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The Party of Bachmann More By Mara Gay on November 06, 2009 12:05pm In the GOP civil war, moderates seemed to gain ground this week as center-leaning Republicans won two governors' races, while the conservative candidate lost in NY-23. But days later, in the far right came out again big. Thousands heeded Rep. Michele Bachmann's call to fill the National Mall and protest Democratic health care reform. Commentators say Thursday's rally--which included signs comparing the health care bill to the Holocaust--is proof that the Republican Party is embracing its right wing in the battle for control of the party....

During a debate on the house floor numerous Republicans continously object while the democrats are speaking. It appears they are doing this in protests of the dems holding up procedure. Because of the back and forth and interupting I'm not going to attempt a transcript. Here's the video link.

Here is video of GOP Members of the House objecting as Democrats begin trying to ram the Health Care Bill through today. Democrats set only four hours for debate.

State Rep. Chuck Hopson says he's leaving the Democratic Party and becoming a Republican. Hopson says President Barack Obama and Democrats in Congress don't reflect the conservative values of his East Texas district. Hopson, in a phone interview from Jacksonville, said Friday that more than 70 percent of voters in his district voted for Republican John McCain in the 2008 presidential election. The decision is tough blow for the Texas Democratic Party. The split in the Texas House of Representatives was a narrow 76-74 in favor of the GOP.

A freshman Democrat on Thursday said that Republican lawmakers' attendance at the "House Call" protest was "the saddest thing I've seen here."Rep. Jim Himes (D-Conn.) chided GOPers from skipping out on official House business, including the swearing in ceremony for a special election winner. He made his comment on Twitter:W/few courageous exceptions, GOP caucus walks out en masse as 2 new members (dems from specials) are sworn in. Saddest thing I've seen here.Former Lt. Gov. John Garamendi (D-Calif.) was sworn in this afternoon on the House floor. Garamendi replaced former Rep. Ellen Tauscher (D-Calif.) who took a position at the...

Nov. 6 (Bloomberg) -- Eric Cantor, the second-ranking Republican in the U.S. House, said his party needs to be inclusive and criticized some comments by talk-show host Rush Limbaugh as inappropriate. “The Republican Party in its roots is a party of inclusion and we ought to be promoting that and making sure that voices are heard,” Cantor, of Virginia, said in an interview on Bloomberg Television’s “Political Capital with Al Hunt,” airing today.

Whether you call it a rally, press conference or "House Call," Republicans think Thursday's Capitol Hill Tea Party was a success -- and they are crediting Rep. Michele Bachmann for having the pizazz to increase turnout and press coverage. "We didn't know what to expect, we didn't know what kind of energy would be there, but this thing took a life of its own," Brendan Buck, spokesman for the Republican Study Committee, told TPMDC. "It came together better than we ever imagined it would in terms of size and energy," he said. After chatting with press aides from various Republican offices,...

Over the past few months, I have been testing the waters with numerous articles advocating Senator Jim DeMint (R-South Carolina) as a possible candidate for the Republican nomination to be our Presidential candidate in under three years. The response from readers of this blog, and folks who ran upon the articles that I had written, has been amazing. I have received at least three emails asking me what can I do? How can we start a draft Senator DeMint for President 2012 organization? Will this lead into a Nation-wide third party movement? Not to mention numerous comments in support of...

Oh, how the mighty have fallen. Despite the best efforts of the White House and much of the media to portray this week’s elections as a meaningless barometer of the public’s mood toward the Obama administration, the results were clear. The voters were communicating buyers’ remorse. One year after reaching its zenith, the Democratic Party is now grappling with what could be the beginning of the end of the Obama era. In Virginia, former Attorney General Bob McDonnell, a solid pro-family, pro-life conservative, won a landslide victory, as did down-ticket conservative candidates. Repeated Obama visits to his own backyard did...

Barack Obama held out hope of overcoming partisan divides, lowering the temperature and bringing Americans together. How's that working out? Not well, it appears. One year after he was elected, Americans look more polarized than ever. In a special House election in upstate New York, a Conservative Party candidate, backed by Sarah Palin, took on a moderate Republican whom his supporters called a "radical leftist," forced her to withdraw and then lost to the Democrat. It's entirely possible that in the Senate, not a single Republican will vote for an administration-supported health insurance overhaul. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., laments that...

November 05, 2009 Republicans Rally Resistance to Health Care Bill, as House Vote Nears Republicans host a rally against Democrats' health care reform, calling on those who attend to track down their elected representatives in Congress and put pressure on them to think twice about voting for the more than $1 trillion health care overhaul. As a crowd of protesters shouted "kill the bill," House Republicans on Thursday rallied opposition against the Democrats' health care legislation, decrying the bill on the steps of Congress in a last-ditch bid to derail or at least delay the legislation heading toward a possible...

