Weekly Republican Address 4/12/14: Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA)

House Republican Conference Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers delivered the Weekly Republican Address on Saturday, April 12. Chair McMorris Rodgers discusses how Republicans’ long-term plan for jobs and economic growth will help build an America that works.

“For women across America, it’s not just about equal pay. It’s about achieving a better life,” Chair McMorris Rodgers said. “Republicans are acting on solutions to make that happen — solutions that will empower women and eliminate barriers they face to better jobs, better paychecks, and better lives.”

View the original article here

For Republican Party to survive, it will have to ostracize 'tea party' wing

(PNI) A major consideration that has become increasingly obvious in this total fiasco being waged in Washington, D.C., over the debt ceiling and government closure is that of party principle, platform and agenda.

What has been brought to the political forefront is the disharmony and political differences being displayed by a group of men and women grabbing the shirttails of the GOP and hijacking the entire Republican Party.

There are superficial similarities shared by the Republican Party base and "tea party" members. However, there are deep differences in core values and, most importantly, a national agenda regarding the future of our country.

If the GOP is to survive as a major political party in this country, it is going to have to rise up to defend its principles, platform and national agenda and dismiss these members from its caucus to stand alone in their political beliefs as the tea party.

--Robert Lake, Buckeye

'Tea party' unfairly demonized

The demonization of the "tea party" by the president, the Democrats and the media has achieved its purpose. A great many Americans are buying the caricature that the tea party is a negative force.

I would suggest viewing tapes of some of the larger demonstrations that would show respectful, largely older, multiracial Americans who want only less government, thriving capitalism and the return of freedoms we have had for much of our existence.

Amazing how the virtual world has trumped reality!

--Gary Yohe, Phoenix

Ariz. GOP's delegates a problem

All of you on The Republic editorial staff deserve our appreciation for your handling of the manufactured crisis in Washington. But you continue to ignore one local fact: The entire Republican wing of Arizona's congressional delegation has been part of this insanity.

When news reports described the 40 to 50 Republican extremists who have created the crisis, they are talking about our Republican members of Congress.

More complete local reporting and comment need to include that fact, don't you think?

--Bob Grossfeld, Mesa

Calling them leaders flat wrong

Regarding "Leaders closing in on a deal"(Republic, Tuesday):

Really?

You're calling those idiots in Washington, D.C., "leaders"?

--Corinne Crebassa, Phoenix

Medicare act, health law differ

Regarding "'Obamacare' hatred hypocritical" (Opinions, Tuesday):

The letter writer compares the Medicare Prescription Drug Act with Obamacare. While I agree "any" unfunded bill shouldn't pass Congress, I'd like to point out some major differences.

First, the prescription Medicare bill was passed with bipartisan support.

Second, it was not 2,000 pages that nobody read.

Third, you are not forced to use it.

Fourth, you're not penalized for not using it.

Fifth, even though it is expensive, it does not appear to be anywhere near the long-term cost of Obamacare.

--Mike Fisher, Peoria

Lake Powell is a beautiful place

Regarding The Republic's series this week on Lake Powell and Glen Canyon Dam:

I'm always amazed with the logic of people who want to drain Lake Powell. Don't they consider the millions of people who have and will enjoy one of the most beautiful places on Earth?

Up until Glen Canyon Dam was built, only a handful of people had seen Rainbow Bridge and other marvelous scenery of Glen Canyon.

My family and I have been enjoying Lake Powell for the past 40 years. We are grateful to the people who made Glen Canyon Dam and Lake Powell possible.

--Bob Wright, Mesa

Copyright 2013 The Arizona Republic|azcentral.com. All rights reserved.For more information about reprints & permissions, visit our FAQ's. To report corrections and clarifications, contact Standards Editor Brent Jones. For publication consideration in the newspaper, send comments to letters@usatoday.com. Include name, phone number, city and state for verification. To view our corrections, go to corrections.usatoday.com.

Posted

View the original article here

ONE MAN'S BATTLE FOR THE REPUBLICAN FUTURE

He called Gov. Jan Brewer a "Judas" for betraying Republican principles.

He likened GOP senators' support of Medicaid expansion to Pearl Harbor's "day of infamy."

He said state GOP leaders were lucky there weren't gallows in the town square.

All the barbs came from A.J. LaFaro, the improbable head of the Maricopa County Republican Party. All the barbs were about fellow Republicans, though LaFaro would insist the targets of his ire had abandoned the true principles of their party.

Elected six months ago, LaFaro represents one front in the battle for the soul of the Republican party.

Brash, opinionated and unafraid of offending, LaFaro rode a wave of "tea party" support in his bid to replace one of his own heroes who shares his brand of politics -- Rob Haney.

LaFaro was elected in January following a confrontational election in which he ran farther to the right of another candidate, Lisa Gray, who credits his win to "dirty campaign tactics."

Before his election to county GOP chair, LaFaro fought Tempe City Hall on issues ranging from taxes to employee leadership.

Members of his own party either love him or hate him. Almost no one is in the middle. And everyone, it seems, has an opinion about LaFaro.

Senate Majority Leader John McComish, R-Phoenix, who was among the Republican lawmakers who backed Medicaid expansion, said he is disappointed in LaFaro's performance.

"The difficult thing about rhetoric that's so personal is that it has an impact, and then at some point in time, the primaries are over and you want to get together and be unified," McComish said.

Republican Tom Husband is a fan of LaFaro, saying his leadership "is very focused, clear and vigorous."

"He basically sees things very clearly, and he can articulate some of the subtle distinctions," Husband said.

LaFaro believes his combative defense of conservatism is needed to define what his party stands for -- to Republicans and non-Republicans alike. There's no agreeing to disagree with LaFaro, no gestures toward a big tent.

"I will always speak out; I will always be vocal for the things I believe in," he said during the interview he'd arranged to be held in the historic state Supreme Court chambers in the Capitol museum.

Movements need a conscience, a voice to steer them past pitfalls. LaFaro sees himself as the sharp-tongued enforcer for county Republicans.

"I'm not advancing my agenda -- I firmly believe that I'm advancing the conservative grass-roots agenda," he said.

But some in the party hear a potential death knell in his bombast, saying he further divides the party and alienates potential Republican voters at a crucial moment for the GOP.

Kim Owens, an Avondale Republican who supported LaFaro's opponent for GOP county chair, said she doesn't doubt his sincerity but believes his approach could destroy the party.

LaFaro has no right to determine "who is and isn't a proper Republican," she said.

"The statement he made about the governor and Judas, the comparison to the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the letter referencing building gallows in Prescott for Senator (Steve) Pierce and Representative (Andy) Tobin -- those are not the kinds of things that leaders should do," she said.

"This will lead us to fewer Republicans wanting to identify as Republicans for fear of being associated with (those) type of actions," she said.

Still, LaFaro's style plays well with some conservatives who say he has reflected their deep frustration with Brewer -- someone they once admired for her stances on states' rights, illegal immigration and, at one time, President Barack Obama's health-care plan.

How can her embrace of the health-care law's expansion of Medicaid, which LaFaro labeled "OBrewercare," be anything but betrayal, some have asked.

LaFaro cited polls showing a majority of Republicans across the country oppose the president's health-care overhaul.

"The governor says she is a Republican. … She needs to start acting like a Republican," he has said.

Asked if there is room in the party for a diversity of opinion on major issues, LaFaro said he cannot reconcile how a Republican can "sacrifice (their) principles and beliefs ? and propose Medicaid expansion."

So LaFaro makes no apologies for his attacks, saying he should not have to hold his tongue to make a few members of his party more comfortable.

History of activism

The son of "conservative Italian Catholic" parents, LaFaro grew up Tulsa, Okla. ("The reddest state in the United States," he's fond of saying.)

His father was a mechanic for American Airlines before moving up the management ladder and leaving the union ranks. His mom stayed at home and cared for him and his younger sister.

He said his parents taught him to work hard and encouraged him to save money earned from a paper route and bagging groceries to help pay for parochial school.

