updated 6:17 a.m. ET March 4, 2010
Politics
GOP portrays Dems as evil Scooby, Cruella
RNC chair disowns document showing Democrats as cartoon ‘Evil Empire’
Democrats criticized a RNC fundraising document that caricatured President Obama as the Joker. Also depicted were House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid, presented as Cruella de Vil and Scooby-Doo.
By Perry Bacon Jr.
The Washington Post
Democrats on Wednesday sharply criticized a Republican National Committee fundraising document that caricatured President Obama as the Joker, while Chairman Michael S. Steele sought to distance himself from it.
Also depicted were House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) and Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (Nev.), presented as Cruella de Vil and Scooby-Doo, respectively. The three Democratic leaders were gathered under the heading "The Evil Empire."
The cartoonish images were part of a 72-page PowerPoint presentation assembled for potential campaign donors and fundraisers.
The document was obtained by Politico after being left at a Florida hotel where the Republicans had gathered Feb. 18.
The presentation also outlined how donors will be encouraged to give to Republicans at a time when the party holds neither the White House nor Congress: "Save the country from trending toward Socialism!"
'Fear-mongering, lunatic fringe'
It cites "fear" and "extreme negative feelings toward existing administration" as reasons why donors might contribute to the GOP.
Said Democratic National Committee spokesman Brad Woodhouse: "If you had any doubt, any doubt whatsoever, that the Republican Party has been taken over by the fear-mongering lunatic fringe, those doubts were erased today."
He added, "Republicans across the country have cheered on crowds where these very images appeared."
Steele did not attend the presentation in Boca Grande, Fla., and had not been aware of the document, spokesman Doug Heye said.
"Fundraising documents are often controversial. Obviously, the chairman disagrees with the language and finds the use of such imagery to be unacceptable," Heye said in a statement.
"It will not be used by the Republican National Committee -- in any capacity -- in the future."
Raynard Jackson, a GOP activist who has worked to attract blacks and other minority members to the party, was outraged by word of the presentation.
"This is just beyond the pale," he said.
"And the best we can get is Michael Steele issuing a statement through a spokesman? And they wonder why they can't get minorities, especially black people, involved in the party?"
GOP aides privately said that the document might hurt the RNC because it suggested that its major donors may be "ego-driven" to give to the party and that they might be motivated by "tchotchkes."
© 2010 The Washington Post Company
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Moderator: doug
GOP portrays Dems as evil Scooby, Cruella
by doug » Thu Mar 04, 2010 8:47 am
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Ethics cases bruise Harlem?s political heart
by doug » Mon Mar 08, 2010 6:34 am
updated 5:47 a.m. ET March 8, 2010
Politics
Ethics cases bruise Harlem’s political heart
Rangel, Paterson scandals ‘could set our community back decades’
Jewel Samad / AFP - Getty Images
Rep. Charles Rangel admits an ongoing ethics probe is "embarrassing" but says that he will be exonerated.
By Wil Haygood
The Washington Post
NEW YORK - Few will deny that the political landscape here in Harlem has yielded rich and galvanizing story lines. The arcs of those narratives have been taught and shared in classrooms across America.
Adam Clayton Powell Jr. and Charles B. Rangel became chairmen of powerful congressional committees. David N. Dinkins became the first black mayor of New York City, and David A. Paterson became the state's first black governor. Percy Sutton and Basil Paterson, David's father, became genuine power brokers, rolling between downtown and uptown with a sophisticated ease. The accomplishments gave Harlem a swagger and also a sweet pride.
Then came last week.
In what seemed like a double-barreled whammy of political shock and setback, Rangel stepped down as chairman of the Ways and Means Committee because of an ongoing ethics investigation and Paterson's reign took on a tick-tock, tick-tock echo as many — supporters and foes alike — called for his resignation because of allegations that he interceded on behalf of a staffer in a domestic abuse case and accepted free tickets to a baseball game.
'Favorite sons'
"I think it's been catastrophic for the black community in America and particularly in Harlem," said Bill Lynch, a political consultant who played a major role in Dinkins's historic 1989 election victory. "Harlem's seeing their political favorite sons go down. And what I'm worried about is that this could set our community back decades."
One could roam around the wind-whipped avenues and boulevards of Harlem in the wake of it all and sense a grave uncertainty about the political future. Emotions ranged from shame to embarrassment to pity. From stoop to street corner, from office tower to diner, from living room to the famed Showman's Cafe, the mood was alternately one of anger, defiance and soul-searching.
"Republicans may have gone too damn far, and people are looking at this," said Inez E. Dickens, a City Council member who represents Harlem. Her father, Lloyd Dickens, had backed political candidates going back to the days of Powell. Dickens was sitting in her living room one afternoon fielding calls from constituents worried about the fates of Rangel and Paterson. To yet another caller: "Honey, I hear you. Write those letters! The congressman needs you now more than ever."
It was in 1941 when the young New York minister Adam Clayton Powell Jr., with several aides in tow, made a pilgrimage to Albany to convince Gov. Herbert H. Lehman of the need to carve out a tight congressional district for the black residents of Harlem. The move played out beautifully for Powell, who became the first black congressman from the Northeast when he won election in 1944. Just as important, it began the mobilization of the community as a political force.
By the late 1960s and early 1970s, a coterie of figures — Rangel, Dinkins and Sutton, among them — had won election to the State Assembly. They served their apprenticeships in Albany but cut their political teeth in the competitive political clubhouses of Harlem. The community was truly on its way to deepening its political influence.
By the time Rangel had ascended to his chairmanship, and Paterson took over for Gov. Eliot L. Spitzer — who was forced to resign the governorship after revelations that he had been cavorting with call girls — Harlemites also felt they could stem the black political flowering in Brooklyn that had been taking place for years. The black and Caribbean population there is larger than Harlem's population.
"When you talk about Rangel and Paterson, well, they are Harlem," said Denise Williams, a 54-year-old who is unemployed, and suffering from a disability. She was on Adam Clayton Powell Boulevard, leaning on her cane. "And now they want Paterson to go. For what? A few baseball tickets?" She huffs. "Now, I am mad at him for the domestic-abuse story. Because he's been on top of domestic abuse for more than a minute."
She scans the street and says what many have been saying for years: Harlem is more multicultural than ever. The gentrification alarms her and some others. "Ever since Clinton came to Harlem," she said about the former president, who has an office on 125th Street, "the well-to-do have taken over. I loves me some Clinton. Cotton comes to Harlem. But where does all this leave the rest of us — especially if Rangel and Paterson leave?"
Video: Rangel takes a tumble
The young haberdasher at B. Oyama was expecting a visitor last week. It's where Paterson shops. (He didn't show.) "So many people were looking for Paterson to be a hero," said Damien Brown, 20. "People wanted to see him have a long and successful career. It's all so shocking. Why is it that it's always the people who are closest to you who will bring you down?"
Not far away, at her own shop, Montgomery Harris was folding pieces of her elegant clothing, some of which are vintage. She has a picture she shows of Rangel, Basil Paterson, Sutton and Dinkins when they were young and on the march in Harlem. The scandals have unnerved her.
"It has created a situation where our black leaders have lost credibility," she said. "And credibility on things that make them seem like nickel-and-dime thieves. When you weigh it against the kind of power they had, it's sad. Rangel sat with King and Malcolm X. How could you be present for that and fall so short now? You had clear blueprints. Who and what will replace them is really the concern for the future."
There are white linens on the tables at Laila Najieb's nearby Tea & Things of That Kind. "It's so easy to fall from grace now," she said. "There's no middle floor. You are up high and then you just fall to the ground."
Lloyd Williams has known both Charlie Rangel and David Paterson for years; Sutton was his godfather. Williams worked in banking before joining the Greater Harlem Chamber of Commerce, of which he is now president. He spent a good part of last week shuttling in and out of meetings where the discussions revolved around Rangel and Paterson. Williams himself had been in the Caribbean with Rangel, whose sojourn there has come under intense congressional scrutiny.
"No one has said, 'Can we look at Charlie's itinerary while in the Caribbean?' " said Williams, sitting in a conference room at chamber headquarters. "I had a problem with Charlie down there because he didn't take any breaks. Okay, that picture of him on the beach: They called him a whale! The things they say about people of color."
He goes on: "When we were in the Caribbean, Charlie would come in at 11 at night and be up at 8 in the morning for a meeting, then have another meeting at 11, then do a working lunch at noon. Then a early dinner and more work. Then a reception at night. That was his day."
Williams fears there will be those eager to tarnish Rangel's legacy as he has come under siege, citing the congressman's involvement in the anti-apartheid movement, the Congressional Black Caucus, and closing the technology gap with inner cities. "In Brazil they know Charlie Rangel. In East St. Louis they know Charlie Rangel. Despite what people think, he is in a different universe than David Paterson."
It is not lost on Williams that the political dynamic of Harlem has been shifting in recent years to Brooklyn. "We are going into a different era," Williams concedes. "When an era ends, something else comes up. We don't have Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker and Miles Davis now. Someone replaces them. You have Anthony Hamilton. You have Wynton Marsalis. When Adam Clayton Powell Jr. fell, people said it was the end of an era."
The Powell saga has been on the lips of many here this past week.
The congressman rose to chairman of the Education and Labor Committee and was a major force in President Lyndon B. Johnson's War on Poverty. But he was stripped of his chairmanship in 1967 and eventually refused his seat due to ethics violations. Powell took his ouster to the Supreme Court, which, in a major ruling, declared the House had wrongly ousted him. Powell eventually returned to Congress, but without his powerful chairmanship. Rangel defeated him in 1970.
Staffers proclaim Rangel to be upbeat. He was talking to producers of the Jay Leno show late last week about making an appearance. "Why not?" said Emile Milne, a Rangel aide. "Let him go and talk and explain himself."
The congressman is on the phone. "Every since I thought I was going to die in the Korean War, I promised God I would never complain about anything," Rangel said. "When I lost my brother, then my mother, I wanted to complain but didn't."
He shifted more forcefully to the investigation. "I believe I'll be exonerated. Now, is all this embarrassing? You bet your [expletive] it is. But I'm still on the Ways and Means Committee. I still will be working for jobs, jobs, jobs, for the people of America and the people of Harlem. I'm not just some guy off Lenox Avenue talking about health care. I've got 40 years in Congress. People say to me, 'Why'd you step down from the chairmanship, Charlie?' Well, my colleagues think it's actually quite selfless. I don't want them fighting over my chair while they're trying to get reelected."
Hubbub
In Harlem, it could well be the summer of the long political knives. The hubbub in the Democratic clubhouses here is that someone will emerge to take on Rangel. Dickens, the councilwoman, is a leader of the Martin Luther King Jr. Democratic Club. She vows total support for Rangel but is also a realist.
"There will be opportunists" who might run against Rangel, she said. "They don't have the guts to stand up for him. Don't forget Charlie campaigned for a lot of Democrats around this country and helped them get into office."
Dickens wonders whether Rangel's political skills are being underestimated. "Charlie Rangel came off the streets of Lenox Avenue. He knows how to fight. Let me tell you something: The people in the clubhouses are talking about Adam Clayton Powell Jr. a lot, making comparisons to him and what's happening to Charlie. People in Harlem feel that when Rangel is attacked, they are attacked."
Assemblyman Adam Clayton Powell IV — son of the congressman — has squared off against Rangel before, suffering an ignominious defeat. He has not ruled out another run at Rangel, but the latest developments have him feeling a twinge of sympathy for the veteran congressman. Powell suffered his own spotlight tumult in 2004 when two women, at separate times, accused him of rape. One woman recanted her story, and the district attorney declined to bring charges in the other incident.
"The mentality out there is relentless against politicians," Powell said. "If they indict Paterson, some will feel it still is not enough, and they will want to behead him. The whole concept of being innocent until proven guilty has gone down the drain."
One of the old lions of Harlem remains hopeful. "I think the people of Harlem are resilient and will rebound no matter what," said Dinkins, the former mayor. "I'm not satisfied that people can sound the death knell on Rangel and Paterson just yet. Harlem is such a special place."
Bill Lynch — Dinkins's former wizard, who is determined to keep Harlem politically relevant — feels confident he can summon some of the old magic to at least save Rangel.
"Our strategy as we run his campaign will be simple," Lynch said of Rangel. "We will tell people what he's done. He's been responsible for bringing a billion dollars a year into New York since he's been chairman. We're going to get that message out on every street corner. Let me be clear: I believe we can win in the fall. We're going to run like insurgents. And we'll crush anyone who runs against us."
The wizard would not offer any forecast about Paterson's fate.
© 2010 The Washington Post Company
Politics
Ethics cases bruise Harlem’s political heart
Rangel, Paterson scandals ‘could set our community back decades’
Jewel Samad / AFP - Getty Images
Rep. Charles Rangel admits an ongoing ethics probe is "embarrassing" but says that he will be exonerated.
By Wil Haygood
The Washington Post
NEW YORK - Few will deny that the political landscape here in Harlem has yielded rich and galvanizing story lines. The arcs of those narratives have been taught and shared in classrooms across America.
Adam Clayton Powell Jr. and Charles B. Rangel became chairmen of powerful congressional committees. David N. Dinkins became the first black mayor of New York City, and David A. Paterson became the state's first black governor. Percy Sutton and Basil Paterson, David's father, became genuine power brokers, rolling between downtown and uptown with a sophisticated ease. The accomplishments gave Harlem a swagger and also a sweet pride.
Then came last week.
In what seemed like a double-barreled whammy of political shock and setback, Rangel stepped down as chairman of the Ways and Means Committee because of an ongoing ethics investigation and Paterson's reign took on a tick-tock, tick-tock echo as many — supporters and foes alike — called for his resignation because of allegations that he interceded on behalf of a staffer in a domestic abuse case and accepted free tickets to a baseball game.
'Favorite sons'
"I think it's been catastrophic for the black community in America and particularly in Harlem," said Bill Lynch, a political consultant who played a major role in Dinkins's historic 1989 election victory. "Harlem's seeing their political favorite sons go down. And what I'm worried about is that this could set our community back decades."
One could roam around the wind-whipped avenues and boulevards of Harlem in the wake of it all and sense a grave uncertainty about the political future. Emotions ranged from shame to embarrassment to pity. From stoop to street corner, from office tower to diner, from living room to the famed Showman's Cafe, the mood was alternately one of anger, defiance and soul-searching.
"Republicans may have gone too damn far, and people are looking at this," said Inez E. Dickens, a City Council member who represents Harlem. Her father, Lloyd Dickens, had backed political candidates going back to the days of Powell. Dickens was sitting in her living room one afternoon fielding calls from constituents worried about the fates of Rangel and Paterson. To yet another caller: "Honey, I hear you. Write those letters! The congressman needs you now more than ever."
It was in 1941 when the young New York minister Adam Clayton Powell Jr., with several aides in tow, made a pilgrimage to Albany to convince Gov. Herbert H. Lehman of the need to carve out a tight congressional district for the black residents of Harlem. The move played out beautifully for Powell, who became the first black congressman from the Northeast when he won election in 1944. Just as important, it began the mobilization of the community as a political force.
By the late 1960s and early 1970s, a coterie of figures — Rangel, Dinkins and Sutton, among them — had won election to the State Assembly. They served their apprenticeships in Albany but cut their political teeth in the competitive political clubhouses of Harlem. The community was truly on its way to deepening its political influence.
By the time Rangel had ascended to his chairmanship, and Paterson took over for Gov. Eliot L. Spitzer — who was forced to resign the governorship after revelations that he had been cavorting with call girls — Harlemites also felt they could stem the black political flowering in Brooklyn that had been taking place for years. The black and Caribbean population there is larger than Harlem's population.
"When you talk about Rangel and Paterson, well, they are Harlem," said Denise Williams, a 54-year-old who is unemployed, and suffering from a disability. She was on Adam Clayton Powell Boulevard, leaning on her cane. "And now they want Paterson to go. For what? A few baseball tickets?" She huffs. "Now, I am mad at him for the domestic-abuse story. Because he's been on top of domestic abuse for more than a minute."
She scans the street and says what many have been saying for years: Harlem is more multicultural than ever. The gentrification alarms her and some others. "Ever since Clinton came to Harlem," she said about the former president, who has an office on 125th Street, "the well-to-do have taken over. I loves me some Clinton. Cotton comes to Harlem. But where does all this leave the rest of us — especially if Rangel and Paterson leave?"
Video: Rangel takes a tumble
The young haberdasher at B. Oyama was expecting a visitor last week. It's where Paterson shops. (He didn't show.) "So many people were looking for Paterson to be a hero," said Damien Brown, 20. "People wanted to see him have a long and successful career. It's all so shocking. Why is it that it's always the people who are closest to you who will bring you down?"
Not far away, at her own shop, Montgomery Harris was folding pieces of her elegant clothing, some of which are vintage. She has a picture she shows of Rangel, Basil Paterson, Sutton and Dinkins when they were young and on the march in Harlem. The scandals have unnerved her.
"It has created a situation where our black leaders have lost credibility," she said. "And credibility on things that make them seem like nickel-and-dime thieves. When you weigh it against the kind of power they had, it's sad. Rangel sat with King and Malcolm X. How could you be present for that and fall so short now? You had clear blueprints. Who and what will replace them is really the concern for the future."
There are white linens on the tables at Laila Najieb's nearby Tea & Things of That Kind. "It's so easy to fall from grace now," she said. "There's no middle floor. You are up high and then you just fall to the ground."
