Free Republic

Jeb Bush interview, Biltmore Hotel, Coral Gables, Florida. The scene: Lunchtime at Jeb Bush's modest office just outside Miami. Just Tucker and Jeb, no one else in sight. Sandwiches. Jeb, only fifty-six, the smarter Bush boy, a good governor, with a great many people expecting that he's not yet finished, but after passing on the chance to run for Mel Martinez's Senate seat earlier this year, there's not an obvious path back to power for him. And his party is a shambles. Obama strides the globe like a colossus, Specter is days away from jumping, and Congressman Eric Cantor's sad...

BEDFORD – The Republican party needs to rebuild itself from the bottom up, said Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour last night before addressing a gathering at a New Hampshire State Republican Committee reception. "You're in the White House for eight or 12 years, you become a top-down party, I don't care if these are Republicans or Democrats. When you get out, you're liberated to rebuild your party from the bottom up," he told reporters before a reception at at C.R. Sparks, which was closed to the press. Barbour assumed chairmanship of the Republican Governors Association yesterday, following South Carolina Gov. Mark...

Contrary to popular reports by Democrats and members of the chattering class, the Republican Party is not dead — not yet. In the aftermath of the 2008 elections, however, the GOP is hemorrhaging badly. It is dazed and confused. It is moribund, but it is not dead yet. Whether the Party of Lincoln will recover remains to be seen. Its prognosis is, at best, guarded. Having had their heads handed to them in the last election, and finding it difficult to take on a popular president, Republicans are casting about trying to find a new direction. But news of their...

Some Republicans seeking to "rebrand" the party are looking to Meghan McCain -- daughter of Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) -- as a figure who can attract younger voters, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. A prolific blogger and Twitter contributor, McCain in a recent blog post described herself as a "pro-sex, 'pro-life, pro-gay-marriage Republican,'" and some experts believe she could "be at the forefront of a new GOP breed: the 'Meghan McCain Republican,'" the Chronicle reports. However, some Republicans have criticized McCain's positions as departing too far from the party's core principals, while other critics have attacked her as a political...

Whoooooo! Now we go to school. The election of Michael Steele as the new chairman of the Republican National Committee is a stimulus package for the GOP—a stimulus that will actually work. For the first time since Newt Gingrich left Congress, the Republican Party has a real leader. I’m embarrassed to admit that I didn’t think Steele could pull it off. I figured that he would be doomed by allegations that he wasn’t really conservative enough for the position, and that a candidate like Ken Blackwell or Saul Azunis would get the gig. Thank goodness I was wrong. Yesterday, Steele...

WASHINGTON -- Though the leadership of the Republican National Committee will meet in Washington this week to elect a chairman tasked with rebuilding the floundering party, even at this late date there is no clear frontrunner for the job, according to a recent phone and email survey of the RNC's 168 members conducted by National Journal's Hotline On Call. While incumbent chairman Mike Duncan has an advantage among the six candidates hoping to lead the GOP, more members said they were undecided than supporting Duncan. And even more declined or did not respond to requests for comment. Opinions varied widely...

Back at the RGA meeting [last fall], you talked about the party needed to get beyond Ronald Reagan. What do you mean by that? The RNC chairman candidates -- all they really talk about is Reagan. TP: Well, I think I said in my state of my state, but I can also say it about my own party: we can't be so in love with the past that we miss the future. And the world is changing very rapidly, and there's a lot of technological change, demographic change, cultural change, and it's all approaching us at a very rapid speed....

Can David Frum forge a new majority? The veteran conservative pundit and former Bush speechwriter has launched NewMajority.com, a group blog intended to heal the wounds afflicting the ailing Republican Party and conservative movement. Just as I wish President Obama the best of luck in leading this country, I wish Frum the best of luck in leading the American right out of the wilderness. Frum’s “Diary” blog at National Review Online has been a must-read for the past few years and, unfortunately, a target of much unfair criticism. Frum has been smeared by the talk-radio world for allegedly being a...

"Katie Couric, you are not the center of universe!" With that, the good Governor gives her most uncensored interview of all time, in this brand new 2009 exchange. She also says this: "I would do it again!" In other words: 2012. Video here

The Reagan Coalition has been key to Republican victories for a generation. And although the issue of judges and the Supreme Court has been thought of as an issue for social conservatives, recent developments should now make it a top priority for the other major GOP constituencies. If effectively communicated, this issue may help fuel a Republican resurgence. Ever since 1980, politicos speak of the three-legged stool of the Reagan Coalition: social conservatives, economic conservatives and national security conservatives. This coalition has been the key to Republican victories for more than a quarter-century. When the coalition is mobilized by an...

