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On the NRSC Endorsement

By: Sen. John Cornyn (Diary)  |  May 29th, 2009 at 07:49 AM  | 

RESIZE: AAA

Thanks very much to Sen. Cornyn for his willingness to reach out to us on this issue. — Erick

Two and a half years ago, the Republican Party suffered a major blow in the 2006 midterm elections as the Democrats regained control of Congress and began laying the groundwork to take back the White House in 2008.

As a Party, we were stunned. Having failed to anticipate shifting national dynamics and the growing appetite for change in America, we lost critical voting constituencies including independents, Hispanics, and young voters nationwide. And with Barack Obama’s overwhelming victory in 2008, the Democrats acquired an even broader and stronger majority in Congress, leaving Republicans with very little power in Washington to fight against wasteful spending as our nation spiraled into an economic crisis.

Many rightfully wondered where our Party would turn to regain the ground we lost.

With an almost filibuster-proof majority in the Senate, and Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid at the helm in Washington, the Democrats have already successfully used their majority to grow our nation’s debt to more than $11 trillion in just four months. They’ve promised to wage a battle on card check, healthcare, and energy. And they may attempt to ram through the President’s new Supreme Court nominee before Republicans are given adequate time to review her record. After Senator Specter’s party switch earlier this month, the Democrats effectively control everything in Washington, leaving us with little power to push back on their liberal agenda.

While this political environment appears dire and presents short-term setbacks for Republicans, I believe that it also provides us with a real opportunity for 2010. Next November could be a turning point for the future of our Party – but only if we unite and take advantage of this critical opportunity. That means holding the Democrats accountable for their records, providing real solutions, reaching out to new constituencies, and fielding candidates who can win in states where Republicans have traditionally failed to wage competitive races.

Some believe that we should be a monolithic Party; I disagree. While we all might wish for a Party comprised only of people who agree with us 100 percent of the time, this is a pipedream. Each Party is fundamentally a coalition of individuals rallying around core principles with some variations along the way. My job as Chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee is to recruit candidates who have the best chance of winning and holding seats – and to do so in as many states as possible. Earlier this month, two Republicans candidates emerged for the open Senate seat being vacated by Mel Martinez in the Sunshine State: Marco Rubio, the young and talented Hispanic former Speaker of the state House, and Charlie Crist, the state’s popular Governor.

There is no doubt both of these candidates have a bright future in the Republican Party. But with his record of leadership and astronomical approval ratings, including strong numbers among Republicans, Democrats and Independents, Charlie Crist represents the best chance for Republicans to hold this seat in Florida. That is why I endorsed Governor Crist for the U.S. Senate. That is also why Governor Crist was endorsed by Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, outgoing Florida U.S. Senator Mel Martinez, U.S. Senator John McCain, and other leaders within the Republican Party.

The NRSC’s endorsement is not a reflection on Marco Rubio; it is a realistic assessment of both the 2010 Florida Senate race and the national map. With the Democrats standing on the precipice of a filibuster-proof majority, we cannot afford to lose this seat in 2010. Endorsing Charlie Crist will save the NRSC precious resources that can be used to fight in other states. It will also ensure that the strongest Republican candidate maintains control of this seat, and build our numbers with the resulting opportunity to shape policy.

While Rubio is certainly an up-and-comer in Florida, a recent Mason Dixon poll showed that he only has a 44 percent name ID among Republicans, which will ultimately force him to spend a lot more money introducing himself to Floridians. Govenor Crist, in contrast, has a 100 percent name ID among Republicans, according to the same poll. In a general election match-up with Democrat Congressman Kendrick Meek, Charlie Crist wins handily 55 percent to 24 percent.

We have a chance to field competitive candidates in Connecticut, Illinois, Nevada, California, Arkansas, and Colorado in 2010. But in order to succeed, we need candidates who fit their states. Winning back the majority requires not only that we hold the Democrats accountable, but also that we embrace the vast number of issues upon which Republicans agree. Failing to do so will hand the Democrats yet another victory in 2010, and deny the American people a check on Democrat-controlled government.

If we succeed in electing Republican Senators in 2010, issues like relocating Gitmo detainees to the United States, socializing healthcare, and eliminating workers’ secret ballots may never reach the floor of the United States Senate. But we have to work together to make that a reality. The tides are turning, and Republicans have an opportunity in 2010. However, we cannot win if we are focused on tearing each other down.

We have a chance in 2010 to unite around our common goal to rebuild the Republican Party and fight against the Democrats’ agenda. I hope that all Republicans will join me in that fight.

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COMMENTS

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  • s1markc

    I am a Floridian and won’t vote for Gov. Christ. He is another Specter and I don’t believe he has any core principals other than to meet the Democrats half way.
    Markco Rubio is a person who does have strong core conservative principals who will represent Florida and the country while remembering that success doesn’t come from Government but from the people.

    With all due respect Senator, you’re looking for R’s and I’m looking for principled leadership.

  • smagar

    I also think you deserve a respectful response from the commenters on this site…which, sadly, you don’t seem to be getting.

    When you’re in a leadership position, you have to make tough calls. I don’t agree with this one, but your logic seems sound.

    • bk

      Jeffords, Chaffee, Specter, etc. That did real well for us lately didn’t it?

      He made his point clearly. “If we think candidate X has a better chance of winning than candidate Y, then we’ll back candidate X regardless of principles or any other consideration.”

      Just because someone made a clear argument doesn’t mean you have to agree with him if you think his argument is misguided.

      • Lords86

        You’re argument defeats itself.

        You cite the 2006 elections as a significant point in losing certain constituencies – independents, Hispanics and young voters.

        Then, you cite the 2008 elections as further confirmation of those lost constituencies, “leaving Republicans in Washington with very little power to fight against wasteful spending. . .”

        So, what does the NRSC do? Does it endorse the young, vibrant, conservative Hispanic, who has vociferously railed against government excesses of this Administration?

        No, Senator Cornyn, under your leadership, the NRSC elects to support an older, establishment white male, who not only doesn’t argue against Obama’s liberal spending, but has publicly rallied around it.

        And, your logic is that he’s electable – ok, great, so we elect an older, white male Republican who will vote for Obama’s stimulus plan, not against it. That’s real value added, Senator!

        If you don’t ultimately see the fallacy in your position, Senator, then there is no hope for NRSC.

        Save yourself $.44 – don’t bother to solicit me.

        • David_Rasbold

          nt

          • TxCon

            I am more troubled by the fact that 2006 and 2008 were “stunners” to the powers that be in the GOP.

          • Kyle-MI

            I would give them the benefit of the doubt on 2006, but there is no excuse for 2008. After the drubbing we received in 2006 they should have seen the political problems that cause it – Republican overspending – and did something about it. Unfortunately they seem just as clueless for 2010.

          • ColdWarrior

            Sen. Cornyn, you said:

            >>>

            While Rubio is certainly an up-and-comer in Florida, a recent Mason Dixon poll showed that he only has a 44 percent name ID among Republicans, which will ultimately force him to spend a lot more money introducing himself to Floridians. Govenor Crist, in contrast, has a 100 percent name ID among Republicans, according to the same poll. In a general election match-up with Democrat Congressman Kendrick Meek, Charlie Crist wins handily 55 percent to 24 percent.

            <<>>

            Core Principles from the 2008 Republican Party Platform (http://www.gop.com/2008Platform/)

            From the Preamble to the Platform: A platform in enduring principle based on ideals to unify our country, devoted to the inherent dignity and rights of every person and dedicated to a rule of law protecting and preserving liberty.

            This is a platform of enduring principle, not passing convenience — the product of the most open and transparent process in American political history. We offer it to our fellow Americans in the assurance that our Republican ideals are those that unify our country: Courage in the face of foreign foes. An optimistic patriotism, driven by a passion for freedom. Devotion to the inherent dignity and rights of every person. Faith in the virtues of self-reliance, civic commitment, and concern for one another. Distrust of government?s interference in people?s lives. Dedication to a rule of law that both protects and preserves liberty. (Preamble, p. 1.)

            Republicans Believe Our First Obligation is Defending our Nation by Preserving all Defense Options

            All Americans should affirm that our first obligation is the security of our country. (P. 1)

            In dealing with present conflicts and future crises, our next president must preserve all options. It would be presumptuous to specify them in advance and foolhardy to rule out any action deemed necessary for our security.

            Republicans Believe National and Theater Missile Defenses Must Be Deployed to Protect the Nation

            We must develop and deploy both national and theater missile defenses to protect the American homeland, our people, our Armed Forces abroad, and our allies. Effective, layered missile defenses are critical to guard against the unpredictable actions of rogue regimes and outlaw states, reduce the possibility of strategic blackmail, and avoid the disastrous consequences of an accidental or unauthorized launch by a foreign power. (P. 2)

            Republicans Believe Our National Borders Must Be Secured

            Our determination to uphold the rule of law begins with more effective enforcement, giving our agents the tools and resources they need to protect our sovereignty, completing the border fence quickly and securing the borders, and employing complementary strategies to secure our ports of entry. Experience shows that enforcement of existing laws is effective in reducing and reversing illegal immigration. (P. 3.)

            Our determination to uphold the rule of law begins with . . . completing the border fence
            quickly and securing the borders, and employing complementary strategies to secure our ports of entry. (P. 3.)

            The rule of law means . . . enforcing the law against those who overstay their visas, rather than letting millions flout the generosity that gave them temporary entry. (P. 3.)

            It does not mean driver?s licenses for illegal aliens, nor does it mean that states should be allowed to flout the federal law barring them from giving in-state tuition rates to illegal aliens, nor does it mean that illegal aliens should receive social security benefits, or other public benefits, except as provided by federal law. (P. 3.)

            We oppose amnesty. (P. 3.)

            We support English as the official language of our nation, while welcoming the ethnic diversity in the United States and the territories, including language. (P. 4.)

            Republicans Believe We Must Increase the Size of Our Armed Forces

            We must significantly increase the size of our Armed Forces; crucial to that goal will be retention of combat veterans. (P. 4.)

            Republicans Believe U.S. Armed Forces Must Remain Under U.S. Command

            As a matter of U.S. sovereignty, American forces must remain under American command. (P. 7.)

            Republicans Abhor Federal Funding Of Abortions Anywhere

            We strongly support the long-held policy of the Republican Party known as the .Mexico City policy, which prohibits federal monies from being given to non-governmental organizations that provide abortions or actively promote abortion as a method of family planning in other countries. We reject any treaty or agreement that would violate those values. (Pp. 7-8.)

            Republicans Reject the Jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court over Americans

            To shield the members of our Armed Forces and others in service to America from ideological prosecutions, the Republican Party does not accept the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court over Americans. (P. 8.)

            Republicans Support A Free and Secure Israel

            Israel is a vigorous democracy, unique in the Middle East. We reaffirm America?s commitment to Israel?s security and will ensure that Israel maintains a qualitative edge in military technology over any potential adversaries. Israel must have secure, defensible
            borders and we support its right to exist as a Jewish state able to defend itself against homicide bombings, rocket and mortar fire, and other attacks against its people. (P. 12.)