Lloyd Williams has known both Charlie Rangel and David Paterson for years; Sutton was his godfather. Williams worked in banking before joining the Greater Harlem Chamber of Commerce, of which he is now president. He spent a good part of last week shuttling in and out of meetings where the discussions revolved around Rangel and Paterson. Williams himself had been in the Caribbean with Rangel, whose sojourn there has come under intense congressional scrutiny.
"No one has said, 'Can we look at Charlie's itinerary while in the Caribbean?' " said Williams, sitting in a conference room at chamber headquarters. "I had a problem with Charlie down there because he didn't take any breaks. Okay, that picture of him on the beach: They called him a whale! The things they say about people of color."
He goes on: "When we were in the Caribbean, Charlie would come in at 11 at night and be up at 8 in the morning for a meeting, then have another meeting at 11, then do a working lunch at noon. Then a early dinner and more work. Then a reception at night. That was his day."
Williams fears there will be those eager to tarnish Rangel's legacy as he has come under siege, citing the congressman's involvement in the anti-apartheid movement, the Congressional Black Caucus, and closing the technology gap with inner cities. "In Brazil they know Charlie Rangel. In East St. Louis they know Charlie Rangel. Despite what people think, he is in a different universe than David Paterson."
It is not lost on Williams that the political dynamic of Harlem has been shifting in recent years to Brooklyn. "We are going into a different era," Williams concedes. "When an era ends, something else comes up. We don't have Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker and Miles Davis now. Someone replaces them. You have Anthony Hamilton. You have Wynton Marsalis. When Adam Clayton Powell Jr. fell, people said it was the end of an era."
The Powell saga has been on the lips of many here this past week.
The congressman rose to chairman of the Education and Labor Committee and was a major force in President Lyndon B. Johnson's War on Poverty. But he was stripped of his chairmanship in 1967 and eventually refused his seat due to ethics violations. Powell took his ouster to the Supreme Court, which, in a major ruling, declared the House had wrongly ousted him. Powell eventually returned to Congress, but without his powerful chairmanship. Rangel defeated him in 1970.
Staffers proclaim Rangel to be upbeat. He was talking to producers of the Jay Leno show late last week about making an appearance. "Why not?" said Emile Milne, a Rangel aide. "Let him go and talk and explain himself."
The congressman is on the phone. "Every since I thought I was going to die in the Korean War, I promised God I would never complain about anything," Rangel said. "When I lost my brother, then my mother, I wanted to complain but didn't."
He shifted more forcefully to the investigation. "I believe I'll be exonerated. Now, is all this embarrassing? You bet your [expletive] it is. But I'm still on the Ways and Means Committee. I still will be working for jobs, jobs, jobs, for the people of America and the people of Harlem. I'm not just some guy off Lenox Avenue talking about health care. I've got 40 years in Congress. People say to me, 'Why'd you step down from the chairmanship, Charlie?' Well, my colleagues think it's actually quite selfless. I don't want them fighting over my chair while they're trying to get reelected."
Hubbub
In Harlem, it could well be the summer of the long political knives. The hubbub in the Democratic clubhouses here is that someone will emerge to take on Rangel. Dickens, the councilwoman, is a leader of the Martin Luther King Jr. Democratic Club. She vows total support for Rangel but is also a realist.
"There will be opportunists" who might run against Rangel, she said. "They don't have the guts to stand up for him. Don't forget Charlie campaigned for a lot of Democrats around this country and helped them get into office."
Dickens wonders whether Rangel's political skills are being underestimated. "Charlie Rangel came off the streets of Lenox Avenue. He knows how to fight. Let me tell you something: The people in the clubhouses are talking about Adam Clayton Powell Jr. a lot, making comparisons to him and what's happening to Charlie. People in Harlem feel that when Rangel is attacked, they are attacked."
Assemblyman Adam Clayton Powell IV — son of the congressman — has squared off against Rangel before, suffering an ignominious defeat. He has not ruled out another run at Rangel, but the latest developments have him feeling a twinge of sympathy for the veteran congressman. Powell suffered his own spotlight tumult in 2004 when two women, at separate times, accused him of rape. One woman recanted her story, and the district attorney declined to bring charges in the other incident.
"The mentality out there is relentless against politicians," Powell said. "If they indict Paterson, some will feel it still is not enough, and they will want to behead him. The whole concept of being innocent until proven guilty has gone down the drain."
One of the old lions of Harlem remains hopeful. "I think the people of Harlem are resilient and will rebound no matter what," said Dinkins, the former mayor. "I'm not satisfied that people can sound the death knell on Rangel and Paterson just yet. Harlem is such a special place."
Bill Lynch — Dinkins's former wizard, who is determined to keep Harlem politically relevant — feels confident he can summon some of the old magic to at least save Rangel.
"Our strategy as we run his campaign will be simple," Lynch said of Rangel. "We will tell people what he's done. He's been responsible for bringing a billion dollars a year into New York since he's been chairman. We're going to get that message out on every street corner. Let me be clear: I believe we can win in the fall. We're going to run like insurgents. And we'll crush anyone who runs against us."
The wizard would not offer any forecast about Paterson's fate.
© 2010 The Washington Post Company
providing immigration services worldwide for 25 years
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McCain faces challenge from Arizona hard-liner
by doug » Wed Mar 10, 2010 4:42 pm
McCain faces challenge from Arizona hard-liner
One News Now, in Arizona, reports that immigration policy may be an issue of contention in the state’s Republican Senatorial Primary.
Some immigration enforcement groups believe that Arizona Senator John McCain will be defeated in the GOP primary if he supports any pro-immigration legislation.
J.D. Hayworth—a former U.S Representative— is challenging four term Senator John McCain for the GOP Senatorial bid as an unwavering opponent of illegal immigration.
http://visalaw.c.topica.com/maanQQ5abWKzDboVcGUb/
One News Now, in Arizona, reports that immigration policy may be an issue of contention in the state’s Republican Senatorial Primary.
Some immigration enforcement groups believe that Arizona Senator John McCain will be defeated in the GOP primary if he supports any pro-immigration legislation.
J.D. Hayworth—a former U.S Representative— is challenging four term Senator John McCain for the GOP Senatorial bid as an unwavering opponent of illegal immigration.
http://visalaw.c.topica.com/maanQQ5abWKzDboVcGUb/
providing immigration services worldwide for 25 years
- doug
- Posts: 24873
- Joined: Fri Nov 22, 2002 10:06 pm
- Location: chapel hill, n.c.
NYT: ?Tea party? avoids divisive issues
by doug » Sat Mar 13, 2010 9:02 am
updated 7:04 a.m. ET March 13, 2010
NYT: ‘Tea party’ avoids divisive issues
Abortion, gay marriage and God get little attention in manifestos
Tea party supporters demonstrate before the arrival of President Barack Obama at the Renaissance Grand Hotel in St. Louis on Wednesday.
By Kate Zernike
The New York Times
Video: Tea Party falling short at ballot box
For decades, faith and family have been at the center of the conservative movement. But as the Tea Party infuses conservatism with new energy, its leaders deliberately avoid discussion of issues like gay marriage or abortion.
God, life and family get little if any mention in statements or manifestos. The motto of the Tea Party Patriots, a large coalition of groups, is “fiscal responsibility, limited government, and free markets.”
The Independence Caucus questionnaire, which many Tea Party groups use to evaluate candidates, poses 80 questions, most on the proper role of government, tax policy and the federal budgeting process, and virtually none on social issues.
The Contract From America, which is being created Wiki-style by Internet contributors as a manifesto of what “the people” want government to do, also mentions little in the way of social issues, beyond a declaration that parents should be given choice in how to educate their children.
By contrast, the document it aims to improve upon — the Contract With America, which Republicans used to market their successful campaign to win a majority in Congress in 1994 — was prefaced with the promise that the party would lead a Congress that “respects the values and shares the faith of the American family.”
'Biggest tent possible'
Tea Party leaders argue that the country can ill afford the discussion about social issues when it is passing on enormous debts to future generations. But the focus is also strategic: leaders think they can attract independent voters if they stay away from divisive issues.
“We should be creating the biggest tent possible around the economic conservative issue,” said Ryan Hecker, the organizer behind the Contract From America.
“I think social issues may matter to particular individuals, but at the end of the day, the movement should be agnostic about it. This is a movement that rose largely because of the Republican Party failing to deliver on being representative of the economic conservative ideology.
"To include social issues would be beside the point.”
As the Tea Party pushes to change the Republican Party, the purity they demand of candidates may have more to do with economic conservatism than social conservatism. Some Tea Party groups, for instance, have declined to endorse J. D. Hayworth, who has claimed the mantle of a fiscal conservative, in the Republican Senate primary in Arizona.
But these groups find his record in Congress no more fiscally responsible than the man he seeks to oust, John McCain.
The Tea Party defines economic conservatism more strictly than most Republicans in Congress would — the Tea Party agrees about the need to do away with earmarks, but the Contract, for example, also includes a proposal to scrap the tax code and replace it with one no longer than 4,543 words (a number chosen to match the length of the Constitution, unamended.)
It would limit the growth of federal spending to inflation plus the percentage of population growth and require a two-thirds majority for any tax increase.
Social issues still pack a wallop: a group of Democrats opposed to abortion rights could determine the fate of health care legislation in the House.
And Republicans at the Conservative Political Action Conference last month, while celebrating the Tea Party for energizing their movement, spent much of their time talking about banning gay marriage and overturning Roe v. Wade. “God’s in charge,” Gov. Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota told a cheering crowd.
Tea Party leaders themselves have found it hard to keep the issues out. The inaugural Tea Party convention, organized by the social networking site Tea Party Nation, featured remarks by fervent opponents of gay marriage and abortion rights, including the Baptist pastor Rick Scarborough And some leaders criticized Sarah Palin — normally a Tea Party favorite — for advocating “divine intervention” to help the country.
Jenny Beth Martin, the leader of the Tea Party Patriots, complained that she spent the days after the convention answering questions about social issues.
“When people ask about them, we say, ‘Go get involved in other organizations that already deal with social issues very well,’ ” she said. “We have to be diligent and stay on message.”
Many Tea Party members do embrace those issues. The subset of Tea Party organizations known as 9/12 groups, founded by Glenn Beck, asks members to embrace seven of nine principles, the second of which is “I believe in God and he is the center of my life.”
Some experts, like Lisa McGirr, a professor of history at Harvard and the author of “Suburban Warriors: The Origins of the New American Right,” say that the Tea Party uses a kind of code to talk about social values.
For instance, when they emphasize a return to the strict meaning of the Constitution, they interpret that as a return to a Christian foundation.
“When they talk about returning to the values of the Founding Fathers,” she said, “they are talking about life as a social issue.”
Championing states' rights
Tea Party leaders champion states’ rights, holding dear the Tenth Amendment, which restricts the role of the federal government.
The Independence Caucus questionnaire, for instance, asks candidates for their views on Wickard v. Filburn, a Supreme Court decision that Tea Party groups say has been used to vastly expand federal powers. (Roe v. Wade does not come up.)
So while some may oppose gay marriage or abortion, they want it left up to states to decide. Nor do they support any abridgement of the right to carry guns.
But when the Sam Adams Alliance, a Tea Party-friendly conservative organization in Chicago, surveyed 50 leaders of the movement about the most important direction for the movement, none selected social issues. Most said “budget” or “economy/jobs.”
While social conservative movements grew out of churches, the Tea Party has built its numbers online. Advocacy groups that have helped grow the movement, like Americans for Prosperity and Freedom Works, have also emphasized the importance of focusing on economic conservatism.
Raising social issues, the movement’s leaders say, risks fracturing the strength it has built. “Every social issue you bring in, you’re adding planks to your mission,” said Frank Anderson, a founder of the Independence Caucus, based in Utah. “And planks become splinters.”
They also recognize that support for gay marriage has increased, particularly among the young, and so opposing it may alienate supporters.
At a candidate forum sponsored by the Kitchen Table Patriots in suburban Philadelphia in January, nine candidates, mostly first-time politicians seeking office after getting involved in the Tea Party, were asked whether they believed that Roe v. Wade should be repealed. Only one said yes.
“I think that it’s also going to get Democrats over, if you’re not so rigid,” said Anastasia Przybylski, the co-founder of the Patriots.
“I have friends where that’s a big turnoff — they’re registered Democrats because of abortion but they’re totally freaking out about the debt.”
This story, "Tea Party Avoids Divisive Social Issues", first appeared in The New York Times.
Copyright © 2010 The New York Times
NYT: ‘Tea party’ avoids divisive issues
Abortion, gay marriage and God get little attention in manifestos
Tea party supporters demonstrate before the arrival of President Barack Obama at the Renaissance Grand Hotel in St. Louis on Wednesday.
By Kate Zernike
The New York Times
Video: Tea Party falling short at ballot box
For decades, faith and family have been at the center of the conservative movement. But as the Tea Party infuses conservatism with new energy, its leaders deliberately avoid discussion of issues like gay marriage or abortion.
God, life and family get little if any mention in statements or manifestos. The motto of the Tea Party Patriots, a large coalition of groups, is “fiscal responsibility, limited government, and free markets.”
The Independence Caucus questionnaire, which many Tea Party groups use to evaluate candidates, poses 80 questions, most on the proper role of government, tax policy and the federal budgeting process, and virtually none on social issues.
The Contract From America, which is being created Wiki-style by Internet contributors as a manifesto of what “the people” want government to do, also mentions little in the way of social issues, beyond a declaration that parents should be given choice in how to educate their children.
By contrast, the document it aims to improve upon — the Contract With America, which Republicans used to market their successful campaign to win a majority in Congress in 1994 — was prefaced with the promise that the party would lead a Congress that “respects the values and shares the faith of the American family.”
'Biggest tent possible'
Tea Party leaders argue that the country can ill afford the discussion about social issues when it is passing on enormous debts to future generations. But the focus is also strategic: leaders think they can attract independent voters if they stay away from divisive issues.
“We should be creating the biggest tent possible around the economic conservative issue,” said Ryan Hecker, the organizer behind the Contract From America.
“I think social issues may matter to particular individuals, but at the end of the day, the movement should be agnostic about it. This is a movement that rose largely because of the Republican Party failing to deliver on being representative of the economic conservative ideology.
"To include social issues would be beside the point.”
As the Tea Party pushes to change the Republican Party, the purity they demand of candidates may have more to do with economic conservatism than social conservatism. Some Tea Party groups, for instance, have declined to endorse J. D. Hayworth, who has claimed the mantle of a fiscal conservative, in the Republican Senate primary in Arizona.
But these groups find his record in Congress no more fiscally responsible than the man he seeks to oust, John McCain.
The Tea Party defines economic conservatism more strictly than most Republicans in Congress would — the Tea Party agrees about the need to do away with earmarks, but the Contract, for example, also includes a proposal to scrap the tax code and replace it with one no longer than 4,543 words (a number chosen to match the length of the Constitution, unamended.)
It would limit the growth of federal spending to inflation plus the percentage of population growth and require a two-thirds majority for any tax increase.
Social issues still pack a wallop: a group of Democrats opposed to abortion rights could determine the fate of health care legislation in the House.
And Republicans at the Conservative Political Action Conference last month, while celebrating the Tea Party for energizing their movement, spent much of their time talking about banning gay marriage and overturning Roe v. Wade. “God’s in charge,” Gov. Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota told a cheering crowd.
Tea Party leaders themselves have found it hard to keep the issues out. The inaugural Tea Party convention, organized by the social networking site Tea Party Nation, featured remarks by fervent opponents of gay marriage and abortion rights, including the Baptist pastor Rick Scarborough And some leaders criticized Sarah Palin — normally a Tea Party favorite — for advocating “divine intervention” to help the country.
Jenny Beth Martin, the leader of the Tea Party Patriots, complained that she spent the days after the convention answering questions about social issues.
“When people ask about them, we say, ‘Go get involved in other organizations that already deal with social issues very well,’ ” she said. “We have to be diligent and stay on message.”
Many Tea Party members do embrace those issues. The subset of Tea Party organizations known as 9/12 groups, founded by Glenn Beck, asks members to embrace seven of nine principles, the second of which is “I believe in God and he is the center of my life.”
Some experts, like Lisa McGirr, a professor of history at Harvard and the author of “Suburban Warriors: The Origins of the New American Right,” say that the Tea Party uses a kind of code to talk about social values.
For instance, when they emphasize a return to the strict meaning of the Constitution, they interpret that as a return to a Christian foundation.
“When they talk about returning to the values of the Founding Fathers,” she said, “they are talking about life as a social issue.”
Championing states' rights
Tea Party leaders champion states’ rights, holding dear the Tenth Amendment, which restricts the role of the federal government.
The Independence Caucus questionnaire, for instance, asks candidates for their views on Wickard v. Filburn, a Supreme Court decision that Tea Party groups say has been used to vastly expand federal powers. (Roe v. Wade does not come up.)
So while some may oppose gay marriage or abortion, they want it left up to states to decide. Nor do they support any abridgement of the right to carry guns.
But when the Sam Adams Alliance, a Tea Party-friendly conservative organization in Chicago, surveyed 50 leaders of the movement about the most important direction for the movement, none selected social issues. Most said “budget” or “economy/jobs.”
While social conservative movements grew out of churches, the Tea Party has built its numbers online. Advocacy groups that have helped grow the movement, like Americans for Prosperity and Freedom Works, have also emphasized the importance of focusing on economic conservatism.