His political activism began at 21, when he volunteered on city council campaigns. He would again volunteer during Ronald Reagan's presidential campaign in 1980, serving as a part-time volunteer in Reagan's Oklahoma campaign offices. He would also work as a volunteer on Reagan's re-election campaign.

By then, LaFaro had spent time in the Air Force, married, finished college and begun a career as a computer programmer. After the petroleum company where he and his wife worked offered them lucrative voluntary severance packages, they moved to Tempe.

LaFaro largely stayed out of politics until 2000, when he launched a recall campaign against Republican Tempe Mayor Neil Giuliano, partly over a proposal by the city manager to restrict employees' United Way contributions to certain organizations, such as Boy Scouts. The proposal came as the U.S. Supreme Court essentially ruled that the Scouts could prohibit gays from being Scout leaders.

It was a bitter campaign. At one point, LaFaro served as witness and his own attorney as he sought a court injunction to prevent harassment from a Tempe councilman who accused him of bigotry.

LaFaro lost the recall election, held Sept. 11, 2001, by a wide margin.

"I'll always remember that day," he said. "We weren't successful in recalling Neil Giuliano."

The former mayor called LaFaro's supporters at the time "very fringe." He credits LaFaro for giving him political capital to power through his term.

"There will be times where he may be right on an issue … but he's so far out of the mainstream of knowing how to deal with and work with other people that he's never going to be an effective leader," Giuliano said. "I think it's an unfortunate commentary on the state of the county Republican Party if A.J. LaFaro is all they've got."

Over the next decade, LaFaro continued to criticize Tempe leaders over the "ill-conceived Rio Salado Town Lake project" and other spending. He urged voters to reject proposed tax hikes and budget-override measures.

His local activism whetted his appetite for party politics.

In 2011, the Maricopa County Republican Committee elected him as its Legislative District 17 GOP chairman. Then, last fall, he ran for -- and won -- the chairmanship of the county GOP, partly on a platform of inclusiveness.

Political tactics

LaFaro says he'll use his two years as head of the party to bridge the "real, real divide" among conservatives, moderates, tea partyers and Libertarian-leaning Republicans.

His supporters hope the county GOP's influence will grow under his leadership.

But some Republicans and political scientists see LaFaro's brand of politics narrowing the base of the Republican Party at a time when it should be promoting a big-tent philosophy.

The party's image in opinion polls has hit a historic low, according to a recent survey by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press. According to that survey, released in February, 62 percent said the GOP is out of touch with Americans, 56 percent thought it's not open to change and 52 percent said the party is too extreme.

Rep. J.D. Mesnard, R-Chandler, said LaFaro, as the face of the county GOP, should be "a more thoughtful, rational voice that is attractive."

"We want to bring people into the party; we want to show them we're a party of ideas, not just a party of rhetoric and flippant comments," said Mesnard, who opposed Medicaid expansion but booed LaFaro for his Judas comment.

McComish said LaFaro's actions contradict his promise to bring Republicans together.

"You want to get together and be unified, but it's hard to do that when you're vilifying … your own party," he said. "It plays into the enemy hands: Democrats love it."

Mesa GOP Sen. Rich Crandall dismissed LaFaro and the county GOP, saying they think they are bigger players than they really are.

"It's a place for people who just want to make a lot of noise, but they have no money, they're not organized in large mass and they're always led by the far, far extreme right," he said. "Until they have the ability to bring solutions to problems, they'll kind of be inconsequential."

David Berman, a senior research fellow at Arizona State University's Morrison Institute for Public Policy, said LaFaro's rhetoric might keep the base "activated and aroused," but it remains to be seen if it's productive.

"You have the leading icon of the Republican Party (Brewer), and you have this county chairman who thinks he's fully entitled to call her whatever he thinks," Berman said. "It makes the party look like an extremist party. It will stiffen resistance (against Republicans) and cause a lot of heat. And in the end, I don't know if they're going to get what they want."

Rob Haney, who urged LaFaro to run to replace him as chairman of the county GOP, said that LaFaro speaks for the Republican base and that sometimes leaders need to be outspoken to be effective, even if it stirs controversy.

But other Republicans, while agreeing with LaFaro politically,wish he'd take a more measured tone.

"Although the sentiment of what he is saying is felt by many precinct committeemen, I just wouldn't have said it," Mickie Niland, chairman of the LD 12 Republican committee, said of the Judas remark. "I want to disagree, but I don't want to be disagreeable."

LaFaro says he will now work to oust Republicans who supported Medicaid expansion and aid an effort to refer Medicaid expansion to voters.

One recent morning, dressed in a gray suit and tie, LaFaro stood in a House hearing room shortly before a Medicaid debate, shaking hands and patting the shoulders of conservative lawmakers.

"Thanks for the good fight," he said to one.

To two women wearing red AARP shirts, he bellowed, "Hey, I used to be in your organization! I dropped my membership of AARP after 13 years."

The organization supported Medicaid expansion.

LaFaro, who considers himself to be articulate and bold, says he sees no need to apologize for his remarks and style. But that doesn't mean the incident hasn't given him a reason to reflect.

"I will probably think more carefully before I choose my words," he said.

Copyright 2013 The Arizona Republic|azcentral.com. All rights reserved.For more information about reprints & permissions, visit our FAQ's. To report corrections and clarifications, contact Standards Editor Brent Jones. For publication consideration in the newspaper, send comments to letters@usatoday.com. Include name, phone number, city and state for verification. To view our corrections, go to corrections.usatoday.com.

Posted

View the original article here

Gun Control: A Republican Lashes Out at His Party

My heart is broken. The Senate killed even the most modest gun legislation, something that is desired by the majority of the American people (front page, April 18).

Additionally, the National Rifle Association gave up all semblance of moral authority.

Only the Republican senators Patrick J. Toomey of Pennsylvania, John McCain of Arizona, Mark Steven Kirk of Illinois and Susan Collins of Maine acquitted themselves well by voting yes to expand background checks.

There is no doubt in my mind that Republicans, under political pressure from Wayne LaPierre of the N.R.A., will be marginalized to the point of irrelevancy, as the American people move inexorably to force the adoption of reasonable gun legislation.

I just wish that our Republican leadership had done the right thing. We just handed President Obama the perfect way to defeat many Republicans in the next election.

ALFRED HOFFMAN Jr.
North Palm Beach, Fla., April 19, 2013

The writer is a Republican fund-raiser and a former Republican National Committee finance chairman.

View the original article here

At Republican Forum, McDonald Promises to Make the Economy His Focus

Michael Appleton for The New York Times George McDonald

George T. McDonald, a Republican candidate for mayor, can be an uneven performer in public. He likes to explain his economic plan by arguing that the Bronx should produce more applesauce, and he sometimes jokes about commuting by skateboard.

But at a forum in Midtown Manhattan on Tuesday night, Mr. McDonald, 68, sought to use his quirky manner to his advantage as he portrayed his two Republican opponents as out-of-touch plutocrats.

Calling himself the “poorest guy sitting here,” Mr. McDonald, who lives in a $1.6 million apartment on the Upper East Side, said he would make reviving the economy a centerpiece of his administration.

“The recession didn’t pass over New York City,” said Mr. McDonald, who runs the Doe Fund, a nonprofit job-training program for the homeless. “It may have passed over your friends.”

Mr. McDonald then turned to a Republican rival, John A. Catsimatidis, the billionaire owner of the Gristedes grocery chain. “If you think that money alone is going to win an election,” he said, “go to Connecticut.”

Mr. Catsimatidis grinned, reaching for the microphone. “I’m a man of all the people,” he said. “I’ve been to the South Bronx. I never saw you there.”

It was a striking back-and-forth at a forum largely free of disagreement. Nearly 100 people attended the event, which was sponsored by the New York Young Republican Club.

The other Republican contender, Joseph J. Lhota, former chief of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, largely stayed out of the fray. While he praised Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s handling of city affairs, he sought to distance himself from some of the mayor’s policies, saying he did not support the emphasis on standardized testing.

Near the end of the forum, in fielding a question on how to reduce poverty in New York, Mr. Catsimatidis said he would put Mr. McDonald in charge of homeless programs.