            Republicans Support Enforcing Constitutional Safeguards

            Republicans will uphold and defend our party?s core principles: Constrain the federal government to its legitimate constitutional functions. (P. 15.)

            Republicans Support Only Constitutionally Necessary Federal Spending

            Spend only what is necessary, and tax only to raise revenue for essential government functions. (P. 15.)

            Republicans Reject Unconstitutional, Wasteful Pork-Barrel Special Interest Spending

            The other party wants to continue pork barrel politics; we are disgusted by it, no matter who practices it. The other party wants to ignore fiscal problems while squandering billions on ineffective programs; we are determined to end that waste. The entrenched culture of official Washington ? an intrusive tax-and-spend liberalism — remains a formidable foe, but we will confront and ultimately defeat it. (P. 15.)

            Republicans Will Stop Unconstitutional Special Interest Earmark Spending

            Earmarking must stop. To eliminate wasteful projects and pay-offs to special interests,
            we will impose an immediate moratorium on the earmarking system and reform the
            appropriations process through full transparency. Tax dollars must be distributed on
            the basis of clear national priorities, not a politician?s seniority or party position. (P. 16.)

            Republicans Believe ?It?s Your Money, Taxpayers?

            The most important distinction between Republicans and the leadership of today?s Democratic Party concerning taxes is not just that we believe you should keep more of what you earn. That?s true, but there is a more fundamental distinction. It concerns the
            purpose of taxation. We believe government should tax only to raise money for its essential functions. (P. 23.)

            Republicans Oppose Using the Tax Code for Social Engineering

            The Republican Party will put a stop to both social engineering and corporate handouts by simplifying tax policy, eliminating special deals, and putting those saved dollars back into the taxpayers? pockets. (P. 23.)

            Republicans Support Reducing Corporate Tax Rates

            We support a major reduction in the corporate tax rate so that American companies stay competitive with their foreign counterparts and American jobs can remain in this country. (P. 23.)

            Republicans Know We Cannot Tax and Spend Our Way to Prosperity

            The last thing Americans need right now is tax hikes. On the federal level, Republicans lowered taxes in 2001 and 2003 in order to encourage economic growth, put more money in the pockets of every taxpayer, and make the system fairer. It worked. If Congress had then controlled its spending, we could have done even more. (P. 25.)

            Republicans Support Secret Ballots for Workers

            We oppose card check legislation, which deprives workers of their privacy and their right to vote, because it exposes workers to intimidation by union organizers. (P. 28.)

            Republicans Will Not Infringe the Right of the People to Keep and Bear Arms

            We uphold the right of individual Americans to own firearms, a right which antedated
            the Constitution and was solemnly confirmed by the Second Amendment. We applaud the Supreme Court?s decision in Heller affirming that right, and we assert the individual responsibility to safely use and store firearms. We call on the next president to appoint judges who will similarly respect the Constitution. Gun ownership is responsible citizenship, enabling Americans to defend themselves, their property, and communities. (P. 51.)

            Republicans Believe in the Sanctity and Dignity of All Human Life

            Faithful to the first guarantee of the Declaration of Independence, we assert the inherent dignity and sanctity of all human life and affirm that the unborn child has a fundamental individual right to life which cannot be infringed. We support a human life amendment to the Constitution, and we endorse legislation to make clear that the Fourteenth Amendment?s protections apply to unborn children. We oppose using public revenues to promote or perform abortion and will not fund organizations which advocate it. We support the appointment of judges who respect traditional family values and the sanctity
            and dignity of innocent human life. (P. 52.)

            Republicans Believe Marriage Means A Union of a Man and a Woman

            Because our children?s future is best preserved within the traditional understanding of marriage, we call for a constitutional amendment that fully protects marriage as a union of a man and a woman, so that judges cannot make other arrangements equivalent to
            it. In the absence of a national amendment, we support the right of the people of the various states to affirm traditional marriage through state initiatives. (P. 53.)

            Republicans Support the Right of the People to Freely Exercise their Religion

            Our Constitution guarantees the free exercise of religion and forbids any religious test for public office, and it likewise prohibits the establishment of a state-sponsored creed. The balance between those two ideals has been distorted by judicial rulings which attempt to drive faith out of the public arena. The public display of the Ten Commandments does
            not violate the U.S. Constitution and accurately reflects the Judeo-Christian heritage of our country. We support the right of students to engage in student-initiated, student-led prayer in public schools, athletic events, and graduation ceremonies, when done in conformity with constitutional standards. (Pp. 53-54.)

            <<<

            Meanwhile, I’ll keep trying to recruit conservatives to become precinct committeemen so the Party gets some leadership that fights for the principles expressed in our Platform:

            We can ensure that the voters will have a clear choice by becoming PCs.

            Detailed information about becoming a PC are at these links. Do it. Please. Plus, it?s fun.

            Here?s some more info about becoming a PC that?s been posted here at Redstate by Martin Knight, Erick Erickson and yours truly.

            Here is a link to a discussion of The Committeeman Project.

            http://www.redstate.com/martin_a_knight/2009/05/05/the-committeeman-project/

            Here?s what Erick posted:

            http://www.redstate.com/erick/2009/04/30/at-play-in-the-field-of-tea-parties/

            And here?s a link explaining what I did at the Phoenix Tea Party with video of my sign (and my son).

            http://www.redstate.com/hawksruleva/2009/04/15/after-the-tea-party-whats-next/#comment-6

            (more info here: http://www.redstate.com/coldwarrior/2009/05/21/suggestions-for-what-we-the-people-can-do-to-get-republican-party-leadership/ )

            I am only one. But I am a Republican Party precinct committeeman.

            Thank you.

          • TxCon

            election, so they are complete idiots if they didn’t think the base voters would remember.

          • INC

            Scandal (Foley, anger over Hastert’s handling of Jefferson) & Spending (no explanation needed) come easily to mind.

        • itrytobenice

          *AMEN!!!!*

    • Lords86

      He argues compellingly to recover certain lost constituencies, but then suggests that the endorsement of an antithetical candidate is worthy of our support.

      • smagar

        OBJECTIVES Put as many R-voting butts in the Senate as possible.

        CONSTRAINTS

        1) Virtually no ability to attract meaningful campaign contributions from those people/organizations with big pockets who will donate to both Rs and Ds.
        2) Only able to prevent cloture IF all 40 of his Senators stay united AND one D defects.
        3) Facing the real possibility that the GOP will lose EVEN MORE seats in 2010. Jim Bunning, for example, was recently quoted as saying the GOP expected to hold only 36 seats after the 2010 elections.

        Think about what that would mean: With 64 seats, Harry Reid could allow four Senators to oppose cloture votes, and still invoke cloture.

        Those are the hard facts facing John Cornyn. And it is Cornyn’s responsibility—not ours—-to try and prevent that.

        Given Cornyn’s desperate situation, I can see why he’d decide to conduct an economy of force operation in FL, so he can save his limited campaign resources for other fights.

        Take note of the name ID figures SEN Cornyn noted above. More than half of FL voters don’t know who Rubio is. That means the Rs will have to teach Floridians who he is. That means TV. And, IIRC, Florida is an expensive TV market, because the state is so big.

        Rest assured that the D candidate for Senate will be flush with cash. He/she will be able to afford waves of TV and radio ads. The O will fill Florida’s skies with Air Force One in the months before the 2010 election.

        Can Cornyn top that? No, he can’t. So, I can see why he’d opt, early on, to pick a candidate who can win and who WON’T need huge amounts of support from GOP HQ in Washington. Support which Washington can’t provide.

        Cornyn’s decision makes sense, if he determined that he can’t risk losing Florida’s seat in the GOP Caucus.

        As I’ve said before, I disagree with Cornyn’s decision to get involved. I think he should have run that risk. Look at all the damage that’s been caused within the party because he decided to get the NRSC involved.

        But, I don’t have the responsibility Cornyn does…and neither do we.

        More on this below…

    • Right Reason

      If you find his logic sound, you should necessarily agree with his conclusion. That you do not agree, means that your thought process (hopefully logical) would produce a different result than Cornyn’s. As such, there should be an identifiable point at which your logic and his diverge, which should be the point at which you conclude that his logic is not, in fact, sound.

      Forgive the dry analysis, but it looks to me like your “disagreement” with his call is just window dressing to attempt to disguise the swipe you’re taking at the posters who have the audacity to express their disagreement with the almighty GOP.

      • eburke
      • Flagstaff

        “a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences,” and she can therefore come to a different conclusion and still be logical and within the rules. So sayeth Spock.

      • smagar

        it looks to me like your ?disagreement? with his call is just window dressing to attempt to disguise the swipe you?re taking at the posters who have the audacity to express their disagreement with the almighty GOP

        Senator Cornyn took the time to come and respond, thoughtfully, to a forum that has insulted him personally. There is no reason we can’t address the Senator—or anyone, for that matter—with civility. IMO MANY on Redstate have not done that in the past few days. If that’s a “swipe” in your eyes—well then, make the most of it. IMO a fair number of folks on this site deserve to be swiped at for their behavior.

        As for your forensic analysis of my thought process—well, sorry Professor, I still don’t agree with you.

  • Joe_Cor

    Why don’t Republicans work a little overtime so that they’re ready to challenge Barak Obama’s Supreme Court Nominee right now?

    Why don’t Republcans use every opportunity they can get in front of a TV camera to challenge Barak Obama’s health care proposal now?

    Why don’t Republicans use every parliamentary means at their disposal to slow Obama’s agenda down now?

    Why don’t Republicans loudly denounce Nancy Pelosi’s attacks on the CIA?

    Maybe if Republicans started feeling a little less comfortable with their minority status they would be more open to electing Senators who don’t have a minority mindset.

    • smitty

      “That means holding the Democrats accountable for their records”

      We must do the same for the candidates and Gov Crist’s is no better than most Dems. He has now raised taxes and said he would have voted for that awful “stimulus”. I see no reason to waste valuable resources to win a seat for someone who is a Republican for convenience (see also Specter, Arlen – you wasted money defending his seat 5 years ago).

      • Mike gamecock DeVine
      • eburke

        do you hold a party accountable for their policies when your guys support the same policy?

        John Cornyn used to be a principalled, tell it like it is conservative who used to eat for breakfast warm pap like the bilge he just spewed. What *happens* to these people when they get into leadership positions?

        Sigh!

  • Wubbies World

    Thank you for posting here. It speaks well of your character and of of your intentions to come here and explain your position.

    I understand the argument about trying to obtain the best candidate to win to regain the majority. However, I would like to counter that if that logic was used with Ronald Reagan he would have never been president.

    May I ask how you have obtained the ability to know the political landscape in 2010? May I ask why you are unwilling to allow the Florida primary to play out on an even playing field?

    Have you gotten tired of “Republicans” who are more “Democrat Lite” than they are Republicans? We have and that is why we are angry with your interference in this primary and other primaries.

    Will we have a monolithic Republican party without moderates? No we will not have that and we don’t want that! However, when you have a Republican who is more Democrat than Republican on all the major issues (Arlen Specter) that is a bit much.