Raising social issues, the movement’s leaders say, risks fracturing the strength it has built. “Every social issue you bring in, you’re adding planks to your mission,” said Frank Anderson, a founder of the Independence Caucus, based in Utah. “And planks become splinters.”
They also recognize that support for gay marriage has increased, particularly among the young, and so opposing it may alienate supporters.
At a candidate forum sponsored by the Kitchen Table Patriots in suburban Philadelphia in January, nine candidates, mostly first-time politicians seeking office after getting involved in the Tea Party, were asked whether they believed that Roe v. Wade should be repealed. Only one said yes.
“I think that it’s also going to get Democrats over, if you’re not so rigid,” said Anastasia Przybylski, the co-founder of the Patriots.
“I have friends where that’s a big turnoff — they’re registered Democrats because of abortion but they’re totally freaking out about the debt.”
This story, "Tea Party Avoids Divisive Social Issues", first appeared in The New York Times.
Copyright © 2010 The New York Times
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Divided party? It?s not just Republicans
by doug » Sat Mar 13, 2010 12:55 pm
updated 1:17 p.m. ET March 13, 2010
Politics
Divided party? It’s not just Republicans
Widening cracks within party could make for an even bleaker election year
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON - For all the evidence of a divided Republican Party, the Democratic Party has its own widening cracks that could make a potentially bleak election year even more dour.
In just the past two weeks, Arkansas Sen. Blanche Lincoln became the latest Democratic incumbent to attract a primary challenger, anti-abortion Democrats fought hard to derail President Barack Obama's health care measure, and civil rights advocates and environmentalists likened the Democratic president to George W. Bush.
Few pieces of the mosaic that is the Democratic Party seem happy.
Labor and gays are restless. Blacks and Hispanics are grumbling. Liberals and moderates are battling. Even some in Hollywood are disappointed.
Obama must bring together — and fire up — the many Democratic coalitions if he hopes to minimize expected losses for his party in this November's election when control of Congress is at stake. The risk if he doesn't is that Democrats could become so disaffected that they stay home in November.
It's far from too late. Passage of the health care overhaul would mean a monumental victory for Obama just when he needs one. This president will have accomplished what others before him couldn't, a triumph that would give the fractured rank and file something to rally around.
David Axelrod, a senior White House adviser, isn't panicking.
"We are a broad party," he said in a recent interview. "There's always going to be some degree of tension."
Axelrod voiced confidence that the vast majority of the party's loyalists will get behind its candidates this fall because the philosophical differences between Republicans and Democrats are so great.
"Whatever divides us," he said, "that fundamental split is still animating."
Despite the dissension, 84 percent of Democrats approve of Obama's job performance in the latest Associated Press-GfK poll.
Rift deepens
Republicans are wrestling with their own deep splits. There's a family feud over whether the Republican Party should strictly adhere to conservative principles or be more inclusive. That infighting is prominently on display in a slew of contentious primary contests.
But the fissures among Democrats, festering for months, are striking because the party controls both the White House and Congress, and unity was in style just a year ago as Democrats celebrated the first months of Obama's tenure with bigger majorities on Capitol Hill.
Then, the governing began in earnest — and so did the complaining.
Some of it was expected.
The Democratic Party has always been more of a coalition party than the Republicans, bringing together varied factions that include labor, minorities, civil rights activists, social progressives and anti-war protesters. Each part seldom gets everything it wants. Expectations were lofty, given the Democratic control of the federal government. That only brought the potential for serious letdowns and, thus, infighting.
"I don't think you can say that the party's in any state of disarray," said former Rep. Martin Frost of Texas, a past chairman of the House Democrats campaign committee. But, he added, there are clearly divisions and divisive primaries are "not helpful."
Perhaps nothing better illustrates the Democratic splits than the Senate race in Arkansas.
Frustrations
A moderate, Lincoln infuriated liberals by backing the 2008 Wall Street bailout while opposing a public insurance health care option and key union-organizing legislation. She was considered among the party's most vulnerable incumbents for months when Democratic Lt. Gov. Bill Halter got in the race.
Now, Lincoln is promoting her independence, saying in an ad: "I don't answer to my party, I answer to Arkansas."
Halter has the backing of the liberal MoveOn.org and is collecting big money from labor groups.
Two other Senate Democrats facing tough races — Sens. Arlen Specter in Pennsylvania and Michael Bennet in Colorado — also have primaries even though the White House is backing the incumbents.
The fractures have been on display in other ways as well this month:
The American Civil Liberties Union ran a full-page advertisement in The New York Times showing Obama morphing into Bush and asking "Change or more of the same?" The ad criticized Obama for even considering military tribunals for the alleged Sept. 11 terror mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed.
Defenders of Wildlife ran a TV ad featuring actress Ashley Judd assailing Obama for not reversing a Bush decision lifting the federal protection on wolves in parts of the Northern Rockies. Judd says: "You promised change. But by adopting the Bush plan, your administration weakened our endangered species law and has allowed this killing to happen."
A dozen or so anti-abortion House Democrats are opposing Obama's health care overhaul plan — and putting its passage in jeopardy — because it includes a provision they don't like. The left has been angered by the absence of a government-run insurance option to compete with private insurers in the legislation.
Many members of the Congressional Black Caucus voted against a jobs bill that they said didn't focus enough on job training programs or summer employment. They complain that they're getting too little support from the country's first black president. Obama met with them last week.
Hispanics privately continue to question — after a year of virtual inaction — whether Obama is sincere in his promise to overhaul the immigration system even as he met with senators trying to write a bipartisan bill on the issue and repeated his pledge.
Unions said they will take sides in primary races and labor officials complained that the White House hasn't pushed legislation that would make it easier for unions to organize workers. The AFL-CIO labor federation also rebuked Obama for condoning mass firings of teachers at a poorly performing Rhode Island high school.
The gay community is fretting over the pace at which Obama has addressed their top issues such as repealing the 17-year-old law that bans gays from serving openly in the military. Obama needs Congress' blessing to do that, but there's resistance.
"There are frustrations that we haven't been able to get as much done that we would like to, especially as health care drags on," acknowledged Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley. He predicted "less griping and more coalescing" once that's completed, and unity come November.
Copyright 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Politics
Divided party? It’s not just Republicans
Widening cracks within party could make for an even bleaker election year
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON - For all the evidence of a divided Republican Party, the Democratic Party has its own widening cracks that could make a potentially bleak election year even more dour.
In just the past two weeks, Arkansas Sen. Blanche Lincoln became the latest Democratic incumbent to attract a primary challenger, anti-abortion Democrats fought hard to derail President Barack Obama's health care measure, and civil rights advocates and environmentalists likened the Democratic president to George W. Bush.
Few pieces of the mosaic that is the Democratic Party seem happy.
Labor and gays are restless. Blacks and Hispanics are grumbling. Liberals and moderates are battling. Even some in Hollywood are disappointed.
Obama must bring together — and fire up — the many Democratic coalitions if he hopes to minimize expected losses for his party in this November's election when control of Congress is at stake. The risk if he doesn't is that Democrats could become so disaffected that they stay home in November.
It's far from too late. Passage of the health care overhaul would mean a monumental victory for Obama just when he needs one. This president will have accomplished what others before him couldn't, a triumph that would give the fractured rank and file something to rally around.
David Axelrod, a senior White House adviser, isn't panicking.
"We are a broad party," he said in a recent interview. "There's always going to be some degree of tension."
Axelrod voiced confidence that the vast majority of the party's loyalists will get behind its candidates this fall because the philosophical differences between Republicans and Democrats are so great.
"Whatever divides us," he said, "that fundamental split is still animating."
Despite the dissension, 84 percent of Democrats approve of Obama's job performance in the latest Associated Press-GfK poll.
Rift deepens
Republicans are wrestling with their own deep splits. There's a family feud over whether the Republican Party should strictly adhere to conservative principles or be more inclusive. That infighting is prominently on display in a slew of contentious primary contests.
But the fissures among Democrats, festering for months, are striking because the party controls both the White House and Congress, and unity was in style just a year ago as Democrats celebrated the first months of Obama's tenure with bigger majorities on Capitol Hill.
Then, the governing began in earnest — and so did the complaining.
Some of it was expected.
The Democratic Party has always been more of a coalition party than the Republicans, bringing together varied factions that include labor, minorities, civil rights activists, social progressives and anti-war protesters. Each part seldom gets everything it wants. Expectations were lofty, given the Democratic control of the federal government. That only brought the potential for serious letdowns and, thus, infighting.
"I don't think you can say that the party's in any state of disarray," said former Rep. Martin Frost of Texas, a past chairman of the House Democrats campaign committee. But, he added, there are clearly divisions and divisive primaries are "not helpful."
Perhaps nothing better illustrates the Democratic splits than the Senate race in Arkansas.
Frustrations
A moderate, Lincoln infuriated liberals by backing the 2008 Wall Street bailout while opposing a public insurance health care option and key union-organizing legislation. She was considered among the party's most vulnerable incumbents for months when Democratic Lt. Gov. Bill Halter got in the race.
Now, Lincoln is promoting her independence, saying in an ad: "I don't answer to my party, I answer to Arkansas."
Halter has the backing of the liberal MoveOn.org and is collecting big money from labor groups.
Two other Senate Democrats facing tough races — Sens. Arlen Specter in Pennsylvania and Michael Bennet in Colorado — also have primaries even though the White House is backing the incumbents.
The fractures have been on display in other ways as well this month:
The American Civil Liberties Union ran a full-page advertisement in The New York Times showing Obama morphing into Bush and asking "Change or more of the same?" The ad criticized Obama for even considering military tribunals for the alleged Sept. 11 terror mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed.
Defenders of Wildlife ran a TV ad featuring actress Ashley Judd assailing Obama for not reversing a Bush decision lifting the federal protection on wolves in parts of the Northern Rockies. Judd says: "You promised change. But by adopting the Bush plan, your administration weakened our endangered species law and has allowed this killing to happen."
A dozen or so anti-abortion House Democrats are opposing Obama's health care overhaul plan — and putting its passage in jeopardy — because it includes a provision they don't like. The left has been angered by the absence of a government-run insurance option to compete with private insurers in the legislation.
Many members of the Congressional Black Caucus voted against a jobs bill that they said didn't focus enough on job training programs or summer employment. They complain that they're getting too little support from the country's first black president. Obama met with them last week.
Hispanics privately continue to question — after a year of virtual inaction — whether Obama is sincere in his promise to overhaul the immigration system even as he met with senators trying to write a bipartisan bill on the issue and repeated his pledge.
Unions said they will take sides in primary races and labor officials complained that the White House hasn't pushed legislation that would make it easier for unions to organize workers. The AFL-CIO labor federation also rebuked Obama for condoning mass firings of teachers at a poorly performing Rhode Island high school.
The gay community is fretting over the pace at which Obama has addressed their top issues such as repealing the 17-year-old law that bans gays from serving openly in the military. Obama needs Congress' blessing to do that, but there's resistance.
"There are frustrations that we haven't been able to get as much done that we would like to, especially as health care drags on," acknowledged Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley. He predicted "less griping and more coalescing" once that's completed, and unity come November.
Copyright 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
providing immigration services worldwide for 25 years
- doug
- Posts: 24873
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- Location: chapel hill, n.c.
McCain enlists Palin in 2010 Senate fight
by doug » Fri Mar 26, 2010 3:32 pm
updated 5:05 p.m. ET March 26, 2010
Decision 2010
McCain enlists Palin in 2010 Senate fight
Former GOP presidential candidate faces primary challenge from right
By JONATHAN J. COOPER
The Associated Press
PHOENIX - John McCain helped Sarah Palin launch her national political career two years ago. Now, she's trying to help McCain save his.
Campaigning with her 2008 running mate on Friday for the first time since the failed 2008 campaign, the former vice presidential candidate urged Arizonans to "send this maverick back the United States Senate."
"He's never been a company man," Palin said of McCain, touting his willingness to "buck the political machine."
McCain is fighting for his political life. Fending off a primary challenge from the right, the four-term Arizona senator is facing the toughest re-election campaign of his Senate career.
Former congressman and conservative talk-radio host JD Hayworth says McCain is too moderate for Arizona Republicans. He points to McCain's reputation for working with Democrats on key issues such as reducing greenhouse gas emissions and restricting campaign donations.
But, while acknowledging the Republican party's emphasis on "new blood" and grassroots activists — those being heavily targeted by Hayworth — Palin said that the party also needs "statesmen and heroes like John McCain."
Palin was a first-term governor of Alaska when McCain plucked her from relative obscurity to be his running mate. She went on to become a conservative star and a key Republican critic of President Barack Obama and the Democrats in Congress.
Palin will help McCain tout his conservative credentials at rallies in Tucson on Friday and the Phoenix suburb of Mesa on Saturday. They'll hold a fundraiser on Friday at the same Phoenix hotel where they conceded the presidential election on Nov. 4, 2008.
Hayworth has tried to define himself as "the consistent conservative" in contrast to the "maverick" McCain.
Before Hayworth left his radio show to officially enter the race, he used the airwaves to attack McCain's congressional record, most notably his work with the late Democratic Sen. Edward M. Kennedy on a bill that would have created a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants.
Now, Hayworth is hoping to topple one of the Republican Party's best-known figures by reaching out to conservative activists.
Hayworth said Palin is repaying McCain for launching her national political career.
"We look forward to having Gov. Palin's support following the primary," Hayworth said. "But we welcome her and we understand why she's in the state stumping for McCain."
Palin's popularity and fundraising power is largely unmatched on the right. But she's also been berated as a lightweight not prepared for national office, and she was criticized last year for resigning as Alaska governor before her term was up.
Palin has admonished McCain's presidential campaign since their loss, saying in her book "Going Rogue" that there was substantial tension between her advisers and McCain's. She said she was kept "bottled up" from reporters during the campaign and was prevented from delivering a concession speech in Phoenix on Election Night.
Palin hasn't criticized McCain himself, however, and the senator has stood by his decision to choose her as his running mate, saying he was proud of the campaign and predicting she would be a "major player" in the Republican Party.
Palin took heat this week when she released a list of 20 U.S. House of Representatives seats she said conservatives should target in the upcoming midterm elections. The list, posted on her Facebook page, featured a U.S. map with circles and cross hairs over the 20 districts.
Critics said it was inappropriate to use gun imagery, especially as a handful of Democrats who supported the health care overhaul reported receiving threats of violence.
McCain defended Palin, saying it was common practice and "part of the lexicon" to refer to targeted congressional districts.
Copyright 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Decision 2010
McCain enlists Palin in 2010 Senate fight
Former GOP presidential candidate faces primary challenge from right
By JONATHAN J. COOPER
The Associated Press
PHOENIX - John McCain helped Sarah Palin launch her national political career two years ago. Now, she's trying to help McCain save his.
Campaigning with her 2008 running mate on Friday for the first time since the failed 2008 campaign, the former vice presidential candidate urged Arizonans to "send this maverick back the United States Senate."
"He's never been a company man," Palin said of McCain, touting his willingness to "buck the political machine."
McCain is fighting for his political life. Fending off a primary challenge from the right, the four-term Arizona senator is facing the toughest re-election campaign of his Senate career.
Former congressman and conservative talk-radio host JD Hayworth says McCain is too moderate for Arizona Republicans. He points to McCain's reputation for working with Democrats on key issues such as reducing greenhouse gas emissions and restricting campaign donations.
But, while acknowledging the Republican party's emphasis on "new blood" and grassroots activists — those being heavily targeted by Hayworth — Palin said that the party also needs "statesmen and heroes like John McCain."
Palin was a first-term governor of Alaska when McCain plucked her from relative obscurity to be his running mate. She went on to become a conservative star and a key Republican critic of President Barack Obama and the Democrats in Congress.
Palin will help McCain tout his conservative credentials at rallies in Tucson on Friday and the Phoenix suburb of Mesa on Saturday. They'll hold a fundraiser on Friday at the same Phoenix hotel where they conceded the presidential election on Nov. 4, 2008.
Hayworth has tried to define himself as "the consistent conservative" in contrast to the "maverick" McCain.
Before Hayworth left his radio show to officially enter the race, he used the airwaves to attack McCain's congressional record, most notably his work with the late Democratic Sen. Edward M. Kennedy on a bill that would have created a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants.
Now, Hayworth is hoping to topple one of the Republican Party's best-known figures by reaching out to conservative activists.
Hayworth said Palin is repaying McCain for launching her national political career.
"We look forward to having Gov. Palin's support following the primary," Hayworth said. "But we welcome her and we understand why she's in the state stumping for McCain."
Palin's popularity and fundraising power is largely unmatched on the right. But she's also been berated as a lightweight not prepared for national office, and she was criticized last year for resigning as Alaska governor before her term was up.
Palin has admonished McCain's presidential campaign since their loss, saying in her book "Going Rogue" that there was substantial tension between her advisers and McCain's. She said she was kept "bottled up" from reporters during the campaign and was prevented from delivering a concession speech in Phoenix on Election Night.
Palin hasn't criticized McCain himself, however, and the senator has stood by his decision to choose her as his running mate, saying he was proud of the campaign and predicting she would be a "major player" in the Republican Party.
Palin took heat this week when she released a list of 20 U.S. House of Representatives seats she said conservatives should target in the upcoming midterm elections. The list, posted on her Facebook page, featured a U.S. map with circles and cross hairs over the 20 districts.
Critics said it was inappropriate to use gun imagery, especially as a handful of Democrats who supported the health care overhaul reported receiving threats of violence.
