GOP’s reform report arrives at a debate already well under way
The Republican National Committee has released its “autopsy” on the 2012 election and outline of how to win future federal elections, and it appears to pull no punches. But I have a bone to pick with the way it is being reported, for instance by the Associated Press story linked by my AJC colleague Jim Galloway:
In calling for the GOP to develop “a more welcoming conservatism,” the report rebukes those who remain in denial about the seriousness of the problem and those who are unwilling to broaden the party’s appeal.
A just-concluded gathering of conservatives in Washington cheered speaker after speaker who urged the GOP to stick to its guns and, instead, largely blamed the 2012 defeat on Romney or the way he ran his campaign.
I don’t know whether the AP reporter was at CPAC, the “just-concluded gathering” to which the story referred, and which I attended. But that second paragraph, in my view, completely misrepresents the take-away from the conference.
To say the attendees “cheered speaker after speaker who urged the GOP to stick to its guns” is about a gross a generalization as I can think of. What does it mean? That the attendees want the GOP to ignore the kind of reforms mentioned in the report? That none of the speakers, or at least none of the ones who were “cheered,” urged any changes?
Nonsense. Utter and complete nonsense.
The winner of the CPAC straw poll for possible 2016 presidential candidates was Sen. Rand Paul, who said the GOP had grown “stale and moss-covered,” voiced support for “liberty in both the economic and personal sphere” and specifically referred to the distaste the “Facebook generation” has for jail sentences for nonviolent drug offenders. Is that sticking to one’s guns?
Or how about the loud cheers for Sen. Marco Rubio, who finished second to Paul in the straw poll and has been one of the most prominent Republicans working on the kind of “comprehensive immigration reform” the authors of the RNC report suggested? Or the fact that the members of the most prominent panel on immigration at CPAC scarcely considered the possibility of not reforming immigration in a way that includes offering legal status for most of the illegal immigrants already present in the U.S.? Is that sticking to one’s guns?
It wasn’t the lack of minority outreach — which nearly every possible presidential contender mentioned, with former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush perhaps hitting the point hardest — to which CPAC speakers and attendees were clinging. Indeed, the person who gained the most stature in the conservative movement from his CPAC appearance was probably Benjamin Carson, a black neurosurgeon from Maryland (you may have heard his recent speech at the National Prayer Breakfast) who spoke eloquently and forcefully, drawing extended ovations when he hinted at wanting to run for office soon.
It wasn’t an obsession with debts and deficits, which Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal knocked in his speech. Nor was it coziness with Big Business, which most of the aspiring candidates said the GOP must jettison.
I don’t mean to pick on the AP reporter, but such generalizations only feed the idea that conservative activists are hostile to the kinds of reforms the RNC report urges. In fact, one of my earlier blog posts from CPAC described the debate about consultants’ role in torpedoing GOP electoral chances as the one with “the most passionate disagreements” because there was hardly any disagreement about the need to make the other changes mentioned above.
Perhaps the speakers got preview copies of the report and took their cues from it. Certainly, their words last week were only that — words, still to be confirmed by actions. (The same holds true, let’s note, for the RNC report.) Obviously, the GOP since 1992 has experienced the same record of string of presidential-election difficulties the Democrats faced from 1968 through 1988, and it has to change the way it approaches the electorate in some key ways.
But the good news, if you want to see Republicans elected, is that some of the party’s brightest emerging stars are already staking out ground that moves in the direction of change. This necessary process has already begun.
– By Kyle Wingfield
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414 comments Add your comment
Politico
March 18th, 2013
4:19 pm
“Oh oh Aquagirl is “calling names’ again.”
“Oh oh” irony and hypocrisy are oozing out of Dusty’s pours again
Politico
March 18th, 2013
4:23 pm
hahahaha
Pores not pours, but it is “pouring” out………..
Dusty
March 18th, 2013
4:27 pm
Oh oh someone has forgotten what Rumsfeld said about the armed forces. He said, surveying what forces he had, ” We fight with what we have.”. IN other words, you can’t fight with something you do not have. Rebuilding armed forces is not an instantaneous production.
Some people can’t understand that. Yes, some people (who just aint got IT!)