Seven Democratic Hardin County elected officials announced Wednesday they will become Republicans. Sheriff Ed Cain, who confirmed his switch earlier this week, was joined at Wednesday’s formal announcement by County Judge Billy Caraway, Precinct 4 Commissioner Bobby Franklin, County Attorney Rebecca Walton, Precinct 5 Constable Wayne McDaniel, Precinct 4 Justice of the Peace Kent Walker and Precinct 5 Justice of the Peace Butch Cummings. As each of the officials spoke, they repeated the same theme — their beliefs and values have stayed the same, but are no longer reflected by the Democratic Party. In addition, several said that when they...

Though Republicans oppose the so-called "public option," Rep. Joe Wilson, R-S.C., is proposing the requirement to draw attention to the plan's alleged flaws. Republican Rep. Joe Wilson proposed an amendment Wednesday that would force all members of Congress to receive health insurance coverage through the government-run plan proposed in the House's reform bill. Though Republicans oppose the so-called "public option," the South Carolina gadfly -- who gained notoriety for shouting "you lie" at President Obama during his address to Congress two months ago -- is proposing the requirement to draw attention to what he sees as the plan's flaws. "They...

Seven Democratic Hardin County elected officials announced Wednesday they will become Republicans. Sheriff Ed Cain, who confirmed his switch earlier this week, was joined at Wednesday's formal announcement by County Judge Billy Caraway, Precinct 4 Commissioner Bobby Franklin, County Attorney Rebecca Walton, Precinct 5 Constable Wayne McDaniel, Precinct 4 Justice of the Peace Kent Walker and Precinct 5 Justice of the Peace Butch Cummings. No longer Democrats As each of the officials spoke, they repeated the same theme — their beliefs and values have stayed the same, but are no longer reflected by the Democratic Party. In addition, several said...

Last night, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released its score of the House Republican health care plan, reporting that it will reduce healthcare premiums by up to 10 percent and lower federal budget deficits by $68 billion over the next ten years. In a letter sent to sent by the CBO to House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH), the CBO said: "The amendment includes a number of provisions intended to increase the availability and improve the affordability of private health insurance. "According to CBO and JCT’s (Joint Committee on Taxation) assessment, enacting the amendment would result in a net...

Actor Jon Voight and nationally-syndicated radio talk show host Mark Levin are joining Cong. Michelle Bachmann (R-Minn), Republican Study Committee Chairman Tom Price (R-Ga), Cong. Mike Pence (R-Ind), Republican House leadership and other Republican members at noon today to welcome citizens coming into town from all over the country today to make calls on their representatives. Their message is to kill this turkey of a government-takeover of health care. Action is important today because Speaker Nancy Pelosi has hinted at a floor vote on the Dems’ massive bill this Saturday. Thousands are expected to join in the rally and the...

It was a big election night for Republicans overall. But their lone disappointment – the loss of a New York congressional seat in a crossfire between moderates and conservatives – could portend struggles next year for GOP leaders. Channeling the Tea Party-inspired energy is a particular headache for Dallas Rep. Pete Sessions, whose costly effort to keep the New York seat was a casualty of the civil war.

WASHINGTON — After months spent criticizing Democrats' health overhaul plans, House Republicans have produced a draft proposal of their own. It's much shorter and focuses on bringing down costs rather than extending coverage to nearly all Americans. A 230-page draft was obtained Tuesday by The Associated Press. A spokeswoman for Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, said changes were still being made before the bill would be finalized in time to offer as an alternative when Democrats begin floor debate on their bill, possibly at the end of this week.

<p>TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — In a case being called Twittergate, a Republican Party county chairman wants to know whether state party leaders new about a fake Twitter account set up to defame him.</p>

The GOP victories reveal fissures in the coalition that elected Barack Obama. If you were watching television on Tuesday night as the election returns came in showing Republicans capturing the governorships of Virginia and New Jersey, you probably missed seeing the biggest losers of the evening. You may have caught the concession speech of Creigh Deeds, who ran 12% behind Barack Obama's winning percentage of the vote in Virginia, and that of Jon Corzine who, after spending over $100 million of his own money on three... --snip-- Instead, support evaporated as Democrats from places as dissimilar as Arkansas and California...