Republican National Committee Chairman Robert M. "Mike" Duncan has officially announced his bid for a second term and is willing to consider naming a general chairman to serve as the "face of the party," he told The Washington Times on Wednesday. Since the Bush White House backed his first election as chairman in January 2007, Mr. Duncan´s lack of dazzle as a public speaker and national spokesman has left him largely invisible as the face of the party. It is widely considered his only significant failing during his two-year term as national chairman. "I would consider having a general chairman...

Gov. Mark Sanford has become one of the most visible Republicans in the wake of November election losses, urging the GOP to remember its roots and speaking against further federal bailouts. In the past month, Sanford has been elected chairman of the Republican Governor’s Association and become a major voice countering President-elect Barack Obama and his proposal to assist states facing budget deficits. Sanford has written opinion pieces for The Wall Street Journal, CNN and Politico, and made the rounds on cable news shows. He has been designated a Republican to watch, prompting speculation that Sanford is preparing for a...

If there is one thing this year's Presidential election brought to light, it is that Republicans clearly need a new message. Democrats were able to control the salient issues of the campaign, largely because the actions of national Republicans allowed them to do so. The economy was the overwhelming issue on the minds of voters. Democrats were able to define the meaning of this issue based primarily on the extreme increases in federal spending under Republican control, combined with a severe downturn in the economy. Once it was clear that the economy was going to be the deciding factor in...

Politics: The election of a Republican as the first-ever Vietnamese-American congressman is not an "odd news" item. Joseph Cao represents the future of the GOP — if it wants success.The latest Republican standard-bearer was a Navy pilot who was tortured as a POW in North Vietnam. How ironic that in the wake of John McCain's loss, the most exciting victory for Republicans is that of one of the hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese boat people who fled their country's communist regime. Anh "Joseph" Quang Cao over the weekend won Louisiana's gerrymandered 2nd Congressional District over Democratic Rep. William Jefferson, who...

In a shocker, there will be a GOP Rep. in New Orleans. In a surprising twist, GOPers won a sweep in LA tonight in two general elections, picking up embattled Rep. Bill Jefferson's (D-LA 02) seat in New Orleans, and holding retiring Rep. Jim McCrery's (R) seat in the Shreveport-based Fourth District. But the surprise of the night, and possibly the cycle, was in the Big Easy. Atty Ahn “Joseph” Cao (R) defeated Jefferson 50-47%. Dems outnumber GOPers here 6-1, and African Americans make up 61% of the vote. But the NRCC must've had an inkling that something was up...

LA-2 , Orleans, Jefferson Parish: In a huge upset win, little known Republican attorney Anh "Joseph" Cao beat nine term and criminally indicted William Jefferson(D). Jefferson had been expected to easily win. Cao becomes the first Vietnamese member of U.S. Congress. LA-4, Shreveport-Bossier City, Sabine Parish, et. al., Western LA, TX/AR border: Republican Dr. John Fleming wins. Fleming was trailing by about 3% early in the election results but came on strong in the end to beat Carmouche(D) by 356 votes. Carmouche has not conceded election – recount probably pending. With these results, the 111th U.S. House of Representatives...

Fresh off a US presidential election defeat and further losses in Congress, the Republican Party launched a new website on Tuesday asking members for their ideas on its future. "We are a party of principles and must regain our voice," Republican National Committee chairman Robert Duncan said in a statement announcing the creation of the website, RepublicanForAReason.com. "We need to hear what our volunteers, activists, elected leaders, and party members think about the Republican Party as we rebuild, re-focus, and renew our bond with the American people," Duncan added. The statement said the new website provides a venue for party...

Now that Democrats have won the White House and have widened their margin of control in Congress, does this signify that American voters have moved to the left? Many Republicans question this claim. And a new report from the Pew Research Center seems to verify that America is still a right of center as a country. But the picture gets murky when you look at the details. And this murkiness presents a considerable challenge for Republicans who are trying to figure out where to steer their party. According to the just published report, more Americans today call themselves conservative than...

How the GOP Can Take Back the Youth VotePosted By Justin Higgins On November 30, 2008 The Republican Party hasn’t captured a majority of the 18-25 demographic for decades now, and with President-elect Obama renewing the debate about youth in politics, it’s about time we ask ourselves, “How can the GOP capture its fair share of the youth vote?” As a rare member of that demographic who votes Republican (Obama won the youth vote 66-32), I have a few answers — and they all have to do with some fundamental differences in mindsets and rhetoric. The disconnect is more about...