McCain defended Palin, saying it was common practice and "part of the lexicon" to refer to targeted congressional districts.
Copyright 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
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- Location: chapel hill, n.c.
Thousands expected for tea party rally
by doug » Sat Mar 27, 2010 7:56 am
updated 6:55 p.m. ET March 26, 2010
Thousands expected for tea party rally
Palin headlines Nevada event in Democratic Senate leader's hometown
Tea party activists hope a rally in Sen. Harry Reid's hometown of Searchlight, Nev., will build momentum against Reid and other Democrats who supported the president's health care legislation.
msnbc.com staff and news service reports
LAS VEGAS - Sarah Palin and thousands of tea party activists were gathering at Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's small hometown in the Nevada desert Saturday to call for the ouster of Democrats who supported the health care overhaul.
Organizers predict as many as 10,000 people could come to attend the so-called "Showdown in Searchlight," the hardscrabble former mining town where the Senate Democratic leader grew up and owns a home. Searchlight's population is 798, according to the travelnevada.com Web site.
However, a light turnout or disruptions could lead to questions about the emerging movements' credibility and direction.
Since the health care vote, "Everyone is waiting to see if the tea party movement is reinvigorated or if we've resigned ourselves to defeat," Joe Wierzbicki, a spokesman for event sponsor Tea Party Express, said in an e-mail.
The rally that's been called a conservative Woodstock takes place just days after the historic health care vote that ushered in near-universal medical coverage and divided Congress and the nation.
The vote was followed by reports of threats and vandalism aimed at some Washington lawmakers, mostly Democrats who supported the new law. Bricks have been hurled through Democrats' windows and at least 10 members of Congress who voted for the bill have received threats.
In the run-up to the health care vote, racial epithets aimed at black members of Congress were heard at protests attended by at least some tea party members.
Police don't expect problems but the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department is sending dozens of uniformed and plainclothes officers to patrol the crowd.
'Don't retreat... reload'
Palin, the former Alaska governor and 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee, is scheduled to appear after spending Friday campaigning for Sen. John McCain, the Arizona Republican who led the 2008 ticket.
Now a Fox News analyst and potential 2012 presidential candidate, Palin faced criticism after posting a map on her Facebook page that had circles and cross hairs over 20 Democratic districts. She also sent a tweet saying, "Don't Retreat, Instead - RELOAD!"
She said Friday she was alluding to votes, not guns.
"The tea party has one big challenge between now and November and that is policing itself," said Bill Whalen, a fellow at the conservative Hoover Institution and a speechwriter for President George H.W. Bush's 1992 campaign. "There is a lot of bitterness in politics today, and unfortunately it's much too close to the surface. You can plan a rally for 5,000 people, and if one person does something horrible, the rally was not successful."
Some rallies have featured protesters carrying holstered handguns, legal in some states. No violence has been reported.
"I'm confident we are going to have an orderly group," said Debbie Landis, whose tea party group is holding a candidate forum before the rally. "This is going to be attended by people interested in the future of their state and country, not rabble-rousers."
Organizers are aware of the visibility of the event.
"The whole world is watching," Tea Party Express spokesman Joe Wierzbicki said in an e-mail. "If you can get in your car and drive up, or hop on a plane, or take your motorhome or motorcycle, please, please, please join this historic effort."
Eric Odom, an organizer for the Patriot Caucus and other tea party groups, said in an e-mail Thursday that he had received "hundreds of hateful messages and phone calls" he attributed to "leftists" and supporters of the overhaul.
"Welcome to the real America," Norman Halfpenny, retired Marine Corps master gunnery sergeant told The Las Vegas Review-Journal, as he and other volunteer valets greeted hundreds of overnight campers. "We're Republican by registration, but I'd even vote for a communist right now if they would start to change the way we're running the country. We need to get our Constitution back."
Halfpenny's friend, Jeff Gerod, 62, and Gerod's wife, Cindy, from Lake Havasu, told the newspaper: "We need to go back to the government of the people, by the people and for the people — I think that's how it goes."
A string of polls has shown Reid is vulnerable in politically moderate Nevada after pushing President Barack Obama's agenda in Congress.
His standing has also been hurt by Nevada's double-digit unemployment and record foreclosure and bankruptcy rates.
Democrats and Reid's campaign plan to set up a hospitality tent in the parking lot of a Searchlight casino that will serve tea and doughnut holes. In a counterpoint to the conservative protest, the Senate leader will spend part of the day at a new shooting range in Las Vegas with National Rifle Association Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre.
"Searchlight doesn't get many tourists, so I'm glad they are choosing to bring all their out-of-state money to my hometown," Reid said in a statement.
The tea party movement is a far-flung coalition of conservative groups angered by Washington spending, rising taxes and the growth and reach of government.
It takes its name from the Boston Tea Party in 1773, when colonists dumped tea off English ships to protest what they considered unfair taxation by the British crown.
The rally kicks off a 42-city bus tour that ends in Washington on April 15, tax day.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
© 2010 MSNBC.com
Thousands expected for tea party rally
Palin headlines Nevada event in Democratic Senate leader's hometown
Tea party activists hope a rally in Sen. Harry Reid's hometown of Searchlight, Nev., will build momentum against Reid and other Democrats who supported the president's health care legislation.
msnbc.com staff and news service reports
LAS VEGAS - Sarah Palin and thousands of tea party activists were gathering at Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's small hometown in the Nevada desert Saturday to call for the ouster of Democrats who supported the health care overhaul.
Organizers predict as many as 10,000 people could come to attend the so-called "Showdown in Searchlight," the hardscrabble former mining town where the Senate Democratic leader grew up and owns a home. Searchlight's population is 798, according to the travelnevada.com Web site.
However, a light turnout or disruptions could lead to questions about the emerging movements' credibility and direction.
Since the health care vote, "Everyone is waiting to see if the tea party movement is reinvigorated or if we've resigned ourselves to defeat," Joe Wierzbicki, a spokesman for event sponsor Tea Party Express, said in an e-mail.
The rally that's been called a conservative Woodstock takes place just days after the historic health care vote that ushered in near-universal medical coverage and divided Congress and the nation.
The vote was followed by reports of threats and vandalism aimed at some Washington lawmakers, mostly Democrats who supported the new law. Bricks have been hurled through Democrats' windows and at least 10 members of Congress who voted for the bill have received threats.
In the run-up to the health care vote, racial epithets aimed at black members of Congress were heard at protests attended by at least some tea party members.
Police don't expect problems but the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department is sending dozens of uniformed and plainclothes officers to patrol the crowd.
'Don't retreat... reload'
Palin, the former Alaska governor and 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee, is scheduled to appear after spending Friday campaigning for Sen. John McCain, the Arizona Republican who led the 2008 ticket.
Now a Fox News analyst and potential 2012 presidential candidate, Palin faced criticism after posting a map on her Facebook page that had circles and cross hairs over 20 Democratic districts. She also sent a tweet saying, "Don't Retreat, Instead - RELOAD!"
She said Friday she was alluding to votes, not guns.
"The tea party has one big challenge between now and November and that is policing itself," said Bill Whalen, a fellow at the conservative Hoover Institution and a speechwriter for President George H.W. Bush's 1992 campaign. "There is a lot of bitterness in politics today, and unfortunately it's much too close to the surface. You can plan a rally for 5,000 people, and if one person does something horrible, the rally was not successful."
Some rallies have featured protesters carrying holstered handguns, legal in some states. No violence has been reported.
"I'm confident we are going to have an orderly group," said Debbie Landis, whose tea party group is holding a candidate forum before the rally. "This is going to be attended by people interested in the future of their state and country, not rabble-rousers."
Organizers are aware of the visibility of the event.
"The whole world is watching," Tea Party Express spokesman Joe Wierzbicki said in an e-mail. "If you can get in your car and drive up, or hop on a plane, or take your motorhome or motorcycle, please, please, please join this historic effort."
Eric Odom, an organizer for the Patriot Caucus and other tea party groups, said in an e-mail Thursday that he had received "hundreds of hateful messages and phone calls" he attributed to "leftists" and supporters of the overhaul.
"Welcome to the real America," Norman Halfpenny, retired Marine Corps master gunnery sergeant told The Las Vegas Review-Journal, as he and other volunteer valets greeted hundreds of overnight campers. "We're Republican by registration, but I'd even vote for a communist right now if they would start to change the way we're running the country. We need to get our Constitution back."
Halfpenny's friend, Jeff Gerod, 62, and Gerod's wife, Cindy, from Lake Havasu, told the newspaper: "We need to go back to the government of the people, by the people and for the people — I think that's how it goes."
A string of polls has shown Reid is vulnerable in politically moderate Nevada after pushing President Barack Obama's agenda in Congress.
His standing has also been hurt by Nevada's double-digit unemployment and record foreclosure and bankruptcy rates.
Democrats and Reid's campaign plan to set up a hospitality tent in the parking lot of a Searchlight casino that will serve tea and doughnut holes. In a counterpoint to the conservative protest, the Senate leader will spend part of the day at a new shooting range in Las Vegas with National Rifle Association Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre.
"Searchlight doesn't get many tourists, so I'm glad they are choosing to bring all their out-of-state money to my hometown," Reid said in a statement.
The tea party movement is a far-flung coalition of conservative groups angered by Washington spending, rising taxes and the growth and reach of government.
It takes its name from the Boston Tea Party in 1773, when colonists dumped tea off English ships to protest what they considered unfair taxation by the British crown.
The rally kicks off a 42-city bus tour that ends in Washington on April 15, tax day.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
© 2010 MSNBC.com
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Voters May Prefer a Crusader in the Governor?s Race
by doug » Sat Mar 27, 2010 8:45 am
Voters May Prefer a Crusader in the Governor’s Race. But Which One?
By JEREMY W. PETERS
Published: March 26, 2010
ALBANY — For months, Democratic strategists who support Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo have envisioned a governor’s race this fall defined by a candidate who was a crusader for political reform far removed from Albany’s culture of scandal and dysfunction.
Steve Levy in Manhattan last week.
And they assumed Mr. Cuomo would be that candidate.
But now, with the decision by the Suffolk County executive, Steve Levy, to switch parties and seek the Republican nomination, Democrats find themselves facing an opponent with deep pockets who is making an aggressive appeal for independent voters by claiming he is the true agent of change.
The campaign narrative for Democrats suddenly looks far different than it did when they thought they would only face Rick A. Lazio, the comparatively demure former congressman and Wall Street lobbyist who many Democrats believe would be far easier to defeat. Mr. Lazio has struggled to build momentum and raise money.
“I’d want to run against Lazio,” said Norman Adler, a Democratic political consultant. “He’s got no resources, $600,000 in the bank and has raised no money recently.”
But it is Mr. Levy’s overlap with Mr. Cuomo’s appeal to disillusioned voters that unsettles many Democrats most. In this campaign cycle — when polls show that voters believe Albany is not only ethically corrupt but financially mismanaged — Mr. Levy’s brand of maverick politics has particular resonance.
His pledges to declare a fiscal state of emergency if elected governor, rein in spending and reduce property taxes broaden his appeal to independents, Democrats said. Mr. Cuomo himself is said to go back and forth about whether Mr. Levy is a worrisome political threat or merely a temporary distraction.
“He’ll certainly have an appeal,” said Jay Jacobs, the state’s Democratic Party chairman, who added that Mr. Levy’s image as a budget-cutting, tax-fighting county executive would play particularly well in the suburbs.
To be sure, Mr. Levy remains a largely unknown quantity in most parts of the state while Mr. Cuomo, viewed as the presumptive Democratic nominee, enjoys high approval ratings and is one of the state’s most recognizable political names. Polls indicate that Mr. Levy’s name barely registers with voters.
But until Mr. Cuomo finally declares his candidacy, Mr. Levy has the advantage of being the loudest voice in the race speaking about the need for tax cuts, Mr. Jacobs said. “Look, he’s popular,” Mr. Jacobs said. “And in the suburbs they’re concerned with high property taxes. That is issue No. 1, 2 and 3. And he will speak to that. So will Andrew Cuomo, by the way. But I think that right now Steve Levy has the benefit of being the singular voice on that.”
Mr. Jacobs said Democrats would have to identify a strategy that cuts into Mr. Levy’s bona fides as a fiscal conservative — his main argument for why he is best suited to be governor.
“We have to, unfortunately, re-educate the public to what the realities are because the Republicans have always been very good at playing to the small-government voter,” he said, adding that Republicans have been the party responsible for expanding the size of the federal government in the last decade.
Mr. Levy is also making a run at Mr. Cuomo’s central argument for why voters should choose him: his reputation as a no-nonsense fighter of corruption.
Mr. Levy was swept into office in 2003 on a pledge to clean up the political machine on Long Island derisively known as Crookhaven. In the years since, he has overseen reforms intended to bring greater transparency to county government, like requiring employees to disclose outside income.
Mr. Cuomo’s record fighting corruption throughout the state as attorney general, however, may overshadow Mr. Levy’s efforts to clamp down in Suffolk County. Mr. Cuomo’s office has exposed pay-to-play scheming in the state’s pension fund and worked to force Wall Street to release information about its bonus payments for executives.
Mr. Cuomo is expected to stress the race is about who is best suited to lead, not about who has the best credentials as an Albany outsider, said one Democrat familiar with his thinking who asked not to be named because Mr. Cuomo is not yet officially running. A Cuomo spokesman declined to comment.
Mr. Levy says his antiestablishment candidacy will allow him to tap into voter anger. He has already shown he has support among Tea Party activists and other conservative groups that are dominating much of the political debate.
But Mr. Levy is likely to generate plenty of voter anger himself, Democrats said, particularly among Latinos in New York. Mr. Levy’s policies to crack down on illegal immigrants in Suffolk County have brought rebukes from Latino politicians and leaders.
“He will create the largest Hispanic turnout, probably, in the history of New York State politics,” said Hank Sheinkopf, a Democratic political consultant.
Other analysts saw Mr. Levy’s directness and aggressiveness as problematic with more conservative upstate voters. “Upstate voters like an easier, more relaxed style of political articulation,” said Bruce Gyory, a political consultant and adjunct professor of political science at the University of Albany.
Mr. Gyory recalled what people said about Edward I. Koch, the former New York mayor, when he ran for governor against Andrew’s father, Mario. “I remember in 1982 people said Koch is going to kill Mario Cuomo. He’s more moderate, he was pro-death penalty. But stylistically he clashed.”
Mr. Koch, a Democrat, declined to offer Mr. Levy any advice for campaigning upstate. But he did give one aesthetic suggestion. “I think the last candidate with a mustache was Dewey,” Mr. Koch said. “I think the public is more in tune with less facial hair.”
Copyright 2010 The New York Times Company
By JEREMY W. PETERS
Published: March 26, 2010
ALBANY — For months, Democratic strategists who support Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo have envisioned a governor’s race this fall defined by a candidate who was a crusader for political reform far removed from Albany’s culture of scandal and dysfunction.
Steve Levy in Manhattan last week.
And they assumed Mr. Cuomo would be that candidate.
But now, with the decision by the Suffolk County executive, Steve Levy, to switch parties and seek the Republican nomination, Democrats find themselves facing an opponent with deep pockets who is making an aggressive appeal for independent voters by claiming he is the true agent of change.
The campaign narrative for Democrats suddenly looks far different than it did when they thought they would only face Rick A. Lazio, the comparatively demure former congressman and Wall Street lobbyist who many Democrats believe would be far easier to defeat. Mr. Lazio has struggled to build momentum and raise money.
“I’d want to run against Lazio,” said Norman Adler, a Democratic political consultant. “He’s got no resources, $600,000 in the bank and has raised no money recently.”
But it is Mr. Levy’s overlap with Mr. Cuomo’s appeal to disillusioned voters that unsettles many Democrats most. In this campaign cycle — when polls show that voters believe Albany is not only ethically corrupt but financially mismanaged — Mr. Levy’s brand of maverick politics has particular resonance.
His pledges to declare a fiscal state of emergency if elected governor, rein in spending and reduce property taxes broaden his appeal to independents, Democrats said. Mr. Cuomo himself is said to go back and forth about whether Mr. Levy is a worrisome political threat or merely a temporary distraction.
“He’ll certainly have an appeal,” said Jay Jacobs, the state’s Democratic Party chairman, who added that Mr. Levy’s image as a budget-cutting, tax-fighting county executive would play particularly well in the suburbs.
To be sure, Mr. Levy remains a largely unknown quantity in most parts of the state while Mr. Cuomo, viewed as the presumptive Democratic nominee, enjoys high approval ratings and is one of the state’s most recognizable political names. Polls indicate that Mr. Levy’s name barely registers with voters.
But until Mr. Cuomo finally declares his candidacy, Mr. Levy has the advantage of being the loudest voice in the race speaking about the need for tax cuts, Mr. Jacobs said. “Look, he’s popular,” Mr. Jacobs said. “And in the suburbs they’re concerned with high property taxes. That is issue No. 1, 2 and 3. And he will speak to that. So will Andrew Cuomo, by the way. But I think that right now Steve Levy has the benefit of being the singular voice on that.”
Mr. Jacobs said Democrats would have to identify a strategy that cuts into Mr. Levy’s bona fides as a fiscal conservative — his main argument for why he is best suited to be governor.
“We have to, unfortunately, re-educate the public to what the realities are because the Republicans have always been very good at playing to the small-government voter,” he said, adding that Republicans have been the party responsible for expanding the size of the federal government in the last decade.