    When given a choice between Democrat and Democrat Lite, the electorate has shown it will stick with the real thing instead of the “posers”.

    How about if we run a primary on an even playing field and let the electorate decide, instead of a political party machine that has shown it is only good for losing the last two election cycles.

    • jeffreywturner

      If we were talking about a state like Connecticut or Illinois, I could accept the argument that we should take whatever Republican we can get, because we are lucky just to be competative there. However, Florida is not like that. Republicans do just fine there and there is no reason we should have to accept a pro-porkulus candidate from that state. Does anyone really think that Kendrick Meek would defeat Rubio in a general election there?

      • Mike gamecock DeVine

        and explain everything with it. My respect for these people has dropped so low that an ant could pee on it.

      • redloft

        Meek could beat Rubio. Like it or not, Meek is a pretty savvy guy. Plus, Florida is not a solid red state, despite the make up of its elected officials. This state is always changing-attrition is high, especially with the older population. Add to the fact that any candidate coming from Miami will have a hard time winning statewide. Certainly it can be done, just look at Jeb Bush or Bob Graham–they were able to transcend a stigma that comes along with Miami poltics. But, I think Rubio would have a difficult time, if for no other reason, he is unkown. Now, I’m not saying that is a good thing-far from it, but I am saying it’s a real factor Rubio will have to overcome.

      • cmw

        You put up with and support Chafee, Snowe, and for at least a while Specter because they will vote with you some of the time, at least, compared to a solid D who will vote with you none of the time. That’s the best you can do in RI, ME and maybe PA (though maybe not in PA). In FL, I think you can identify a candidate who demonstrates closer adherence to core principles and still win. Or at the very least you can stay out of it until the candidates have a chance to define themselves with the electorate. If Nov 09 rolls around and Rubio is still waning, then you write it off. But don’t stick a fork in him right now.

        I don’t think Rubio’s gonna drain money from battleground states himself in the next 6 months if the NRSC stays out of it. But the idea that the NRSC is king maker, to the detriment of our core principles, that can and has already drained money from the RNC nationally.

    • ocleverone

      Considering our track record over the past few years, I must ask whose assessment is this? The candidates, sans a few, that have been put up do not excite the voters on the right side of the fence. Sadly, it gives the perception that this is the best we can do.

      The dent in my id with the NRSC is that of lack of neutrality until the voters have spoken in the primary. In this particular case, the backing of Governor Crist has evoked reactions of “no more”. Wouldn’t it be more purdent to let the primary voters decide who will be on the ticket and once that has happened, endorse and work full force for that candidate.

      I get very weary of those in ivory towers deciding the fate of elections before the populace has spoken at the primaries. You all are elected to serve the people, not the other way around.

      • ocleverone

        I am not sure what I did to warrant the ban. :(

    • Mike gamecock DeVine
  • http://web.mac.com/mayo99/iWeb/Site/VladBlog/VladBlog.html Vladimir

    I have not been front-and-center on the Florida row, but I’ll take the opportunity to put in my two cents.

    Since the election, I’ve been totally bumfuzzled by all the focus on maintaining 60 senate seats. Even before his defection, Specter acted and voted like a defacto Democrat anyway. Add in the two ladies from Maine, and I figured we’d be more likely to see a sasquatch than a filibuster in the Senate during this session.

    We’ve put a lot of energy and resources into propping up the Specters and the Jeffords of the party just because they choose to put an R after their name on the ballot. This constituency wants to support candidates to whom Republican is more than a brand of convenience.

    I challenge you to name a moderate Republican since WWII that has inspired anyone. Dewey? Rockefeller? Ford? The American people are smart enough to figure out that they may as well vote for a Dem, because they can at least make the trains run on time (figuratively speaking).

    If we truly believe our rhetoric about economics, the Obama Administration is laying the groundwork for a huge backlash, and we need to offer the voters clear alternatives, not Democrat-lite.

    • kcdude

      It is all about the core, the heart of conservative beliefs.

    • http://www.nighttwister.com NightTwister

      For 6 years starting in 2000, Republicans controlled the legislative and executive branches of our government. Instead of holding to our core principles, they increased the size of government and federal budget like never before. This happened on your watch, Senator.

      The simple fact is, I’d be happier with 20 true consertative Republican Senators than 60 of the ones we’ve had so far in this Century. The grassroots of the Republican Party will no longer accept nor support candidates like Crist. As long as the NRSC continues to support such candidates, we will refuse to donate one red cent, and you’ll likely become even less significant in the political landscape.

      The bottom line is, Senator, we don’t believe in your cause, and we have no desire to support it with our time or our money.

      • Mike gamecock DeVine

        When Newt chastised JC Watts for calling out Jesse Jackson…

        • eburke
      • lawguy9801

        while I agree with your sentiment with respect to Crist/Rubio, I disagree with the view expressed by you and Senator DeMint that we’re better off with an insignificant number of 100% conservatives than with a majority Republican Congress with varying degrees of conservative-ness. I generally agree with the Senator in that every state is different and that a true-blue conservative is not the best bet everywhere. For example, in a deep-blue state like Illinois, Delaware, or Connecticut, where Republicans have real shots to take what should be permanent Dem seats, I am not going to begrudge the NRSC for endorsing candidates in THOSE states that are not as conservative as we’d like, such as Kirk, Simmons and Castle.

        My problem here is that Rubio CAN win in Florida and Crist is a naked oportunist with no fixed beliefs, only a belief in power, a la Specter. Therefore, I believe that while Cornyn’s general theory is sound, the theory’s application here is way off-base.

        • http://www.nighttwister.com NightTwister

          It didn’t work. The only way they’ll know we’re serious is to stand our ground.

          • bk

             

        • jyalai

          We must look at the long term affect of caving on core principles. I believe our conservative principles will create a better society. However, it takes years of good decisions to make it happen. The reason we lost in 2006 and 2008 is because the DNC and its propoganda machine was able to successfully paint the failure of Republicans to hold the line on spending and reduce government as a failure of conservative principles. We know that is not true.

          It was the failure of men like Sen. Cornyn, Sen. Mitchell, Sen. Trott, and others we keep telling ourselves are conservatives to adhere to conservative principles and fight their own party like Sen Specter, Sen. Snowe, Sen. Collins. We got 8 years of Democrat lite, and lost two election cycles because of it. Now Sen. Cornyn wants to blame the conservatives in the party for our loss. I’m not buying it.

          We will turn blue states red by standing up for conservative principles even if that means losing, and letting the voters see the mess they are in. Right now the voters are confused because they thought they asked for conservatism and didn’t get it with the “conservatives” they sent to Washington.

          California is a prime example. California is disintegrating under its liberal policies. But the voters went to the polls and voted a Republican governor into office and still got liberal policies. Now where do the voters go? The Republican leadership in California is part of the problem, not the solution.

          Sen. Cornyn is perpetuating the decline of the Republican party by endorsing Crist. Sooner or later, Sen. Cornyn, you will have to pick a hill to die on. The longer you keep retreating, the lonelier your death will be, because those who believed in you will leave your side, or have died on hills you abandoned.

          • Mike gamecock DeVine

            the failed liberal econ policies that Obama will own next election day

          • jyalai

            Conservatives need to stand in stark opposition to the fascist steps being taken by the current government. I use the word fascist in its true meaning, not some pejorative term. This current administration is quickly bringing the industrial engine of the US under its direct control. This is fascism.

            If the voters do not see a clear difference between Republicans and Democrats on the issue of limited federal government, they will be as confused as they were in 2006 and 2008. Republicans must begin pounding that message. I don’t think Crist is the one to do it. I’m beginning to think Cornyn is not either.

          • http://www.nighttwister.com NightTwister
      • bs

        Without a majority, your ability to influence policy is nonexistent. We might have a smug satisfaction that all of our guys think like we do, but then we have 80 Socialist/Marxists in Congress that are free to push whatever whacko policies they want to.

        Sorry, but that makes *no* sense whatsoever.

        • eburke

          because there’s an R after his name?

          Or is he just *our* Socialist/Marxist?

        • http://www.nighttwister.com NightTwister

          Fact is, I’m not convinced the current Republican Senate leadership knows the difference between a good candidate and a bad one. All they care about is getting 51 seats so they can be “in charge” again.

          I have to ask, in charge of what? If they’re going to talk like democrats, act like democrats, and vote like democrats, then personally I’d prefer they have a (D) after their name. At least then we can say, “Look, their policies have destroyed our country.”

          What’s been happening for the past eight years is we’ve had democrat party spending policies that haven’t worked, but because they were enacted by a bunch of men with (R) after their name, the Republican Party has taken the blame.

          So to answer your question, I don’t think influence is the most important thing right now. Showing the difference between conservative and socialist policy is the most important.

          • http://theminorityreportblog.com David Hinz

            We can win insurmountable majorities by simply Broadening The Big Tent To Include Everybody

          • bs

            I think you’re quite right about that. And as long as the emphasis in y our response is on the “right now” part, I’m cool with it. But in relation to your comments, I think we have to focus on two things:

            1. It is vital to have control of Congress. Being in the minority sucks.
            2. We will never have a 100% pure conservative GOP. In fact, no one even KNOWS what a 100% pure conservative GOP would look like. As many of us have pointed out repeatedly, there will be some 50%ers, 75%ers, etc. in the party.

            That said, the behavior of the NRSC and Sen. Cornyn in the Florida race is inexcusable. To base their position on a single poll at this point in the (not even started yet) campaign is ludicrous. All one has to do is examine the 2008 POTUS campaign to see how dramatically things can change in a very short time.

          • bs

            those “two things” were supposed to be a numbered list. O well.

          • http://www.nighttwister.com NightTwister

            You have to choose which hills are worth dying on.

            The current crop in Washington aren’t willing to die on any, and the democrats know it. They know that all they have to do is wait us out an we’ll eventually fold. It started when Newt caved in to Clinton, and hasn’t really stopped since, certainly not on the Senate side of Congress.

            Being in the minority does suck, and if they keep running the show the way they have they’d better get used to it.

          • DONTREADONME

            They most certainly have chosen to surrender, no less picking a hill to die on.

  • Darin_H

    You think so little of us to insult us with the strawman tripe. But my respect for RedState makes me stop there, I have some other feelings about this that I’ll keep to myself.

    Anyways, your entire argument can be summed up in one sentence:

    Endorsing Charlie Crist will save the NRSC precious resources that can be used to fight in other states.

    It’s all about money isn’t it? You’d rather have a guy who will vote for Cap and Tax and the ‘stimulus’ than work a little bit to get a guy who will be a conservative leader in the senate. Maybe the Good Ol’ Boys club doesn’t want another party crasher – you don’t want another Coburn Headache? Just give us the “go-along-get-along”? Nope. It looks like I’m going to be a FL voter by the time the primary comes around. I might come to a different conclusion that you.