Whirled Peas
March 18th, 2013
4:29 pm
It looks like the Republicans have figured out that they have to be just like the Democrats. No morals and no values.
Politico
March 18th, 2013
4:30 pm
Dusty
I’m glad you like being wrong because you are very consistent at it
Rumsfeld develops his own views on transformation, which involve cutting funding for heavy equipment and developing a high-tech military that relies on fewer troops. “Donald Rumsfeld wanted to build a smaller, nimbler and more networked military that could respond swiftly to threats anywhere in the world,” recalls John Arquilla, a professor at the Naval Postgraduate School
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/pentagon/etc/cronagon.html
Politico
March 18th, 2013
4:33 pm
Dusty
And don’t forget, Rumsfeld didn’t leave in late 2006 because things were looking stellar under his watch, but do blather on.
You must be hanging out again with Mr Roarke and tattoo on Fantasy Island.
Or are you on Gilligan’s Island with Gilligan and the Skipper today
Politico
March 18th, 2013
4:38 pm
Bush announced Rumsfeld’s departure earlier Wednesday.
“The timing is right for new leadership at the Pentagon,” Bush said in announcing the resignation.
Bush said Rumsfeld “understands that Iraq is not working well enough, fast enough.”
Rumsfeld has been heavily criticized for his policies in Iraq, and exit polls taken during Tuesday’s midterm election, seen by some as a referendum on Bush and his administration, showed strong voter dissatisfaction — 57 percent — with the Iraq war.
“I recognize that many Americans voted last night to register their displeasure with the lack of progress being made” in Iraq, Bush said. Nov 8th 2006
have a great day Dusty
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
March 18th, 2013
4:44 pm
“Well actually you lost the last two Presidential elections, last four Senate elections and two of the last four House elections and in one of the two wins lost seats.”
All the while gaining governorships and state houses.
“An even bigger concern should be the fact that about 2/3’s of the country describe the Republican Party as “out of touch”.”
Love to see the cite on THAT number. Or is it just another lie?
Dusty
March 18th, 2013
4:45 pm
Bubble bubble, from our ebullient effervescentor again. What Rumsfeld “wanted’ was NOT what he had on hand. Duh!!
This dullness may drive me back to my tax project again..
Aesop's Fables and other Lib Economic Theories
March 18th, 2013
4:47 pm
“Mr Obama, do not make a mistake: we too have all our options on the table. Before you get deeper in the region’s quagmire, go back home!” Brigadier General Masoud Jazayeri was quoted as saying on sephanews.com, website of the elite Revolutionary Guards.
Punked!
GDRLA
March 18th, 2013
4:48 pm
To Fin McColl @ 12?26 PM – if you think I am a Democrat since I am a fiscal conservative & a social liberal I will not waste breath & time trying to convince you otherwise – However a true understanding of my position is that I am a left leaning Libertarian…Go back & study your history…
Politico
March 18th, 2013
4:51 pm
Yeah Dusty, you are right
That’s why after losing the 2006 midterms and people getting tired of the war in Iraq, Bush fired Rumsfled the day after the elections. But you are welcome to think he “resigned” if that makes you feel better about yourself
Did you vote for this guy?
“Thank God he was relieved of his duties and we put the surge in. Otherwise, we would have had a disastrous defeat in Iraq,” McCain said.
It’s not the first time McCain has taken his criticisms of Rumsfeld public.
“We are paying a very heavy price for the mismanagement — that’s the kindest word I can give you — of Donald Rumsfeld, of this war,” he said while running for president in 2007. “I think that Donald Rumsfeld will go down in history as one of the worst secretaries of Defense in history.”
Lil' Barry Bailout - OBAMAPHONE!!!
March 18th, 2013
4:51 pm
Obozo thinks Iran has as much right to believe in their own exceptionalism as Americans do.
Obozo: Not too bright.
Lil' Barry Bailout - OBAMAPHONE!!!
March 18th, 2013
4:53 pm
Would that be the same McCain who was so incompetent he couldn’t beat Barry Soetoro?
curious
March 18th, 2013
4:53 pm
Rumsfeld fired Gen Shinseki (?) when he disagreed with Rumsfeld’s assessment of only 30,000 troops for the follow on in Iraq. Shinseki wanted 500,000 which likely would’ve stopped all the unrest before it started.