Mr. Levy is also making a run at Mr. Cuomo’s central argument for why voters should choose him: his reputation as a no-nonsense fighter of corruption.
Mr. Levy was swept into office in 2003 on a pledge to clean up the political machine on Long Island derisively known as Crookhaven. In the years since, he has overseen reforms intended to bring greater transparency to county government, like requiring employees to disclose outside income.
Mr. Cuomo’s record fighting corruption throughout the state as attorney general, however, may overshadow Mr. Levy’s efforts to clamp down in Suffolk County. Mr. Cuomo’s office has exposed pay-to-play scheming in the state’s pension fund and worked to force Wall Street to release information about its bonus payments for executives.
Mr. Cuomo is expected to stress the race is about who is best suited to lead, not about who has the best credentials as an Albany outsider, said one Democrat familiar with his thinking who asked not to be named because Mr. Cuomo is not yet officially running. A Cuomo spokesman declined to comment.
Mr. Levy says his antiestablishment candidacy will allow him to tap into voter anger. He has already shown he has support among Tea Party activists and other conservative groups that are dominating much of the political debate.
But Mr. Levy is likely to generate plenty of voter anger himself, Democrats said, particularly among Latinos in New York. Mr. Levy’s policies to crack down on illegal immigrants in Suffolk County have brought rebukes from Latino politicians and leaders.
“He will create the largest Hispanic turnout, probably, in the history of New York State politics,” said Hank Sheinkopf, a Democratic political consultant.
Other analysts saw Mr. Levy’s directness and aggressiveness as problematic with more conservative upstate voters. “Upstate voters like an easier, more relaxed style of political articulation,” said Bruce Gyory, a political consultant and adjunct professor of political science at the University of Albany.
Mr. Gyory recalled what people said about Edward I. Koch, the former New York mayor, when he ran for governor against Andrew’s father, Mario. “I remember in 1982 people said Koch is going to kill Mario Cuomo. He’s more moderate, he was pro-death penalty. But stylistically he clashed.”
Mr. Koch, a Democrat, declined to offer Mr. Levy any advice for campaigning upstate. But he did give one aesthetic suggestion. “I think the last candidate with a mustache was Dewey,” Mr. Koch said. “I think the public is more in tune with less facial hair.”
Copyright 2010 The New York Times Company
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Showdown in Searchlight
by doug » Sat Mar 27, 2010 10:51 pm
From: Patriotic Resistance
Subject: Showdown in Searchlight - Update
Date: Saturday, March 27, 2010 8:46 PM
Patriotic Resistance
A message to all members of Patriotic Resistance
Hello Patriots,
Just a little update for you all!
The Rally in Searchlight was a total success! Upon arrival into Searchlight The Tea Party Express III met some 50 - 75 of Harry Reid's faithful. They met the TPEIII with a
sign that said "This is Harry Reid country!". These folks were none to happy to see
us or those buses - they even had the nerve to Egg one of the Buses!
When we arrived at the area of the Rally - the folks were "en masse" - many many
people came from all over for this rally and it proved to be huge! Over 10,000 people
were in attendence and they were Ready to Vote them out!
Our Very own Darla Dawald is one of the speakers on this tour and today she spoke to Harry Reid. She said "Harry, Reid my lipstick. We are going to vote you out!" The crowd went wild. Of Course our Darla "kicked it" in her own "Darla" style. The event
opened with Lloyd Marcus singing his "Tea Party Anthem". The Riviolii Revue performed their song "Vote Them Out!". Governor Sarah Palin was there and spoke of
God and Country and what and intrussive government we have and what kind of government we need.
Darla introduced Joe, The Plumber. He talked personal responsibility and accountability. So many speakers, so little space, so little time...the event, from my perspective? The event was successful and the crowd enjoyed every minute of it.
It was a beautiful day in the Desert dustbowl. Surrounded by mountains and the wonderful people that attended this event..the event ...success.
Now...on to Henderson!
God Bless, Take Care and we will see you in a town near you or in your town!
Mellie Reid
Asst Natl Dir
Resistnet.com
Visit Patriotic Resistance at: http://www.resistnet.com/?xg_source=msg_mes_network
Subject: Showdown in Searchlight - Update
Date: Saturday, March 27, 2010 8:46 PM
Patriotic Resistance
A message to all members of Patriotic Resistance
Hello Patriots,
Just a little update for you all!
The Rally in Searchlight was a total success! Upon arrival into Searchlight The Tea Party Express III met some 50 - 75 of Harry Reid's faithful. They met the TPEIII with a
sign that said "This is Harry Reid country!". These folks were none to happy to see
us or those buses - they even had the nerve to Egg one of the Buses!
When we arrived at the area of the Rally - the folks were "en masse" - many many
people came from all over for this rally and it proved to be huge! Over 10,000 people
were in attendence and they were Ready to Vote them out!
Our Very own Darla Dawald is one of the speakers on this tour and today she spoke to Harry Reid. She said "Harry, Reid my lipstick. We are going to vote you out!" The crowd went wild. Of Course our Darla "kicked it" in her own "Darla" style. The event
opened with Lloyd Marcus singing his "Tea Party Anthem". The Riviolii Revue performed their song "Vote Them Out!". Governor Sarah Palin was there and spoke of
God and Country and what and intrussive government we have and what kind of government we need.
Darla introduced Joe, The Plumber. He talked personal responsibility and accountability. So many speakers, so little space, so little time...the event, from my perspective? The event was successful and the crowd enjoyed every minute of it.
It was a beautiful day in the Desert dustbowl. Surrounded by mountains and the wonderful people that attended this event..the event ...success.
Now...on to Henderson!
God Bless, Take Care and we will see you in a town near you or in your town!
Mellie Reid
Asst Natl Dir
Resistnet.com
Visit Patriotic Resistance at: http://www.resistnet.com/?xg_source=msg_mes_network
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- doug
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- Location: chapel hill, n.c.
by doug » Tue Apr 06, 2010 6:54 am
updated 11:03 p.m. ET April 5, 2010
Sources: RNC official steps down amid criticism
Chief of staff Ken McKay resigns following spending revelations
By Philip Elliott
Associated Press Writer
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON - Amid unrelenting criticism of how the Republican National Committee has spent donors' dollars, Chairman Michael Steele on Monday accepted the resignation of his chief of staff and allowed one of his senior advisers to exit the inner workings of his political machine. The turnover hinted at future changes that some top Republicans hoped would include the chairman himself.
RNC chief of staff Ken McKay became the highest-profile departure from the central committee after the revelation that the committee had picked up a nearly $2,000 tab at a sex-themed California night club. The incident proved embarrassing and a midlevel staffer was dismissed, a move that was not enough to assuage social conservatives urging a fundraising boycott.
Steele had insisted earlier Monday that he would not resign and defended his stewardship of party affairs. He dismissed criticism — some of it has centered on spending on flights, limousines and high-dollar hotels — as the talk of GOP figures uncomfortable with his "streetwise" managerial style.
Asked in a nationally broadcast interview if he would step down in the face of criticism of the party's financial management, Steele replied, "No." He said some people had been second-guessing him "since the day that I got the job."
That confidence was not extended to McKay. As the chief of staff, he ran day-to-day operations at RNC headquarters and was the top aide to a chairman who found few defenders.
McKay's resignation also prompted one of Steele's top advisers, Curt Anderson, to leave the committee's circle of consultants.
"Ken McKay's departure is a huge loss for the Republican Party. Ken steered the party through very successful elections last fall that have given us tremendous momentum. He's a great talent," Anderson said in a statement.
"Given our firm's commitments to campaigns all over the country, we have concluded it is best for us to step away from our advisory role at the RNC. We have high personal regard for the chairman and always have; we wish him well," he said.
Anderson may have seen his ties to Steele and the RNC as a liability for his business. Any of his clients could be tied to sex-themed clubs if Anderson remained linked with Steele.
Anderson helped recruit McKay to the RNC from the staff of Rhode Island Gov. Don Carcieri, where he previously served as his chief of staff and campaign manager. It wasn't clear if McKay, a well-respected operative, resigned voluntarily or was forced from his post, one of the most powerful in a party in the minority in both the House and the Senate.
Steele replaced McKay with Mike Leavitt, who joined the RNC as deputy chief of staff two months ago. He ran Steele's losing Senate campaign in 2006 and is close to the chairman. He also helped Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell win election last year.
Steele has faced mounting criticism and pressure. Two top congressional Republicans said Sunday the RNC must be held accountable for the way it uses the money it raises in light of much-criticized Hollywood outing.
"This kind of thing has got to stop or they won't get any contributions," said Sen. Jon Kyl of Arizona, the No. 2 Republican in the Senate.
Kyl and Rep. Kevin McCarthy of California, who is leading the GOP effort to recruit candidates and elect House members, distanced themselves from Steele when discussing the committee's controversial spending.
Steele was not present at the Voyeur Hollywood West on Jan. 31 when a group of young Republicans ran a tab picked up by the RNC. After reporters noted the bill in a funding report, the RNC fired a staffer it blamed for the outing and said it would be reimbursed by a donor who had attended.
Asked on "Fox News Sunday" if Steele should step down, Kyl demurred but said, "The people that contribute to the committees, both Democrat and Republican, want to know that their money is well spent for the cause, and it needs to be that way."
Appearing Monday on ABC's "Good Morning America," Steele said he had a budget with $8 million left after the 2009 elections, contests which saw the GOP score victories in gubernatorial races in New Jersey and Virginia and in a special Senate race in Massachusetts.
"I hear our base out there," Steele said. "I hear the leadership, and we're taking steps to make sure that we're even more, how shall we say, fiscally conservative." But he also attributed his problem to "unnamed Republicans who don't like me."
Even as Steele and the national committee are being criticized for lavish spending habits, Steele has hired a special finance assistant who himself was fined by the District of Columbia three years ago for improperly spending money from a political action committee, according to published reports. The special assistant, Neil Alpert, will help with fundraising, The Washington Post reported Monday.
The Post, and a report Sunday by AOL's Politics Daily, said that in 2007, the District's Office of Campaign Finance found that Alpert improperly spent $37,670 on items not authorized by the D.C. Baseball PAC, which he chaired, or the D.C. Baseball Association, a nonprofit group the PAC created to raise money for youth programs. Alpert was asked to reimburse the groups, which were later dissolved after Major League Baseball authorized a Washington franchise. He was fined $4,000.
Copyright 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Sources: RNC official steps down amid criticism
Chief of staff Ken McKay resigns following spending revelations
By Philip Elliott
Associated Press Writer
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON - Amid unrelenting criticism of how the Republican National Committee has spent donors' dollars, Chairman Michael Steele on Monday accepted the resignation of his chief of staff and allowed one of his senior advisers to exit the inner workings of his political machine. The turnover hinted at future changes that some top Republicans hoped would include the chairman himself.
RNC chief of staff Ken McKay became the highest-profile departure from the central committee after the revelation that the committee had picked up a nearly $2,000 tab at a sex-themed California night club. The incident proved embarrassing and a midlevel staffer was dismissed, a move that was not enough to assuage social conservatives urging a fundraising boycott.
Steele had insisted earlier Monday that he would not resign and defended his stewardship of party affairs. He dismissed criticism — some of it has centered on spending on flights, limousines and high-dollar hotels — as the talk of GOP figures uncomfortable with his "streetwise" managerial style.
Asked in a nationally broadcast interview if he would step down in the face of criticism of the party's financial management, Steele replied, "No." He said some people had been second-guessing him "since the day that I got the job."
That confidence was not extended to McKay. As the chief of staff, he ran day-to-day operations at RNC headquarters and was the top aide to a chairman who found few defenders.
McKay's resignation also prompted one of Steele's top advisers, Curt Anderson, to leave the committee's circle of consultants.
"Ken McKay's departure is a huge loss for the Republican Party. Ken steered the party through very successful elections last fall that have given us tremendous momentum. He's a great talent," Anderson said in a statement.
"Given our firm's commitments to campaigns all over the country, we have concluded it is best for us to step away from our advisory role at the RNC. We have high personal regard for the chairman and always have; we wish him well," he said.
Anderson may have seen his ties to Steele and the RNC as a liability for his business. Any of his clients could be tied to sex-themed clubs if Anderson remained linked with Steele.
Anderson helped recruit McKay to the RNC from the staff of Rhode Island Gov. Don Carcieri, where he previously served as his chief of staff and campaign manager. It wasn't clear if McKay, a well-respected operative, resigned voluntarily or was forced from his post, one of the most powerful in a party in the minority in both the House and the Senate.
Steele replaced McKay with Mike Leavitt, who joined the RNC as deputy chief of staff two months ago. He ran Steele's losing Senate campaign in 2006 and is close to the chairman. He also helped Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell win election last year.
Steele has faced mounting criticism and pressure. Two top congressional Republicans said Sunday the RNC must be held accountable for the way it uses the money it raises in light of much-criticized Hollywood outing.
"This kind of thing has got to stop or they won't get any contributions," said Sen. Jon Kyl of Arizona, the No. 2 Republican in the Senate.
Kyl and Rep. Kevin McCarthy of California, who is leading the GOP effort to recruit candidates and elect House members, distanced themselves from Steele when discussing the committee's controversial spending.
Steele was not present at the Voyeur Hollywood West on Jan. 31 when a group of young Republicans ran a tab picked up by the RNC. After reporters noted the bill in a funding report, the RNC fired a staffer it blamed for the outing and said it would be reimbursed by a donor who had attended.
Asked on "Fox News Sunday" if Steele should step down, Kyl demurred but said, "The people that contribute to the committees, both Democrat and Republican, want to know that their money is well spent for the cause, and it needs to be that way."
Appearing Monday on ABC's "Good Morning America," Steele said he had a budget with $8 million left after the 2009 elections, contests which saw the GOP score victories in gubernatorial races in New Jersey and Virginia and in a special Senate race in Massachusetts.
"I hear our base out there," Steele said. "I hear the leadership, and we're taking steps to make sure that we're even more, how shall we say, fiscally conservative." But he also attributed his problem to "unnamed Republicans who don't like me."
Even as Steele and the national committee are being criticized for lavish spending habits, Steele has hired a special finance assistant who himself was fined by the District of Columbia three years ago for improperly spending money from a political action committee, according to published reports. The special assistant, Neil Alpert, will help with fundraising, The Washington Post reported Monday.
The Post, and a report Sunday by AOL's Politics Daily, said that in 2007, the District's Office of Campaign Finance found that Alpert improperly spent $37,670 on items not authorized by the D.C. Baseball PAC, which he chaired, or the D.C. Baseball Association, a nonprofit group the PAC created to raise money for youth programs. Alpert was asked to reimburse the groups, which were later dissolved after Major League Baseball authorized a Washington franchise. He was fined $4,000.
Copyright 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
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Tea Party target Stupak won?t seek re-election
by doug » Fri Apr 09, 2010 10:07 am
updated 11:33 a.m. ET April 9, 2010
Tea Party target Stupak won’t seek re-election
Congressman did deal over abortion funding to pass health care bill
By JOHN FLESHER
The Associated Press
Video: Bart Stupak set to retire
TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. - U.S. Rep. Bart Stupak, an anti-abortion Democrat targeted for defeat by tea party activists for his crucial role in securing House approval of the health care overhaul, said Friday he would retire from Congress this year.
The nine-term congressman told The Associated Press he could have won re-election and insisted he wasn't being chased from the race by the Tea Party Express, which is holding rallies this week in his northern Michigan district calling for his ouster. Instead, Stupak said he was tired after 18 years in office and wanted to spend more time with his family.
"The tea party did not run me out," he said in a telephone interview. "If you know me and my personality, I would welcome the challenge."
Three little-known hopefuls are seeking the GOP nomination, and Stupak faced a primary challenge from a Democrat who is pro-choice on abortion.
Stupak, 58, said he had considered retirement for years but was persuaded to stay in Congress because of the prospect of serving with a Democratic majority and helping win approval of the health care overhaul, which he described as his top legislative priority.
"I've fought my whole career for health care and thanks to Barack Obama and my colleagues, we've gotten it done," he said.
A political moderate, Stupak is known for an independent streak that sometimes put him at odds with his party's leadership. He voted against the North American Free Trade Agreement and an assault weapons ban in the 1990s, despite appeals from then-President Bill Clinton.
During the health care debate, Stupak emerged as spokesman and chief negotiator for Democrats who withheld support from Obama's plan because they feared it would allow public funding of abortions.
At one point, Texas Republican Rep. Randy Neugebauer shouted out "baby killer" during a floor speech by Stupak.
Just hours before the vote, Stupak reached an agreement with the White House under which President Barack Obama would issue an executive order confirming that the legislation would not allow federal funding of abortion. With that, Stupak and other anti-abortion Democrats voted for the bill, sealing its passage.
Since then, Stupak has become a symbol for critics of the overhaul. The Tea Party Express labeled him its No. 2 target for defeat after Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada.
The group kicked off a $250,000 television and radio blitz in Stupak's district Wednesday, ahead of rallies that began Thursday night and were continuing through the weekend.
"The surprising announcement that Congressman Bart Stupak is abandoning his campaign for re-election shows the power of the tea party movement," said a statement posted Friday on its Web site.
Michigan's 1st District is notoriously difficult turf for anyone trying to unseat the incumbent. Measuring 600 miles wide, it takes in about half the state's land mass — including the entire Upper Peninsula — and has no major media market. The largest city, Marquette, where Stupak was planning to officially announce his retirement later Friday, has about 20,000 residents.