WASHINGTON (AP) - After months spent criticizing Democrats' health overhaul plans, House Republicans have produced a draft proposal of their own. It's much shorter and focuses on bringing down costs rather than extending coverage to nearly all Americans. A 230-page draft was obtained Tuesday by The Associated Press. A spokeswoman for Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, said changes were still being made before the bill would be finalized in time to offer as an alternative when Democrats begin floor debate on their bill, possibly at the end of this week.

Even a five-point shift would mean big Democratic losses in 2010. Tuesday's elections should put a scare into red state Democrats—and a few blue state ones, too. Barack Obama was said to have redrawn the electoral map by winning Virginia last year with 53% of the vote. On Tuesday, Republican Bob McDonnell flipped the state back to the GOP, winning his election for governor with 59% of the vote. Mr. Obama carried New Jersey easily last year with 57% of the vote. This year, despite being outspent 3-to-1, Republican Chris Christie ousted Democratic Gov. Jon Corzine there by 49% to...

Former Gov. Mitt Romney (R-Mass.) on Wednesday promoted a round of Republican victories in last night's elections in a letter to supporters. The 2012 presidential hopeful plugged the triumphs of Republican gubernatorial candidates Bob McDonnell (Va.) and Chris Christie (N.J.), emphasizing that his political action committee's endorsement and campaign work for the two candidates. "It's exhilarating to wake up to headlines of conservative victories in the battleground elections in Virginia and New Jersey," Romney wrote. "The American people have sent a very strong message to the liberals in Washington, DC that big government is not the answer, and that conservatism...

By electing governors of Virginia and New Jersey, Republicans have demonstrated that two trends suggested in recent opinion polls are for real. The first is that Republicans have pulled off a remarkable comeback after disastrous election defeats in 2006 and 2008. The second is that they now have a realistic shot at capturing the House and gaining Senate seats in the 2010 midterm election. The stunning success in Virginia and New Jersey was strikingly similar to Republican victories for governor in those states in 1993. Indeed, the margins of victory -- an 18-point landslide in Virginia, a narrow win in...

WASHINGTON – An ebullient Republican Party Chairman Michael Steele asserted Wednesday that GOP victories in governors' races in New Jersey and Virginia demonstrate "a transcendent party" on the move again. The White House said the elections were not a repudiation of President Barack Obama. "We're not crowing, we're just smiling," Steele said in a nationally broadcast interview. "I think it's a bellwether for the party ... You look at where we were nine months ago." Steele said he believes Chris Christie's victory in New Jersey and Robert McDonnell's win in Virginia show that the GOP has "really found its voice...

WASHINGTON – The White House says that Republican wins in two governors' races were not referendums on the president. White House press secretary Robert Gibbs told reporters Wednesday that voters went to the polls in Virginia and New Jersey to work through "very local issues that didn't involve the president." The presidential spokesman said voters were concerned about the economy. "I don't think the president needed an election or an exit poll to come to that conclusion," Gibbs said. By contrast, Gibbs acknowledged that the 2010 midterm congressional elections will be more about the Obama agenda.

I awoke this morning to the news of yesterdays election results - and was pleasantly surprised to see that we had won in New Jersey as well as Virginia. Our victory in NY-23 has been delayed until 2010. Today would be a great day for all of us to contact our "friendly" GOP HQ, and send a shot across their bow. The message: - Nominate conservatives or become obsolete. - We will withhold funds and support if they nominate RINOS in 2010 and 2012 - We will go third party or independant where necessary to assure a defeat for ALL...

WASHINGTON – Independents who swept Barack Obama to a historic 2008 victory broke big for Republicans on Tuesday as the GOP wrested political control from Democrats in Virginia and New Jersey, a troubling sign for the president and his party heading into an important midterm election year. Conservative Republican Bob McDonnell's victory in the Virginia governor's race over Democrat R. Creigh Deeds and moderate Republican Chris Christie's ouster of unpopular New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine was a double-barreled triumph for a party looking to rebuild after being booted from power in national elections in 2006 and 2008...

So, Breaking News from Breitbart.Com: House GOP Pens 230 page Health Bill Draft I find myself amused at the fact that the news breaks now that there is a Republican Alternative to the Obama-Pelosi-Reid Care Bills. They already had HR 3400, but since that didn’t seem to be enough, I guess I will wait for the official release of this new bill. I am pleased that the new version has trimmed eighteen pages from the older House Bill, thus proving that you can do “more with less.” With any luck, my supervisors will okay my brief departure to Washington DC...

Thank you, Lord! We are finally bringing our country back from the brink of socialism.