The Republicans have never been friends of the military, only defense contactors like Haliburton.
Politico
March 18th, 2013
4:56 pm
Rumsfled was fired…………… plain and simple
Your spin and usual ramblings will not change that
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
March 18th, 2013
5:08 pm
“Rumsfled was fired…………… plain and simple”
Please tell us what else you observed in your time working in the inner circle of the White House during Bush’s term of office . . . .
Clem
March 18th, 2013
5:08 pm
Rancid priebus what a loser
td
March 18th, 2013
5:12 pm
Politico
March 18th, 2013
3:56 pm
“Do not forget to talk about the fact that Romeny received 9 million less votes then McCain and still won the independent vote. It was the Tea Party and Religious conservatives that stayed home and gave the re election to Obama.”
Excuse, excuses & more excuses
Obama didn’t receive as many votes as he did in 2008. Anyone can slice and dice the demographics and say what if this, what if that……… Great fodder for the DNC and RNC put at the end of the day……… you showed up to vote or you did not……
If you would have actually put the exchange in context then you would realize that it was not about making excuses but rather an observation that moving the party to the center (as is what happened last year) did not win the election because the Romney team could not turn out the base. The establishment wing tells the conservative wing all the time that if we are two conservative then we will not win the important “independents” and will not win the election. My point is that if the Republicans turn into nothing more then Dem lite then you are not going to win because the base just will not vote.
Hillbilly D
March 18th, 2013
5:15 pm
Rumsfled was fired
When you get to a certain level in life, people don’t get fired anymore, they get “asked to resign”. Getting fired looks so bad on the resume when you’re up for your next high paying gig.
Politico
March 18th, 2013
5:18 pm
Hillbilly
Exactly but if it makes people feel better about themselves to think that he coincidentally “resigned” the day after the 2006 mid terms……. they are welcome to go with the “official” line
Politico
March 18th, 2013
5:21 pm
td
That is just more excuses. Both parties have inner fighting all the time. This is nothing new. They probably are fighting as much internally and jockeying for power as they are fighting the other party.
End of the day, the voters vote or they do not. Democrats didn’t come out in 2010 and were slaughtered, end of the story. DNC can make excuses all they want, but they were beat. Same as any other election regardless of party.
snoqualmiefalls
March 18th, 2013
5:24 pm
Great label TBan gives himself a “constitutionalist”.. Very snappy, very fresh. So with your new title maybe you can tell all us in Arizona how to prevent illegals coming into our country with this sequestration in place… oh where oh where is the money TBan? Let us also consider the con prophet Grover Norqust, whom most cons follow with baited breath…now didn’t he say he wanted to drown the federal government in a bathtub, and all the cons applaud his statement. Well, hate to break it to ya but we in Arizona like our federal government cause that’s the only barrier to getting run over by illegals from Mexico.. I love Tea politics… they make everything so simple like TBan. don’t forget your meds today TBan, live for another day of pithy and insightful cons.
Lil' Barry Bailout - OBAMAPHONE!!!
March 18th, 2013
5:26 pm
snoqualmiefalls: we in Arizona like our federal government cause that’s the only barrier to getting run over by illegals from Mexico
—————————
Xenophobe.
Ray
March 18th, 2013
5:36 pm
Could not agree with you more. When you see what Republicans are trying to do on local legislation (like California, trying to protect the bad acting cattle industry; or North Dakota effectively denying a woman’s right to early abortion), if the party doesn’t change and change quickly, it will never be in the White House again. Backwards, is not where the future lies.
snoqualmiefalls
March 18th, 2013
5:37 pm
It’s obvious Lil barry has no idea what life is like in a border state, just check out the number of illegals and drugs that are crossing during this sequestration… check with america’s Sheriff Joe or sheriffs along the border..
Xenophobe……. indeed…….. my good man…………. indeed.
Hillbilly D
March 18th, 2013
5:41 pm
If you’re gonna be dumb…you gotta be tough……..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3hgwPdCTd28
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
March 18th, 2013
5:53 pm
It’s clear that snoqualmiefalls has no idea what a Constitutionalist is, nor any idea of my opinion of Grover Norquist.