Video: An angry nation erupts
Stupak has routinely won re-election by wide margins, defeating former state Rep. Tom Casperson with 65 percent of the vote in 2008, and said he was confident of prevailing again.
He acknowledged the criticism he received over the health care overhaul — including telephone threats to his office — had taken a toll, but said he had thrived during the debate. What wore him down, he said, was the grind of constant travel across his sprawling district.
"When I come home I can't stay home," he said. "I'm there 12 hours and take off. That has gotten hard."
Stupak said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Majority Leader Steny Hoyer had urged him to seek re-election. Republicans represented his rural, blue-collar district for nearly three decades before he won in 1992, and his departure will create a strong opportunity for the GOP.
Still, he said a moderate Democrat would have a good chance.
"There are a lot of great Democratic elected officials and activists throughout the entire district. I'm confident we'll have a very strong candidate," said Mark Brewer, chairman of Michigan Democratic Party.
Democrat Connie Saltonstall, an ex-teacher and ex-Charlevoix County commissioner, was endorsed last month by the National Organization for Women in her bid to win the 1st District seat.
"This retirement presents Republicans with a very promising opportunity heading into the November elections," said Tom Erickson, spokesman for the National Republican Congressional Committee. They're certainly going to have a tough time trying to hold on to this seat."
Stupak said he reached his decision this week after talking with his family and was making a quick announcement to give other Democratic hopefuls time to organize and get their names on the primary election ballot.
"I feel like I can finally step away," Stupak said. "I can be home more often with my wife. I'm young enough to start a new career. I'm at peace and very comfortable with my decision."
Copyright 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Tea Party target Stupak won’t seek re-election
Congressman did deal over abortion funding to pass health care bill
By JOHN FLESHER
The Associated Press
Video: Bart Stupak set to retire
TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. - U.S. Rep. Bart Stupak, an anti-abortion Democrat targeted for defeat by tea party activists for his crucial role in securing House approval of the health care overhaul, said Friday he would retire from Congress this year.
The nine-term congressman told The Associated Press he could have won re-election and insisted he wasn't being chased from the race by the Tea Party Express, which is holding rallies this week in his northern Michigan district calling for his ouster. Instead, Stupak said he was tired after 18 years in office and wanted to spend more time with his family.
"The tea party did not run me out," he said in a telephone interview. "If you know me and my personality, I would welcome the challenge."
Three little-known hopefuls are seeking the GOP nomination, and Stupak faced a primary challenge from a Democrat who is pro-choice on abortion.
Stupak, 58, said he had considered retirement for years but was persuaded to stay in Congress because of the prospect of serving with a Democratic majority and helping win approval of the health care overhaul, which he described as his top legislative priority.
"I've fought my whole career for health care and thanks to Barack Obama and my colleagues, we've gotten it done," he said.
A political moderate, Stupak is known for an independent streak that sometimes put him at odds with his party's leadership. He voted against the North American Free Trade Agreement and an assault weapons ban in the 1990s, despite appeals from then-President Bill Clinton.
During the health care debate, Stupak emerged as spokesman and chief negotiator for Democrats who withheld support from Obama's plan because they feared it would allow public funding of abortions.
At one point, Texas Republican Rep. Randy Neugebauer shouted out "baby killer" during a floor speech by Stupak.
Just hours before the vote, Stupak reached an agreement with the White House under which President Barack Obama would issue an executive order confirming that the legislation would not allow federal funding of abortion. With that, Stupak and other anti-abortion Democrats voted for the bill, sealing its passage.
Since then, Stupak has become a symbol for critics of the overhaul. The Tea Party Express labeled him its No. 2 target for defeat after Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada.
The group kicked off a $250,000 television and radio blitz in Stupak's district Wednesday, ahead of rallies that began Thursday night and were continuing through the weekend.
"The surprising announcement that Congressman Bart Stupak is abandoning his campaign for re-election shows the power of the tea party movement," said a statement posted Friday on its Web site.
Michigan's 1st District is notoriously difficult turf for anyone trying to unseat the incumbent. Measuring 600 miles wide, it takes in about half the state's land mass — including the entire Upper Peninsula — and has no major media market. The largest city, Marquette, where Stupak was planning to officially announce his retirement later Friday, has about 20,000 residents.
Video: An angry nation erupts
Stupak has routinely won re-election by wide margins, defeating former state Rep. Tom Casperson with 65 percent of the vote in 2008, and said he was confident of prevailing again.
He acknowledged the criticism he received over the health care overhaul — including telephone threats to his office — had taken a toll, but said he had thrived during the debate. What wore him down, he said, was the grind of constant travel across his sprawling district.
"When I come home I can't stay home," he said. "I'm there 12 hours and take off. That has gotten hard."
Stupak said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Majority Leader Steny Hoyer had urged him to seek re-election. Republicans represented his rural, blue-collar district for nearly three decades before he won in 1992, and his departure will create a strong opportunity for the GOP.
Still, he said a moderate Democrat would have a good chance.
"There are a lot of great Democratic elected officials and activists throughout the entire district. I'm confident we'll have a very strong candidate," said Mark Brewer, chairman of Michigan Democratic Party.
Democrat Connie Saltonstall, an ex-teacher and ex-Charlevoix County commissioner, was endorsed last month by the National Organization for Women in her bid to win the 1st District seat.
"This retirement presents Republicans with a very promising opportunity heading into the November elections," said Tom Erickson, spokesman for the National Republican Congressional Committee. They're certainly going to have a tough time trying to hold on to this seat."
Stupak said he reached his decision this week after talking with his family and was making a quick announcement to give other Democratic hopefuls time to organize and get their names on the primary election ballot.
"I feel like I can finally step away," Stupak said. "I can be home more often with my wife. I'm young enough to start a new career. I'm at peace and very comfortable with my decision."
Copyright 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
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GOP chairman: ?I've made mistakes?
by doug » Sat Apr 10, 2010 9:53 pm
updated 7:17 p.m. ET April 10, 2010
GOP chairman: ‘I've made mistakes’
Steele's leadership dogged by accusations of questionable spending
RNC Chairman Michael Steele told the 2010 Southern Republican Leadership Conference: "The one mistake we cannot make this November is to lose."
By LIZ SIDOTI
The Associated Press
NEW ORLEANS - In damage control mode, GOP national chairman Michael Steele on Saturday sought to quell the furor over his management of the Republican National Committee by acknowledging errors and vowing to learn from them.
"I'm the first here to admit that I've made mistakes, and it's been incumbent on me to take responsibility to shoulder that burden, make the necessary changes and move on," Steele told GOP activists and party leaders, drawing a standing ovation.
"The one mistake we cannot make this November is to lose," he added, and the crowd cheered in agreement.
Saturday's speech to the Southern Republican Leadership Conference was Steele's first public appearance since the disclosure of questionable spending — including a $2,000 tab at a sex-themed California night club — resulted in top advisers cutting ties with him and North Carolina's state party chief calling for his resignation.
Normally a bombastic showman, Steele struck a contrite tone before the supportive audience in the half-full hotel ballroom. He did not address the specific complaints. And even though he acknowledged his errors, he also blamed others.
"We can't coast into the majority, nor can we assume it's a sure thing. The liberal media are looking for any possible alternative narrative to tell," Steele said. "They are looking for those distractions, and Lord knows I've provided a few." He added: "The Democrats also know that they have some explaining to do, and they'd love nothing more than for us to keep pointing fingers."
Outspoken and brassy, Steele is not a traditional buttoned-down GOP chairman and he's been a target of criticism since he was elected last year. The complaints reached a fever pitch over the past week, causing both embarrassment and distraction for a GOP looking to take advantage of a troubling political environment for Democrats ahead of this fall's midterm elections.
Still, for all the angst in the GOP over Steele, it's unlikely he will be fired. Ousting a chairman is a complicated, messy process that requires votes of two-thirds of the 168-member RNC. And, while there are both hard-core Steele opponents and fierce Steele allies, several Republican officials at the New Orleans conference said that most committee members and party chairman simply seem to want to move on from the controversy so Republicans can focus on November.
Attended by roughly 3,000 GOP activists and party leaders, the three-day conference wrapped up Saturday with speeches by prominent Republicans considering running for president in 2012 against President Barack Obama.
Conference participants voted in a "straw poll" for their top 2012 choice; former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney who didn't attend the conference, won by one vote. He got 439.
Texas Rep. Ron Paul came in second with 438 votes, followed by Sarah Palin with 330 and Newt Gingrich with 321.
The results mean little to nothing. Conference staffers put names on the ballot of people they thought were likely to run, and many Republicans considering a bid were left off the list.
Over the three-day conference, 1,806 ballots were cast.
Those who gave speeches downplayed talk of the next presidential election.
"We have got to stay focused on the election of 2010. Don't worry about 2012 ... We can't wait until 2012 to start taking our country back," Barbour told the crowd. Despite that message, he sounded every bit the presidential candidate and spoke after running a slick video that promoted his role as the chairman of the Republican Governors Association.
Barbour also urged unity as the GOP wrestles with what to do about Steele and as the tea party's emergence highlights divisions among Republicans.
"The wind is at our back. How are we going to make sure it continues to fill up our sails?" Barbour said. "We stick together." He said Republicans should focus on the 80 percent of issues that unite them, not the 20 percent that may divide them. "We've got to let the things that unite us be the things that guide us," he said. "We cannot let ourselves by torn apart by the idea of purity."
Earlier, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, who is looking for a political comeback, took on the Republican Party, saying that when Republicans controlled Congress and the White House before Democrats won control: "We let America down."
"Conservatism didn't fail America, conservatives failed conservatism," Santorum said, prompting huge cheers. "Let's be honest: we were guilty of more government when we were there."
Seeking to raise his national profile, Indiana Rep. Mike Pence — a darling of the party's right flank — introduced himself as "a Christian, a conservative and a Republican." And, eying another run after his 2008 failed bid, Texas Rep. Ron Paul told activists that "the American people have awoken" because Washington won't address the nation's fiscal crisis.
Still, for all the appearances by likely 2012 candidates and excitement over the midterms, the RNC's woes hovered over event.
"In life, you realize very quickly that you can't please everyone. But you can certainly make them all made at you at the same time," Steele said. "And that is a lesson well-learned. It is an opportunity as well. Because folks have been mad at us in the past and we have learned from that past, and we are now ready to move on to a brighter future."
Copyright 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
GOP chairman: ‘I've made mistakes’
Steele's leadership dogged by accusations of questionable spending
RNC Chairman Michael Steele told the 2010 Southern Republican Leadership Conference: "The one mistake we cannot make this November is to lose."
By LIZ SIDOTI
The Associated Press
NEW ORLEANS - In damage control mode, GOP national chairman Michael Steele on Saturday sought to quell the furor over his management of the Republican National Committee by acknowledging errors and vowing to learn from them.
"I'm the first here to admit that I've made mistakes, and it's been incumbent on me to take responsibility to shoulder that burden, make the necessary changes and move on," Steele told GOP activists and party leaders, drawing a standing ovation.
"The one mistake we cannot make this November is to lose," he added, and the crowd cheered in agreement.
Saturday's speech to the Southern Republican Leadership Conference was Steele's first public appearance since the disclosure of questionable spending — including a $2,000 tab at a sex-themed California night club — resulted in top advisers cutting ties with him and North Carolina's state party chief calling for his resignation.
Normally a bombastic showman, Steele struck a contrite tone before the supportive audience in the half-full hotel ballroom. He did not address the specific complaints. And even though he acknowledged his errors, he also blamed others.
"We can't coast into the majority, nor can we assume it's a sure thing. The liberal media are looking for any possible alternative narrative to tell," Steele said. "They are looking for those distractions, and Lord knows I've provided a few." He added: "The Democrats also know that they have some explaining to do, and they'd love nothing more than for us to keep pointing fingers."
Outspoken and brassy, Steele is not a traditional buttoned-down GOP chairman and he's been a target of criticism since he was elected last year. The complaints reached a fever pitch over the past week, causing both embarrassment and distraction for a GOP looking to take advantage of a troubling political environment for Democrats ahead of this fall's midterm elections.
Still, for all the angst in the GOP over Steele, it's unlikely he will be fired. Ousting a chairman is a complicated, messy process that requires votes of two-thirds of the 168-member RNC. And, while there are both hard-core Steele opponents and fierce Steele allies, several Republican officials at the New Orleans conference said that most committee members and party chairman simply seem to want to move on from the controversy so Republicans can focus on November.
Attended by roughly 3,000 GOP activists and party leaders, the three-day conference wrapped up Saturday with speeches by prominent Republicans considering running for president in 2012 against President Barack Obama.
Conference participants voted in a "straw poll" for their top 2012 choice; former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney who didn't attend the conference, won by one vote. He got 439.
Texas Rep. Ron Paul came in second with 438 votes, followed by Sarah Palin with 330 and Newt Gingrich with 321.
The results mean little to nothing. Conference staffers put names on the ballot of people they thought were likely to run, and many Republicans considering a bid were left off the list.
Over the three-day conference, 1,806 ballots were cast.
Those who gave speeches downplayed talk of the next presidential election.
"We have got to stay focused on the election of 2010. Don't worry about 2012 ... We can't wait until 2012 to start taking our country back," Barbour told the crowd. Despite that message, he sounded every bit the presidential candidate and spoke after running a slick video that promoted his role as the chairman of the Republican Governors Association.
Barbour also urged unity as the GOP wrestles with what to do about Steele and as the tea party's emergence highlights divisions among Republicans.
"The wind is at our back. How are we going to make sure it continues to fill up our sails?" Barbour said. "We stick together." He said Republicans should focus on the 80 percent of issues that unite them, not the 20 percent that may divide them. "We've got to let the things that unite us be the things that guide us," he said. "We cannot let ourselves by torn apart by the idea of purity."
Earlier, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, who is looking for a political comeback, took on the Republican Party, saying that when Republicans controlled Congress and the White House before Democrats won control: "We let America down."
"Conservatism didn't fail America, conservatives failed conservatism," Santorum said, prompting huge cheers. "Let's be honest: we were guilty of more government when we were there."
Seeking to raise his national profile, Indiana Rep. Mike Pence — a darling of the party's right flank — introduced himself as "a Christian, a conservative and a Republican." And, eying another run after his 2008 failed bid, Texas Rep. Ron Paul told activists that "the American people have awoken" because Washington won't address the nation's fiscal crisis.
Still, for all the appearances by likely 2012 candidates and excitement over the midterms, the RNC's woes hovered over event.
"In life, you realize very quickly that you can't please everyone. But you can certainly make them all made at you at the same time," Steele said. "And that is a lesson well-learned. It is an opportunity as well. Because folks have been mad at us in the past and we have learned from that past, and we are now ready to move on to a brighter future."
Copyright 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
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In Arkansas, Avoiding Labels, Even ?Democrat?
by doug » Sun Apr 11, 2010 5:01 am
In Arkansas, Avoiding Labels, Even ‘Democrat’
By JEFF ZELENY
Published: April 10, 2010
SPRINGDALE, Ark. — This season’s darling of the political left, a man who has generated millions of dollars in his quest to stop Senator Blanche Lincoln from serving a third term, took a seat in the Gunsmoke Room at the Western Sizzlin restaurant here and explained his ideology.
THE DEMOCRATS
Lt. Gov. Bill Halter, who is staging a primary challenge to Senator Blanche Lincoln, campaigned at a seniors group in Springdale, Ark.
Senator Blanche Lincoln arriving for a 10-minute “meet the candidates” pitch at the Farm Bureau in Fayetteville. The race has become one of the most divisive primaries for Democrats.
The word Democrat came up only a time or two. The word liberal? Never.
“I don’t want the simplistic labels to get in the way of what’s really going on here,” said Lt. Gov. Bill Halter, a Democrat whose primary challenge to Mrs. Lincoln has ignited enthusiasm among activists who want to purge the party of those they see as close to corporate interests and uncommitted to liberal causes. “I’m complicated. I doubt you would like it very much if someone put a one-word adjective to describe you.”
Yet the very definition of the Democratic label is being tested in the Senate race in Arkansas, which has emerged as one of the most divisive primaries among Democrats as the midterm elections get under way.
Mr. Halter’s reluctance to fully embrace the left might ultimately make him a less-perfect standard-bearer than many liberals had hoped. But the campaign for the Senate seat held by Mrs. Lincoln — one that has been in Democratic hands for more than a century — is highlighting the divide between pragmatism, idealism and opportunity, as well as the tension between the continuity represented by incumbents and the change offered by challengers.
For all the talk of an angry conservative electorate this year, those on the left side of the spectrum are plenty angry, too, frustrated that President Obama and the majorities his party enjoys in Congress have not accomplished more to enact a liberal agenda. And the primary in Arkansas, one of the most conservative of Democratic bastions, has become a place for liberals to vent frustrations and invest millions for television ads to unseat an incumbent.
The political environment is rocky for all Democrats, but it is particularly challenging for centrists like Mrs. Lincoln. Her opposition to cap-and-trade climate change legislation, her vote against the final step of the health care bill and her opposition to the Employee Free Choice Act, which makes it easier for unions to organize, have increased her vulnerability — and that is just among Democrats.
She argues that her record fits Arkansas, but eight Republicans have lined up to run for her seat, and some groups are backing Mr. Halter simply because they believe he has a stronger shot in a difficult year.
