Posted on 01/24/2011 1:40:29 PM PST by roses of sharon
Washington (CNN) – There may be two House Republicans giving high-profile responses to President Obama's State of the Union speech on Tuesday night, but House Majority Leader Eric Cantor made it clear that it's the new House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan, not Minnesota Rep. Michelle Bachmann, who is speaking for the GOP.
"Paul Ryan is giving the official response," Cantor said when asked at his weekly session with reporters if Bachmann's response will step on the GOP message.
After House Speaker John Boehner and Senator GOP Leader Mitch McConnell announced on Friday that Ryan would deliver the GOP response, the Tea Party Express put out word that Rep. Bachmann would also be commenting on the President's speech and they would broadcast her remarks on their website. On Monday, her office welcomed network television coverage of her speech, which will be delivered from the Capitol Hill Club, just steps away from the U.S. Capitol campus.
Lumping Rep. Bachmann in with the rest of the entire membership of Congress, Cantor said, "You know Michelle Bachmann, just like the other 534 members of the House and Senate, are going to have opinions as to the State of the Union." The House Majority Leader added, "This is a process that happens every year and I look forward to all comments," and noted again that Ryan's was the official Republican response to the president.
Pressed by CNN that unlike most other members of Congress, Bachmann's remarks were expected to receive similar televised coverage as Ryan's official response, Cantor laughed, and asked, "Then maybe I should ask why is that the case?"
(Excerpt) Read more at politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com ...
And that's what worries the Establishment RINO Republicans who are trying to keep conservatives in the dark about the actual character of the Republican Party leadership.
Clearly those 2 are RINO fiscons who want to throw us socons under the bus.
I think most people understand the difference. Ryan will speak for the Elite Establishment Wing of the GOP and Bachmann will speak for the Regular Folks in the GOP.
Ryan can speak for The Ruling Class and Bachmann can speak for The People.
What's the big deal? Sounds like a win-win to me.
Will there be any way to tell who gets more listeners?
Yes, we understand the difference...so why doesn’t Cantor?
He simply teases the MSM not to cover her, jerk!
I’m glad Ryan is giving the response. He’s a good man, and the fact that they chose him speaks well.
And I’m glad Bachmann is going to speak up.
CNN is playing games here, trying to drive a wedge where there isn’t one.
And Cantor may be pandering just a bit. Anyone dumb enough to pander to CNN has just outed himself as not-ready-for-prime-time. I’m noticing who is proud to be seen with us and who isn’t, and I plan to remember. I had higher hopes for Cantor, but maybe he’s not ready to sit with the grown-ups.
As far as I know Ryan has made ZERO indications he wants socons under the bus, he has been careful to be respectful, unlike other fiscal hawks.
They’re not. Paul Ryan is giving the official response, Michelle Bachman’s will follow Ryan’s, on her website. At least that was how it was spelled out the other day.
I would caution readers on CNN reporting, their agenda will be to promote dissent within the GOP and use any sound bites of Cantor’s to advance that message. Take with a huge grain of salt.
Nothing against Ryan, but Michelle Bachmann speaks for me.
I like Ryan. But Cantor whining about the tea Party having Bachmann give another response is pathetic.
Actually, we know why — because CNN is attempting to divide republicans any way they can.
There are two parties in DC. Each get to do a speech. One is the President’s party, and the other is the opposition party.
Why should the tea party caucus get to make a televised speech? They don’t let the hispanic caucus, or the black caucus, or the progressive caucus, make televised speeches.
CNN is hoping that Bachman says something that will let them paint republicans in a bad light. If not, they can still muddle the message.
It’s not like Ryan is some rino, big-spending republican that we have to fight him. He’s one of the better guys. If we don’t learn to work together with our own side, it’s going to be another really short stint in power.
Cantor is the representative of the majority party. It’s his job to minimize the negative impact of Bachman giving a televised speech when the republican party is trying to do the same.
Bachman would be better off talking with Ryan and seeing if he can incorporate some of her major points in his presentation. We could have rallied around him with a solid, unified message.
If they can’t work together with the majority party even on something as serious as the response to the SOTU speech, maybe they shouldn’t be taken as seriously.
Bachmann also speaks for me.
This is why they put her on the Intelligence Committee. To keep her out of the way.
No other republican is giving a speech at the same time as the republican response. No other democrat is giving a speech at hte same time sas the republican response. No other democrat is giving a speech at the same time as the President’s speech.
There is nothing “normal” about a major newscaster broadcasting a speech from a caucus leader instead of the opposition party’s leader.
Of course, I don’t see how these speeches could be at “the same time”. CNN certainly isn’t going to split-screen them, and they aren’t going to pre-empt the opposition speech for Bachman, because that would violate some pretty standard protocols for these speeches.
So in the end, it won’t be a big deal, Bachman will be speaking just like others do in the spin sessions, but CNN will try to make it out as something much bigger, something that hopefully the conservatives won’t contribute to.
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