He looked to Mr. McDonald, who was staring into the distance, seemingly unaware of what had been said.

“George, I complimented you,” Mr. Catsimatidis said. “You’re very capable.”

View the original article here

Ryan Returns to Spotlight at House Republican Retreat

WILLIAMSBURG, Va. — When House Republicans arrived from the nation’s capital in the colonial capital this week, they were greeted by a brigade in traditional garb. Men in tricornered hats twittered away (on the fife), and three founding fathers — Thomas Jefferson, Patrick Henry and George Washington — stopped by to give speeches.

Over two and a half days that ended Friday, Republicans holed up at the stately Kingsmill Resort for their annual retreat tried to game out the year. The resort bills itself as a “golf, spa and luxury hotel,” but few of the members had much time for pleasure; as the majority in the House staring down a Democratic-led Senate and Democratic White House, there was work to be done. Even Speaker John A. Boehner, an obsessive golfer, was unable to slip away for a round. (The chilly damp weather, with a light dusting of snow Thursday evening, didn’t help).

Though the news media were not allowed to attend the official retreat, and were sequestered in a restaurant clubhouse on the property (more on that later), here’s a look at what went on:

And He’s Back

When Representative Paul D. Ryan’s vice-presidential bid ended in November, he returned to Congress but receded into the background, giving few interviews and, save for a high-profile vote in favor of the “fiscal cliff” deal, keeping his head down. But for those wondering about Mr. Ryan’s next act, the answer came into relief Thursday, when he addressed journalists as something of the official spokesman for his conference.

“We think the worst thing for the economy, for this Congress and this administration would be to do nothing to get our debt and deficits under control,” Mr. Ryan said. “We know we have a debt crisis coming. This is not an ‘if’ question, it’s a ‘when’ question.”

There had been some suggestion that Mr. Ryan might be considering a presidential bid in 2016 and despite his perch as Budget Committee chairman, was going to pull a rope-a-dope, allowing the House leadership to shoulder the responsibility on coming fiscal fights. But he took a front-and-center role at the retreat, both in public and behind the scenes.

Mr. Ryan was one of only two legislators officially trotted out before the gathered reporters to speak on the record, and he was the one who gave his fellow members a dose of bitter medicine, warning, “We also have to recognize the realities of the divided government that we have.”

He was also the first to publicly mention that his conference was open to the idea of a short-term extension of the debt limit, which ultimately became the biggest news out of the retreat.

If Williamsburg marked the premiere of the 113th Congressional House Republicans, Mr. Ryan apparently intends to take a starring role.

Debt Limit, Debt Limit

The Republican retreat is meant to be an opportunity for members to discuss the coming year. But the most important strategic decision, it seemed, involved only the first 90 days.

So what does the first quarter of 2013 hold? A possible short-term extension of the debt ceiling, which emerged as a proposal on which nearly the entire conference was able to come to rare consensus. But other than the fiscal wrangling to come, Republicans still trying to get their bearings after the November elections did not seem to delve too deeply into the other big issues they are certain to confront.

When Representative John C. Fleming of Louisiana wandered over to the clubhouse to chat with reporters Thursday afternoon, he said that gun control and immigration — two of three major issues on the White House’s plate — had not even come up.

Another participant later clarified that gun control had been discussed, albeit briefly. The verdict: “In terms of legislation, the Senate will almost certainly act first,” the official said.

Full Cry

Though House Republicans have struggled to marshal the majority of their majority on two big-ticket votes, the bare 218 required to pass legislation is no longer sufficient to satisfy Representative Kevin McCarthy of California, the majority whip.

He wants the “full cry.”

The term “whip,” Mr. McCarthy explained, derives from a fox hunting expression. A “full cry,” he added, is the call made when the dog catches the scent of the fox.

When a “full cry” comes, all of the other dogs — in the case of this metaphor, presumably, the House Republicans — fall into line, pursuing the prey with unified vigor. And this “full cry” is exactly what Mr. McCarthy hopes for from his whip team and conference.

On the first night of the retreat, he even presented members of his whip team with sleek new black jackets — with the “full cry” slogan emblazoned on the sleeve in white letters.

To the Stocks

While the House Republicans were treated to colonial festivities (and breakout session after breakout session), the news media were banished to the stocks, confined to a single room in the clubhouse. When several reporters tried to go to an adjoining room to sit by the fire, they were promptly scolded and told they could leave only to eat or use the bathroom.

Meanwhile, a lectern — with five American flags — had been set up for the possibility of televised news conferences, but on Friday morning, the official word came: There would be no briefings, the House leadership would not be holding a news conference after all. At that point, the assembled reporters began beating a retreat of their own — back to the nation’s capital for the presidential inauguration.

View the original article here

At Republican Retreat, Ryan Urges Unity on Fiscal Issues

WILLIAMSBURG, Va. — As House Republicans hunkered down here for a two-day retreat to discuss the future of their conference, Representative Paul D. Ryan of Wisconsin warned members that they had to “recognize the realities of the divided government that we have” and urged members to unite behind leadership on the coming fiscal debates.

Mr. Ryan, the chairman of the budget committee, told reporters that he thought some of the divisiveness that had plagued House Republicans under the leadership of Speaker John A. Boehner would most likely subside once members understand the coming battles and challenges.

“I think what matters most is people have a very clear view of what’s coming so that there are no surprises, and that means setting expectations accordingly, so that we can proceed in a unified basis,” Mr. Ryan said. “And the reason we’re doing this kind of facilitation right now is we want every member to understand all of the issues and all of the consequences, so that we can come together with consensus on a plan and move forward and proceed.”

Referring to the end of the previous Congress, which left the House, the Senate and the White House racing against a deadline to pass legislation to offset across-the-board tax increases and spending cuts needed to avert a financial crisis, he added, “We have the time to do that, whereas before it was a little more rushed, and we didn’t have the time.”

The former vice presidential candidate has maintained a low profile since returning to Congress, but he surprised some when he voted with Mr. Boehner on the tax deal devised by the White House and Senate Republicans to avert the so-called fiscal cliff.

Mr. Ryan also signaled that his conference might be flexible when it comes to the coming debate about the debt limit.

“We’re discussing the possible virtue of a short-term debt limit extension so that we have a better chance of getting the Senate and White House involved in discussions in March,” he said.

But reining in outsize spending and a soaring deficit still remains a top Republican priority, Mr. Ryan emphasized.

“We think the worst thing for the economy for this Congress and this administration would be to do nothing to get our debt and deficits under control,” he said. “We think the worst thing for the economy is to move past these events that are occurring with no progress made on the debt and deficits.”

He added: “We know we have a debt crisis coming. This is not an ‘if’ question, it’s a ‘when’ question.”

View the original article here

Mitt Romney Loses: What it Means for the Republican Party - Forbes

Mitt Romney. (Image credit: AFP/Getty Images via @daylife)

If Nate Silver can put his reputation on calling the race 90% for Obama, why can’t I? In any case, on the small chance Romney has won tomorrow and this is my Dewey Defeats Truman moment, let’s just pretend this headline was a joke and I what I really meant was what Romney’s loss would mean for the Republican party, were it to occur, which it will.

My point here really is to point to an excellent piece of disillusionment from James Poulos. Here he is on the Republican party of today:

Most importantly, I believe Mitt Romney’s willingness to say anything this campaign season is far more illustrative of a problem with today’s Republican Party than it is of a problem with Mitt Romney. Consider that Romney has simply done whatever it takes to get his party’s nomination and maintain its voters’ full support, and that the path he must tread to do so is paradoxically very narrow. His scattershot remarks, his willingness to commit alternately to a policy, to its opposite, and to nothing at all — rather than terrifying indications of a man with no rudder, I see them as frightening proof that Romney would be simply rejected by his party if he delivered a Huntsman-style campaign where what you see is what you get.

I think the admitted etch-a-sketch campaign that Romney has had to run has to do both with what he had to do to win his party’s nomination and support, and the relationship that a campaign that could achieve that has to the median voter in this country. America has a conservative streak, but not a severely conservative streak.