    I think you might have a strong case of Beltwayitis, Sen Cornyn. Maybe some time outside DC would do you a world of good. We lost in 2006 particularly because the Republicans had become as poor at spending our money as the Democrats had. We lost in 2008 because a lot of us followed the strategy you outline here – “only a moderate can pull in moderates.” Well, we keep adding to the data that proves it wrong. When will the DC Republicans learn?

    One last thing, and I really want an answer on this – when Rubio wins the primary, will the NRSC FULLY back him?

    • TNJim

      for pointing out the money angle. It appears Cornyn and others are looking for the easy way out money-wise and that’s just going to help solidify Dem control. And Beltwayitis can be summed up like this: Compromise is easy, standing on principle is hard. I agree the quote from Cornyn’s diary you posted pretty well sums up Cornyn’s arguement.

  • Vegas_Rick

    You couldn’t be more wrong. Not one thin dime to the NRSC. I will contribute heavily (as heavily as I can) to candidates who support our core values of limited government, low taxes, and strong national security. Like Mr. Rubio.

    Why can’t you guys get that?

    How did the Specter experiment work out?

    And as far as tone? When did our opponents EVER care about tone or respect? People will NOT respect wimps. Which, unfortunately, most of you guys are.

    Leadership? Where?

  • itrytobenice

    We shouldn’t really give a flying rat’s ass if our party endorses and champions conservatives or not. They can vote like democrats as long as they have an R behind their name, right?

    No wonder you guys keep losing. You don’t even believe in conservative ideals yourselves. How in the world do you expect voters to support you?

    Conservatives who do believe in our ideals are turned off and independents who don’t know what to think can clearly see that you guys think democrats, or people who vote with them, are just fine.

    We conservatives don’t have representation in Congress, other than a handful. All the rest of you guys just care about power and who gets to call himself Chairman.

    Well just keep losing then. At least you have to live in the same hellhole that the democrats are making for the rest of us.

    Enjoy obscurity.

  • Amy Miller

    While I believe that this is true:

    “Some believe that we should be a monolithic Party; I disagree. While we all might wish for a Party comprised only of people who agree with us 100 percent of the time, this is a pipedream.”

    ..I also believe that it is completely okay to have a party that cleaves to conservative principles. I realize that I will never agree with a particular candidate on every single issue, but I’d certainly appreciate being able to identify with a party that doesn’t vilify true conservative principles in the name of progress and “getting along”.

    The left argues, time and again, that the people of America need to embrace diversity and differences and BLAH BLAH BLAH blather whatever. Well, when was the last time you noticed a liberal embracing the diversity that conservatism provides?

    Eh?

    • cwilson

      .

  • Finrod

    As you may have noticed, emotions amongst many here are awfully raw, and it’s shown up in the comments here. Senator McCain was right in ways he didn’t realize during the 2008 campaign when he said people were hurting; they’re hurting for more reasons than just the economy. Scott Rasmussen has it figured out: there’s a disconnect between Republicans nationally and Republicans in Congress. As he puts it: “Look for the Republican Party to sink further into irrelevancy as long as its key players insist on hanging around Congress or K Street for their ideas. The future for the GOP is beyond the Beltway. ”

    There’s a populist revolt brewing; the tea parties are just one manifestation of it. Republicans in Congress can either lead this train or get run over by it. I and many others would prefer that you and the other Republicans in Congress get aboard this train, but if you refuse, then you put the Republican Party in peril. The Declaration of Independence starts off: “We The People”, not we the Congress or we the political leadership. If the Republican leadership does not listen to We The People, then our first task won’t be to get Republicans back into the majority, it’ll be to elect new Republicans that do listen to We The People until they become the new Republican leadership.

    That’s why Redstate is so upset over the NRSC endorsing Crist over Rubio. Crist clearly is part of Rasmussen’s Political Class, while Rubio is part of the Populist Class. Sure, Crist might have an easier job of winning that Senate seat from Florida, but will he listen to We The People once he gets there? His performance as governor indicates not– just look at him busting his anti-tax pledge recently. Why should we spend our time and money to elect another Republican that’ll go to DC and betray conservative principles? That’s not a path that strengthens the party, no matter how easily he’s elected.

    And speaking of not strengthening the party, look at how CNN spun your comments about Limbaugh and Gingrich:

    Top Republican calls Limbaugh, Gingrich comments ‘terrible’

    If you want to strengthen the party, you need to find ways to differentiate you and your fellow Congressmen from other prominent Republicans in ways that do not allow CNN and the other media hacks to portray it as the Republican Civil War.

    If you can’t do that, then you have no business leading a city council, much less Senate Republicans. Sorry to be blunt, but that’s the way it is.

    • eburke
    • Aaron Gardner
      • izoneguy

        have had it with ALL politicians…..
        Time to start anew…..

        99% of the people I know don’t want Obama, his liberal policies or anyone who supports Obama and his liberal policies.

    • Scott Mustian

      There is a revolt against the Republican party brewing and it looks like most of the current leadership needs to be thrown under the bus.

  • JustLeaveMeAlone

    If you were, Senator, you were not paying attention. Maybe Senators ought to get outside the beltway more often, because in my view, you all catch Potomac Fever very quickly and never seem to recover.

    I am one of your constituents, and I’ve been a supporter. You’ve gotten more than a few of my calls and emails :)

    But you are dead wrong on this. I am very unhappy with the turn you and the NRSC has taken lately towards the left. Yes, the left. That’s over there past the middle. It’s the direction you are headed.

    Why can’t the Republican leadership stand on principle? Why?

    Why can’t you see that Charlie Crist is Arlen Specter Redux?

  • http://brockwayfamily.spaces.live.com/ Erick Brockway

    What good will it do if 60 of them vote like liberals?

  • http://norunnyeggs.com steveegg

    Over the past 6 years, the Republican Party, and especially the portion in the Senate, transformed itself from the Party of Smaller Government to a Party-In-Government Party, ready to advocate an ever-larger role for government. As the national-security coalition fell apart, the voters decided that, since both major parties were Huge Government proponents, they would go with institutional experience.

    In this landscape last year, the two parties went in vastly-different directions vis-a-vis the electorate’s familiarity with the eventual Presidential candidates. John McCain was the “safe”, well-known moderate. Except for the Democratic Party insiders, who saw the most-liberal candidate ever to run on a major-party ticket, nobody knew who Barack Obama was at this point in the 2008 election cycle (i.e. the end of May 2007). Tell me again who is still a Senator, and who is having VC-25s buzzing Lower Manhattan.

    As for the “near-filibuster-proof” majority the Democrats have in the Senate, how many 3/5ths-required majorities have you and your colleagues managed to deny Harry Reid and company this session? I seem to recall the opposition has won most of those, thanks to the likes of Arlen Specter (who the NRSC supported right up to the point of his betrayal), Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe (another pair of NRSC-supported Senators).

    Yet the NRSC is bound and determined to repeat the msitakes it and the Republican Party as a whole has made in the last two election cycles by supporting a well-known moderate, who other commenters have pointed out would be in the filibuster-breaking mold of the Specter, Collins and Snowe, over someone who, while not as well-known, is in the main a conservative.

    Should the rank-and-file Republicans of Florida reject your candidate in the primary, will the NRSC support Marco Rubio, or will they repeat history once again and abandon him like they abaondoned Tim Michels after the voters rejected the “anointed” Russ Darrow in the 2004 Wisconsin GOP Senate primary?

    • http://norunnyeggs.com steveegg

      Either that, or we need to get a comment-editing feature here. I stuck an extraneous “the” in the above msisive and forgot to remove it when I changed how I presented the affected thought.

    • Vegas_Rick
  • Fla Mom

    Senator Cornyn,

    Thank you for writing in to RedState. I have been a Florida voter my entire life, and I’m now in middle age. I disagree with you, strenuously, and I hope you listen to what’s being said in these comments (and what’s being implied but politely held back).

    “…we lost critical voting constituencies including….” Including your base! Think about why. Think about why it took Sarah Palin on the Republican ticket to generate enthusiasm and dollars.

    “Govenor Crist, in contrast, has a 100 percent name ID among Republicans.” Guess why? He drives us *nuts*! I will NOT vote for him, I’ll write Rubio in, Senator Cornyn.

    “…our common goal to rebuild the Republican Party and fight against the Democrats? agenda.” Then please get some candidates, like Marco Rubio, who disagree with the bulk of the Democrat agenda.

    Please listen, Senator, please.

    Sincerely,

    Fla Mom

    • Vegas_Rick

      or read what they’re writing. The double speak is simply insulting. Do they really think we’re all this stupid?

      Nice comment! :)

  • Aaron Gardner
    • eburke
      • Aaron Gardner
  • Michael Dugas

    We need to burn down that big tent and let some light shine in and fresh air blow through. I’m starting to believe that the “Big Tent”
    is a wall that our Republican Senator hide behind and scheme ways
    to keep their seats while becoming disconnected from their base and cut off from reality.
    We don’t need a Big Tent, what we need is a Big Mouth out there fighting for Us and supporting core Republican principles.

    • $peciallist

      pic later

  • rbdwiggins

    especially one who enjoys a GOP leadership position, would come to our community and insult our intelligence by using a strawman argument in a shameless attempt to justify such a thinly constructed narrative. In fact, a false premise, created from whole cloth by the partisan press, advanced by Democratic Party hacks and accepted by too many moderate Republicans. Even though, no legitimate polling data supports the premise.

    The Tea Parties should have been a clear indication of the principles the American electorate expects from their elected officials.

    • Mike gamecock DeVine

      what I call the “glazed over eyes looks” I had endured for years lying and accepting the CV lies that enabled us to get thru party meetings.

  • http://applescorneroftheorchard.blogspot.com/ Pomme

    With all due respect, butt out!

    If endorsing Crist is your way of saving money, then save more and don’t get involved. If you’re only in this for the money and power, why should anybody ever vote Republican again? Stand for something!! Be a leader!!

    • Mike gamecock DeVine
      • Mike gamecock DeVine

        the racist statement!

        Yet, the dems understand better than we do how fatal this statement was and she is

        as we speak

        apologizing for the statement.

  • http://theminorityreportblog.com David Hinz

    and this explanation of the RNSC endorsement of Crist is Exhibit A.

    You rationalize the endorsement by pointing to Crist’s name recognition, while denigrating the name recognition of Rubio. Sen Cornyn — the 2010 election is 19 months away.

    Do you think that if the RNSC did its job it could bring Rubio’s name recognition up to that of Crist? If name recognition is the problem, Fidel Castro and Hugo Chavez have higher name recognition than Crist, why not run one of them and save the money?

    And while I am on the subject… about that Crist name recognition…

    He supported and campaigned WITH President Obama for the stimulus pkg that threatens to bankrupt this country. He is on record as supporting too many of the president’s and the Democrat leadership’s policies. Are you entirely certain you WANT that type of name recognition?

    As for the “stunned’ party leadership in 2006, do you think that loss could possibly have anything to do with the inability of Republicans in congress to distinguish themselves from drunken sailors or Democrats on out-of-control spending?

    I’m not entirely sure why YOU were stunned… the whole COUNTRY saw it coming — Dem-lite is NOT a governing philosophy!