But for the next five weeks, until the May 18 election, the contest is unfolding with all the trappings of a messy — and expensive — family feud that some Democrats fear could weaken the eventual nominee. Similar confrontations are under way in Pennsylvania, where Senator Arlen Specter is seeking to fend off a primary challenger, and in Colorado, where Senator Michael Bennet is battling anti-Washington sentiment.
“I will — win or lose — be a Democrat,” Mrs. Lincoln said last week after a campaign stop in Fayetteville. “I believe very strongly in the big tent theory of the Democrats — it appreciates and respects diversity. That’s the Democratic Party I was taught to cherish as a child, and I still do.”
Five of the nation’s largest labor unions pledged to spend at least $3 million on her defeat. MoveOn.org, a grass-roots liberal organization, and several left-leaning blogs endorsed Mr. Halter, helping to raise more than $2 million on his behalf in the last month.
Mr. Halter’s challenge is born out of opportunity as much as ideological frustration. His popularity as lieutenant governor grew after he pushed for the first Arkansas lottery, to provide college scholarships. He has never cast a vote in office, which offers him the blessing of running without a voting record.
So how would Mr. Halter have voted on health care? When asked in the interview, he said, “You’re not going to like the length of my answer” and talked for four minutes without a specific answer. Asked again, he said, “Yeah, I would have voted for it.”
But Mr. Halter’s lack of a voting record is just fine with several people interviewed at a luncheon in Northwest Arkansas, where nearly 100 retirees gathered for a salad bar, a hot buffet and a political pitch.
Terry Jones, 62, a retired prosecutor from Fayetteville, put it more bluntly. “We’re going to vote for a Democrat, and that’s not Blanche Lincoln,” he said. “She’s willing to hang with the Democratic folks on little issues, but on the ones that really matter in terms of the Democratic Party, she can’t be counted on.”
The intramural warfare has turned bitter. The two are not close, but Mr. Halter, 49, attended the re-election kickoff for Mrs. Lincoln last year. And Mrs. Lincoln, 49, said she considered Mr. Halter a “good friend” as she testified on his behalf when he was nominated for a job in the Clinton administration.
As she traveled across Arkansas, Mrs. Lincoln walked with no entourage, carrying a foam cup of hot tea (the kind one finds at a gas station, not a coffee house). She lets few opportunities pass to remind voters of her position in the Senate, and she urges people to visit her Web site, which is loaded with a county-by-county map of the projects she has delivered.
“The chairmanship of the Senate Agriculture Committee isn’t just mine, it’s ours,” Mrs. Lincoln told an audience at the Farm Bureau in Fayetteville.
But as she left the meeting, a local reporter pulled her aside to ask about health care votes: She supported the bill during the Senate’s vote on Christmas Eve but opposed a final procedure known as reconciliation. She talked for several minutes as she delivered an answer that did not easily fit into a sound bite.
“You’re talking about reconciliation,” Mrs. Lincoln said. “I did not support that process.” As the reporter pressed her again, she added: “There’s no waffling on the health care bill. I supported it, and I own it.”
A version of this article appeared in print on April 11, 2010, on page A14 of the New York edition.
Copyright 2010 The New York Times Company
By JEFF ZELENY
Published: April 10, 2010
SPRINGDALE, Ark. — This season’s darling of the political left, a man who has generated millions of dollars in his quest to stop Senator Blanche Lincoln from serving a third term, took a seat in the Gunsmoke Room at the Western Sizzlin restaurant here and explained his ideology.
THE DEMOCRATS
Lt. Gov. Bill Halter, who is staging a primary challenge to Senator Blanche Lincoln, campaigned at a seniors group in Springdale, Ark.
Senator Blanche Lincoln arriving for a 10-minute “meet the candidates” pitch at the Farm Bureau in Fayetteville. The race has become one of the most divisive primaries for Democrats.
The word Democrat came up only a time or two. The word liberal? Never.
“I don’t want the simplistic labels to get in the way of what’s really going on here,” said Lt. Gov. Bill Halter, a Democrat whose primary challenge to Mrs. Lincoln has ignited enthusiasm among activists who want to purge the party of those they see as close to corporate interests and uncommitted to liberal causes. “I’m complicated. I doubt you would like it very much if someone put a one-word adjective to describe you.”
Yet the very definition of the Democratic label is being tested in the Senate race in Arkansas, which has emerged as one of the most divisive primaries among Democrats as the midterm elections get under way.
Mr. Halter’s reluctance to fully embrace the left might ultimately make him a less-perfect standard-bearer than many liberals had hoped. But the campaign for the Senate seat held by Mrs. Lincoln — one that has been in Democratic hands for more than a century — is highlighting the divide between pragmatism, idealism and opportunity, as well as the tension between the continuity represented by incumbents and the change offered by challengers.
For all the talk of an angry conservative electorate this year, those on the left side of the spectrum are plenty angry, too, frustrated that President Obama and the majorities his party enjoys in Congress have not accomplished more to enact a liberal agenda. And the primary in Arkansas, one of the most conservative of Democratic bastions, has become a place for liberals to vent frustrations and invest millions for television ads to unseat an incumbent.
The political environment is rocky for all Democrats, but it is particularly challenging for centrists like Mrs. Lincoln. Her opposition to cap-and-trade climate change legislation, her vote against the final step of the health care bill and her opposition to the Employee Free Choice Act, which makes it easier for unions to organize, have increased her vulnerability — and that is just among Democrats.
She argues that her record fits Arkansas, but eight Republicans have lined up to run for her seat, and some groups are backing Mr. Halter simply because they believe he has a stronger shot in a difficult year.
But for the next five weeks, until the May 18 election, the contest is unfolding with all the trappings of a messy — and expensive — family feud that some Democrats fear could weaken the eventual nominee. Similar confrontations are under way in Pennsylvania, where Senator Arlen Specter is seeking to fend off a primary challenger, and in Colorado, where Senator Michael Bennet is battling anti-Washington sentiment.
“I will — win or lose — be a Democrat,” Mrs. Lincoln said last week after a campaign stop in Fayetteville. “I believe very strongly in the big tent theory of the Democrats — it appreciates and respects diversity. That’s the Democratic Party I was taught to cherish as a child, and I still do.”
Five of the nation’s largest labor unions pledged to spend at least $3 million on her defeat. MoveOn.org, a grass-roots liberal organization, and several left-leaning blogs endorsed Mr. Halter, helping to raise more than $2 million on his behalf in the last month.
Mr. Halter’s challenge is born out of opportunity as much as ideological frustration. His popularity as lieutenant governor grew after he pushed for the first Arkansas lottery, to provide college scholarships. He has never cast a vote in office, which offers him the blessing of running without a voting record.
So how would Mr. Halter have voted on health care? When asked in the interview, he said, “You’re not going to like the length of my answer” and talked for four minutes without a specific answer. Asked again, he said, “Yeah, I would have voted for it.”
But Mr. Halter’s lack of a voting record is just fine with several people interviewed at a luncheon in Northwest Arkansas, where nearly 100 retirees gathered for a salad bar, a hot buffet and a political pitch.
Terry Jones, 62, a retired prosecutor from Fayetteville, put it more bluntly. “We’re going to vote for a Democrat, and that’s not Blanche Lincoln,” he said. “She’s willing to hang with the Democratic folks on little issues, but on the ones that really matter in terms of the Democratic Party, she can’t be counted on.”
The intramural warfare has turned bitter. The two are not close, but Mr. Halter, 49, attended the re-election kickoff for Mrs. Lincoln last year. And Mrs. Lincoln, 49, said she considered Mr. Halter a “good friend” as she testified on his behalf when he was nominated for a job in the Clinton administration.
As she traveled across Arkansas, Mrs. Lincoln walked with no entourage, carrying a foam cup of hot tea (the kind one finds at a gas station, not a coffee house). She lets few opportunities pass to remind voters of her position in the Senate, and she urges people to visit her Web site, which is loaded with a county-by-county map of the projects she has delivered.
“The chairmanship of the Senate Agriculture Committee isn’t just mine, it’s ours,” Mrs. Lincoln told an audience at the Farm Bureau in Fayetteville.
But as she left the meeting, a local reporter pulled her aside to ask about health care votes: She supported the bill during the Senate’s vote on Christmas Eve but opposed a final procedure known as reconciliation. She talked for several minutes as she delivered an answer that did not easily fit into a sound bite.
“You’re talking about reconciliation,” Mrs. Lincoln said. “I did not support that process.” As the reporter pressed her again, she added: “There’s no waffling on the health care bill. I supported it, and I own it.”
A version of this article appeared in print on April 11, 2010, on page A14 of the New York edition.
Copyright 2010 The New York Times Company
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Poll Finds Tea Party Backers Wealthier and More Educated
by doug » Thu Apr 15, 2010 4:34 am
Poll Finds Tea Party Backers Wealthier and More Educated
By KATE ZERNIKE and MEGAN THEE-BRENAN
Published: April 14, 2010
Tea Party supporters are wealthier and more well-educated than the general public, and are no more or less afraid of falling into a lower socioeconomic class, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News poll.
Walter Maciel of Tewskbury, Mass., at the Tea Party rally Wednesday on Boston Common.
Video
Why I Joined the Tea Party
Related
How the Poll Was Conducted (April 15, 2010)
The Radical Center: The History of an Idea (April 25, 2010)
A Revised Contract for America, Minus ‘With’ and Newt (April 15, 2010)
The 18 percent of Americans who identify themselves as Tea Party supporters tend to be Republican, white, male, married and older than 45.
They hold more conservative views on a range of issues than Republicans generally. They are also more likely to describe themselves as “very conservative” and President Obama as “very liberal.”
And while most Republicans say they are “dissatisfied” with Washington, Tea Party supporters are more likely to classify themselves as “angry.”
The Tea Party movement burst onto the scene a year ago in protest of the economic stimulus package, and its supporters have vowed to purge the Republican Party of officials they consider not sufficiently conservative and to block the Democratic agenda on the economy, the environment and health care. But the demographics and attitudes of those in the movement have been known largely anecdotally. The Times/CBS poll offers a detailed look at the profile and attitudes of those supporters.
Their responses are like the general public’s in many ways. Most describe the amount they paid in taxes this year as “fair.” Most send their children to public schools. A plurality do not think Sarah Palin is qualified to be president, and, despite their push for smaller government, they think that Social Security and Medicare are worth the cost to taxpayers. They actually are just as likely as Americans as a whole to have returned their census forms, though some conservative leaders have urged a boycott.
Tea Party supporters’ fierce animosity toward Washington, and the president in particular, is rooted in deep pessimism about the direction of the country and the conviction that the policies of the Obama administration are disproportionately directed at helping the poor rather than the middle class or the rich.
The overwhelming majority of supporters say Mr. Obama does not share the values most Americans live by and that he does not understand the problems of people like themselves. More than half say the policies of the administration favor the poor, and 25 percent think that the administration favors blacks over whites — compared with 11 percent of the general public.
They are more likely than the general public, and Republicans, to say that too much has been made of the problems facing black people.
Asked what they are angry about, Tea Party supporters offered three main concerns: the recent health care overhaul, government spending and a feeling that their opinions are not represented in Washington.
“The only way they will stop the spending is to have a revolt on their hands,” Elwin Thrasher, a 66-year-old semiretired lawyer in Florida, said in an interview after the poll. “I’m sick and tired of them wasting money and doing what our founders never intended to be done with the federal government.”
They are far more pessimistic than Americans in general about the economy. More than 90 percent of Tea Party supporters think the country is headed in the wrong direction, compared with about 60 percent of the general public. About 6 in 10 say “America’s best years are behind us” when it comes to the availability of good jobs for American workers.
Nearly 9 in 10 disapprove of the job Mr. Obama is doing over all, and about the same percentage fault his handling of major issues: health care, the economy and the federal budget deficit. Ninety-two percent believe Mr. Obama is moving the country toward socialism, an opinion shared by more than half of the general public.
“I just feel he’s getting away from what America is,” said Kathy Mayhugh, 67, a retired medical transcriber in Jacksonville. “He’s a socialist. And to tell you the truth, I think he’s a Muslim and trying to head us in that direction, I don’t care what he says. He’s been in office over a year and can’t find a church to go to. That doesn’t say much for him.”
The nationwide telephone poll was conducted April 5 through April 12 with 1,580 adults. For the purposes of analysis, Tea Party supporters were oversampled, for a total of 881, and then weighted to their proper proportion in the poll. The margin of sampling error is plus or minus three percentage points for all adults and for Tea Party supporters.
Of the 18 percent of Americans who identified themselves as supporters, 20 percent, or 4 percent of the general public, said they had given money or attended a Tea Party event, or both. These activists were more likely than supporters generally to describe themselves as very conservative and had more negative views about the economy and Mr. Obama. They were more angry with Washington and intense in their desires for a smaller federal government and deficit.
Tea Party supporters over all are more likely than the general public to say their personal financial situation is fairly good or very good. But 55 percent are concerned that someone in their household will be out of a job in the next year. And more than two-thirds say the recession has been difficult or caused hardship and major life changes. Like most Americans, they think the most pressing problems facing the country today are the economy and jobs.
But while most Americans blame the Bush administration or Wall Street for the current state of the American economy, the greatest number of Tea Party supporters blame Congress.
They do not want a third party and say they usually or almost always vote Republican. The percentage holding a favorable opinion of former President George W. Bush, at 57 percent, almost exactly matches the percentage in the general public that holds an unfavorable view of him.
Dee Close, a 47-year-old homemaker in Memphis, said she was worried about a “drift” in the country. “Over the last three or four years, I’ve realized how immense that drift has been away from what made this country great,” Ms. Close said.
Yet while the Tea Party supporters are more conservative than Republicans on some social issues, they do not want to focus on those issues: about 8 in 10 say that they are more concerned with economic issues, as is the general public.
When talking about the Tea Party movement, the largest number of respondents said that the movement’s goal should be reducing the size of government, more than cutting the budget deficit or lowering taxes.
And nearly three-quarters of those who favor smaller government said they would prefer it even if it meant spending on domestic programs would be cut.
But in follow-up interviews, Tea Party supporters said they did not want to cut Medicare or Social Security — the biggest domestic programs, suggesting instead a focus on “waste.”
Some defended being on Social Security while fighting big government by saying that since they had paid into the system, they deserved the benefits.
Others could not explain the contradiction.
“That’s a conundrum, isn’t it?” asked Jodine White, 62, of Rocklin, Calif. “I don’t know what to say. Maybe I don’t want smaller government. I guess I want smaller government and my Social Security.” She added, “I didn’t look at it from the perspective of losing things I need. I think I’ve changed my mind.”
Marjorie Connelly, Dalia Sussman and Marina Stefan contributed reporting.
A version of this article appeared in print on April 15, 2010, on page A1 of the New York edition.
By KATE ZERNIKE and MEGAN THEE-BRENAN
Published: April 14, 2010
Tea Party supporters are wealthier and more well-educated than the general public, and are no more or less afraid of falling into a lower socioeconomic class, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News poll.
Walter Maciel of Tewskbury, Mass., at the Tea Party rally Wednesday on Boston Common.
Video
Why I Joined the Tea Party
Related
How the Poll Was Conducted (April 15, 2010)
The Radical Center: The History of an Idea (April 25, 2010)
A Revised Contract for America, Minus ‘With’ and Newt (April 15, 2010)
The 18 percent of Americans who identify themselves as Tea Party supporters tend to be Republican, white, male, married and older than 45.
They hold more conservative views on a range of issues than Republicans generally. They are also more likely to describe themselves as “very conservative” and President Obama as “very liberal.”
And while most Republicans say they are “dissatisfied” with Washington, Tea Party supporters are more likely to classify themselves as “angry.”
The Tea Party movement burst onto the scene a year ago in protest of the economic stimulus package, and its supporters have vowed to purge the Republican Party of officials they consider not sufficiently conservative and to block the Democratic agenda on the economy, the environment and health care. But the demographics and attitudes of those in the movement have been known largely anecdotally. The Times/CBS poll offers a detailed look at the profile and attitudes of those supporters.
Their responses are like the general public’s in many ways. Most describe the amount they paid in taxes this year as “fair.” Most send their children to public schools. A plurality do not think Sarah Palin is qualified to be president, and, despite their push for smaller government, they think that Social Security and Medicare are worth the cost to taxpayers. They actually are just as likely as Americans as a whole to have returned their census forms, though some conservative leaders have urged a boycott.
Tea Party supporters’ fierce animosity toward Washington, and the president in particular, is rooted in deep pessimism about the direction of the country and the conviction that the policies of the Obama administration are disproportionately directed at helping the poor rather than the middle class or the rich.
The overwhelming majority of supporters say Mr. Obama does not share the values most Americans live by and that he does not understand the problems of people like themselves. More than half say the policies of the administration favor the poor, and 25 percent think that the administration favors blacks over whites — compared with 11 percent of the general public.
They are more likely than the general public, and Republicans, to say that too much has been made of the problems facing black people.
Asked what they are angry about, Tea Party supporters offered three main concerns: the recent health care overhaul, government spending and a feeling that their opinions are not represented in Washington.
“The only way they will stop the spending is to have a revolt on their hands,” Elwin Thrasher, a 66-year-old semiretired lawyer in Florida, said in an interview after the poll. “I’m sick and tired of them wasting money and doing what our founders never intended to be done with the federal government.”
They are far more pessimistic than Americans in general about the economy. More than 90 percent of Tea Party supporters think the country is headed in the wrong direction, compared with about 60 percent of the general public. About 6 in 10 say “America’s best years are behind us” when it comes to the availability of good jobs for American workers.