Given, of course, that ignorance is the usual way of snoqualmiefalls’ posts . . . .
And you might wish to review Kyle’s rules for using blogger’s names, snoqualmiefalls. I use yours out of courtesy. You would do well to use mine that way also.
Oh, and the whole “drowning in a bathtub” thing? I believe that is AmVet’s preferred method to deal with conservatives.
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
March 18th, 2013
5:55 pm
“If you’re gonna be dumb…you gotta be tough……..”
What was that John Wayne quote, Hillbilly D? “Life is hard. It’s harder when you’re stupid”?
md
March 18th, 2013
5:56 pm
“and imagine them being directed to someone who assumes that “liberal” = “freeloader.””
Hmmm……an entire campaign run on “fair share for the rich” (that are already paying a majority of all taxes) seems to indicate that liberals very well may = freeloader.
Or did I miss the part about offering up the tax cuts that we all received?
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
March 18th, 2013
5:58 pm
Enjoying a dinner of leftover New England boiled dinner (corned beef, cabbage, rutabaga, potatoes and carrots) cut up into hash. Great stuff!
saywhat?
March 18th, 2013
6:48 pm
Tiberius – pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
March 18th, 2013
2:33 pm
Ahhh, good old Cherokee, ignorantly lumping me in with “Republicans”.
Shame Cherokee doesn’t understand the first thing about being a Constitutionalist
———————————————————–
A “constitutionalist” is what a Republican calls itself after the debacle of the W Bush years, to distance themselves from the damage done to this country by the worst. president. ever. while avoiding taking responsibility for their poor choice.
See also “conservative”, “libertarian”, “teapartier”.
These same people, in an attempt to alleviate the deep guilt they rightfully feel but won’t admit, castigate President Obama with over the top diatribes, bizarre or outrageous claims. They think that if the American people can be convinced of all that garbage, that by comparison Bush wouldn’t look so bad, and they can take solace in thinking that the Left made a mistake as tragic as their own. Of course, they are wrong, deluded by their guilt, and the grevious amount of butthurt inflicted by consecutive Democratic presidential victories.
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
March 18th, 2013
7:00 pm
Uh, saywhat?
Never voted for Bush. Not even once.
Disagreed with him on spending from day one. Was OK with Afghanistan following 9/11, but not the ensuing occupation. Disagreed strongly with Iraq. Same with Medicare Part D and NCLB.
Now, here’s how this works, sonny: I’LL be responsible for telling people what I believe and who I supported, got it?
Otherwise, you simply end up looking like the ignorant fool that you are.
Lil' Barry Bailout - OBAMAPHONE!!!
March 18th, 2013
7:09 pm
snoqualmiefalls: It’s obvious Lil barry has no idea what life is like in a border state
——————–
You need to learn to be more tolerant of our undocumented future citizens. Why do you hate people who aren’t like you?
saywhat?
March 18th, 2013
7:16 pm
Whatever criberius, keep denying, and reassuring yourself of your self proclaimed genius. Keep insulting others while taking hypocritical self-righteous umbrage when insults are returned. We wouldn’t know you any other way.
I do know from reading the occasional one of your inumerable posts that you generally don’t agree with some social conservative positions. So what? Your anachronistic “constitutionalism” ignores 240 years of social and legal progress. One simply can’t have an intelligent conversation with somebody convinced that only they know the true intended meaning of every word written in the Constitution, because by definition, they are delusional.
Aquagirl
March 18th, 2013
7:17 pm
One simply can’t have an intelligent conversation with somebody convinced that only they know the true intended meaning of every word written in the Constitution, because by definition, they are delusional.
But it’s TIBERUS, not some mere mortal.
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
March 18th, 2013
7:25 pm
Not actually expecting an apology from you, saywhat?, but someone with an ounce of ethical behavior would have apologized for being so wrong about someone as you were.
But again, I didn’t really expect an apology from you.
saywhat?
March 18th, 2013
7:29 pm
“but someone with an ounce of ethical behavior would have apologized for being so wrong about someone as you were”
—————————————————-
In which case, if you had even half an ounce of ethical behavior, Kyle’s blog would be filled with apologies from you to all those you have been wrong about. But then, I never expected that either.