    My job as Chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee is to recruit candidates who have the best chance of winning and holding seats ? and to do so in as many states as possible.

    I am sorry, but all you measure success by is the a$$e$ in those seats. The base measures success by the content of the character of those a$$e$ — and whether we can count on them to do the right thing when it becomes difficult…

    How did that Jim Jeffords thing turn out? How about Arlen Spectre? do YOU count on Olympia Snowe on the hard issues? We sure don’t… Oh, I realize their a$$e$ keep those seats warm, but that is about all…

    …and of course they all know they can count on the RNSC to help fund them against all challengers foreign or domestic.

    Monolithic party? No…nobody I know is calling for that — I think someone up above here called that a strawman… heck, that argument is the Tinman — no heart at all.

    Reagan didn’t forge a coalition of conservatives and moderates by BEING a moderate — he did it by standing upon principles and giving the American people a clear reason to believe in his vision for America.

    I see no leadership in this party from anyone in leadership in Washington.

    Thank you for posting your press release here… but NO SALE!

    • Mike gamecock DeVine
    • Aaron Gardner
      • Mike gamecock DeVine

        Here we are defending our honor against a Redstate frontpager that falsely calls us racists, while the GOP elected in DC attack Rish and Newt for accurately identifying a dem party racist judge?

        This one man with courage can’t abide this crap much longer.

    • Vegas_Rick
      • eburke
        • eburke

          (at least I *thought* I did)

  • http://impudent.blognation.us/blog kyle8

    We don’t just lose GOP voters by being wishy washy on conservative principles. We also lose a lot of independent voters.

    Whenever I talk to independents one of the biggest things they say turns them off of politics are parties that say one thing and do another.

    If we articulate, and stand by our principles we will get a lot of independent voters.

    • http://theminorityreportblog.com David Hinz

      STAND for something and people will rally to you. They don’t even have to agree with all that you espouse, they merely have to see that you DO stand on principles and live up to those principles.

  • friendofthefounders

    in glancing through them it doesn’t appear to me that anyone has identified the real reason that so many senators of the Republican “persuasion” are such spineless weasels. The real reason that senators like Cornyn put forth insipid tripe like that contained in his post to justify their endless political triangulating, and the real reason they can’t bring themselves to courageously stand for true conservative prinicples, is that they are popularly elected rather than chosen
    by their state legislatures as the Founders intended. This has been the case since the ratification of the 17th Amendment on April 8, 1913. If these guys didn’t have to always worry about surviving the next popular election cycle by appealing to as many voters as possible, but instead were selected by and had the unwavering support of their own GOP-controlled state legislatures, they could afford to be tougher in the trenches all the way around. Appointment by the state legislature would also give guys like Marco Rubio a real shot against less principled but more popular guys like Charlie Crist who allegedly have more “name recognition” with the general electorate.

    Ironically, 1913 is also the year we ratified the 16th Amendment to permit the imposition of the unapportioned federal income tax (so we could force all of those big, evil corporations to pay their fair share—-right!). Repeal the 16th, 17th and a couple of other Amendments, restore the original “checks” on Congress in the constitutional scheme created by the Founders, and perhaps the average mealy-mouthed GOP senator would grow a pair.

    • INC

      You may be interested in what R. S. McCain said:

      We were standing outside the Continental Lounge in Rosslyn, Va., while the young Republican operative explained it to me.

      ?All they care about is getting their chairmanships back, and they don?t care how they get there,? said the operative. ?They don?t want to spend any money, so they were looking for a self-funder.?

      ?They? are Republican senators, and what my friend was explaining was the otherwise inexplicable decision of the National Republican Senatorial Committee to endorse Charlie Crist in the Florida Senate race ? 15 months before the primary!

      • http://theminorityreportblog.com David Hinz

        let them know we are not playing that game anymore.

        • smagar

          Why would anyone want to run for office these days?

    • itrytobenice

      The problem is that these R leaders (and of course the Ds, but that goes without saying – we don’t expect anything better from them) are much more interested in getting re-elected than actually doing the right thing.

      They don’t represent the public, at least in terms of doing anything that would benefit the public. Every action as an elected official is calibrated to holding onto the levers of power, regardless of whether it will benefit the republic or not. We have politicians, not statesmen. It’s a terrible shame.

      I know Americans have the government they deserve, I just wish those of us with actual knowledge and concern weren’t over-ruled by the American Idol watching pop culture addicts.

  • Wade Butler

    My senator from Texas still doesn’t get it. He still thinks it is politics Washington style. And for many of us in the base, it is not. We are preparing to tell those like Cornyn that “you must begin to fear the conservative base more than the Hispanic vote!”. Republicans may not be able to win without the Hispanics but they sure as hell cannot win without the conservative base.

    We are tired of being the step child Senator. It has always been the same way; “where are the conservatives going to go? To the Democrats?”. But it now appears you are ready to sell us out once again. Not me!

    So, wallpaper over the justice nominee senator. Just give it a token try. Jettison our principles and shoot for that Hispanic vote. And see how far you get.

    • cwilson

      …you’re kinda confused on this one. Cornyn endosed Crist OVER the conservative AND Hispanic Rubio. It’s not like he was trying to appease Hispanics by dissing conservatives; he dissed us BOTH in favor of the white-bread liberal establishment “Republican”.

  • DONTREADONME

    but do not write me again asking for contributions to the NRSC, I will no longer fund you’re operation. With all due respect sir, the Democrats never seem to back down from their left wing position. Even the so-called “conservative” Democrats that ran in traditionally red states vote with the party as their whips seem to have a really good stranglehood on them. I will only contribute to the GOP in my own state from now on, thank you, when they field a candidate I like in 2012 and 2014.

    Oh, BTW, I wonder why I did not give money to the GOP in 2006 and 2008, hmmm, I wonder what happened those years, especially in Virginia? Right now, I only care about my state and locality, and I will continue to do so until you get your act together and stop treating us like we do not have a choice? We are not extremists here, you have just made us the pariah of the GOP, well I am no right wing extremists.

    I do not know who you get your information from or who you poll, but many of us in VA can relate with the principles espoused on Redstate, this includes most of my extended family in PA, MD, NJ and NY. I have no idea what you guys are up to, but it appears to me that you are no different now then the Republican Party of Illinois (Chicago especially) you ensure that Democrats will continue to destroy everything we have tried to hold together, and what do you do, complain about us! Seriously, man, you irratate my wife and me with you throw us under the bus everytime you malign those that seem to put up a fight against the Democrats when all you want to do is allow the continual march to Socialism. I am done with all of you in Republican Senate, lets see how much this country is torn apart by your tepid response to the Democrats. I will be waiting to pick up the pieces of the shambles you call the GOP. Good night!

    • DONTREADONME

      so I can at least have some influence more so than anything the GOP has given me in the last 3 years. The Democrats at least do not throw their own under the bus everytime a serious issue is raised or someone uses the so-called “shrill rhetoric”.

      • DONTREADONME

        to advance the conservative platform,…I was just saying.

  • $peciallist

    you should check it out…..

    • eburke
  • Flagstaff

    But we have to work together to make that a reality. The tides are turning, and Republicans have an opportunity in 2010. However, we cannot win if we are focused on tearing each other down.

    But didn’t you just today tear down both Rush Limbaugh and Newt Gingrich, two conservative Republicans who have each done more for the party and for the cause of conservatism than you or Charlie Crist would ever want to do? Yes, you did, by nit-pickingly disparaging them to a reporter who just wanted to hear you disagree with them regarding their opinion of Judge Sotomayor’s assertion of her racially-founded and gender-based superior judicial aptitude. If you simply didn’t like their choice of words, say, “I wouldn’t put it that way myself.” If you disagreed with the ideas they expressed, then you were just wrong. But right or wrong, defaming Republican colleagues to a reporter is a no-no, in your own words.

    • itrytobenice

      They should get the plank out of their own eye before they discuss the speck of dust in ours.

      • Flagstaff

        The Press today.

        He declined to take a stab at Rush or Newt, while not adopting their words for himself.

  • lauriem134

    I don’t understand how Jeb Bush, one of the most important and popular Republicans in the State of Florida can endorse Rubio, but the NRSC endorses Crist. I would think that Jeb Bush’s endorsement is far more influential than McCain, McConnell and Martinez.

    • Michael Dugas

      nt

  • smagar

    Think of John Cornyn as a defense lawyer.

    Defense lawyers have one, highly-focused task: get their clients declared “not guility,” within the bounds of the law. They’re not concerned with the greater impacts on justice or society if their client gets exonerated. They have one objective.

    In that sense, I think the “defense lawyer” analogy to John Cornyn is apt. As chairman of the NRSC, he is responsible for making the GOP as powerful a force in the Senate as possible.

    If you were in Cornyn’s shoes, and you asked yourself this question: “Can I risk waging an expensive battle to keep Mel Martinez’ Florida seat,” the answer could reasonably be “No.”

    Notice I didn’t ask “Can I risk losing the FL seat.” But let’s explore both questions. In order to be fair, we should, because Sen Cornyn has surely had to try answering them:

    1) The impacts of losing the Florida seat

    With only 40 seats under GOP control, the GOP can only block cloture IF (a) all 40 GOP Senators stay together and (b) at least one Dem defects.

    Jim Bunning has been quoted as saying that GOP leaders think we could lose 4 more seats in 2010. That would mean that Harry Reid could allow FOUR of his Senators to appease angry homestate voters and oppose cloture, and STILL get cloture invoked.

    Given that dire alternative, I can see where Cornyn might decide that he has to play it safe in Florida.

    2) The impacts of having to fight for the Florida seat.

    Unlike us, the Democrats are ruthlessly efficient political tacticians.

    They examine the electoral process, and identify small but effective steps they can take to maximize their chances on election day. Exhibit 1: ACORN’s Secretary of State project. By 2008, many of the elections in swing states were supervised by ACORN protegees. The Dems took the time to examine the process, ID a possible advantage and then exploit it. Result: Al Franken will soon be seated as Senator.

    We, on the other hand, indulged our individual disgruntlements with Senators Allen, Burns and Dole over the past two electoral cycles. Result: three Senate seats in conservative states are now in D hands. And, let’s not forget David Pryor’s reelection in Arkansas, due largely to the fact that NO ONE ran against him.

    (Surely we’ve learned our lesson, right? Um…no. Politico reported recently that the NV GOP is having trouble finding a good candidate to run against Harry Reid!)

    Let’s say David Axelrod determines the D’s can’t take FL’s Senate seat. They can sure make the Rs pay dearly for it, though.

    - They can force Cornyn to spend boatloads of money he doesn’t have to introduce Marco Rubio to the fifty percent of FL voters who don’t yet know him,
    - They can force Cornyn to spend money and effort shoring up a Florida seat he can’t afford to lose, and thus starve a GOP candidate in another, more vulnerable state (NH, perhaps)?

    Perhaps a successful Marco Rubio candidacy in Florida leads to the loss of another GOP Senate seat elsewhere. If you were Cornyn, given your specific responsibilities, could you risk that?

