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Ken Mehlman, President Bush’s campaign manager in 2004 and a former chairman of the Republican National Committee, made a shocking confession today in an interview with The Atlantic’s Marc Ambinger: Privately, in off-the-record conversations with this reporter over the years, Mehlman voiced support for tax increases and told of how, in private discussions with senior Republican officials, he beat back efforts to support the Bush tax cuts. The reaction by conservative pundits and leaders was praise for Mehlman following his conscience and being true to himself. Okay, not really. Maybe in an alternate universe that would happen, but in D.C....

Ken Mehlman, President Bush's campaign manager in 2004 and a former chairman of the Republican National Committee, has told family and associates that he is gay. Mehlman arrived at this conclusion about his identity fairly recently, he said in an interview. He agreed to answer a reporter's questions, he said, because, now in private life, he wants to become an advocate for gay marriage and anticipated that questions would arise about his participation in a late-September fundraiser for the American Foundation for Equal Rights (AFER), the group that supported the legal challenge to California's ballot initiative against gay marriage, Proposition...

Former Republican National Committee chairman and Bush-Cheney campaign manager Ken Mehlman has announced publicly that he is gay, CBS News chief political consultant and politics editor for The Atlantic Marc Ambinder reports. "It's taken me 43 years to get comfortable with this part of my life," Mehlman said. "Everybody has their own path to travel, their own journey, and for me, over the past few months, I've told my family, friends, former colleagues, and current colleagues, and they've been wonderful and supportive. The process has been something that's made me a happier and better person. It's something I wish I...

Ken Mehlman, President Bush's campaign manager in 2004 and a former chairman of the Republican National Committee, has told family and associates that he is gay. Mehlman arrived at this conclusion about his identity fairly recently, he said in an interview. He agreed to answer a reporter's questions, he said, because, now in private life, he wants to become an advocate for gay marriage and anticipated that questions would arise about his participation in a late-September fundraiser for the American Foundation for Equal Rights (AFER), the group that supported the legal challenge to California's ballot initiative against gay marriage, Proposition...

Ken Mehlman, who was President George W. Bush's campaign manager in 2004, has come out as gay - and wants to be an advocate for gay marriage. Mehlman, also a former Republican National Committee chairman, told the Atlantic magazine "It's taken me 43 years to get comfortable with this part of my life." He said friends, family and colleagues "have been wonderfully supportive." When rumors of Mehlman's sexual orientation circulated years ago, he told several reporters that they were false. Mehlman and his aides went to considerable lengths to conceal his sexual identity, arranging "dates" with women and photos of...

Rove explained that he and McCain “got to know each other during the 2004 campaign.” In a separate interview, Mehlman noted that “McCain was completely loyal to the president in 2004 and worked incredibly hard to help him get elected.” According to Taylor, “The Bush Republicans here in town are excited for John McCain.”

Former Republican National Committee chairman — and the man who reportedly advised President Bush in early 2001 not to regulate carbon dioxide — has switched sides and is now being paid to lobby for greenhouse gas regulation on behalf of the eco-activist group Environmental Defense. According to Greenwire’s John Fialka (Feb. 21), ED board member and hedge fund tycoon Julian Robertson is putting up the cash to hire DC lobbying powerhouse Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld. Ken Mehlman and former Democratic congressman Vic Fazio will lead Akin Gump’s efforts. "Their first mission is to find the right political formula...

By JEB BUSH AND KEN MEHLMAN We support the immigration reform compromise worked out in the Senate for a few simple reasons. It strengthens our national defense. It makes our economy more competitive and flexible. It enhances the rule of law and promotes national unity. And it also does these things in a fair, practical way. The bill provides real border security for the first time, protecting us against the entry of terrorists and stemming the flow of illegal drugs. The temporary worker program will reduce the number of people trying to sneak past the border patrol, allowing law enforcement...

Proposition 187 drove Hispanics from California’s Republican party! So argue Jeb Bush and Ken Mehlman in today’s Wall Street Journal, recycling one of the most cherished myths of the Open Borders Lobby. According to this nostrum, had Californians, fed up with the costs of providing free public services to illegal aliens, not voted to require legal residency to receive those services, California would today, in Bush and Mehlman’s phrase, still be “Reagan country,” its burgeoning Hispanic population reliably pulling the lever for Republicans. Too bad they didn’t read their own op-ed. No Republican presidential nominee has won California since 1988,...

