different retreat?

[Retain Mike]

I am afraid “retreat” is a good name for what the Republicans are contemplating. Too many seem to think their mission is to settle for providing a kinder, gentler form of despotism. Those politically active people who truly want smaller government and greater freedom must understand they are in a war without bloodshed against an implacable enemy. The town hall meetings and Tea Party movement seem to indicate some folks (but not the Republican leadership) are willing to acknowledge (for now) the existence of a long standing declaration of war by liberals/progressives. Politics must be populated steadfast leaders who have a genetic predisposition to freedom equivalent to the men who wrought the Miracle in Philadelphia. There just don’t seem to be enough of them.

[coaltrain]

Obama looked like a bumbling, uninformed, phony moron. Now if the press wants to spin it another way, who cares? This event will be forgotten before the end of the weekend. However, some of Obama’s answers will be saved on tape forever.

The House GOP did a very good job grilling Obama. Quit being frightened by Obama.

[WhistlingPastTheGraveyard]

He did the middle-finger nose-itch thing again. He thinks he’s so freaking slick.

[SoCalPol]

Greta had on tonight quite a bit on Republican Reps and Obama.

Showed some of the GOP Reps taking on Obama to his face, etc.

[onyx]

I’ll watch Greta at midnight. I wanted to see the abc program tonight on John Edwards. It was an eye-opener. Nightline is doing a follow-up. It starts now.

[Arizona Carolyn]

I don’t know why everyone is so damned afraid to go toe-to-toe with the man and call him what he is.... sheesh!

[DakotaRed]

"pollsters stressed the importance of winning independent voters, rather than turning out the base."

Goodbye 2010 elections.

Will these ignorant fools ever learn? You turn out your base and the independents follow.

Does this party love being the permanent minority?

Did they learn nothing in 2006 and 2008?

The elections is all but being handed to them on a silver platter and they wish to throw it away.

Unbelievable.

[onyx]

Me neither.

Take him down with his own words and arrogance.

Glenn Beck does it daily.

[Starboard]

“GOP Retreat”

The name unintentionally describes exactly what it was.

[Balding_Eagle]

LOL! So right.

[Starboard]

What I don’t get is that the Dems and media are going to bash Republicans no matter what they do or say, so what is there to be gained by trying to play nice with them? Republicans just stand there and get sucker punched every time.

[nathanbedford]

Balding eagle is absolutely right, politics is perception and we just lost that round. Obama did not look "bumbling", rather he looked like a lion tamer who walked into the cage before 140 Republicans and proved that he can master them without a Teleprompter. Obama looked fully in command. The Republicans did not do a good job of grilling him, they were pathetic. He walked into their trap but he sprung it on them.

To the contrary, we should be very afraid of Obama because he is one of the best mechanics and craftsman among politicians alive today. The only two good things that can be said of this performance: First, no self-respecting observer will ever again say that Obama cannot operate without a Teleprompter and we will cease deceiving ourselves, at least in this respect; second, you are quite right, the event will soon be forgotten because the people are not interested in this kind of give-and-take which has not been hyped; they are interested in jobs and their mortgages.

The proper lesson to take from this is not the tangle with Obama by going into a gunfight with a knife. If you want to grill someone you do not do it the way it was done today. You have one interlocutor who asks follow-up questions and cross examines the subject in a coherent and systematic style. It does no good in the perception game if your only achievement is to give some of your Republicans a chance to stand up and show the folks back home that they had an exchange with the president of the United States. You cannot succeed by asking unconnected questions. Cross examination must be planned affair with every alternative anticipated. Most of those Republicans in that room were lawyers but not a damn one of them acted like it.

Shame on them. An artful attorney could fillet Obama without appearing rude or disrespectful of the office of the president. Obama won this round hands down. If you want to win the next two elections, the first step is to end the self-deception which lost the last two.

[Arizona Carolyn]

Yep and it really gets under The One’s skin, the GOP would, too, if they took him directly to task.

[Freddd]

Weird, I thought he looked like a tyrant dictator who was lying, and absolutely intends to squash any dissent at every opportunity.

[Balding_Eagle]

My point was/is that it doesn’t matter what you, or I, think about it.

The presentation in the news is what matters, and that presentation favors Obama.

I’m suspicious of what the organizers were ‘thinking’, they had to realize they would be out manuvered.