    Again, I don’t think Cornyn should have made the decision he did. I think he should have trusted the party apparatus to work it all out. But, I don’t have the challenges and the responsibilities Cornyn does…and neither does anyone else on these boards.

    • Mike gamecock DeVine

      that should inform the Cornyn mind.

      • smagar

        First of all, I’m not 100% sure you mean by the “lessons on Specter.”

        The jury is still out on whether PA will elect Toomey.

        • Mike gamecock DeVine

          I think the GOP is discounting the high likelihood, historically of GOP success in an off year election as the out party, especially given the deep recession and that the odds are that Obama and the dems will own the hard times next year and that any repub will poll quite favorably this time next year.

          They are driven too much by fear of Obama just now and by the misplaced belief that a few less GOP seats would mean that much more of a disaster. A few more repubs or less can’t stop much, esp Obama’s bureaucratic excesses and we have seen that even dems will rise up on the energy tax.

        • Mike gamecock DeVine
          • Finrod

            .

    • Swamp_Yankee

      I lament the fact that many think the filibuster is illusory. It is not. Even if it is never invoked it is because the Dems are not sure they can get key initiatives passed without compromise. This is labor’s stance. They are so greedy and confident that they would rather wait till 2010 to get their version of EFCA passed with no compromise that is assuming that they can let a couple of Dems vote against it and still get it passed. The idea that we lost one item (stimuluse) that we have to fold on the rest is absurd. We are in no position to play offense until 2012. It’s all defensive until then … stonewalling, delaying filibustering, ….

      RE: resources. I think armchair pundits vastly underated resource issues. On top of the limited money, there is limited talent and manpower. Of course campaigns have their organic teams, but the nationals have their big guns that they would like to empoy in Missouri, Ohio and possibly New Hampshire. And although the NRSC has nothing to do with non-Senate races. People have limited pockets and there are dozens of key gubernatorial races that will suck up even more energy, manpower and money.

  • Michael Dugas

    If they keep filling Republican seats with C rist, Specter,Snowe, Martinez like butts this party is going to fracture and you can forget about winning ANY seats. It’s all well and good to PLAY politics but you risk the very heart of the party when you forget that it’s made up of real people who for a while will listen as they’re told ” It’s raining, it’s raining!” But eventually they’re gonna look up and see what’s really coming down on them. They’re already starting to lift their heads skyward and they will leave. And don’t for a minute think that the Democrats don’t know what a fractured Republican Party, splittin off into a bunch of smaller groups, means for them. They’ll have a monopoly on the majority.

    • smagar

      IIRC, Crist scores well in surveys of Florida R voters, and Floridians in general. That means he stands a very good chance of winning the seat.

      Are you implying that Florida Republicans will be so disgruntled that they’ll either vote against Crist in protest or stay home on Election Day.

      You mean…like they did in VA (Allen), NC (Dole), MT (Burns) and OR (Smith)?

      If Crist is so bad for the Rs, then why are his popularity figures so good?

      It’s one thing if we’re saying that Cornyn screwed up by picking a candidate that can’t win statewide. But, it appears that Cornyn stepped in because his data indicates that Crist is a safer pick statewide. If Crist is such a poor choice, how can he be so popular?

      • Michael Dugas

        But on top of being upset over Crist and Martinez NOT being the bill of goods they represented. And anger over Crists support of Obama and the nightmares that are the bailouts and the stimulus. And then feeling cheated, robbed even, that the NRSC is working to deprive them of a choice by interfering pre primary here in Fla. I am in the heavily republican Manatee County and they are NOT happy, vocally so.

        • Michael Dugas

          I want to add that no one has a problem throwing their support behind an honestly selected winner of a primary but how excited
          or better yet how angry are you if that choice is deprived you. If Rubio
          runs and loses to Crist so be it. If Rubio isn’t even there as a choice
          for the voters due to party machinations than I’m pretty pissed.

  • $peciallist

    next post please..

  • Laura Benson

    Conservatives in Florida struggle with a number of flaws in Governor Crist – two are glaring. The first is that he exhibits absolutely zero leadership on any issue that he doesn’t feel will offer him good press and simply rides the tides of opinions to ensure he continues with those astronomical polling numbers. The press even mocks this characteristic. The second is that he isn’t a conservative. To imagine that the “R” beside his name will somehow provide some protection against the liberal policies being slammed through in Washington is a fallacy and that should never be the basis to provide national support. It makes us irrelevant.

  • R.E. Finch

    “As a Party, we were stunned. Having failed to anticipate shifting national dynamics and the growing appetite for change in America, we lost critical voting constituencies including independents, Hispanics, and young voters nationwide.”

    Oh please! It wasn’t a “failure to anticipate” anything. It was a failure to provide any cogent argument for or be guided by any set of core principles. Aside from the blip of “we got it right” after 9/11, what the voters saw was eight years of a party that stood for almost the direct antithesis of what it had been just a decade earlier.

    In 2008, with no cohesive message to differentiate itself – in large part because it’s standard-bearer eschewed nearly everything that might have helped – the GOP put the the voters in a position by which they could only could go by what they saw. And what they saw was a spendthrift, progressive leadership with a Wilsonian foreign policy that gave them unprecedented expansion of government of exactly the wrong sort at precisely the wrong time. The worst thing that came out of the last eight years was that abominations like No Child Left Behind. the Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit and absurd quests to “make the world safe for democracy” got labeled as “conservative” when nothing could be further from the truth.

    All we see in this knee-jerk endorsement is irrational fear. It reeks of “this is working for the Dems, so we’d better get in line and become like them.” It seems we’re at a time at which we could use not another Reagan, but some new Kirks, Meyers and Buckleys. Sadly, it seems GOP leadership is settling for Moes, Larrys and Curlys.

    Stop worrying about placating myriad, contrived “constituencies” that can only lead to a divided nation and start working toward new ways to spur broad cohesion around some core principles. Then, reframe how you communicate them for 2010. Stop pandering. Start educating. I hear even lemmings can be persuaded not to jump off the cliff.

    When the other side’s neophyte candidate can campaign for the presidency based on nebulous, garbage rhetoric about “hope” and “change” and actually win it, it means too many thought you, as the alternative, didn’t stand for anything at all. If the GOP continues down this divisive path of divvying up the “promise chest” among competing ethnic, social and moral interests, it will become nothing but “Dem Lite.” Why would the voters choose THAT when they can have the real thing?

    If you really believe that conservatism is a dead issue, which is what this premature endorsement suggests, and if because of that you’re convinced that you now must align who you are with the other side, you’ve got a serious short-circuit. I’d hope that the recent revelation that more than half the electorate is now pro-life would give you a clue that maybe, just maybe, conservatism isn’t a dead issue; rather, you should consider that it just hasn’t been properly communicated or widely distributed for quite some time. Your true opportunity is to re-introduce it to The People. They’ve voted for a savior; only the truly lost ever do that!

    I think party leadership needs to step outside the echo chamber and get a grip. Yes, the GOP has taken an eight-count. But so long as it remains mired in this pathetic reactionary mode, it will never get up off the canvas. Stop working entirely from your position of fear. For starters, let there be primaries!

  • jimmuy8

    Anybody seen that guy? Anybody checked Shanghai?

  • sbowers3

    To win in 2010 we need a strong message. That message should be mostly about big spending, bailouts, gigantic deficits. Every Republican should be on message.

    Crist can’t spread that message because he is on record as supporting the bailouts, and spending. He would damage the message and thereby damage the chances of all other Republicans to win.

  • David_Rasbold

    … While I agree that we are not/will never be a monolithic party (and I don’t know anyone of any clout that has said we need to be – strawman), are you saying that Crist will be someone that we can count on to “rally around our core principles.”

    Those variations (a nice way to describe it) is fine, but not when they violate thsoe core principles. Too often, lately, Republicans in the Senate have been offering back those core principles as if their little more than bargaining chips.

    I want to know that getting Crist up there won’t turn into another Senator that will criticize other Republicans to get media attention, back away from our core principles for political expediency, and side with the democrats out of purep political purposes – not because it actually is best for our countyr.

    Need examples, well look at the last year and the efforts by many North Eastern and other Republicans that have more recently jumped the party because they claim “we’ve become ‘too’ conservative.” The reality our party has never been more moderate and base is getting fed up pretty quick.

    So, if Crist is going to hold strong to our core principles, great. But winning, just for the sake of getting another R in the Senate won’t mean a damn thing if Crist will turncoat on us on a variety of important issues, and here I’m talking specifically around life, government growth, spending, and foreign policy.

    Thank you for listening and thank you for taking the time to post on RedState. I hope you do so more in the future.

  • bk

    “Some believe that we should be a monolithic Party; I disagree. While we all might wish for a Party comprised only of people who agree with us 100 percent of the time, this is a pipedream. Each Party is fundamentally a coalition of individuals rallying around core principles with some variations along the way.”

    No one believes you’ll find any two people who agree on 100% of anything and no one is making any such argument. What we expect is that we rally around people who come closest to sharing a set of core principles — else we can’t say we have any.

  • http://www.the41stvote.org rcov092

    so your solution is to elect someone who will be the swing vote in 2011 if we manage to defeat Cap & Trade this year? You wish to ensure its passage eventually by selecting a candidate who said he would have voted for the Stimulus and who would vote for Cap & Trade?

    You are going to need to conserve your resources because you will not be getting my contribution this year.

  • BooBooKitty

    because conservative voters are not excited about candidates that are soft on the platform, our values, and even own confronting political opponents. It seems the Gop seems to afraid to lose, yet continually does so despite its the conscessions it has made in the name of inclusion. When I see us wasting time and arguing who is the most palatable candidate instead of actually advocating and promoting- the game is already lost.

    Look to recent history, Reagan, Newt’s contract with America, and yes, even Bush’s speech on the rubble pile- these are things that turn our moderates back into engaged American conservatives- yet somehow it seems the leadership thinks squishy sells? Tell me when?

    The way I see it, the GOP has accepted their roll as the minority party that knows its place, refuses to rock the boat, and will be content to be thrown the scraps they hope might keep in the office. I will continue to promite the new guard like Rubio until the old dogs learn some new tricks.

  • s1markc

    I am a Floridian and won’t vote for Gov. Christ. He is another Specter and I don’t believe he has any core principals other than to meet the Democrats half way.
    Markco Rubio is a person who does have strong core conservative principals who will represent Florida and the country while remembering that success doesn’t come from Government but from the people.

    With all due respect Senator, you’re looking for R’s and I’m looking for principled leadership.

  • BooBooKitty

    I wanted to post quickly before my flight- I appreciate you engaging us Senator -but respectfully disagree.

  • Repubtallygirl

    With all due respect Senator, NO, to Crist. He recently signed a budget loaded with new taxes, AFTER signing the NO to new taxes pledge. He promised not to expand gambling, he has. He has socialized insurance going after individual insurance companies, telling State Farm, good riddance. (wtf?) He appointed 2 liberal judges to the FL Supreme Court. He refuses to appoint white judges because he “wants diversity”. (What ever happened to being the most qualified?)