Michael Pollan, best known for his polemics against the food-industrial complex, has made a minor villain out of Earl Butz, Richard Nixon’s secretary of agriculture. Faced with a sharp spike in inflation, the Nixon White House sought to win the political allegiance of housewives by taking sweeping steps to lower agricultural prices. Butz slashed regulations and trade barriers while increasing subsidies. The result: Family farms closed down, huge agribusiness concerns expanded mightily, production soared, and domestic food prices fell dramatically. For Pollan, Butz’s machinations lie behind the current obesity epidemic and a broader coarsening of American life. But there is...

They say that elephants never forget, but that's exactly what the Grand Old Party has done. Between the 1950s and 1970s, Rockefeller and Nixon Republicans kept the party in a seemingly permanent minority with a "me-too" philosophy that allowed Democrats to balloon the size and scope of government. But, when Ronald Reagan ran unashamed on conservative principles in 1980 and Republicans in Congress embraced bold conservative reforms in 1994, America responded with overwhelming approval. Since then, many Republicans have run for office as conservatives but governed as scandal-plagued big-spending moderates. They stopped offering common-sense solutions and broke promises with Americans...

Now what? The Republican Party -- nationally and in Pennsylvania -- lies in tatters. Having lost the White House to Barack Obama, suffered historic losses in congressional elections, been almost shut out in statewide races and experienced further erosion in the state House, there is no doubt the GOP has hit rock bottom. It is, most significantly, a loss for so-called moderate Republicanism. Party moderates have opined time and again that a more middle-of-the-road presidential candidate could win Pennsylvania. McCain was touted as that candidate. It was a double-digit trouncing.

The election has come and gone, and we’ve all seen the reports of the Republican Party’s untimely demise. Some say Republicans were too conservative, that we’ve become a regional party and that we’re clinging to an old playbook. As a Republican, I can tell you that nothing could be further from the truth, and we are alive and kicking. That doesn’t mean the Republican Party isn’t in need of new ideas, new messengers and a new focus in order to move forward as a party. Losing elections brings change, and change is coming to the Republican Party. What really cost...

After a GOP beating, there is always a debate between the people who want the party to become more principled and those who want to turn the GOP into a poll-driven pile of mush that they believe will be more appealing to centrists. The problem with this whole discussion is that the "we need to be more moderate" crowd tends to simply ignore a number of inconvenient facts that make their position completely untenable. We've already gone the moderate route -- and lost. One of the most surreal aspects of the post-2008 campaign is listening to moderates pretend that the...

Senator Mitch McConnell and Rep. John Boehner have a tough two years ahead of them. For the second election cycle in a row, conservative-leaning voters gave the Republican party an ultimatum: Shape up or ship out. And now the leaders of the GOP better deliver if they want 2010 to go any differently. They can start by changing business as usual in the House and Senate. In the House of Representatives, John Boehner should use his influence and leadership position to appoint Rep. Jeff Flake to the Appropriations Committee. Flake fans may recall the Arizona representative’s pursuit of an appropriations...

GOP Reform: From The Skagit Grassroots Up Welcome! This blog/forum has been created to serve as the Skagit County headquarters of patriotic conservatives working to rebuild and revitalize the GOP from the grassroots up. Our goal is to: build a network of activists, each contributing in his or her own unique way; connected by traditional ideas and ideals, policies and principles; to disseminate core Republican beliefs to fellow Americans; and, to support and elect candidates to office who will implement our agenda in the public arena.The work begins today and it begins right here in Skagit County. We are not...

--Dear Conservative, Yes, I know, these are times that try conservatives' souls. The sunshine soldiers left long ago, and we survivors are left to sit on the ground and tell sad stories of the deaths of our favorite theories. I get a lot of calls from patients like you, still in mourning after the presidential election. Here is Dr. Greenberg's Rx for the political blues: Remember that the political pendulum swings back as surely as it did forth, this time after a long period when conservative ideas--and candidates--were in the ascendant. It's that old Hegelian three-step: thesis, antithesis, synthesis. In...

House Minority Leader John Boehner’s reelection on Wednesday to the top House Republican leadership post was the result of skillful political maneuvering before and after the Nov. 4 elections, Capitol Hill sources and an expert on Congress told CNSNews.com. Boehner’s work strengthening one-on-one relationships with members and offering key leadership positions to powerful members of the House’s conservative faction, Reps. Mike Pence (R-Ind.) and Eric Cantor (R-Va.), ensured that he would not face a serious challenge for his position...