In Pictures: Election Day 2012, Voting Across America

One important factor I think we will observe over the next four years is that the economy is going to gain a lot of jobs no matter who wins. With an Obama win, what many republicans will learn from this is that most of the problem with our jobs market has not been Obama holding it back. This will provide the GOP with an important lesson that Democrats, with their head full of idealism and hope and change, have learned over the past four years: the limited ability of the President to control the economy.

Eight years of the Bush administration gave Democrats a long time to fantasize about what a liberal president could do to this country. A similar, if opposite, fantasy about what a liberal president can do has developed in the minds of republicans in the last four years. It’s time for them to be disillusioned.

View the original article here

WHAT NOW FOR THE REPUBLICAN PARTY? - Sky Valley Chronicle

(NATIONAL) -- Four years ago when Senator John McCain, a war hero and veteran Beltway player was running for President against the first black contender from the Democratic Party, GOP leaders thought they had the most electable candidate in the land backed by mounds of money and jet fuel and the one candidate they thought had the best ideas and ideology for the America of 2008.

Fast-forward four years. In Mitt Romney, the GOP also felt it had the most electable candidate in the land backed by even bigger mounds of money than backed McCain and the one candidate they thought had the best ideas and ideology for the America of 2012.

Both McCain and Romney were defeated by a man they accused of being a socialist, an apologist for America, a man who may not even have been born in the country, a Muslim, a man who they claim wants bigger government and more people depending on government, a leader who wants more taxes on the rich, bigger government spending, a man who is driving the country to hell in a hand basket and on top of all that is a leader that is soft on terrorism even though Osama Bin Laden was hunted down and killed on his watch.

So what does all of that mean for the Republican Party?

Does it mean, since Barack Obama has now been elected twice, that Americans are telling the Republican Party they just love having as the leader of the free world a Muslim socialist who was not even born in America and who has presided over four years of a rough economy and high unemployment because he is inept, an apologist for America, a man who wants bigger government and more people dependent upon government, a leader who’ll tax the hell out of us and on top of all that a leader that is soft on terrorism?

Is that what they are saying by electing Barack Obama twice?

Or is the message really that the Republican Party, at least as a national party, has become woefully out of touch with mainstream Americans?

OF MUSLIMS, FRIGHT NIGHT LINES AND BOOGEYMEN

Meaning Americans who are no longer buying the tired old fright-night lines about socialists and Muslims and big government lovers any more than they buy lines about the boogeyman coming into their bedrooms at night when the lights are out.

What would happen today if the GOP brought back to use with a Senate or House candidate the old line about “death panels” in health care reform? And exactly where are the death panels today since the Affordable Care Act passed?

Has anyone lost a Grandpa Lou or Grandma Emma to a death panel recently? Does anyone know where the office of the government death panel is located?

Is the GOP of 2012 simply talking to itself, engaging in latherous foamy layers of feel good self-stroking psycho babble targeted to the hard right conservative choir and disconnecting more and more with what the vast majority of Americans are thinking?

Has the party gone overboard to appease the Tea Party crowd and well off older white males?

“Mitt Romney’s loss to a Democratic president wounded by a weak economy is certain to spur an internecine struggle over the future of the Republican Party, but the strength of the party’s conservatives in Congress and the rightward tilt of the next generation of party leaders could limit any course correction,” says a new Op-Ed piece in the New York Times which notes that having now lost the popular presidential vote for the fifth time in six elections, “Republicans across the political spectrum anticipate a prolonged and probably divisive period of self-examination.”

OF HIGH PRIESTS AND ANTI GOVERNMENT WARRIORS

The piece predicts the coming internal GOP debate will be centered on whether the party should keep pursuing the “antigovernment focus” that grew out of resistance to the health care law and won them the House in 2010, or whether it should focus on a strategy that recognizes the demographic tide is running strong against the party.

The piece here quotes Mike Murphy, a longtime Republican Party consultant, as suggesting the internal duke fest would pit “mathematicians” like him, who argue that the party cannot keep surrendering the votes of Hispanics, blacks, younger voters and college-educated women, against the party purists, or “priests,” as he puts it, who believe that basic conservative principles can ultimately triumph without much deviation.

So far, it appears the high priests are on the losing end of that equation because the GOP continues to depend heavily on “older working-class white voters in rural and suburban America — a shrinking percentage of the overall electorate — while Democrats rack up huge majorities among urban voters including blacks, Hispanics and other minorities.”

View the original article here

Chuck Todd: Republican Party 'Has Some Serious Soul-Searching To Do' (VIDEO) - Huffington Post

Chuck Todd advised the Republican party to take a good look at itself on Tuesday night.

The NBC News correspondent was reporting the election results on MSNBC. Some pundits have said that Hurricane Sandy will be the decisive factor in an Obama victory. Todd, however, dismissed that idea, arguing that it was the growth of the Latino population in swing states that would prevent a GOP win.

"The story of this election ... is demographics," Todd said. "The Republican Party has not kept up with the changing face of America. That explains what's going on in Florida. That explains what's going on in Colorado. That explains, frankly, what's going on in Virginia and North Carolina. ... The Obama campaign was right. They built a campaign for 21st century America. The Republican Party has some serious soul-searching to do when you look at these numbers ... they are getting clobbered among non-white voters."

Related on HuffPost:

Get Alerts

View the original article here

YOUR VIEW: The Republican Party has failed Alabama - The Birmingham News - al.com (blog)

By holding a victory party at a gun range, The Alabama Republican Party is finally giving Scott Beason an opportunity to empty the barrel; the Republican Party has failed Alabama.

By passing voter ID laws to disenfranchise poor and elderly voters, the Republican controlled State Legislature has failed to protect the rights and privileges of all Alabamians

In allowing a strip mine to open in Shepard Bend on the Warrior River, just above an intake for the Birmingham Water Works, Governor Bentley and The Alabama Republican Party has failed Alabama

By passing an anti immigration bill that was destined to fail in the courts and cost Alabama taxpayers millions of dollars in lawyer fees and government waste, the Republican controlled State Legislature has failed the citizens of Alabama in its promise to reduce the size of government.

With the entire Alabama Republican delegation to the US Congress voting against the Lilly Ledbetter law, the Republican Party of Alabama failed the women in the State of Alabama.

When U.S. Representative Spencer Bachus decided to short sell stocks as the economy faltered, he bet against America and put his own personal worth ahead of his oath to the citizens of Alabama. Spencer Bachus and the Republican Party have failed the State of Alabama.

By making political appointments to the Alabama Public Television Commission that have their own private agenda, Governor Bentley and the Alabama Republican Party has failed Alabama.

With Richard Shelby pushing for 4.7 billion in funding for the northern beltline, instead of trying to fix existing infrastructure, the Alabama Republican Party has failed Alabama.

By forcing the Alabama public to help balance the State budget, the Republican Party of Alabama has failed the State.

With several members of the State Republican Party calling conserving Alabama wildlife a luxury, the Alabama Republican Party has failed Alabama.

"Doctor" Bentley was not the Republican Party's first choice two years ago. They have held every state wide position except for Lucy Baxley at the Public Service Commission, and yet the unemployment rate in Alabama remains among the highest in the country. The Alabama Republican Party has failed the State of Alabama.

Roy Moore for Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court. The Alabama Republican Party has failed the State of Alabama.

I could keep this list going on for several more pages, but I think you get the point. From our senior member in Congress to the our junior members like Slade Blackwell, the Alabama Republican Party has failed the State of Alabama in so many ways.

Mark Chambers

Birmingham

View the original article here

Where does the Republican Party go from here? - Fox News

By Christian Whiton

Published November 07, 2012

FoxNews.com

President Barack Obama calls Wisconsin volunteers as he visits a campaign office call center the morning of the 2012 election, Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2012, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)AP2012

Republicans lost and they lost big on Tuesday, November 6. The White House remains in the hands of perhaps the most liberal president in our history and GOP dreams of taking control of the Senate were dashed.