    Let us NOT forget that he has stated he would have joined Spector and Snowe voting FOR the stimulus package. Let us also not forget Crist sucking up to Obama and urging everyone to support the stimulus.

    This is NOT the type of Republican we need in Washington. We are finally getting rid of the idiot Martinez, we don’t need another one in Washington.

    I read a lot of papers and blogs from all over the state and I really don?t know of anyone besides party people (Greer) who will vote for Crist.

    RUBIO 2010!

  • smitch61

    As a Party, we were stunned.

    That above statement to me states it all…. If you are stunned, you should be out of there. You need to have your finger on the pulse of America. Personally as a conservative, I have had enough of the GOP in many regards. You want liberal Crist? go for it, I do not live in FL, it is apparent to me in which direction the GOP will trend, the problem with the GOP is their inability to get the message out, they have no balls, and they are scared of the media and the democrats. I am just about out of fight….. .. try living in Michigan like me. I am still ticked off at the republicans for things that went on in the Clinton administration. Neither party represents me and frankly I am sick and tired of it.

    Quick story: I met a man and his wife at a charity event in April. We talked politics, and as conservatives I was surprised to learn they did not vote in the last election because of principle. They loved Palin, but not enough to pull the lever for McCain. I asked if they were indeed happy with the alternative and their response was absolutely not…..He stated the choice was real liberal, or just liberal. I am afraid quite a few conservatives do not vote in protest.

  • Mike gamecock DeVine

    Who, Senator, wants a monolithic party, and please provide the link and quotes. You are being played by the leftist Drive-bys and the Dems talking points. They rightly fear the conservative right because they know that when they lose, they lose when the conservative base expands due to the failed policies of the left.

    Crist is in favor of most of those Obama policies you fear.

  • randy streu

    One of the most harmful pieces of legislation to come out of Obama’s Administration so far (and I shudder as I think of how early it still is) was the bloated “stimulus” package.

    Charlie Crist supported it, and would, as a Senator, have voted for it. How does this help Republicans?

    Charlie Crist has, in many ways, acted like a Democrat. How does it help Repbulicans to put him on the Senate?

    Florida is NOT a state where a left-leaning “moderate” is necessary for victory. Rubio could, and would, win in Florida, if given the opportunity. You, and the NRSC, have missed that opportunity.

    Further, if we should have learned any lesson from the recent past, it is that becomming more like Democrats will not win us elections. If people want Democrat policies, they will just vote for Democrats. What it WILL do is alienate those who want a real difference in Washington. Those people will — and are — fleeing the party, much to our detriment.

    “Republicans” like Charlie Crist do not advance the cause of the Republican Party, any more than a Tofurkey leaves you satisfied and sleepy on Thanksgiving. Nobody is suggesting that the party not be open to new ideas — but we are absolutely saying there ought to be a line.

  • smitch61

    Since senator Cornyn was stunned, let me spell out for him another problem he may want to pay attention too.

    The GOP need to team up with the National Black Republican and begin teaching our bretheren about the history of the democratic party.

    http://www.nationalblackrepublicans.com/

    Also senator Cornyn, since you are so “tapped” in, I am sure you realize that the Libertarian party movement in America is on the rise…. I would assume there will be a candidate in 2012, and conservatives unfortunately will flock to that candidate for no other reason than to prove a point… Hence 4 more years of Obama and company and on the way to one party rule….

  • mbecker908

    Thanks for dropping by Moby. You have the audacity to come here and drop this little gem off in out lobby – knowing full well neither you nor any of your staff will bother to come back and defend it – attempting to defend the indefensible.

    Keep in mind folks, this tripe is coming from the same leadership that let Specter get away with allowing very highly qualified judiciary nominees to languish without being allowed floor votes that everybody knew they’d win. The same leadership that ran and hid from every important fight for last ten years. The same leadership that makes no overt effort to hold any Republican accountable to the Party on a handful of major issues (Specter, Voinavitch on Bolton, the ME Girls, etc). Bottom line Senator, you couldn’t lead a crack addict to ten pound stash sitting in the middle of the floor.

    What the Party needs, Senator, is leaders who actually stand for something. Our leadership team stands for themselves (make that yourselves) and doesn’t give a tinkers dam about the “people” or the country.

    You get off your tusche and lead the fight to stop Sotomeyor, hold the Republican caucus together and filibuster the woman, and then we’ll see about whether you’ve got any business being a Senator.

  • penguin2

    was once just Democrat party. Those Dems at heart, who can’t quite tolerate the far left status of their party are now trying to make the Republican party into their former Democratic party. My point being-there are obviously Republicans in our party who are really Dems-that’s why they are going along with the Dems. They do not have true conservative values.

    What conservative values does Crist and others like him stand for?

  • http://www.the41stvote.org rcov092

    is a fair and open primary where he comes to the grssroots and makes his case and negotiates his position and acceptance with the grassroots or he changes his potion because he really wants our vote depsite us rejecting his position. We cannot have that when the national party is working to subvert that. Again…Butt the hell OUT!

    AS to polling, Republicans complain about Democrats continually sticking their finger up in the wind to formulate their potiions, isn’t that what Cornyn is doing here?

  • NeoKong

    “? While I agree that we are not/will never be a monolithic party (and I don?t know anyone of any clout that has said we need to be – strawman), are you saying that Crist will be someone that we can count on to ?rally around our core principles.?”

    Nobody has even come close to saying that.What people say is can we please stick to core values and listen to the base.
    Also it would be nice it would be nice if we do not have to try and court people like Colin Powell who has tried to take a wrecking ball to the party all the while proclaiming his love for it.

  • steelstand

    The Cornyn response was predictable. It seems he’d rather support a shoe-in RINO than a true Conservative who may have to battle to get elected. That’s whats WRONG with the party leadership. there is no reason why Rubio couldn’t win , he’s a good man with more courage and intestinal fortitude that the GOP leadership. We don’t need another Mel Martinez! Charlie Crist couldn’t make the tough decisions as Governor because he was more worried about his political career then doing what was best for the state. He will do whatever he needs to do to advance his political career if he gets to DC. That includes being in the pocket of the Democrats when needed ! The GOP leadership should be weeding out RINO’s, not helping them get elected. They just don’t get it !

  • Mike gamecock DeVine
  • Mike gamecock DeVine

    aren’t worth a nickel on Rubio and Crist.

    It is truly sad to see how poor your NRSC collective judgment has fallen and how scared you all are of Obama and how little confidence you have in your conservative principles to carry us back to the majority.

    We lost the majority due to people like Crist. That you don’t see that is quite sad.

  • AceInTX
  • charlesmartel

    Mr. Cornyn for taking time to engage on here, that’s a very good first step for GOP leadership. Please continue to do so, and encourage your colleagues to do the same, and elsewhere.

    I respectfully disagree with you on most of your points, most specifically the idea that people are calling for a “monolithic party.” A commentor above called it a strawman, and it is. We are simply asking that our elected representatives return to the core principles of conservatism. There is plenty of room in our party for anyone who believes in the ideals of a free market, of small government, low taxes and individual liberties. That’s not asking much.

    We can expand our tent by reducing the issues on which we engage. By trying to micromanage the country, we create wedges that don’t need to be there. As a leader in the party, use your influence to return the party to a few core principles and stick to them. Let us handle the rest.

    As for Mr. Crist vs. Mr. Rubio, I completely understand your point about focusing our energies on other fights. That’s fine. But then why don’t you just let the voters of Florida decide who they want to represent them in the general election? Anyone who’s bothering to vote in the primary is well aware of the national situation and the stakes. Let them make their own choice.

    And as for the national situation: How can it get any worse? So what if we lost the Florida seat by running a principled conservative in Rubio? We’ve already lost any semblance of power.

    Finally, a small, but annoying point: Why would you bother to point out Mr. Rubio’s race? Leave that to the Democrats, please.

  • Aaron Gardner

    That’s cool, I will just donate directly to Marco Rubio.

    I would like to thank you for the opportunity to contribute to such a fine candidate as Marco Rubio.

    And for what it’s worth, I don’t really see Crist as a change in strategy between 2006 and now, when he loses I hope you finally come to this realization.

  • Scott Mustian

    Senator Cornyn,

    I appreciate your willingness to reach out to the concerns to Red State readers. While I still disagree with your position, you are at least not ignoring the objections.

    I still believe beltway insiders are missing the big picture within not only the party but the electorate in general. You are playing the safe “politics as usual” with this senate seat further reinforcing the distress many conservatives feel with the Republican party. Most of us still felt like John McCain became the nominee without the support of actual Republicans and especially conservatives..

    You have missed a golden opportunity to have the Republican party choose its candidate. Had you allowed Governor Crist to pursue the seat in a neutral environment and he won, you would have had the enthusiastic support of conservatives in the general election. Instead a Crist victory will further remind the conservative base that the party is not listening.

    Furthermore imagine the message for 2012 if Rubio is victorious for the seat in 2010 … as a fellow conservative I have to believe you really want to see real conservatives triumph.

    There is hunger for honest politicians running on principles and not conventional politics. I live in Kentucky and it has been distressing watching the machinations regarding Senator Bunning. I feel like we are being moved to another insider career politician who will speak one way and legislate another … time will tell how this plays out but I hope the NRSC will at least stay out of this race if Senator Bunning does retire.

    Regards,

    Scott Mustian

  • dmartin

    Democrat rule or Republican rule under people like Crist, whats the difference? Republicans like Crist are responsible for the current condition of the party, if the NRSC insists on supporting candidates like him they will have to do it without my money.

    I have posted this before, but it bears repeating. Effective politicians dont move to the center, they move the center to them.

  • bricklavin

    Rather than simply post your position and hope that salves over the open wound that you widened with your unnecessary support of Gov. Crist.

    The thrust of your argument appears to be that we need to unite to achieve political victories in order to later fight for our core principles. A far better approach, sir, is to seek both political and principled victories simultaneously.

    You would best fulfill the stated objective of your job by finding ways to articulate core Republican values (including social values) and fight boldly for those values in a way that appeals to and INSPIRES the reasonable minded, traditional people that STILL constitute the majority of Americans.

    Until you do so, you will continue to lose support both from the right and from the center, not to mention from this longtime Republican Texan.

  • ss396

    What do you expect when Cornyn himself voted in favor of TARP I. To cast such a vote and still be named chairman of the NRSC is why he makes that very revealing and appalling statement “We were stunned.” Nothing could more clearly demonstrate the disconnect between the clubby Senatorial coterie, and the voters who put them there.

    Following his stunning little revelation are the wonderfully contradictory back-to-back statements:

    Each Party is fundamentally a coalition of individuals rallying around core principles with some variations along the way. My job as Chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee is to recruit candidates who have the best chance of winning and holding seats ? and to do so in as many states as possible.

    That is, rally around the core principles, but play the numbers game to hold seats. In my world that is called “paying lip service”. The NRSC has got to be more than a Society to Re-install Past Committee Chairmen. I am wondering more and more if the debate isn’t so much about votes vs. core principles as it is about the purpose of the party itself.

