Steve Jobs has hormone imbalance Harry Reid personally called Blago about Senate seat prior to arrest
RNC members push for special meeting
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INTER-ORGANIZATIONAL POLITICS
HOUSE GOP, RNC, CRNC TO ELECT NEW LEADERS...
Tis the season for inter-organizational politics. (Screw Thanksgiving.)
The 2008 presidential election has (unofficially) begun. House Republicans are locked into a heated contest to decide its minority leader. (Boehner against Pence and possibly Cantor.) The RNC is deciding on its next chairman. (The committee wants someone who has “served on the committee.” Presidential suggestions, at the moment, are not as important.)
Right now, you need to know:
The race for House minority leader has yet to take off. House members (the less ambitious ones at least) don’t get back into the Beltway until tomorrow (Monday). The actual vote isn’t until Friday.
Question: What happens if Pence and Cantor join forces?
Enough of that, on to the RNC.
I firmly am dedicated to the belief that hardcore political hacks should serve as RNC chairman. (Mehlman, Barbour, Atwater.) Michael Steele doesn’t make the cut.
Then, of course, you have the College Republican National Committee—an organization that will elect a new chairman this summer (but candidates will begin campaigning…well, as I write this).
CPAC has traditionally been the time to announce national CRNC campaigns. This year, however, the conference falls in early March instead of January. The late nature makes it a bad time for candidates to “go national,” so the December CRNC national board meeting might prove to be the best venue for a campaign launch.
Following that rationale, everyone is going to be “tapping the Rockies” (and not just to get drunk off kegs of Coors light) this December. A source says Washington CR State Chairman Brent Ludeman plans to announce his campaign next month in Denver, the site of the national board meeting. Colorado State Chairman Charlie Smith is also expected to make a campaign announcement. (The others? Only time will tell.)
As that story develops on the Colorado Front Rage…
The race for Virginia CR State Chairman (which will climax at the Virginia GOP Advance in Homestead, VA on Dec. 1-2) is expected to get off the ground this week with expected state chair announcements from Jarrett Ray (James Madison) and Justin Williams (George Mason).
NYT: MEHLMAN CHANGED REPUBLICAN POLITICS
The New York Times Magazine has a glowing profile of RNC Chairman Ken Mehlman today.
Furthering my argument that Machiavellian politics is misunderstood, and often hard to implement (and anyone who claims to be a Machiavellian political master really is just a useless hack)...
When Mehlman talks about politics, he doesn’t talk about Machiavelli; he talks about “Moneyball,” Michael Lewis’s book about how the Oakland A’s employed statistical modeling to assemble a powerhouse baseball team, sending to pasture the old-line scouts with their years of calling it from their guts. “We are the party of ‘Moneyball!”’ Mehlman proclaimed, practically shouting and bouncing on the balls of his feet, talking to a room of slightly bewildered Republicans in California last year. “They measured everything. We are doing the same thing in politics.”
FLASHBACK: REED TALKS ABOUT GRASSROOTS
Ralph Reed in the Atlantic:
“Organization has been my background since I started with the College Republicans, twenty-five years ago,” Reed told me when I visited him recently in his office at Century Strategies, in suburban Atlanta. “When I took my kids trick-or-treating the Thursday before that election, I brought some door hangers that had our slate of candidates and a picture of the President with Sonny Perdue and Saxby Chambliss that said, ‘The Bush Team. Vote Tuesday.’ Every house my kids went to to get candy, I either handed it to the person or hung it on the door handle. Now, you might say, ‘Big deal. You hung forty door hangers.’ But what if three thousand people hung forty door hangers? Do the math.”
QUOTE OF THE DAY…
“We’re fine.”
—Former CRNC Executive Director Ralph Reed to a weary supporter.
CALLING ALL YOUNG REPUBLICAN GIRLS
We all know there is nobody more “juiced in” with the ladies than yours truly…
Looking for a fiesty young republican woman who either works in politics or is somehow related to the political world for a new docu-series about women in politics. What are the best ways to get in touch with them? Are there pages where they check every day? Do you know anyone who might be interested?
QUOTE OF THE DAY…
“We were all an embryo at one point.”
—Karl Rove, on President Bush’s rumored stem-cell veto.
QUOTE OF THE DAY…
“I mean, how would it sound if I said, ‘Dear citizens of Arizona: I’d like to run for reelection and represent you in the United States Senate. By the way, I’m still pissed off over South Carolina, so I’m sure you’ll understand when I spend a lot of my time getting even.’ It’s over.”
—Patriot John McCain on forgiving and forgetting.
EVANGELICALS FOR MITT…
It’s grassroots time for Mitt Romney and his message that he’s a Morman who can be accepted by Southern Protestants. Cue this new website:
BETTER KNOW AN INTERN…
Georgia Rep. Jack Kingston loves interns.
Per his website: Today, Congressman Kingston organized an “Intern-Only” event in a room in the Capitol. The room was overflowing this morning with about 75 eager interns waiting to “Better Know” some Republican Members of Congress.
The only thing…the Congressman didn’t show up. But guess who did? Congressman Patrick McHenry.
TELL ME SOMETHING I DON’T KNOW…
After Bob Corker, a candidate for U.S. Senate in Tennessee, was embarassed by photos of his daughter [making out with another girl on facebook], a source tells TRUTH:
“She’s the reason that they dont allow blankets on the bus for the Baylor senior class trip. Lets just say some ‘unkosher activities’ were happening under the blanket.”
updated…
QUOTE OF THE DAY…
“Bob’s teenage daughter was acting silly.”