Nearly 9 in 10 disapprove of the job Mr. Obama is doing over all, and about the same percentage fault his handling of major issues: health care, the economy and the federal budget deficit. Ninety-two percent believe Mr. Obama is moving the country toward socialism, an opinion shared by more than half of the general public.
“I just feel he’s getting away from what America is,” said Kathy Mayhugh, 67, a retired medical transcriber in Jacksonville. “He’s a socialist. And to tell you the truth, I think he’s a Muslim and trying to head us in that direction, I don’t care what he says. He’s been in office over a year and can’t find a church to go to. That doesn’t say much for him.”
The nationwide telephone poll was conducted April 5 through April 12 with 1,580 adults. For the purposes of analysis, Tea Party supporters were oversampled, for a total of 881, and then weighted to their proper proportion in the poll. The margin of sampling error is plus or minus three percentage points for all adults and for Tea Party supporters.
Of the 18 percent of Americans who identified themselves as supporters, 20 percent, or 4 percent of the general public, said they had given money or attended a Tea Party event, or both. These activists were more likely than supporters generally to describe themselves as very conservative and had more negative views about the economy and Mr. Obama. They were more angry with Washington and intense in their desires for a smaller federal government and deficit.
Tea Party supporters over all are more likely than the general public to say their personal financial situation is fairly good or very good. But 55 percent are concerned that someone in their household will be out of a job in the next year. And more than two-thirds say the recession has been difficult or caused hardship and major life changes. Like most Americans, they think the most pressing problems facing the country today are the economy and jobs.
But while most Americans blame the Bush administration or Wall Street for the current state of the American economy, the greatest number of Tea Party supporters blame Congress.
They do not want a third party and say they usually or almost always vote Republican. The percentage holding a favorable opinion of former President George W. Bush, at 57 percent, almost exactly matches the percentage in the general public that holds an unfavorable view of him.
Dee Close, a 47-year-old homemaker in Memphis, said she was worried about a “drift” in the country. “Over the last three or four years, I’ve realized how immense that drift has been away from what made this country great,” Ms. Close said.
Yet while the Tea Party supporters are more conservative than Republicans on some social issues, they do not want to focus on those issues: about 8 in 10 say that they are more concerned with economic issues, as is the general public.
When talking about the Tea Party movement, the largest number of respondents said that the movement’s goal should be reducing the size of government, more than cutting the budget deficit or lowering taxes.
And nearly three-quarters of those who favor smaller government said they would prefer it even if it meant spending on domestic programs would be cut.
But in follow-up interviews, Tea Party supporters said they did not want to cut Medicare or Social Security — the biggest domestic programs, suggesting instead a focus on “waste.”
Some defended being on Social Security while fighting big government by saying that since they had paid into the system, they deserved the benefits.
Others could not explain the contradiction.
“That’s a conundrum, isn’t it?” asked Jodine White, 62, of Rocklin, Calif. “I don’t know what to say. Maybe I don’t want smaller government. I guess I want smaller government and my Social Security.” She added, “I didn’t look at it from the perspective of losing things I need. I think I’ve changed my mind.”
Marjorie Connelly, Dalia Sussman and Marina Stefan contributed reporting.
A version of this article appeared in print on April 15, 2010, on page A1 of the New York edition.
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NYT: Democrats? long-held seats face GOP threat
by doug » Sun Apr 25, 2010 1:34 pm
updated 12:34 p.m. ET April 25, 2010
NYT: Democrats’ long-held seats face GOP threat
Fight for midterm elections not confined to traditional battlegrounds
Rep. David Obey, D-Wis., leaves a Democratic caucus on Capitol Hill in Washington in mid-March.
By Jeff Zeleny and Adam Nagourney
The New York Times
ASHLAND, Wis. - Representative David R. Obey has won 21 straight races, easily prevailing through wars and economic crises that have spanned presidencies from Nixon’s to Obama’s. Yet the discontent with Washington surging through politics is now threatening not only his seat but also Democratic control of Congress.
Mr. Obey is one of nearly a dozen well-established House Democrats who are bracing for something they rarely face: serious competition. Their predicament is the latest sign of distress for their party and underlines why Republicans are confident of making big gains in November and perhaps even winning back the House.
The fight for the midterm elections is not confined to traditional battlegrounds, where Republicans and Democrats often swap seats every few cycles. In the Senate, Democrats are struggling to hold on to, among others, seats once held by President Obama and Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. Democrats are preparing to lose as many as 30 House seats — including a wave of first-term members — and Republicans have expanded their sights to places where political challenges seldom develop.
“It’s not a lifetime appointment,” said Sean Duffy, a Republican district attorney here in the Northwoods of Wisconsin, where he has established himself as one of the most aggressive challengers to Mr. Obey since he went to Washington in 1969. “There are changes in this country going on, and people aren’t happy.”
Mr. Obey, who leads the powerful Appropriations Committee, is one of three House Democratic chairmen who have drawn serious opposition. Representatives John M. Spratt Jr. of South Carolina, who oversees the Budget Committee, and Ike Skelton of Missouri, who runs the Armed Services Committee, have been warned by party leaders to step up the intensity of their campaigns to help preserve the Democratic majority.
These established House Democrats find themselves in the same endangered straits as some of their newer colleagues, particularly those who were swept into office in 2008 by Mr. Obama as he scored victories in traditionally Republican states like Indiana and Virginia.
Representative Pete Sessions of Texas, chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, said he would consider anything short of taking back the House a failure. Republicans say they have not recruited strong candidates in all districts, but both parties agree that Republicans are within reach of capturing the 40 additional seats needed to win control. Republicans also are likely to eat into the Democratic majority in the Senate, though their prospects of taking control remain slim.
Democratic Congressional officials — well aware that a president’s party typically loses seats in midterm elections — have long been preparing for a tough year. But that Mr. Obey here in Wisconsin and other veteran lawmakers like Representative Earl Pomeroy of North Dakota suddenly find themselves in a fight reflects an increasingly sour mood toward the Democratic Party and incumbents.
“He’s supporting the party line of the Democrats, which is not consistent with North Dakota,” said Rick Berg, a Republican state representative from North Dakota who is challenging Mr. Pomeroy. “In the past, we’ve been more conservative at home than the people we send to Washington.”
Asked if this was a good time to be a Republican candidate, Mr. Berg laughed and said, “I sure think so.”
‘Challenging cycles’
Mr. Pomeroy, who has served for 18 years as the state’s only congressman, won two years ago with 62 percent of the vote. Now he is among the top targets of House Republicans and is fighting without the help of one of the state’s incumbent Democratic senators on the ballot, since Byron L. Dorgan chose to retire.
“Some cycles are more challenging as a candidate than others,” Mr. Pomeroy said. “This should be in the range of challenging cycles.”
Democrats worry that some lawmakers who have avoided tough races in the past could be at added risk of defeat because they are out of practice, slow on their feet and often reluctant to acknowledge the threat they are facing. The chairman of the House re-election effort, Representative Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, has called mandatory face-to-face meetings with vulnerable members to monitor their campaigns.
In the Seventh District of Wisconsin, which covers 17,787 square miles from the middle of the state to Lake Superior, signs of Mr. Obey’s service in Congress are found in new bridges, highway expansions and countless other projects. Yet there are fewer signs of Mr. Obey himself. At the Democratic Party office in Wausau, his hometown, campaign placards hang in the window for Senator Russ Feingold, but none for Mr. Obey.
When asked to discuss his re-election bid, Mr. Obey declined, saying that it was too early to begin talking politics and that he was focused on his legislative duties. “I have never met anyone who thought political campaigns were too short,” he said.
Mr. Obey, 71, was elected two years before Mr. Duffy, 38, was born. Mr. Duffy is widely seen as leading in the Republican primary — his opponent is the candidate who lost to Mr. Obey two years ago by 22 percentage points — and his race has drawn support from party leaders in Washington, Tea Party activists and Sarah Palin.
He has been elected four times as the district attorney of Ashland County, but the attention surrounding him began in 1997 when he was on MTV’s “The Real World: Boston.” He also is well-known here as a champion lumberjack sports competitor.
He said he decided to challenge Mr. Obey because of his leading role in the economic stimulus bill, health care legislation and the growth of government. “I know that I can have a serious impact on the direction of the country if I could take out Obey,” he said.
But Mr. Obey, who has a campaign balance of $1.4 million compared with $400,000 for Mr. Duffy, is also emblematic of a bright spot for Democrats: a financial advantage.
Mr. Sessions, the Republican re-election committee chairman, acknowledged that his party might raise less money, but said Republicans would sweep away dozens of Democrats because of the searing intensity of their voters, which he said exceeded the conservative spirit of 1994. When Republicans won control of Congress that year, the tide claimed several top Democrats, including Speaker Thomas S. Foley.
Looking for gains in Senate
In the Senate, Republicans also are looking to make major gains, though their hopes of winning control were set back when Tommy Thompson, a former Wisconsin governor, decided against challenging Mr. Feingold, who is seeking a fourth term. Democrats control the Senate by 59 to 41 seats.
To win the majority, Republicans would essentially have to run the table in races across the country: fending off Democratic challenges to four vulnerable Republican seats in Kentucky, Missouri, New Hampshire and Ohio, and capturing 10 seats now held by Democrats. Even in this climate, Republican officials concede that an error-free year is unlikely. Republicans appear to have a shot at winning races in Arkansas, Colorado, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Nevada, North Dakota and Pennsylvania.
They would also have to pick up the seats of decidedly more entrenched — though not unbeatable — incumbents, like Senators Barbara Boxer of California or Patty Murray of Washington.
But the Republicans have suffered a series of setbacks that could complicate their efforts in the Senate. In Florida, the possibility that Gov. Charlie Crist might abandon the Republican primary and run as an independent could create a three-way race, putting a state in play that Republicans thought they would not have to worry about.
Senator Robert Menendez of New Jersey, chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, said that while he was expecting losses, he saw signs of a turnaround, including increased contributions and enthusiasm from core Democrats.
“I’m not euphoric — don’t misunderstand me,” he said. “I just get a sense that we are moving in a better direction. I don’t think Republicans are taking either one of them, but I’m damn sure they are not taking the Senate.”
Jeff Zeleny reported from Ashland, Wis., and Adam Nagourney from Washington. Carl Hulse contributed reporting from Washington.
This article, “Democrats’ Long-Held Seats Face G.O.P. Threat,” first appeared in The New York Times.
Copyright © 2010 The New York Times
NYT: Democrats’ long-held seats face GOP threat
Fight for midterm elections not confined to traditional battlegrounds
Rep. David Obey, D-Wis., leaves a Democratic caucus on Capitol Hill in Washington in mid-March.
By Jeff Zeleny and Adam Nagourney
The New York Times
ASHLAND, Wis. - Representative David R. Obey has won 21 straight races, easily prevailing through wars and economic crises that have spanned presidencies from Nixon’s to Obama’s. Yet the discontent with Washington surging through politics is now threatening not only his seat but also Democratic control of Congress.
Mr. Obey is one of nearly a dozen well-established House Democrats who are bracing for something they rarely face: serious competition. Their predicament is the latest sign of distress for their party and underlines why Republicans are confident of making big gains in November and perhaps even winning back the House.
The fight for the midterm elections is not confined to traditional battlegrounds, where Republicans and Democrats often swap seats every few cycles. In the Senate, Democrats are struggling to hold on to, among others, seats once held by President Obama and Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. Democrats are preparing to lose as many as 30 House seats — including a wave of first-term members — and Republicans have expanded their sights to places where political challenges seldom develop.
“It’s not a lifetime appointment,” said Sean Duffy, a Republican district attorney here in the Northwoods of Wisconsin, where he has established himself as one of the most aggressive challengers to Mr. Obey since he went to Washington in 1969. “There are changes in this country going on, and people aren’t happy.”
Mr. Obey, who leads the powerful Appropriations Committee, is one of three House Democratic chairmen who have drawn serious opposition. Representatives John M. Spratt Jr. of South Carolina, who oversees the Budget Committee, and Ike Skelton of Missouri, who runs the Armed Services Committee, have been warned by party leaders to step up the intensity of their campaigns to help preserve the Democratic majority.
These established House Democrats find themselves in the same endangered straits as some of their newer colleagues, particularly those who were swept into office in 2008 by Mr. Obama as he scored victories in traditionally Republican states like Indiana and Virginia.
Representative Pete Sessions of Texas, chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, said he would consider anything short of taking back the House a failure. Republicans say they have not recruited strong candidates in all districts, but both parties agree that Republicans are within reach of capturing the 40 additional seats needed to win control. Republicans also are likely to eat into the Democratic majority in the Senate, though their prospects of taking control remain slim.
Democratic Congressional officials — well aware that a president’s party typically loses seats in midterm elections — have long been preparing for a tough year. But that Mr. Obey here in Wisconsin and other veteran lawmakers like Representative Earl Pomeroy of North Dakota suddenly find themselves in a fight reflects an increasingly sour mood toward the Democratic Party and incumbents.
“He’s supporting the party line of the Democrats, which is not consistent with North Dakota,” said Rick Berg, a Republican state representative from North Dakota who is challenging Mr. Pomeroy. “In the past, we’ve been more conservative at home than the people we send to Washington.”
Asked if this was a good time to be a Republican candidate, Mr. Berg laughed and said, “I sure think so.”
‘Challenging cycles’
Mr. Pomeroy, who has served for 18 years as the state’s only congressman, won two years ago with 62 percent of the vote. Now he is among the top targets of House Republicans and is fighting without the help of one of the state’s incumbent Democratic senators on the ballot, since Byron L. Dorgan chose to retire.
“Some cycles are more challenging as a candidate than others,” Mr. Pomeroy said. “This should be in the range of challenging cycles.”
Democrats worry that some lawmakers who have avoided tough races in the past could be at added risk of defeat because they are out of practice, slow on their feet and often reluctant to acknowledge the threat they are facing. The chairman of the House re-election effort, Representative Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, has called mandatory face-to-face meetings with vulnerable members to monitor their campaigns.
In the Seventh District of Wisconsin, which covers 17,787 square miles from the middle of the state to Lake Superior, signs of Mr. Obey’s service in Congress are found in new bridges, highway expansions and countless other projects. Yet there are fewer signs of Mr. Obey himself. At the Democratic Party office in Wausau, his hometown, campaign placards hang in the window for Senator Russ Feingold, but none for Mr. Obey.
When asked to discuss his re-election bid, Mr. Obey declined, saying that it was too early to begin talking politics and that he was focused on his legislative duties. “I have never met anyone who thought political campaigns were too short,” he said.
Mr. Obey, 71, was elected two years before Mr. Duffy, 38, was born. Mr. Duffy is widely seen as leading in the Republican primary — his opponent is the candidate who lost to Mr. Obey two years ago by 22 percentage points — and his race has drawn support from party leaders in Washington, Tea Party activists and Sarah Palin.
He has been elected four times as the district attorney of Ashland County, but the attention surrounding him began in 1997 when he was on MTV’s “The Real World: Boston.” He also is well-known here as a champion lumberjack sports competitor.
He said he decided to challenge Mr. Obey because of his leading role in the economic stimulus bill, health care legislation and the growth of government. “I know that I can have a serious impact on the direction of the country if I could take out Obey,” he said.
But Mr. Obey, who has a campaign balance of $1.4 million compared with $400,000 for Mr. Duffy, is also emblematic of a bright spot for Democrats: a financial advantage.
Mr. Sessions, the Republican re-election committee chairman, acknowledged that his party might raise less money, but said Republicans would sweep away dozens of Democrats because of the searing intensity of their voters, which he said exceeded the conservative spirit of 1994. When Republicans won control of Congress that year, the tide claimed several top Democrats, including Speaker Thomas S. Foley.
Looking for gains in Senate
In the Senate, Republicans also are looking to make major gains, though their hopes of winning control were set back when Tommy Thompson, a former Wisconsin governor, decided against challenging Mr. Feingold, who is seeking a fourth term. Democrats control the Senate by 59 to 41 seats.
To win the majority, Republicans would essentially have to run the table in races across the country: fending off Democratic challenges to four vulnerable Republican seats in Kentucky, Missouri, New Hampshire and Ohio, and capturing 10 seats now held by Democrats. Even in this climate, Republican officials concede that an error-free year is unlikely. Republicans appear to have a shot at winning races in Arkansas, Colorado, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Nevada, North Dakota and Pennsylvania.
They would also have to pick up the seats of decidedly more entrenched — though not unbeatable — incumbents, like Senators Barbara Boxer of California or Patty Murray of Washington.
But the Republicans have suffered a series of setbacks that could complicate their efforts in the Senate. In Florida, the possibility that Gov. Charlie Crist might abandon the Republican primary and run as an independent could create a three-way race, putting a state in play that Republicans thought they would not have to worry about.
Senator Robert Menendez of New Jersey, chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, said that while he was expecting losses, he saw signs of a turnaround, including increased contributions and enthusiasm from core Democrats.
“I’m not euphoric — don’t misunderstand me,” he said. “I just get a sense that we are moving in a better direction. I don’t think Republicans are taking either one of them, but I’m damn sure they are not taking the Senate.”
Jeff Zeleny reported from Ashland, Wis., and Adam Nagourney from Washington. Carl Hulse contributed reporting from Washington.
This article, “Democrats’ Long-Held Seats Face G.O.P. Threat,” first appeared in The New York Times.
Copyright © 2010 The New York Times
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