In 1980, as he was preparing to run for president, Ronald Reagan asked Lionel Sosa, an advertising executive from San Antonio, to lead his outreach to the Hispanic community. Reagan told Sosa his job would be easy: "Latinos are Republican. They just don't know it yet." On this, as in so many other areas, Reagan was a man who saw the future. In 1984, he made history, receiving 32 percent of the Hispanic vote. President George W. Bush achieved similar results in 2000, and in 2004 won a record 44 percent of the Hispanic vote. They're not alone. Smart Republicans...

WASHINGTON (AP) GOP officials say Republican National Committee Chairman Ken Mehlman will step down from his post in January.

While there's still like no news....Ken Mehlman is doing a cautionary blogger/talk radio conference callright now. He?s talking about rumors of voter fraud and intimidation, saying that the lesson from 2004 is that Dems both ?cry wolf? and are ?the wolf in sheeps? clothing? in many cases. He mentioned the previously noted Kean case and a (anti-) Gil Gutknecht egging. Asked who could surprise tonight, Mehlman said: Hawaii 2 Michael Steele in Md. Max Burns in Ga. Posted at 1:00 PM

Referring to an RNC ad as the "Mehlman cesspool," Chris Matthews was being non-partisan. Really - he told us so! On this afternoon's Hardball, Matthews interviewed Rep. Harold Ford, Jr., Dem candidate for senator from Tennessee. The first topic up was an ad the RNC is currently running using actors to tweak Ford on his positions on a variety of issues, from taxes to gun control to North Korea. The ad also alludes to the fact that Ford attended a Playboy party at the Super Bowl in Jacksonville in 2005.At the ad's end, an alluring woman saying she met Harold...

With just 20 days left until the election, more big names are getting behind candidates hoping to replace disgraced congressman Mark Foley. On Wednesday, it was Republican National Committee Chariman Ken Mehlman visiting Punta Gorda to campaign for Joe Negron. Republicans claim Foley's scandal is not the reason the party's heavy hitters are in the area. RNC chairman, Ken Mehlman, says he only makes visits to political races where he feels the candidate has a strong chance to win. The Republican party is using all the money, resources, and powerful faces it can to secure Negron a seat in congress,...

RNC Chairman Ken Mehlman on WIOD 610AM RNC Chairman Ken Mehlman spoke on WIOD 610AM about Florida's Republican candidates including Katherine Harris. Listen here: http://www.electharris.org/multimedia/details.aspx?ID=6

Last month's narrowly averted plot to blow up airliners bound for the U.S. from Great Britain is a stark reminder that we are engaged in an extraordinary and dangerous global war. In 46 days, the American people will make an important decision about how we prosecute that war: Do we stay on the offense and use every tool available to defeat the enemy, or do we elect leaders who would weaken America and surrender key tools we need to defeat the global jihad? This war began long before September 11, 2001. For a generation, the terrorists have attacked free nations,...

WASHINGTON -- If congressional elections were held today, Republicans would hold their majority in the House and Senate, Republican National Committee Chairman Ken Mehlman said in an interview. Mehlman bases that conclusion on a recent meeting with his regional political directors, on private polling, and on analyses of individual races. Mehlman conceded that the House is in a "competitive situation." In the House, 35 to 40 seats are in play, he said. In the Senate, 12 or 13 seats could change hands. To tilt the balance, Democrats would have to pick up six seats in the Senate and 15 seats...

Open Letter to the GOP by Alan Caruba Posted Jul 11, 2006 I recently received a direct mail notice from Ken Mehlman, Chairman of the Republican National Committee saying that, “Our records show we have not yet received your 2006 Republican National Committee membership contribution.” One assumes a lot of these notices have been mailed to folks like myself who have decided not to financially support the GOP this year. They won’t miss my donation because it’s always small. It’s not that I won’t vote the Republican ticket in November. I probably will, but that’s because the Democrats in my...

It seems all eyes are on the 2006, 2008 elections lately. And it's small wonder why: Strong rhetoric has been swirling around the media painting Democrats and Republicans alike backed in a corner, with voters seeking alternative candidates. Indeed, a Washington Post-ABC News poll revealed that 55 percent of American voters plan to vote against incumbents this November – the highest anti-incumbent number since 1994. This startling revelation shows that Republicans may face a serious challenge this year. But Republican National Committee Chairman Ken Mehlman has faced such challenges before and is quietly assuring party insiders that superior organization and...

A Democratic-controlled Congress would boost gasoline prices even more though over-regulation and cost the average American family nearly $1,000 more a year, the Republican National Committee warns. The Democrats favor an increase in the taxes imposed on gasoline purchases, and the average price of regular gas would rise to $3.751 a gallon, according to an e-mail from RNC Chairman Ken Mehlman. The Web site GOP.com offers a "gas calculator” to show how much more each driver would pay in a year. The figures are based on year, make and model information about the vehicle, along with the average gasoline price...