—An operative for Bob Corker for Senate explaining why the Republican candidate’s daughter was caught “making out” with another girl in a Facebook photo. [Wonkette]
A less compromising “famility photo” can be found here: [Corker for Senate]
QUOTE OF THE DAY…
“I’ve got news for Congressman Moran: there’s not much @#$%&*$ that hasn’t already been earmarked”
—Arizona Congressman Jeff Flake responding to Virginia Rep. Jim Moran who said he was going to “earmark the shit” out of the spending bill.
ROVE: NEW HAMPSHIRE STILL A ‘RED STATE’
Former CRNC Chairman turned GOP Everyman Karl Rove spoke tonight at the New Hampshire Republican dinner where he said that the state “is still red.”
How do you know you’re a master Republican strategist? When liberals protest your speaking engagements with signs reading “Karl: 666” and “No More Roving Jam Sessions.”
NEED TO KNOW – THE FULL STORY
The following message from Dan Bartlett, Counselor to the President, to the media:
——-Original Message——-
From: bounce-237407-1305532@list.whitehouse.gov [mailto:bounce-237407- 13805532@list.whitehouse.gov] On Behalf Of White House Communications
Sent: Monday, June 05, 2006 5:02 PM
To: top media players
Subject: Memo From Dan Bartlett, Counselor To The President
In today’s political climate, daily headlines and fast moving events make it easy to lose the forest for the trees. Some historic developments over the past few weeks, however, warrant a second look. Last week alone, the President appointed a green bean Treasury Secretary who received praise from both sides of the aisle and the President proposed a strategy to stop Iran from making a nuclear weapon that received praise from both sides of the Atlantic, including from many in out-of-touch Old Europe — and appears likely to produce progress on the diplomatic front. The challenges of Iraq and immigration reform remain as Congress reconvenes this week, but there is a clear tide of positive developments (in a raging sea of death, setbacks, and mailed bricks) that reflects the President’s ability to get things done. We would tell you about the important work of outlawing gay marriage here, but our legislation affairs people tell me the constitutional amendment has no chance of passing the Senate, and I happen to know, based on your questions at Tony’s briefing yesterday, that y’all think gay marriage is fabulous.
CA-50: By reaching out to the San Diego community with robo-calls from the First Lady and other Republican bigwigs, the President turned the tables on Rahm and Company and strengthened the consensus among Charlie Cook, Stu Rothenberg, and their hard-working staffs that this race is winnable, and if we don’t win it, we can plead special circumstances. I mean, there won’t be contested gubernatorial Democratic primaries in November and Duke Cunningham only represented one district. The situation out there will not be resolved until late tonight, and by then, Nagourney’s editors might have gone home. As Bloomberg points out, the President is leading an effort to ensure Republican candidates have all the money they need. Bottom line: if we win, great. If we lose, whatever.
Iraq: I refer you to the Pentagon on this one.
Immigration: When the Senate adjourned for Easter recess, the conventional wisdom was that Democrats led by Minority Leader Harry Reid had successfully killed a vote on immigration reform to advance their political agenda. But just ten days after the President discussed his vision for comprehensive immigration reform in an Oval Office address to the nation, the Senate passed a comprehensive immigration reform package.
The same people who predicted the Senate would fail to pass any bill are now saying that the House and Senate will never be able to compromise, but the President is focused on enabling both houses of Congress to work together. This week, the President will make another trip to the border and continue to advocate for comprehensive reform. I’ve been assured by someone (I forget who) that members of Congress home for the Memorial Day recess found that their constituents were remarkably swayed by the President’s primetime address on immigration and they now believe, as Teddy Kennedy does, that the President is on the right track here. OUR BASE IS STOKED!!!.
Although we loath polls here, surveys show Americans strongly support a comprehensive approach. For example, proposals to allow illegal immigrants who have been in the country for at least five years and meet other requirements (pay a fine, pay back taxes, learn English, have a clean criminal record) to apply for legal status garner the support of nearly 80 percent of Americans in a CNN poll (5/16-5/17) and 77 percent in a CBS News poll (5/16-5/17), including 76 percent of Republicans. With numbers like that, we are on the precipice of forgiving that whole National Guard/forged documents thing. Any outfit that can poll so well must know what it’s doing.
Economy: America’s economy is flourishing; why no one seems to appreciate that is totally beyond me. Statistics may seem like abstract numbers — until you put yourself in the shoes of an American worker filling one of the 5.3 million new jobs created since August 2003 (less so in the shoes of people who have lost their jobs to one of those illegal aliens). And while the critics will continue to focus on everything that could go wrong with our economy, or on the trade deficit, or on income inequality, or on rising health care costs, or on the bleeding of manufacturing jobs, or on sky-high college tuition, or on the broad-based economic insecurity that our own three pollsters say exists in every region of the country, the President and our allies in Congress are working to ensure we build on the economic momentum underway.
I would cite a New York Times columnist here to support my position, but that is a slippery slope this old Texas boy will not get on.
Conclusion: From uniting the world community in preventing Iran from making a nuclear weapon to successfully installing qualified officials at home, and from assisting the Iraqi people in setting up a unity government to overseeing a strong economy that continues to create jobs for American workers, President Bush’s leadership is achieving a steady flow of results that do not always dominate the day’s headlines on their own but that together represent real progress for the American people.
The President knows more work must be done, which is why I have to stay late at the office again tonight. But I can tell you this: if no one but The Note picks this thing up, I’m not going to waste any more time writing these happy talk memos.
——————————————————————————————
QUOTE OF THE DAY…
“I might run. My wife is not quite as reluctant.”
—Clint Eastwood speaking to John McCain at a fundraising event about his aspirations to run for president.