The withdrawal of Dede Scozzafava from the special election for Congress in upstate New York has predictably set off another wave of media-led hand-wringing about the health of the GOP. (See here [1] and here [2], for example.) These stories are like crack for reporters, especially those with a hard-left slant. It is always framed as a battle between ‘conservatives’ and ‘moderates,’ but the focus is actually much narrower. To Big Media, conservatism comes in only one flavor, social conservatism, namely anti-abortion and anti-gay marriage and a smattering of other issues that would fall flat over canapés and seltzer (liberals...

Expect GOP to Pickup 1 to 4 seats in Virginia House of Delegates.

VIRGINIAGovernor (69% Reporting) R. Creigh Deeds - Dem (39%) Robert McDonnell - GOP (61%) Lieutenant Governor (68% Reporting) Jody Wagner - Dem (41%) Bill Bolling - GOP (59%) Attorney General (68% Reporting) Stephen Shannon - Dem (40%) Ken Cuccinelli - GOP (60%) House of Delegates - District 1 (Uncontested Race) Terry Kilgore - GOP (N/A) House of Delegates - District 2 (Uncontested Race) Bud Phillips - Dem (N/A) House of Delegates - District 3 (44% Reporting) Will Morefield - GOP (55%)Dan Bowling - Dem (45%) House of Delegates - District 4 (Uncontested Race) Joseph Johnson - Dem (N/A) House of...

Rush Limbaugh made an impassioned speech on his show today, laying out the real situation facing the Blue Dog Democrats. He said that they can vote for the Socialized Medicine Bill, and please Nancy Pelosi for the moment, and face the wrath of their constituents -- probably losing re-election; OR they can vote against the Socialized Medicine Bill, and likely win re-election, but remain on the bad side of the House leadership. He added that Nancy Pelosi does not like the Blue Dogs, since they are not ideologically pure enough for her, and would be glad enough to have them...

In what could be a nightmare scenario for Republican Party officials, conservative activists are gearing up to challenge leading GOP candidates in more than a dozen key House and Senate races in 2010. Conservatives and tea party activists had already set their sights on some of the GOP’s top Senate recruits — a list that includes Gov. Charlie Crist in Florida, former Rep. Rob Simmons in Connecticut and Rep. Mark Kirk in Illinois, among others. But their success in Tuesday’s upstate New York special election, where grass-roots efforts pushed GOP nominee Dede Scozzafava to drop out of the race and...

You want another, more frightening example? If Harry Reid decides it’s worth it--and giving the polls in Nevada he very well might--he’s going to use the reconciliation process to ram the health care proposal through by a simple majority without the chance of a Republican filibuster. Why can Harry Reid do this? Because he’s the Senate Majority Leader. Why is he the Senate Majority Leader? Because there are more Democrats in the Senate than Republicans. You can't get a more conservative Democratic Senator than Ben Nelson of Nebraska. He has supported the mission in Iraq, voted to lower taxes, and...

The final push is underway in Virginia and New Jersey, where President Obama has campaigned hard for the Democratic gubernatorial candidates, while New York's hotly contested 23rd Congressional district has attracted conservative leaders and Vice President Joe Biden. Is Tuesday's vote a referendum on President Obama and his administration? .

One or more wins would give the Republicans a jolt and a reason to rally in the coming months. Victories certainly would help with grass-roots fundraising and candidate recruiting. And they might just be enough to reinvigorate a party that controlled the White House and Congress through much of this decade, only to lose power in back-to-back national elections. Viewed from the other side, a GOP sweep would be a setback for Democrats. It could be viewed as a negative measure of President Obama's standing and could signal trouble ahead as he seeks to get moderate Democratic lawmakers behind his...

WASHINGTON – For Republicans, an election win of any size Tuesday would be a blessing. But victories in Virginia, New Jersey or elsewhere won't erase enormous obstacles the party faces heading into a 2010 midterm election year when control of Congress and statehouses from coast to coast will be up for grabs.

Following a Monday night look at Tuesday's special election to fill New York's 23rd congressional district seat in which Republican Dede Scozzafava dropped out after falling behind the Democrat and the Conservative Party nominee, ABC anchor Charles Gibson -- instead of wondering why the GOP establishment failed to pick a candidate who upholds basic Republican principles -- delivered the usual liberal media upset over the GOP's lack of a “big tent,” a phrase you never hear when Democrats pick left-wing candidates: A liberal Republican gets forced out of the race by a more conservative guy who was actually not a...

