G.O.P. Asks Conservative Allies to Cool Rhetoric Over the Court (No Complaining About Gonzales)

NY Times ^ | July 6, 2005 | DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK and CARL HULSE

[nj26]

The White House and the Senate Republican leadership are pushing back against pressure from some of their conservative allies about the coming Supreme Court nomination, urging them to stop attacking Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales as a potential nominee and to tone down their talk of a culture war.

In a series of conference calls on Tuesday and over the last several days, Republican Senate aides encouraged conservative groups to avoid emphasizing the searing cultural issues that social conservatives see at the heart of the court fight, subjects like abortion, public support for religion and same-sex marriage, participants said.

Instead, these participants, who insisted on anonymity to avoid exclusion from future calls, said the aides - including Barbara Ledeen of the Senate Republican Conference and Eric Ueland, chief of staff to Senator Bill Frist, the majority leader - emphasized themes that had been tested in polls, including a need for a fair and dignified confirmation process.

Mr. Ueland acknowledged that he and others had been working almost since the vacancy occurred last Friday with Justice Sandra Day O'Connor's resignation to persuade conservative activists to steer clear of divisive language.

"Every contact we have with these folks is 'stay on message, stay on purpose,' " Mr. Ueland said. "The extremism of language, if there is to be any, should be demonstrably on the other side. The hysteria and the foaming at the mouth ought to come from the left."

In other calls, emissaries from the office of Harriet Miers, the White House counsel, are urging conservatives to stop discussing individual nominees, especially Mr. Gonzales, whose views on abortion and affirmative action are viewed with wariness by some conservatives. Steve Schmidt, a White House spokesman working on the confirmation, joined some calls, participants said.

[USISRIGHT]

I'm sure President Cheney is considering this matter carefully.

[atlanta67]

there was an excellent post above that opinioned that conservatives have fallen into the lefts trap.

When Bush doesnt nominate gonzales, the left will scream that the far loony right has picked the nominee.

if anyhting the shrill attacks on gonzales ahve made his nomination more likely, not less

[tflabo]

"In a series of conference calls on Tuesday and over the last several days, Republican Senate aides encouraged conservative groups to avoid emphasizing the searing cultural issues that social conservatives see at the heart of the court fight, subjects like abortion, public support for religion and same-sex marriage, participants said"

Oh...so the spineless GOP Senate wants the loyal conservative base to shut up ay? Tell those gutless RINO GOP weenie Senators to grow some cajones and fight the godless forces of leftist encroachment on our freedoms we see eroding almost daily in this country. We voted GOP for a reason....to carry out the conservative agenda with the majority. Not to cave in to leftist liberals or be turncoat backstabbers to we the base. We will not SHUT UP and if you spineless GOP wimps in the senate did your jobs properly we should not have to get so agitated over your incompetence and cowardice. Are you listening GOP Senate? Be men..not wimps!

[COEXERJ145]

Time enough to rant if the President does something stupid.

I think you've been on FR long enough to realize that the standard operating procedure for a good number of people is to b*tch, whine, and attack the President on every issue including on things he hasn't even done.

[Dad yer funny]

FRiendly FReeper note: keep doin' the "you people" s**t

[atlanta67]

you an i are the only sane ones on this thread

[atlanta67]

so you mean if he doesnt announce a candidate by tomorrow. youre going to stay home on election day in 2006 and 2008?

[B Knotts]

Yeah...we should all shut up, so we can end up like Spain.

[henderson field]

Gonzalez is not an American.
What's he doing there?
I guess we all know the answer to that.

[Dan from Michigan]

TS.

I voted for Bush, campaigns, and did my damnest to convince sportsmen and others to vote for him. Judges were the biggest issue.

We did our part - despite too many big government programs. Now it's our turn to get our reward - SCOTUS.

[billbears]

G.O.P. Asks Conservative Allies to Bend Over and Take Another One 'for the Team' leave the party altogether as the GOP can no longer be concerned with conservatism or limited government

Even more true

[Miss Marple]

That would be me, and I will emphasize it: by demonizing Gonzalez, the right is making a case against whoever Bush DOES nominate, because the press will label that person as the "tool of the Christian right extremists."

THIS is why the administration is asking everyone to tone down their rhetoric. The groups like Focus on the Family (whom I normally agree with) are playing into the Left's spin.

Far better to contact the President privately and keep mum in public. Too many people are not understanding how the Left and the Press work in scuttling candidates.

[atlanta67]

""Gonzalez is not an American.
What's he doing there?
I guess we all know the answer to that."


Ok, so its not enough that is isnt a conservative, now we've got to roll out he bigotry.

i guess youd like to deport
Miguel Estrada and Emilio Garzo too

[shempy]

Sorry, but I don't see any shrill attacks on Gonzales. No one has accused him of being a child molester or saying he is the son of satan. I see people clearly expressing that he is not the conservative choice that Bush promised.

And he is not.

As to falling into the left's trap, way too late for that. The fact that the GOP wants to hide from our principles demonstrates to me that the trap was sprung years ago.

[B Knotts]

I'm not a group, nor have I taken marching orders from any group.

I oppose Gonzales because he's not the right man for the job.

If the president wants to appoint a Latino, fine. There are plenty of good Hispanic candidates, like Miguel Estrada or Emilio Garza.

But not Gonzales. I didn't want him as Attorney General, and I sure as heck don't want him appointed for life to the Supreme Court.

[bill1952]

urging them to stop attacking Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales as a potential nominee and to tone down their talk of a culture war.

As I finally push back at the GOP to stop attempting to solicit donations from me, and tone down the get out the vote in 08 advertisements so that a fair and balanced assesment can be made of the democratic hopefuls.

In other calls, emissaries from the office of Harriet Miers, the White House counsel, are urging conservatives to stop discussing individual nominees, especially Mr. Gonzales, whose views on abortion and affirmative action are viewed with wariness by some conservatives

Well, screw you. Fine. Just don't complain about Hillary's views on the same issues as she steamrollers you right out of office.

Anyone think that I'm crawling over broken glass again for this crowd?

[atlanta67]

the attacks are shrill because he hasnt even been nominated, and yet some here are ready for a civil war.

[arnoldpalmerfan]

The National Council of La Raza, i.e. The National Council of the Race, will be glad to have one of its own on the United States Supreme Court. Here is a link to an article that appeared on WorldNetDaily about Attorney General Gonzalez and the National Council of La Raza: http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=41628 .

[Dreagon]

"so you mean if he doesnt announce a candidate by tomorrow. youre going to stay home on election day in 2006 and 2008?"

No. That will happen only if he nominates Gonzalez or some other "moderate". But if he doesn't intend to do that, then he is being a fool for letting Gonzalez name continue to hang out there when it's obvious that it's so antithetical to much of his base. There is an old saying about biting the hand that feeds you.

[atlanta67]

youre pathetic