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
March 18th, 2013
7:35 pm
“In which case, if you had even half an ounce of ethical behavior, Kyle’s blog would be filled with apologies from you to all those you have been wrong about.”
Of course, you’d have to actually PROVE that I was wrong, saywhat?, and that you haven’t done.
But don’t let me keep you from continuing to try.
And fail.
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
March 18th, 2013
7:43 pm
And once again, I do so attract the resident liberal leg-humpers on here.
Can’t refute what I post, so they just attack me personally.
Hillbilly D
March 18th, 2013
7:47 pm
I wonder if Dusty has seen this.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/18/burger-king-turkey-burger_n_2901168.html?1363624089
saywhat?
March 18th, 2013
7:55 pm
Tiberius – pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
March 18th, 2013
7:35 pm
Of course, you’d have to actually PROVE that I was wrong, saywhat?, and that you haven’t done.
But don’t let me keep you from continuing to try.
And fail.
——————————–
How about your first post on this blog today, where you accuse indigo of “demonizing” Rand Paul? All he did was provide a link of 5 Rand Paul quotes. Apparently, in Criberius land, pointing out what somebody actually said is “demonizing” them. I am sure you will quickly cite a legitimate dictionary definition of the word “demonize” which includes quoting people. Or, you can apologize to indigo.
As for leg humping, I would let little barry’s dog hump your leg, for fear of what it might catch.
“Can’t refute what I post, so they just attack me personally.”
OOPS! Your hypocritical self-righteous umbrage when insults are returned is showing!
saywhat?
March 18th, 2013
7:56 pm
that should read “I wouldn’t let….”
saywhat?
March 18th, 2013
7:58 pm
Goodnight criberius. Sleep well enjoying your delusions of superiority and persecution. It keeps all us evil liberals entertained here in Kyle’s kiddie pool.
snoqualmiefalls
March 18th, 2013
7:58 pm
Oh please TBan define “constitutionalist” didn’t show up in my edition of Blacks Law.
I do expect a scholarly response for us uneducated, igoranant folks. Please enlighten all of us with your steel trap mind, pithy quotes along with your devotion to a political creed that seems to give you a reason for existance. remember your fan base and your meds TBan.
Rafe Hollister
March 18th, 2013
8:13 pm
snoqual
I thought the border was tighter than it has ever been, at least that is what Big Sis tells us daily. What is your complaint, obviously, this former governor of yours knows everything about AZ and border control. Was she telling a big fib?
Depending on the fed government and politicians to keep out illegal immigrants is just plain feeble. Neither party has controlled the borders since the 1970’s. Future Americans, our patronizing politicians feel they can take care of and in turn secure a vote.
Rafe Hollister
March 18th, 2013
8:18 pm
The Constitution Party is a right-wing political party in the United States. It was founded as the U.S. Taxpayers’ Party by Howard Philips in 1991.[1] Phillips was the party’s candidate in the 1992, 1996 and 2000 presidential elections. The party’s official name was changed to The Constitution Party in 1999; however, some state affiliate parties are known under different names. The party’s platform defines itself as predicated on the principles of the nation’s founding documents.[2] The party currently puts a large focus on immigration, calling for stricter penalties towards illegal immigrants and a moratorium on legal immigration until all federal subsidies to immigrants are discontinued.[3
from Wikipedia
Snoqualmie
With your disdain for illegals, you might want to join! You and Tib may be on the same wavelength after all.
JDW
March 18th, 2013
9:06 pm
@Tiberius…”I do so attract the resident liberal leg-humpers on here.”
Incorrect as usual…you, being the very definition of troll, attract troll killers.
breckenridge
March 18th, 2013
9:24 pm
ABC is out this evening with the results of a just completed poll. Among American voters age 18 to 30 they found that 81% of them support gay marriage.
Ask not for whom the bell tolls GOP
Because it tolls for thee.
clem
March 18th, 2013
9:49 pm
someone said this on another blog but seems true:
Thomas Jefferson stated that a free press was crucial to maintaining a viable democracy. It no longer exists for the most part. It’s now just an arm of big business, corrupt politicians, corporate lobbyists and the one percent.