There is some good news and one consolation. Republicans have kept their majority in the House of Representatives, sustaining the rebuke voters gave to the Obama and Pelosi Democrats when they passed ObamaCare without a single Republican vote.  Furthermore, Obama ran on no real second-term agenda and therefore has no mandate.

The consolation is that in the United States and almost every other English-speaking democracy, when executive power switches to a different party, as it did in 2008 when Obama was first elected, that party almost always gets two terms in power.  We have had plenty of one-term presidents, but they usually follow predecessors of the same party.

The key now will be for Republicans not to form a circular firing squad, but to grasp important lessons as to why we lost.

-

The sole exception in the last century was Jimmy Carter.  Amid his “malaise,” voters gave Democrats only four years in power.  Unfortunately, Mitt Romney was unable to convince voters that the economic and national security dangers brought forth by Obama were of a similar scale.

The key now will be for Republicans not to form a circular firing squad, but to grasp important lessons as to why we lost.

I wrote on these pages two years ago that Mitt Romney would lose if nominated for president based on the experience of Meg Whitman in California.  She was a rich, successful, businesswoman with few core political convictions, but who was able to pour money into the race.  Her claim was that she understood business and created jobs in the private sector, so could surely do the same as governor.

Voters knew better that business and government are inherently different. Furthermore, bedrock conservatives were unimpressed with a candidate who seemed to have no real fight in her to cut taxes and spending and take on the unions.  So it was Tuesday night with Romney, who took conservatives for granted—as did the Washington GOP establishment.

The two most successful conservatives of the last century were Ronald Reagan and Newt Gingrich.  Only they among their peers halted the growth of government and enacted real reform.  They did this not by pulling punches or papering over the differences between left and right, but by explaining conservatism in simple language. Reagan used stories. Gingrich used history.

As Mark Twain said, history does not repeat itself, but it rhymes. The next successful conservatives will differ from these men, but will follow the basic model of explaining plainly and confidently why a society that wants to survive must not punish those who play by the rules or are successful.  

They need to show how a private market allocates resources better than even smart Ivy Leaguers working for a government bureaucracy.  

They need to say that the American century only ends when we decide we’re no longer exceptional in mankind’s history, and choose the European model of decadent decline over a destiny of freedom and self-reliance.

In the end, the Republican establishment thought they had this election in the bag.  They decided to play it safe with a moderate.  They stuffed a candidate down the party’s throat who opportunistically had been on both sides of most issues and told people what he thought they wanted to hear, rather than what he believed.

Recovery begins with saying goodbye to this Beltway GOP establishment.  No more Romneys.  No more Bushes.  No more McCains.

There is a new generation of Reagans and Gingriches out there somewhere.  There are probably even more than a few of them who are Latino.  The task of conservatives and Republicans is to find them, cultivate them, and get behind them.

Christian Whiton was a State Department senior adviser from 2003-09 during the administration George W. Bush administration.  He is principal at DC International Advisory. Follow him on Twitter@ChristianWhiton.

View the original article here

Ryan accepts Republican nod for VP

TAMPA – Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan accepted the vice presidential nomination at the Republican National Convention on Wednesday in a speech that set a goal of creating 12 million jobs in four years.

By H. Darr Beiser, USA TODAY

Republican vice presidential nominee, Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, speaks at the Republican National Convention on Wednesday night in Tampa.

By H. Darr Beiser, USA TODAY

Republican vice presidential nominee, Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, speaks at the Republican National Convention on Wednesday night in Tampa.

"I accept the calling of my generation to give our children the America that was given to us, with opportunity for the young and security for the old," Ryan told the crowd in the Tampa Bay Times Forum before turning his attention to his top-of-the-ticket running mate, Mitt Romney.

"His whole life has prepared him for this moment — to meet serious challenges in a serious way, without excuses and idle words," Ryan said. "After four years of getting the run-around, America needs a turnaround, and the man for the job is Gov. Mitt Romney."

Ryan was far less kind to President Obama, blasting him for failing to revive the economy and pledging to bring down the "Obamacare" health program.

"We have a plan for a stronger middle class, with the goal of generating 12 million new jobs over the next four years," he said. "In a clean break from the Obama years, and frankly from the years before this president, we will keep federal spending at 20% of GDP, or less. That is enough. The choice is whether to put hard limits on economic growth, or hard limits on the size of government, and we choose to limit government."

The speech came one day after former Massachusetts governor Romney was formally nominated to lead the ticket and Ryan, chairman of the House Budget Committee, was approved as his running mate by acclamation.

"The present administration has made its choices," Ryan said. "And Mitt Romney and I have made ours. Before the math and the momentum overwhelm us all, we are going to solve this nation's economic problems. And I'm going to level with you: We don't have that much time.

"But if we are serious, and smart, and we lead, we can do this."

After the speech, Ryan's family joined him on the stage to rousing cheers. Romney will take the stage for Thursday's finale.

Other Day Two headliners included former secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Arizona Sen. John McCain, the party's 2008 nominee, and former Arkansas governor and current conservative media personality Mike Huckabee.

McCain pressed the case of Romney as world leader and commander in chief. McCain said that under Obama, the country has "drifted away from our proudest traditions of global leadership" and exacerbated international problems.

"I trust (Romney) to know that our security and economic interests are inextricably tied to the progress of our values," McCain said. "I trust him to know that if America doesn't lead, our adversaries will, and the world will grow darker, poorer and much more dangerous."

Huckabee hammered at Obama for failing to create jobs, saying that "with Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan we will do better."

"Mitt Romney turned around companies that were on the skids; turned around a scandal ridden Olympics that was deep in the red into a high point of profitable and patriotic pride; and turned around a very liberal state by erasing a deficit and replacing it with a surplus," Huckabee said.

McCain and Huckabee took ample shots at President Obama; Rice made no mention of him. But she had good words for Romney and Ryan.

"Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan will rebuild us at home and they will help us lead abroad. They will provide an answer to the question, 'Where does America stand?' " she said. "The challenge is real and the times are hard. But America has met and overcome tough challenges before. Whenever you find yourself doubting us — just think of all the times that we have made the impossible seem inevitable in retrospect."

But on this night, Ryan was to be the star.

Romney campaign political director Rich Beeson told USA TODAY that Ryan's addition to the ticket finally gives Romney a teammate against the "double team" of criticism from President Obama and Vice President Biden. And Ryan strengthens the ticket demographically, Beeson said.

"You've got a Generation Xer," he said, adding that he believes Obama's advantage among younger voters is fading. "And Wisconsin became a tossup the day (Republican) Gov. Scott Walker won his recall," Beeson said.

After 14 years in Congress, Ryan has become the Republican Party's brand name for conservative economic policies: low taxes, reduced spending and entitlement overhaul, all wrapped into a GOP budget plan that bears his name.

Ryan, 42, now must sell voters on a different proposition: his own readiness to become president of the United States.

"Can he step in and do the job? That's really the only thing that matters," said Romney pollster Neil Newhouse.

Speeches aside, the now three-day conservative fest has had its struggles. The convention started a day late amid concerns Isaac would hit the city just as the convention was supposed to kick off Monday.

The storm dodged Tampa and instead took on the coasts of Louisiana and Mississippi. Mitt Romney tweeted his concern Wednesday morning: "Support the #Isaac relief effort by donating to the Red Cross. Text REDCROSS to 90999 or click here: http://rdcrss.org/PSpvi2."

A Red Cross appeal appeared on large video screens in the hall during Wednesday's proceedings.

Tuesday brought a mini-revolt from a small but vocal group of Ron Paul supporters. Backers of the Texas congressman and former GOP presidential contender objected loudly to new party rules designed to discourage insurgent presidential candidates from amassing delegates.

Paul backers, believing they were being squeezed out, chanted "Object! Object!" RNC Chairman Reince Priebus declined to recognize them, saying at one point, "Guys, we will proceed with the order of business."

That wasn't the only problem in the hall: Convention organizers later ejected two people from Tuesday night's session for allegedly throwing nuts at a black CNN camerawoman, and saying, "This is how we feed animals."

"Yesterday two attendees exhibited deplorable behavior," said a Republican statement posted by Talking Points Memo.