Before the Republican Party even begins to think about curing what ails it, members have to recognize the fact that the party is Balkanized. We are never going to win elections if we remain broken up into separate factions, sometimes barely speaking to one another. Bizarre as it seems, each group within this Balkanization of the GOP is united in the belief that Ronald Reagan is its standard bearer. This, they tell us, is the man they want to follow. Ronald Reagan was not someone who found ways to disagree with you, but spent most of his life trying to...

The Republican Party has hit a new low. Just 34 percent of Americans in a Gallup Poll released Thursday say they have a favorable view of the party, down 40 percent from a month ago, before the election. What’s worse: 61 percent of Americans have an unfavorable view of the Republican Party. According to Gallup, that unfavorable rating is the highest the polling organization has recorded for the GOP since the measure was established in 1992. The poll of national adults was conducted on November 13-16 with a three percent margin of error.

The last thing you want to think about right now is the 2012 GOP primary calendar, but I am afraid you have to, if you want the RNC chairmanship contest to have meaning and the GOP to have a good chance of recapturing the White House four years down the road. Each would-be RNC leader should be asked about the 2012 presidential primaries they will be overseeing. Specific questions need to be posed, and concrete answers delivered. The RNC must begin now to consider overhauling the presidential nominating process three years hence for the simple reason that the process as...

House Republicans are not shifting to the political right, House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) told CNSNews.com on Wednesday, just hours after two of the top three GOP leadership spots were won by conservative lawmakers in an internal leadership election. Members Reps. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), Mike Pence (R-Ind.), and John Mica (R-Fla.), however, told CNSNews.com that they think the conference is shifting to the political right. But Boehner said, “No, I don’t think it’s right or left. It’s what are the issues Americans are concerned about, and how do we build solutions on our principles? It’s not left or right....

Dear , As we as a Party regroup after our near miss in the presidential election, we must reflect on what our Party has done well and what we can improve moving forward. It is for that reason we have created a new Web site for you to share your thoughts on the direction of the Republican Party. Please take a moment to visit www.RepublicanForAReason.com and create an account to begin the dialogue. The Republican Party has always been the party of reason and hope, and I strongly believe we will continue in this tradition as we work to the...

GOP Strength Rests in Its Core Beliefs by Ken Blackwell "It's that time again. Throngs of delirious Democrats are invading the streets and suites of Washington to celebrate their victories in November. "Across town, members of that other party gather in hushed bands, mourning their loss of power, employment and staff. The more prolific have taken the op-ed pages of every newspaper as their pillories, to flog themselves for their defeat. "As a member of that other party, enough is enough. It is time to look forward, not back." I wrote those words for a column in February 1993. Back...

South Carolina's Mark Sanford is one of three GOP governors now being widely mentioned as potential saviors of the Republican Party between now and 2012. All are conspicuous for calling on their own party to live up to its principles. Most notably, none have advocated the GOP move to the left. Mr. Sanford is a two-term governor known for vetoing spending bills, pushing market-oriented policy reforms (such as moving his state's Medicaid system to a private account-based model) and criticizing the lapses of the national GOP. "Some on the left will say our electoral losses are a repudiation of our...

Washington, Nov 19 - House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH) announced the new leadership team elected by House Republicans today. During House Republican Conference organizational meetings for the 111th Congress, Boehner was re-elected by his colleagues for the post of Republican Leader of the U.S. House of Representatives. He issued the following statement: “The months ahead will present Republicans with an unprecedented opportunity to renew our drive for smaller, more accountable government and offer positive solutions to the challenges facing the American people. We have to seize this opportunity, and seize it together. I’m deeply honored my colleagues have placed...

NASHVILLE -Former U.S. Sen. Fred Thompson of Tennessee has decided not to seek election as chairman of the Republican National Committee, one of his chief Tennessee associates said today. Thompson, 66, who aborted a run for president in January after a poor showing in the early primary and caucus states, had considered seeking the party’s national chairmanship after its losses in the Nov. 4 election. “He called me yesterday and said it’s not in the cards,” said Nashville businessman B.C. “Scooter” Clippard, a close Thompson associate who headed fundraising for Thompson’s presidential campaign. Clippard said Thompson chose to remain in...

House Republicans installed Dallas Rep. Pete Sessions at the helm of their campaign arm (National Republican Congressional Committee) this afternoon, betting he can round up the cash and candidates they’ll need to climb out of a deepening hole in the next elections. That makes a pair of Texans responsible for GOP efforts to boost their ranks in both the House and Senate. On Tuesday, Sen. John Cornyn won the chairmanship of the Senate GOP campaign committee (National Republican Senatorial Committee - FR Thread) a coincidence that reflects Texas’ status as a mother lode of Republican votes and donors, an increasing...

