Psychoblues
01-05-2009, 05:14 AM
It's getting so uptight, I think they just might kill each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!! NOT!!!!!!!!!!!
By Jill Lawrence
USA TODAY
WASHINGTON — Republicans plunge into another election campaign today, this one a six-way race for party chairman that has erupted into an argument over how to recover from an unpopular presidency and crushing defeats at the polls.
Half of the candidates to lead the Republican National Committee (RNC) are Southerners: current Chairman Robert "Mike" Duncan of Kentucky, South Carolina Chairman Katon Dawson and former Tennessee chairman Chip Saltsman.
Former Ohio secretary of State Ken Blackwell and former Maryland lieutenant governor Michael Steele are black. Saul Anuzis, the Michigan GOP chairman, is a Harley-Davidson rider, an ex-union member and the son of an autoworker.
The RNC's 168 members pick a new chairman Jan. 28.
The race spills into public view today with a debate sponsored by Americans for Tax Reform. The contest has been roiled by Saltsman's holiday gift to members — a CD that includes a song called Barack the Magic Negro, sung to the tune of Puff, the Magic Dragon— and suspicions among some RNC members that Duncan is maneuvering unfairly to get re-elected.
John Pitney, a politics professor at Claremont McKenna College near Los Angeles and a former RNC researcher, says Saltsman's move was "flat-out stupid" and should disqualify him. He calls Duncan's fight to keep his job "highly unusual. At the end of an administration, usually the chairperson leaves. That's especially true if an election has gone bad."
The GOP lost the presidency, 21 House seats and at least seven Senate seats on Nov. 4. The party that emerged was concentrated in the South and several Mountain West states, and it had little appeal to blacks or Hispanics and problems attracting better-educated voters. There are no GOP House members left representing New England.
Republicans are faced with trying to rebuild state parties, win back moderates and catch up to Democrats on technology. They must also decide whether to create a new agenda for the party.
Duncan, appointed by President Bush, is taking on President-elect Barack Obama and other Democrats in an aggressive bid to save his job. He has received more than 8,000 text and 50 video suggestions at a new website, RepublicanforaReason.com. "I agree that our approach must be new and different, and I have an effective plan to do just that," Duncan says in an e-mail.
Some Republicans say it isn't fair to blame Duncan for a disastrous political season, but they still want change. The GOP needs "leadership that would come in with a new face and new ideas and better translate our principles into policy," says Mississippi GOP Chairman Brad White.
RNC member Shawn Steel, a former California GOP chairman, says Duncan doesn't have the media skills to hold his own against major Democrats and, as a holdover, he wouldn't be able to clean house.
He's "the weakest" candidate, Steel says.
Duncan has scheduled a meeting and straw poll Tuesday for candidates and about 80 RNC members. North Dakota Chairman Gary Emineth calls that "a vehicle for somebody to manipulate." He and Steel set up a Wednesday candidates' meeting open to all RNC members.
Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour, a former RNC chairman, says Duncan performed well, but "the question is the symbolism."
Barbour says he's "not for anybody or against anybody," but he acknowledges there is a regional question. "There are some people that want to attack us as being too Southern. I don't think we ought to make it easier for them to do that," he says.
The first test of the field has been Saltsman's CD offering. Anuzis calls it tasteless. Duncan says he was "shocked and appalled." Steele says the incident is "a self-inflicted wound" that diminishes GOP credibility with voters the party badly needs.
Blackwell, the other black candidate, says it was of "minimal" concern and not a disqualifier. Dawson, who recently resigned from an all-white country club, says Saltsman made a mistake. Saltsman told CNN, "I think most people recognize political satire when they see it."
More: http://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/2009-01-04-gopchair_N.htm
I love it when they talk like that!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Peanuts, popcorn, beer?!?!?!?!?!??!?!??!?!??!?!?!?!?
:beer::cheers2::beer:
Psychoblues
By Jill Lawrence
USA TODAY
WASHINGTON — Republicans plunge into another election campaign today, this one a six-way race for party chairman that has erupted into an argument over how to recover from an unpopular presidency and crushing defeats at the polls.
Half of the candidates to lead the Republican National Committee (RNC) are Southerners: current Chairman Robert "Mike" Duncan of Kentucky, South Carolina Chairman Katon Dawson and former Tennessee chairman Chip Saltsman.
Former Ohio secretary of State Ken Blackwell and former Maryland lieutenant governor Michael Steele are black. Saul Anuzis, the Michigan GOP chairman, is a Harley-Davidson rider, an ex-union member and the son of an autoworker.
The RNC's 168 members pick a new chairman Jan. 28.
The race spills into public view today with a debate sponsored by Americans for Tax Reform. The contest has been roiled by Saltsman's holiday gift to members — a CD that includes a song called Barack the Magic Negro, sung to the tune of Puff, the Magic Dragon— and suspicions among some RNC members that Duncan is maneuvering unfairly to get re-elected.
John Pitney, a politics professor at Claremont McKenna College near Los Angeles and a former RNC researcher, says Saltsman's move was "flat-out stupid" and should disqualify him. He calls Duncan's fight to keep his job "highly unusual. At the end of an administration, usually the chairperson leaves. That's especially true if an election has gone bad."
The GOP lost the presidency, 21 House seats and at least seven Senate seats on Nov. 4. The party that emerged was concentrated in the South and several Mountain West states, and it had little appeal to blacks or Hispanics and problems attracting better-educated voters. There are no GOP House members left representing New England.
Republicans are faced with trying to rebuild state parties, win back moderates and catch up to Democrats on technology. They must also decide whether to create a new agenda for the party.
Duncan, appointed by President Bush, is taking on President-elect Barack Obama and other Democrats in an aggressive bid to save his job. He has received more than 8,000 text and 50 video suggestions at a new website, RepublicanforaReason.com. "I agree that our approach must be new and different, and I have an effective plan to do just that," Duncan says in an e-mail.
Some Republicans say it isn't fair to blame Duncan for a disastrous political season, but they still want change. The GOP needs "leadership that would come in with a new face and new ideas and better translate our principles into policy," says Mississippi GOP Chairman Brad White.
RNC member Shawn Steel, a former California GOP chairman, says Duncan doesn't have the media skills to hold his own against major Democrats and, as a holdover, he wouldn't be able to clean house.
He's "the weakest" candidate, Steel says.
Duncan has scheduled a meeting and straw poll Tuesday for candidates and about 80 RNC members. North Dakota Chairman Gary Emineth calls that "a vehicle for somebody to manipulate." He and Steel set up a Wednesday candidates' meeting open to all RNC members.
Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour, a former RNC chairman, says Duncan performed well, but "the question is the symbolism."
Barbour says he's "not for anybody or against anybody," but he acknowledges there is a regional question. "There are some people that want to attack us as being too Southern. I don't think we ought to make it easier for them to do that," he says.
The first test of the field has been Saltsman's CD offering. Anuzis calls it tasteless. Duncan says he was "shocked and appalled." Steele says the incident is "a self-inflicted wound" that diminishes GOP credibility with voters the party badly needs.
Blackwell, the other black candidate, says it was of "minimal" concern and not a disqualifier. Dawson, who recently resigned from an all-white country club, says Saltsman made a mistake. Saltsman told CNN, "I think most people recognize political satire when they see it."
More: http://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/2009-01-04-gopchair_N.htm
I love it when they talk like that!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Peanuts, popcorn, beer?!?!?!?!?!??!?!??!?!??!?!?!?!?
:beer::cheers2::beer:
Psychoblues