And there have been logistical problems. After the Tuesday sessions, delegates were to board shuttle buses destined for parking lots at a football stadium miles away and, from there, board buses to their hotels. But after Tuesday night's session recessed, thousands of delegates descended on the shuttles at once.

"It was like a mob," said Sally Beach, an alternate delegate from Florida who said she didn't reach her hotel until after 3 a.m. Convention spokesman Kyle Downey said Wednesday that organizers were "working closely with our transportation management company" to fix the problems.

Contributing: Gregory Korte; David Jackson; Paul Flemming, Tallahassee (Fla.) Democrat; Jackie Kucinich; Krystal Modigell; Associated Press

For more information about reprints & permissions, visit our FAQ's. To report corrections and clarifications, contact Standards Editor Brent Jones. For publication consideration in the newspaper, send comments to letters@usatoday.com. Include name, phone number, city and state for verification. To view our corrections, go to corrections.usatoday.com.

View the original article here

Condoleezza Rice and John McCain to Speak at Republican Convention

Saul Loeb/A.F.P. – Getty Images; Frederic J. Brown/ A.F.P – Getty Images; Logan Mock-Bunting for The New York TimesCondoleezza Rice, Susana Martinez and Nikki Haley are among the speakers scheduled for the Republican National Convention.

Republicans plan to highlight three high-profile women as “headliners” during the national convention in Tampa later this summer, officials said this weekend.

Gov. Nikki Haley of of South Carolina, Gov. Susana Martinez of New Mexico, and Condoleezza Rice, the secretary of state under George W. Bush, will each have prominent speaking roles.

“They are some of our party’s brightest stars, who have governed and led effectively and admirably in their respective roles,” Reince Priebus, the chairman of the Republican National Committee, said in a statement. “Ours will be a world-class convention, worthy of the next president of the United States.”

Republican officials did not name the convention’s keynote speaker, a coveted spot that is often used to highlight a rising political star. Chris Christie, the governor of New Jersey, has been mentioned as a possible candidate.

The Democrats announced last week that Julian Castro, the mayor of San Antonio, will be the keynote speaker at their national convention in Charlotte, N.C.

Republican convention officials did not indicate any role for the people most often mentioned as possible vice presidential nominees: Senator Rob Portman of Ohio, Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, or Tim Pawlenty, the former governor of Minnesota.

But the speakers’ list also includes a series of politicians whose speeches could help fire up the convention crowd ahead of Mr. Romney’s acceptance speech.

Senator John McCain of Arizona, the party’s nominee in 2008, will get a speaking slot, as will Mike Huckabee, the former governor of Arkansas. Both men were rivals of Mr. Romney’s in the 2008 primary.

Rick Scott, the governor of Florida, will get a headliner slot, as will John Kasich, the governor of Ohio.

Follow Michael D. Shear on Twitter at @shearm.

View the original article here

New Republican Ad Takes a Soft Shot at Obama

When it makes its debut Wednesday in 10 swing states as the centerpiece of a $25 million campaign, it is expected to become one of the most heavily broadcast political commercials of this phase of the general election.

Yet what Mr. McCarthy and Crossroads have produced is not the kind of searing denunciation of President Obama that their track records would suggest. More soft-pedal than Swift Boat, the 60-second advertisement, complete with special effects, is a deeply researched, delicately worded story of a struggling family; its relatively low-key tone is all the more striking, coming at a point in the campaign when each side is accusing the other of excessive negativity.

Behind the story of the ad’s creation rests one of the greatest challenges for Republicans in this election: how to develop a powerful line of attack against a president who remains well liked even by people who are considering voting against him.

The concept for the newest advertisement and even some of the lines in the script were culled directly from focus groups of undecided and sometimes torn voters that were held over nearly a year. As Crossroads strategists would learn after 18 different focus groups and field tests, from Missouri to Colorado to Ohio to Florida, the harshest anti-Obama jabs backfire with many Americans.

Middle-of-the-road voters who said they thought the country was on the wrong track were unmoved when they heard arguments that the president lacks integrity. And they did not buy assertions that he is a rabid partisan with a radical liberal agenda that is wrecking America.

“They are not interested in being told they made a horrible mistake,” said Steven J. Law, president of Crossroads GPS and the affiliated “super PAC,” American Crossroads. “The disappointment they’re now experiencing has to be handled carefully.”

In interviews with voters, Crossroads strategists picked up on some common sentiments that they concluded could provide a clear rationale for voters to deny Mr. Obama a second term.

Some said they felt that the president was an eloquent communicator, but that his actions had failed to live up to his words. They said they thought the country’s budget problems had gotten out of hand, yet the government kept spending recklessly — like someone with maxed-out credit cards. And they reported being worried that their children would not have the same opportunities to get ahead as they had.

All these thoughts made their way into Mr. McCarthy’s script. But one exchange in particular, at a focus group in St. Louis in October, gave Mr. McCarthy and Mr. Law the idea for the ad, which they named, innocuously enough, “Basketball.”

A woman described how her 32-year-old son, burdened by student loans and unable to make ends meet, had moved back home. “That particular group had several women who basically told the same story,” Mr. McCarthy said.

The script, which he started writing that day in October, features a composite character from the focus groups. “Kind of like President Obama’s girlfriends,” he noted dryly, referring to Mr. Obama’s acknowledgment that a girlfriend he referred to in his book “Dreams From My Father” was a composite of several women he knew.

The ad opens with a woman talking about her family’s financial woes. “I always loved watching the kids play basketball,” the actress says, her voice heavy with worry as she glances out at her backyard. “I still do, even though things have changed.”

Her face quickly morphs into an old woman’s. Her skin is wrinkled, her hair gray. She explains how her adult children have moved back into the house because they are unable to find jobs. And she is not sure she can afford to retire now.

“I supported President Obama because he spoke so beautifully,” she says. “He promised change. But things changed for the worse.”

Ben LaBolt, a spokesman for the Obama campaign, dismissed the commercial’s premise. “However many millions Mitt Romney’s special interest allies spend won’t change the facts,” he said, noting that the economy has strengthened considerably since 2008.

In previous presidential campaigns, Republicans have relished mocking their Democratic opponents. They made commercials with video of Michael S. Dukakis riding in a tank wearing an oversize helmet, leaving viewers with images that many thought made him look silly and unpresidential.

View the original article here

The Republican Party's Catholic cadre. . .coming soon - Washington Post (blog)

???initialComments:true! pubdate:04/26/2012 14:45 EDT! commentPeriod:14! commentEndDate:5/10/12 2:45 EDT! currentDate:4/27/12 8:0 EDT! allowComments:true! displayComments:true!Posted by Aaron Blake at 02:45 PM ET, 04/26/2012 TheWashingtonPost

Forget Mormonism; the real story in the Republican Party right now is the rise of the Catholics.

Republicans, who according to Smart Politics have put a Catholic on the ticket just once before (vice presidential candidate William Miller in 1964), seem to be experiencing something of a Catholic renaissance.
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) addresses a crowd at a town hall meeting in Manchester, N.J. Christie, like most other potential GOP vice presidential nominees, is Catholic, but the party has only had a Catholic on the ticket once before. (AP Photo/Mel Evans)

First, a pair of Catholics in Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum gave Mitt Romney a run for his money in the nominating contest, and now, four of the five politicians seen as most likely to join Romney on the ticket are Catholic as well.

Sen. Marco Rubio (Fla.), New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell and Rep. Paul Ryan (Wis.) — four of the five most likely GOP VP choices, according to InTrade — are all Catholic, not to mention other people thought to be contenders, like Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, former Florida governor Jeb Bush, Sen. Pat Toomey (Pa.), New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez, Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval and Sen. Kelly Ayotte (N.H.).

In other words, most of the top contenders are Catholic.

It means that there’s a distinct chance that the 2012 Republican presidential ticket will not have a Protestant on it after decades of Protestants having a stranglehold on the party’s presidential nomination.

But the 2012 veepstakes aside, the rising crop of Catholic politicians in the Republican Party signals a couple other shifts.

Most of these politicians will be considered top potential presidential candidates down the line, meaning it’s quite possible the Republican Party will nominate its first-ever Catholic for president in the relatively near future.