There is a cyclone of analysis happening in the aftermath of the 2008 elections as to the status of the Republican Party. The old strategy of low taxes and small government is being crucified as a message that no longer excites voters. That is flat wrong. The party’s problems are more with the messengers than with the message. While it’s possible to commend President Bush for a job well done in certain aspects, it is very difficult to say he has been a good communicator. Senator McCain was certainly no match for Senator Obama. Republicans now need to install new...

- - The Republican Party of Florida is facing a call for an audit after logging expenses for such items as trips to Disney World. Party bosses defended the expenses. Republican Party of Florida chairman Jim Greer is being asked to answer to a call for an audit of party books amid questions from top Republican leaders as well as rank and file members about spending on chartered jets, five-star hotels, sports tickets and even men's clothing shops this election cycle. ''There are many folks who believe it's time for the RPOF to run the party with an eye toward...

Video here. America got to spend some time with her in 2008, and needs to elect her President in 2012.

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If ever there was an election that was not worth winning, it was the contest of 2008. While it was hard-fought on both sides, had McCain won, it might have spelled the end of the Republican Party. As it is, the party is well-situated to come back in 2010 and in 2012, if it learns the lessons of this year. Simply put, all hell is about to break loose in the markets and the economy. The mortgage crisis will likely be followed by defaults in credit card debt, student loans and car loans. We will probably be set for two...

As Republicans, we face a choice- Either we can spend the next several months -- or years -- trying to figure out what just happened, excusing our defeat away as a temporary blip or the result of a poor environment, and waiting for Barack Obama to trip up. Or we can refuse to take this defeat lying down, and start building the future of our party now. 2008 made one thing clear: if allowed to go unchecked, the Democrats' structural advantages, including their use of the Internet, their more than 2-to-1 advantage with young voters, their discovery of a better...

President Bush certainly has taken the protection of America seriously. This should be the first priority of any Commander in Chief. Bush rarely gets credit, but he deserves much for there not being a terrorist attack against America since 9-11 and for taking the fight to the enemy. If you had told people after 9-11 that we would not be attacked for the next seven years, there would have been disbelief. Bush has focused on giving our law enforcement the tools they need to fight this enemy and stop them before they strike. The Democrats have opposed him every step...

Born to Russian-Jewish parents in Chicago in 1909, Saul Alinsky was a Marxist who helped establish the dual political tactics of confrontation and infiltration that characterized the 1960s and have remained central to all subsequent revolutionary movements in the United States. Though Alinsky is generally viewed as a member of the political left, and rightfully so, his legacy is more methodological than ideological. He identified a set of very specific rules that ordinary citizens could follow, and tactics that ordinary citizens could employ, as a means of gaining public power. His motto was, "The most effective means are whatever will...

Both the Democratic and Republican National Committees are likely to have new leadership next year. Former Democratic Governor Howard Dean of Vermont is stepping down, having completely recovered from his unfortunate reputation as an erratic and wildly liberal 2004 presidential contender. As chairman of the DNC, he adopted a controversial "50-state strategy" that had the party pouring resources into states it normally didn't contest. His strategy paid off this year as Barack Obama won such states as Indiana and Virginia that had not voted Democratic at the presidential level since Barry Goldwater's landslide loss in 1964. Unknown yet is whom...

Karl Rove offered comforting words to grieving Republicans in an article published Thursday: “History will favor Republicans in 2010. Since World War II, the out-party has gained an average of 23 seats in the U.S. House and two in the U.S. Senate in a new president’s first mid-term election. Other than FDR and George W. Bush, no president has gained seats in his first mid-term election in both chambers.” Conservatives can only hope so. Early indications, however, point ominously the other way. Like the economy, the Republican party will most likely get sicker before it gets better. There are at...

Sarah Palin was not scheduled to arrive for another 30 minutes, but by 9 A.M. last Thursday more than a hundred journalists from around the world had gathered in a large ballroom at the InterContinental Hotel for a chance to ask her a question. Palin had been at the hotel the previous day, to tape interviews with Wolf Blitzer and Larry King. Everywhere she went in Miami a media caravan followed close behind, hoping for an impromptu question-and-answer session--something the McCain campaign leadership had not permitted her during the campaign. For political reporters, Palin remains something of an enigma. The...

"Number one, we have got to stop defending the kind of spending and out-of-control spending that we would never tolerate in the other side. You know, when voters tell us that they trust Democrats more to cut their taxes [and] control spending, that tells you something is wrong with the Republican Party. We've got to match our actions with our rhetoric. "Number two, we've got to stop defending the kinds of corruption we would rightfully criticize in the other party. The week before the election, our most senior senator is convicted on federal charges - and that's only the latest...