New York Republicans got a rock in their trick-or-treat bags over the Halloween weekend, as Dede Scozzafava ripped off her million-dollar Republican mask and revealed herself to be a Democrat. It was never a very good disguise, but every previous attempt to peer beneath it was punished with stern lectures from Newt Gingrich and the rest of the party establishment. The bags of contributor money Republicans handed to the Scozzafava campaign would have been more usefully spent hiring detectives to trail ACORN operatives, and keep Democrat voter fraud down to manageable levels. The Scozzafava campaign is the latest dreadful mistake...

The conservative coup in upstate New York did much more than lay bare the power of conservative activists: It exposed how little control GOP officials hold over this surging and formidable political movement. In the wake of conservatives’ role in forcing liberal Republican Dede Scozzafava out of Tuesday’s special election in New York’s 23rd District, GOP officials are trying to make it seem as if they are helping to stoke the passion — and can harness it to upend President Barack Obama and Democrats. They didn’t — and they can’t. Many of the activists who helped knock out Scozzafava told...

...“Did I say I was happy?’’ said Sessions when asked about the race. The GOP has no control over other parties, or independent groups such as the Club for Growth, and can’t do anything except support Scozzafava, Sessions said. ...Lincoln Chafee, a former moderate GOP senator now running as an independent for governor of Rhode Island, said his former party has moved so far to the right that he doesn’t see any room in it for New England moderates. “If you ask me, I’d recommend they run as independents,’’ he said.

In January the Republican Party was in shambles—it had been disgraced, dismissed and discarded by Americans. While party officials and operatives were licking their wounds after eight hard years of destroying the party label, Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck went on the offense, cracked the national media’s protective shield of the President and exposed Obama as a committed Leftist with a radical agenda designed to bankrupt the nation. Their clarion call energized and excited the movement, and led to citizen revolts at town hall meetings and tea party rallies that have, at least temporarily, derailed Obama’s efforts to nationalize health...

Richard Viguerie, the legendary hard-right activist who spent much of the past decade arguing that George W. Bush and Dick Cheney were too liberal, now declares that: "Tea Party Activists Are the New GOP." There is little reason to argue with the man whose direct-mail campaigning funded the rise of the Republican right in the late 1970s and who grumbled loudly when Newt Gingrich, Bush, Cheney and Republican leaders tried to soften the party's roughest edges. Viguerie isn't grumbling now. He's celebrating. And rightly so. With the decision of moderate Republican Dede Scozzafava, the party's nominee in New York state...

Republican Dede Scozzafava announced Saturday that she is suspending her campaign in the Nov. 3 House special election in New York, a dramatic development that increases the GOP's chances of winning the contentious and closely-watched race. "In recent days, polls have indicated that my chances of winning this election are not as strong as we would like them to be. The reality that I've come to accept is that in today's political arena, you must be able to back up your message with money—and as I've been outspent on both sides, I've been unable to effectively address many of the...

ALBANY, N.Y. – In a Republican Party struggling to find its identity, the surprise withdrawal of the chosen GOP candidate for a New York congressional race amid a rising conservative upstart renews a lingering national debate: Are moderates welcome in today's Grand Old Party? The question became even more relevant Sunday when the ex-candidate, state Assemblywoman Dierdre Scozzafava, threw her support behind the Democrat in the race rather than the Conservative Party candidate favored by fellow Republicans. The GOP leadership insisted on Sunday political TV talk shows the party is strong and inclusive while Democrats described a Republican party out...

It is in this spirit that I am writing to let you know I am supporting Bill Owens for Congress and urge you to do the same. It’s not in the cards for me to be your representative, but I strongly believe Bill is the only candidate who can build upon John McHugh's lasting legacy in the U.S. Congress. John and I worked together on the expansion of Fort Drum and I know how important that base is to the economy of this region. I am confident that Bill will be able to provide the leadership and continuity of support...

What has happened in NY-23 is that the newly empowered conservative base decided the national party had gone a candidate too far in choosing liberal Republican Scozzafava to represent them and decided on their own to adopt third-party candidate Doug Hoffman, while telling the GOP establishment to take a hike. Why the national party believed this colorless career politician who supports gay marriage and would have voted for the stimulus bill represented Republican principles, much less conservative ones, will remain a mystery. Dan Riehl has uncovered some information that former GOP Congressman Tom Reynolds may have played a large role...

A mentor once told me, speaking of the Republican Party, "This isn't a religion for me. I'm a Republican because it's the party that I believe is best suited to promote my values and my vision. If it stops being that party, I'll find another one." The abandonment of Dede Scozzafava by the conservative voters in her district is that threat put into action. If the Republican Party has moved so far away from its conservative base that it has turned to promoting liberals like Scozzafava over real conservatives, simply because they think they have a better chance of winning...