The Catholic GOP candidate, until recently, was a rare thing. And Rudy Giuliani, Sam Brownback and Tommy Thompson didn’t exactly take a big step forward in the 2008 GOP presidential race.

Also, it signals an evolution for the party beyond the days of “Values Voters,” when social conservatives and evangelicals seemed to dominate the debate within the party and set the agenda.

Catholics (aside from Santorum) are known for being more moderate and may have had a harder time fitting into that Republican Party.

Today, though, it’s quite possible the party’s leading voices of the future will be distinctly Catholic.

See what your friends are reading!

Ed O’keefe 

Ed O'keefe 

David Nakamura; Ed O’keefe 

Rachel Weiner 

Associated Press 

Lisa Rein 

Rosalind S. Helderman; Felicia Sonmez 

Rosalind S. Helderman 

Joe Davidson 

Chris Cillizza 

Chris Cillizza 

Josh Hicks 

Rachel Weiner 

Associated Press 

View the original article here

Republican Party of Armenia checks voters' lists - Information-Analytic Agency NEWS.am

April 28, 2012 | 15:38

YEREVAN. – Rules of holding civilized elections do not suppose legal or civil responsibility, Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) executive body member David Harutyunyan said at a press conference on Saturday.

“We have held nine meetings. Statements were voiced that voters’ lists have ‘grown’ is concerning,” Harutyunyan said adding the RPA checked the lists and erased names of 68,000 voters.

No one has applied for violations or double registration. Besides, personal data of many people simply coincides, he added.

The Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) is a ruling conservative party in Armenia founded on 2 April, 1990, and registered on 14 May, 1991, being the first officially registered socio-political organization in the independent Republic of Armenia.

Since 2003, the Republican Party is a core member of the ruling coalition along with the Prosperous Armenia and Orinats Yerkir parties. RPA has majority of seats in the Armenian parliament since 2003.

The Republican Party of Armenia will run in the parliamentary elections under its new slogan: “Let us believe to change!” The Party’s proportional list includes 253 names.

RPA has also nominated MP candidates with the majority election system in 33 electoral districts.

View the original article here

Republican Veepstakes: Plain is the new pizzazz - Washington Post (blog)

Before you can make even a guess at who former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney will pick as his vice presidential running mate, you have to decide what this election is really about.

In this Feb. 20, 2012 file photo, Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio talks to reporters in Cincinnati, Ohio. Days into his new role as presumptive Republican presidential nominee, Mitt Romney has initiated a months-long search for a running mate, an effort to be guided as much by his methodical corporate-based approach as the shadows of Sarah Palin. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert, File)Is it a referendum on President Obama’s first four years in office? Or is it a choice between the policies and personalities of Romney and Obama?

Democrats generally prefer the latter option. Republicans like the former.

If you buy that basic way of thinking about the race, it makes it more likely that Romney’s main criteria in picking a running mate will be to do no harm, to avoid the public relations debacle that Sen. John McCain (Ariz.) courted when he named former Alaska governor Sarah Palin as his vice presidential pick in 2008.

Rather than having his VP pick be a major moment in the campaign, Romney may well want to simply make the pick, have he/she get the requisite two or three days of wall-to-wall media coverage and then disappear back into the fabric of the campaign as Republicans work to shine the spotlight fully on Obama and his record.

That way of thinking seems to have propelled Ohio Sen. Rob Portman’s prospects of late. Every one we talk to in DC — literally, everyone — seems to have Portman at or near the top of their Veepstakes list. He is, after all, a former Budget director (albeit during the Bush Administration) and a popular elected official from the swing state of Ohio.

And, most importantly if you believe the theory we laid out above, Portman is relatively short on pizzazz. (Here’s Stephen Colbert’s take on Portman.)

Our latest Veepstakes Line, which ranks the ten people most likely to wind up on the ticket, leans toward the safe(r) picks. Of course, Romney’s not likely to make the pick for several more months so we reserve the right to change our mind. (And then change it again.)

The rankings are below. The number one ranked candidate is the most likely to be the pick. Agree? Or, more likely, disagree? The comments section awaits.

To the Line!

10. Susana Martinez : Martinez, the governor of New Mexico, is probably the least well known politician on this list. And, in a party still trying to get out from under the Palin pick, Martinez’s lack of experience at the national level may ultimately doom her chances. Still, she has much to recommend her as the first Hispanic woman elected governor of a state — and a swing state no less! The 2012 election may be too soon for Martinez’s debut on the national stage but she is someone to keep an eye on beyond this November. (Previous ranking: 5)

9. Chris Christie : If ever there was someone who was temperamentally unsuited to be vice president, it’s the governor of New Jersey. He oozes “boss” from every pore not “guy standing next to the boss”. That said, people don’t tend to turn down the vice presidency when it’s offered to them. Particularly people who face a perilous reelection campaign in 2013. (Previous ranking: 6)

8. Bobby Jindal : Jindal clearly has a large number of vocal advocates within the Republican party. (We know because anytime we write anything with a whiff of criticism regarding Jindal in it, they barrage our email inbox.) While Jindal’s profile is appealing — popular conservative governor from the South, Indian American etc. — it just feels like he is on a trajectory to run for president in 2016 or 2020 rather than serve as VP in 2012. But maybe that’s just us. (Previous ranking: 4)

7. Kelly Ayotte: The New Hampshire Senator is still barely being buzzed about when it comes to the Veepstakes but we’ve got a hunch that she may wind up being a more serious player by the end of this process. Why? Ayotte is a woman (duh) from a swing state who is well liked by both the tea party and establishment wings of the party. She also has a law and order background — she was the state Attorney General before being elected to the Senate in 2010 — and a very natural manner on the campaign trail. If you are looking for a darkhorse, Ayotte could well be it. (Previous ranking: N/A)

6. Bob McDonnell : The Virginia Republican hasn’t done anything wrong since we last ranked the vice presidential candidates. The reason for his drop? The more Republican strategists we talk to, the more convinced we are that some of the things in McDonnell’s past — his controversial thesis, transvaginal ultrasounds etc. — are too risky for the notoriously risk-averse Romney. On the other hand, we are increasingly convinced that Virginia the swing state in November and, if that’s the case, Romney might be convinced to put the very popular governor of the Commonwealth on the ticket. (Previous ranking: 2)

5. Paul Ryan : There’s no candidate who we struggle more to rank on the Line than the Wisconsin Republican. On the one hand, he is sort of a plain choice: a white male from the Midwest who currently serves in Congress. On the other, his proposed budgets make him a potential pizzazz pick — for good and bad. When Romney and Ryan campaigned together in the runup to the Wisconsin primary, there seemed to be a real connection (an underrated factor when it comes to picking a running mate). But does Romney really want to answer for the politically tough decisions in a budget he didn’t even write? (Previous ranking: 10)

4. Tim Pawlenty : If Romney truly wants to make no news and put someone on the ticket who won’t rock the boat, then the former Minnesota governor could be the best choice. While Pawlenty struggled when he was the headliner during his own presidential bid earlier this year, he is a dogged campaigner and someone who has been a steady messenger for Romney. If the whole presidential race rests in the Rust Belt, Pawlenty’s humble roots and Sam’s Club Republicans message could resound. Another plus? he has the best nickname — Tpaw — of anyone on the Line. (Previous ranking: 8)

3. John Thune : The South Dakota Senator is, for some reason, not getting much love in the Veepstakes. We’re not exactly sure why. Thune is a safe pick who brings a bit more charisma and conservative name recognition with him than even Portman. Of course, Thune is from South Dakota, which is not exactly a swing state. Still, Thune’s stock is a bit undervalued at the moment. We would suggest buying now since it seems likely to rise between now and when the pick is finally made. (Previous ranking: 7)

2. Marco Rubio : Yes, we know we compared Rubio to Lionel Messi is our last Veepstakes Line. But, Rubio is very clearly a pizzazz not a plain pick and would overshadow Romney on the ticket from the day he was picked. Does Romney willingly want to do that? It’s also important to remember that for all of the adulation Rubio gets, he is still a newbie on the national stage. We were reminded of that fact when he couldn’t seem to track down the final page of his foreign policy speech at Brookings earlier this week. (Previous ranking: 1)

1. Rob Portman : As odd as this is to write, Portman is very clearly the hottest commodity in the veepstakes at the moment. While we have written that being the pick of GOP insiders isn’t the greatest attribute in an outsider election like this one, Portman seems to fit the bill if Romney is looking for a steady, proven candidate who happens to come from a swing state. One other thing we’ll say for Portman: He’s the rare politician who has a legitimate statewide political organization in a state the size of Ohio. (Previous ranking: 3)

View the original article here

New Labor Effort Looks to Counter Republican Groups

The 2012 general election campaign — just days old — is already shaping up as a contest about which candidate can better identify with the plight of working-class Americans struggling to make ends meet.

