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The Fall Issue of Rising Tide had the following letter from Chairman Racicot at the beginning:

Letter from the Chairman

AS WE HEAD INTO THE FALL ELECTIONS, the Republican Party has a historic opportunity to hold our majority in the United States House of Representatives and regain our majority in the United States Senate. The last 10 presidents saw their party lose an average of 27 congressional seats in the first midterm election.
The reason for the successful positioning of our party is the leadership of President George W. Bush and Republicans in Congress. The President's principled leadership and his compassionate conservative message provide our party with a clear agenda and a litany of accomplishments. And, in this election year, his leadership provides a stark contrast to the leadership of political expediency being carried out by the Democrats every day.

A party's leadership style is defined by how it addresses the crucial issues of our time. While President Bush and the Republican-led House of Representatives have focused on making progress through action, the Democratic leadership in the Senate has been paralyzed and has neglected its responsibility to act in the best interest of the American people.

Issue by issue, the true colors of elected leadership are being reflected. The House has passed legislation making tax cuts permanent, the Senate uses the tax cut in their blame game and evades direct questions about whether they plan to raise taxes after the November elections.

The President proposed legislation to help senior citizens afford prescription drugs. The Republican-led House acted quickly with a bill to address the problem. As of mid-September the Senate had failed to pass prescription drug coverage and continued to mislead American seniors about the Republican plan.

At a time when the economy needs additional strength, and economic experts say that fiscal restraint is a top necessity, the Democratic-controlled Senate, for the first time in more than 20 years, failed to pass a budget. While every American has to work from a budget every month, the Senate has decided they don't need to-and has made this choice at the one point in time when our economy needs it most.

Senate Democrats also sided with trial lawyers on the issue of terrorism insurance at the expense of small business owners and job creation. But, most egregious is their approach to the issue of a cabinet level agency for Homeland Security.

The President recognized the need for better organization and effectiveness and proposed the Department of Homeland Security. The Republican-led, U.S. House has passed legislation to create the agency. The Democrats, however, rumored to have run to their political allies in the labor unions for advice, are now fighting the President's request for flexibility that would enable him to quickly respond to emerging threats, flexibility that the Departments of Defense and Energy currently have.

Despite Sen. Daschle's recent statements that legislation creating the agency would be passed before the end of the year, Democrats are choosing politics over
progress and inaction over action.

The accomplishments of our President and Republicans are many, but we must be vigilant in communicating our message to every community, every family, every voter. Your help is critical to our success.

We know from the striking results of the 72-Hour Task Force that people are our greatest resource. Our party's President and the Republican-led House have the right leadership qualities- combine that with the energy and enthusiasm of each of you-the GOP faithful-and we are sure to see victory on Nov. 5.

s/Marc Racicot, Chairman
Republican National Committee