Posted on 01/07/2009 4:09:24 AM PST by cll
Republicans' focus on recovering after sharp blows in the past two elections has put a spotlight on an unlikely star: Puerto Rico's new governor, Luis Fortuño.
As he was sworn in Friday, the Republican Governors Association was effusive. "Luis Fortuño proves that principled Republicans can appeal to voters everywhere," said the group's chairman, South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford. "He is the type of leader the party needs to revive its base and expand its appeal."
Party leaders view Mr. Fortuño, 48 years old, as an example for Republicans as well as someone who can reach out to Hispanics and other minorities in the U.S. Republican National Committee Chairman Mike Duncan has already made overtures. At a forum Monday, Mr. Duncan said he was inspired as he watched the Fortuño inauguration in San Juan. The governor, he said, "ran a very conservative campaign in a state, a territory, that has severe economic problems right now. But he said, 'We don't need these 11,000 new government employees put on by the opposition party. We can't tax our way to prosperity. We will have family values.' "
~ snip ~
The timing couldn't be better for Mr. Fortuño because the GOP is turning to telegenic, high-wattage outside-the-Beltway politicians -- including Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal -- to light a new path to power. "Conservatives have a strong belief in local control," said Brent Littlefield, a political consultant who worked for Gov. Jindal. "That's why we see our leadership in our state-level ranks."
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
Are we really that desperate, that we have to go to a U.S. Commonwealth to get our sheet in order? I’m baffled. I put out 5 G’s to see Republican stars in DC back in 2006, and I can’t believe we’ve tumbled this far down the rabbit hole...
Don’t forget Fortuño annointed a DEMOCRAT, Pedro Pierluisi, to take his seat in Congress. The guy got a big round of applause on the floor yesterday. Way to go. Not.
Some day the Republican Party might have a flash of insight and start “reaching out” to *all* Americans from conservative principles, rather than trying to pander to and rally minorities into the voting booth.
Still I’m glad there’s a Republican candidate in Puerto Rico.
How uplifting it is to read that Conservative Republicans still can win elections as long as there is no Liberal/Socialist/Progressive/Marxist/Stalinist voter fraud.
What happens in Puerto Rico hardly has any bearing on the pubbie party.
This guy is straining for relevancy.
as someone who can reach out to Hispanics and other minorities in the U.S.
“reach out”? What does that mean EXACTLY?
I’m not so sure since Puerto Ricans and Mexican-Americans don’t get along too well.
More than half of Obama's victory margin came from votes cast in seven urban counties.
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
Fortuño annointed Pierluisi as his choice for Resident Commissioner because (i) they’re old friends (I think they went to high school together), (ii) Pierluisi was a former AG under Gov. Rosselló, whom Fortuño was facing in the gubernatorial primary, and (iii) Pierluisi fit the same “outsider,” “non-political” mold as Fortuño, since both had spent the last decade in the private sector.
A better question is why Pedro Pierluisi decided to run as a Democrat. Pierluisi’s brother is very active in the local Republican Party, and most ppeople would have assumed that the former AG was a Republican, not a “conservative Democrat.” I suspect that Pierluisi was asked by Fortuño to declare himself to be a Democrat for the same reason that Luis A. Ferré asked Jorge Luis Córdoba (who had been a lifelong Republican) to declare himself a Democrat when elected Resident Commissioner-—so that his gubernatorial administration, already well connected to the GOP establishment, had a “seat on the table” on the Democrat side (which they viewed as necessary in a heavily Democrat House in both 1969 and 2009). That also explains why Pierluisi declared his support for Obama rather than Hillary in the primaries: at that point it was pretty clear that Obama would be the nominee, and Fortuño didn’t want PR to be shut out.
Even if the excuse as an NPP is pragmatism, as a Republican, Fortuño had the basic duty to ensure a fellow Republican went to DC. To willfully annoint an Obama Democrat as a successor is unimaginable. It's hard to consider him anything other than a RINO.
Hopefully, Fortuño will not be Obama Light despite his Republican credentials. All this talk about “change” during the campaign, and now his statements to the effect that everybody will have to “contribute more” towards solving the economic problem in Puerto Rico, raises some suspicion.
I don’t think that Pierluisi is an “Obama Democrat” any more that conservative Dems like Lincoln Davis et al that endorsed Obama after it was clear that he would win were “Obama Democrats.” But you’re right that Fortuño’s pragmatism is another way of saying he’s not as good a Republican as one would hope for.
For the record, I didn’t vote for Pierluisi in the primary or the general (I voted for staunch conservative Republican Dr. Miriam Ramírez de Ferrer, who finished a very distant third in the NPP primary-—in the general, I wrote in her name), and I think that he’s one of the least talented politicians I’ve ever encountered. He’s got a heck of a reputation as a lawyer, though, and is far better suited to be a PR Supreme Court Justice; if Fortuño recalls him from Washington to serve in the Supreme Court, as has been rumored, I would much prefer that. The NPP would then select Pierluisi’s replacement, and while it may be Cuban-American Republican Henry Neumann (who moved to PR with his family as a child to escape Castro’s Cuba), former president of the PR basketball league who had initially expressed interest in running for Resident Commissioner, barely lost out for the final at-large Senate spot in the NPP primary and now serves on Fortuño’s Cabinet as Secretary of Sports and Recreation, it is more likely that another Fortuño pal, former Senate President (and current Secretary of State) Kenneth McClintock, will get the spot. Unlike California’s McClintock, PR’s version is a Clinton Democrat whose lifelong dream has been to be a U.S. Senator from PR or, until PR is a state, Resident Commissioner. McClintock will have opposition given his apostasy when he held on to the Senate presidency (with support from 6 NPP Senators and tacit support from the PDP Senate minority)when the NPP Caucus voted that Pedro Rosselló, who had the governorship stolen in November 2004 and was then given a Senate seat when an NPP Senator resigned in January 2005, should be the Senate President, but at the end of the day if he’s Fortuño’s choice he will likely get it.
And, before you ask, PR politics has always been as much of a soap opera as it currently is.
Each state has its own drama in some way or another, some more sedate than others. If Fortuño is able to get Pierluisi out of Congress, all the better (unless, of course, it’s to replace him with McClintock, and if he does willfully select him, Fortuño’s credibility as a national Republican will be totally gone). I presume Fortuño has not made his decision yet for the Supreme Court vacancies.
Dems obviously have a better formula for victory, but Obama only won 873 of 3114 counties. Someone should see an opportunity and lead conservatives to at least become competitive.
BTW does the Governor doesn't pronounce his name "Louie" does he? Or use it as a nickname? I was watching the RNC chairman debate and Mike Duncan said "Louie Fortuño".
The guy got a big round of applause on the floor yesterday.
Uhg. We have none of the delegates. We could and should have all but DC and the VI.
It’s an exaggeration to say the GOP is close to extinct in the suburbs.
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