On Thursday, President Obama’s allies in organized labor are to announce an Internet-based effort to rally workers to the president’s corner using what they say will be the latest social media tools.

In an event at the Washington headquarters of the A.F.L.-C.I.O., organizers are scheduled to unveil a new Web site, workersvoice.org, along with ambitious plans to energize union and nonunion workers to participate in the presidential and Congressional elections.

“The labor movement is the original social network,” said Eddie Vale, the communications director for the new group. “Workers’ Voice will be revolutionizing it for today’s world by taking our traditional field and organizing knowledge and applying it to the digital era and making it available to all workers.”

In the last six months, Mr. Obama has increasingly focused his campaign for re-election on a populist argument that the policies of the Republicans would benefit the wealthiest in the country, leaving most workers behind.

This week, Mr. Obama is pushing Congress to pass what Democrats call the “Buffett Rule,” which would require anyone making over $1 million a year to pay at least 30 percent in taxes.

“Tell them to stop giving tax breaks to the wealthiest Americans who don’t need them and aren’t asking for them,” Mr. Obama said during an event on Wednesday. “Tell them to start asking everybody to do their fair share and play by the same rules.”

The new labor group describes itself as a counter to those allied behind Mitt Romney, Mr. Obama’s likely opponent in the fall. They include American Crossroads and other “super PACs” that have pledged to support Mr. Romney with advertising and voter mobilization efforts.

In fact, Mr. Romney has made clear in recent weeks that he intends to prosecute the same populist case against Mr. Obama, describing the sitting president as out of touch with the plight of everyday Americans and unable to develop solutions that will help them weather the economic turmoil.

“Years of flying around on Air Force One, surrounded by an adoring staff of true believers telling you what a great job you are doing, well, that might be enough to make you a little out of touch,” Mr. Romney said earlier this month.

American Crossroads — which was founded by Karl Rove, the former top political aide to President George W. Bush, and Ed Gillespie, who recently signed on with Romney campaign — and other independent groups are likely to seize on that theme in the coming weeks. The new union-led group is hoping to counter that message, though it’s unclear how much money the group will have at its disposal.

“Workers’ Voice is going to be a counterpart to Willard Romney’s and Karl Rove’s groups that accept millions in corporate and 1 percent money,” Mr. Vale said. “But unlike them we are not going to focus on negative TV ads.”

Instead, Mr. Vale said, the group will focus on “activating and empowering networks of working families to counter their attacks.”

Labor unions have long been allies of Democratic presidential candidates, especially when it comes to get-out-the-vote efforts that can make the difference in close elections. It’s not clear what the relationship is between the unions and the new group.

Conservatives contend the influence of the labor unions is a vastly underreported asset for Democratic candidates.

The Web site for the new group says it will be dedicated to “connecting and empowering working families to make a difference in political and legislative campaigns.”

“As mega millionaires like Willard Romney, the Koch Brothers and large corporations try and buy our political and legislative process Workers’ Voice will activate and energize networks of working families,” the site says, using “cutting-edge technology and old-fashioned energy.”

Specifically, Mr. Vale said the group plans to use new social media tools to enhance door-to-door canvassing and phone banks in ways that have not been tried on a large scale by such groups in the past.

A successful effort by the group could help the president deflect attacks by the Republican super PACs and allow Mr. Obama’s campaign to remain on the offensive in describing Mr. Romney as the one who does not understand working Americans.

But so far, Democratic groups backing Mr. Obama have had far less luck raising money to support their efforts than their Republican counterparts. The Web site of the new group asks for donations from $5 to $500 or more.

“Your contribution today will help create the foundation for the work we need to do to win the political and legislative fights important to working families,” the site says.

Follow Michael D. Shear on Twitter at @shearm.

View the original article here

Republican Ambitions for Statewide Office Break Loose in Texas

Maybe you work in a big organization, with relatively young and healthy people at the top.

That’s just wonderful, unless your plans include upward mobility. You might as well be a Texas politician.

Democrats can’t move up the food chain in Texas until they’ve changed a political environment that will currently elect a Republican for every statewide office, whether or not that Republican is the best person for the job. It’s not the content of the candidate’s character that matters most — it’s the color of the partisan flag.

Republicans looking to move up face two obstacles: competition and a couple of stoppers at the top of the organizational chart. The competition is still there, what with a state full of Republicans and a political climate — see above — where moderates and independents who want to get into a high elected office often have to run as Republicans to succeed. That doesn’t appear to be changing right now.

But the stoppers — their names are Kay Bailey Hutchison and Rick Perry — might both be moving on, and the very idea of that animates Republican ambitions in Texas.

Ms. Hutchison, elevated to the United States Senate in a special election in 1993, isn’t seeking re-election. Mr. Perry could run for another term as governor in 2014. But the lines are already forming as if he won’t be on the ballot that year.

At least at the top, the 2014 ballot is as busy as the one for the current election year.

Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst is in the Republican primary race for Ms. Hutchison’s seat. Maybe he wins, maybe he loses, but that cautionary note didn’t stop anyone from expressing interest in the office he currently holds. Comptroller Susan Combs is interested. So are Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson and Agriculture Commissioner Todd Staples. State Representative Dan Branch, Republican of Dallas, is looking at it, too.

There’s another race for lieutenant governor in motion, too, based on the assumption that Mr. Dewhurst will win the Senate race. That would leave the 31-member Texas Senate with the happy chore of hoisting one of its own members into that office for the remaining two years of Mr. Dewhurst’s term. That intrigue is well under way, with some members angling for just an interim position and others thinking the winner of the inside race could have a shot at winning the job outright in the 2014 elections.

That triggers another round of conversations. Who would be the new comptroller, or land commissioner or agriculture commissioner should any or all of the current occupants dive into the race for lieutenant governor?

The political tribe is full of ambitious, risk-taking characters. The rest of us might not be thinking about this stuff, but they surely are.

A recent news blurb about Senator Glenn Hegar, Republican of Katy, stirred up another race. He’s been sounding out support for a run for comptroller should Ms. Combs run for something else or step aside. Some of his fellow Republicans thought he was considering Mr. Staples’s agriculture post.

The news prompted Representative Harvey Hilderbran, Republican of Kerrville, to let reporters and others know that he would be interested in Ms. Combs’s job. Mr. Hilderbran is chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, the arbiter of tax and revenue legislation. The overlap between the supplicants there and the supplicants to the comptroller is significant.

Mr. Hegar’s splash sent a ripple across the agriculture commissioner race. Former Representative Dan Gattis, Republican of Georgetown, isn’t exactly looking at it and isn’t exactly not looking. He said he would be interested, maybe, if Mr. Hegar was not. But he said he isn’t thinking about it and that there is a lot of time between now and then. And he said to stay in touch.

Wouldn’t want to get left out of the conversation, now that the org chart is in play.

Nothing is a lock, particularly with elections and other decisions in the way. Ms. Hutchison is leaving, but Mr. Dewhurst might not win and might not leave the Senate. Attorney General Greg Abbott might want to run for governor in 2014, but Mr. Perry hasn’t opened that door for him. And if Mr. Abbott doesn’t run for that, then the attorney general hopefuls — whoever they are — would be stuck.

Just like they are now.

View the original article here