    The success at the polls in 2010 and 2012 is presented as a choice between purity, or numbers: either rally around core principles, or go for 50%+1. Why does it have to be ‘either/or’? Why can’t it be both? Better still – how can it be both? Republican party success at the polls depends entirely upon the answer to that question.

  • eburke

    if you would have posted something other than the same old inside-the-beltway tripe. You lost me at

    “While we all might wish for a Party comprised only of people who agree with us 100 percent of the time, this is a pipedream.”

    I am beyond sick of hearing this meme trotted as a subsitution by moderates and liberals within the Party as a means to deflect any discussion on the merits of what’s *really* happening within the GOP. If you desire *any* credibility whatsoever with the conservative food soldiers who do all the heavy lifting for the GOP, you may want to drop it from your ‘arsenal’.

    Many of the points I wish to make have already been made much more eloquently than I could hope for by those who posted before me. So I will hit two points that have yet to be mentioned:

    1) California’s economic crisis is currently a walking poster child for what happens when you institute liberal, socialistic policies. The GOP should be hanging that albatross around the necks of the Dems on a daily basis. Unfortunately, we can’t. Why? Because the GOVERNOR of the state who is promoting a lot of those policies is a freakin’ REPUBLICAN!!!! According to your ‘logic’, that’s ok because he’s got an R next to his name so he’s better than a Dem. Wrong. We get Dem policies, and then are unable to distinguish ourselves to the average, casual voter because our ‘leaders’ sound the same as their ‘leaders.

    2) Relying on that good ol’ moderate, squishy, security blanket which substitues for principal and conviction: “But the polls say….” Senator, last summer the ‘polls’ uniformly showed that Hillary was a shoo-in for the Dem nomination, that the *only* Republican with a *prayer* of stopping her was Rudy Guiliani, and that John McCain’s campaign was dead in the water.

    So, Senator…..how’d that Guiliani-Clinton match-up turn out again?

  • Brian Hibbert

    Yes, the Democrats beat us badly in the last election. But your solution of becoming more like Democrats in order to attempt to win more elections is a losing strategy all around.

    First, we need to offer a clear alternative to the Democrats. This last power shift was the result primarily of Democrats offering great marketing and people tiring of Republicans who were acting too much like Democrats. We won’t win elections by offering up candidates who are lighter versions of the increasingly left leaning Democrats.

    Second, even if we DO manage to get these Democrat light candidates elected, they won’t help us combat the very policies that you claim we need to stop. As in the past, these so called moderates will side with the Democrats in the interest of seeming to be bi-partisan instead of sticking to any core principles. Remember that the direction of the country will shift our way again and when it does, we need to have people in place that will support Republican causes, not Democrat policies.

    Do you REALLY want to pay for the election of another Arlen Specter? Come on, at least make the Democrats pay for their own seats!

    This isn’t a short term game. Let’s start playing a longer term strategy so our party will be stronger in the future.

    Finally, you mention party unity, but you seem to fail to see that your interference in the primary process for an open seat had caused one of the biggest splits in this party. Back out of the primary process and back whoever wins the primary and we’ll do the same. Remember that unity requires both sides to cooperate. We will unite with the NRSC AFTER the primary provided you don’t interfere in the primary.

  • itrytobenice

    But must disagree with this statement:

    I appreciate your willingness to reach out to the concerns to Red State readers. While I still disagree with your position, you are at least not ignoring the objections.

    I don’t see any signs that anyone has responded to any of our complaints yet. All I see is a drive-by diary beating the everloving he!! out of some strawman regarding our desire for a ‘monolithic’ party.

    This isn’t engagement. This is a news release.

  • http://moelane.com/ Moe Lane

    It touches on the good name of the site itself; we do not deliberately put liberals pretending to be conservatives in order to demoralize the latter on the front page of RedState, and I do not appreciate even the implication that we do.

  • SG_Lominac

    via Erick’s mailer, I appreciate the mush. It makes it even easier to dig deep for more cash to Rubio. I understand your predicament somewhat with the media/dems well on their way to choosing our candidate (“The Popular Governor”) but coming from the leadership that was “stunned” that our party was turned away by a country that wanted “change” , I have no sympathy. You offered democrat lite. Why would a country in the process of being bought off go with us when they can be bought off by real crooks? This post leaves me disappointed and pissed off…but determined to help Mr. Rubio. Obama told his followers to “get in their faces”. That’s what we expect from you. You have some 18 months to offer a 180 degree alternative to the socialists. Get cracking.

  • Right Reason

    he should win the primary handily, don’t you agree, Senator Cornyn? If so, why not let the Florida Republicans decide without your interference? Unless, of course, you feel that the Florida Republicans won’t make the “right” decision.

    Excuse me, Senator, but ins’t this top down, we know best style just what you are excoriating Democrats for, with regard to nationalized health care, the auto bailout, Wall Street interference, etc., or are you only against that kind of thing when someone ELSE is making the calls?

  • SESummers

    “Having failed to anticipate shifting national dynamics and the growing appetite for change in America, we lost critical voting constituencies including independents, Hispanics, and young voters nationwide.”

    That isn’t what happened at all. It would be accurate to say “Having failed to live up to (or even acknowledge) our core principles for the last 8 years, many of our former supporters became so disgusted with us that they couldn’t stand to vote for us anymore.”

    You’re not going to make things any better by continuing to sell out our principles by endorsing people like Christ. We’re not expecting “conformity” – we’re demanding that the Republicans stand for just ONE THING – freedom. Christ, and apparently YOU, do not stand for Freedom.

    Until this stupidity is reversed, none of you are getting another dime from me.

  • eburke

    “That isn?t what happened at all. It would be accurate to say ?Having failed to live up to (or even acknowledge) our core principles for the last 8 years, many of our former supporters became so disgusted with us that they couldn?t stand to vote for us anymore.?

    ‘Nuff said!!

  • redloft

    Senator for at least attempting to answer a few of the questions some of the questions that folks here have had. You will never be able to convince everyone, but I think your willingness to engage is comendable.

    Ove rand over we see fellow conservatives longing for the days of Reagan to bring our party back to the forefront. I believe many of us also forget how he did it, and Speaker Gringrich reiterated this just this weekend on Meet the Press-the three ?legs? of the GOP ?stool?: social conservatives, free marketeers, and national security hawks. If we want to find a minimum winning coalition, we have to be accepting of folks that fit into one of these categories. If we simply dismiss a candidate just because he or she doesnt fit a very strict mold of conservatism, than our party is doomed.

  • http://www.hakubi.us/ Neil Stevens

    Poor manners + lack of civility = not even bothering to read.

  • virginianrepub

    Instead of criticizing Chairman Cornyn we need to throw our support behind him, it was his constituents who put in office for another 6 years and it was the party who elected him to NRSC chair.

    Let the man do his job and quit complaining.

  • Aaron Gardner

  • David_Rasbold

    … the rooftops… 55555!

  • smitty

    There are some great responses here Sen. The overwhelming theme is that as Republicans we are tired of our leadership waffling for the past 8 years.

    Now is the perfect time to stand for something (ANYTHING)! The Dems have given us an excellent platform to show what WE stand for. By 2010 we as citizens will have a huge national debt and own 2 lousy car companies that will be run by organized labor.

    What better time to explain to the country that as conservatives we stand for less government, lower taxes and fiscal responsibility? Incidentally, those 3 are all counter to the candidate you decided to back in Fla (but that beside the point I am making here).

    Essentially Senator we want leadership to get us back on message and stop playing politics with polls, thats the Dems job.

  • $peciallist

    And if you want any credibility with the conservative food soldiers…fight against all legislation that puts limitations on Trans-fats…

    support the United Fastfood Alliance of Texas …’Lego my Eggo’

  • pilgrim

    You appear to have been afflicted with an illness common to incumbents in Washington, DC. Going for power and control trump everything else. You object to the Ds controlling the levers and buttons that impact on our economy because you want that power, and not because the US Government should stop trying to control the economy.

    This strategy ain’t working. The rule of holes comes to mind. If you convince folks that there are principles you believe in that are worth more than anything else, then they will support you. Reagan understood this when he fired the air traffic controllers, but I have not seen any understanding like that since.

  • virginianrepub

    I commend Chairman Cornyn for being brave enough to take time to explain his support of Christ.

    By endorsing Crist the NRSC does not have to pour tons of money into this race.

    Great endorsement

  • Mike gamecock DeVine
  • eburke

    too bad we can’t get that same look in the eyes of some of our GOP ‘leaders’ (sans the gun, of course :-) )

  • Amy Miller

    Please, Mr. Cornyn…think of the kittehs!

    Despicable :)

  • itrytobenice

    That’s great, Aaron!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  • penguin2

    Right now, that large voting block segment is unaware of what Obama care is going to mean. The reality, the rationing of health care will hit them first. So, Crist may have name recognition in Fl., but if he supports all of the Obama policies, it means he is a Democrat. In the past he has obviously gotten away with it, but I don’t think he will be able to in the future.

    Just look at Arnold Schwarzenegger in California. He did not stand on principle and let the Dem. controlled legislature run the state into the ground. He could have been out there on the stump, delivering a different message. When the people realize (as they now are in Ca,) how destructive the Dem Nanny state is, there will be a voter revolt.

    Yes, Crist will aid your total numbers as far as positions on committees, but tell me one thing he stands for on our side. And there are multiple platform planks he could address, including but not limited to drilling, fiscal issues, health care and of course, our conservative value issues,-abortion, public school indoctrination, marriage, etc.

    People like myself, were somewhat politically unaware until this election. No more. I would like the Republicans to stand for our principles and to me there is no fuzziness on what the differences of the party should be.

  • http://applescorneroftheorchard.blogspot.com/ Pomme

    It is only commendable if he (or at the very least someone on his staff) engages in the comments that we’ve made.

    It’s rude to just drive-by comment and not care about the consequences of his words. IMHO, of course.

  • itrytobenice

    Around here, this opinion is not widely held.

    The idea that a major Republican national organization would back a candidate with one leg of the stool against a candidate with all three legs just so other Rs can go back to being Mr. Chairman rather than Ranking Member kind of gets under our skin like a burr under a saddle.

  • cwilson

    do you believe Crist inhabits?

    Social issues:
    “I am pro-choice,” he said a decade ago. “I believe that a woman has the right to choose.” (He claims now to be pro-life — but shows scant enthusiasm — or rationale — for his newfound position). A careful observer should suspect political opportunism: he’s certainly demonstrated THAT quality (see below). Crist has presided over what the Miami Herald has called an ?unmistakable march toward more ways to gamble at more places for more hours with more money.?

    Economic issues:
    This week he signed a $2B tax hike in the middle of a recession, less than a month after signing a no-tax-hike pledge. He is a big proponent of Cap-n-Trade. He supported the Porkulus bill. He has no problem with government interference in the market a la The One’s actions with respect to GM and Chrysler: Crist himself has socialized the insurance market in Florida — and is quicky and happily chasing insurance companies (“Good riddance”) out of the state, leaving many with no choice but the government-owned Citizen’s insurance policies, now the largest insurer in the state.

    NatSec:
    I have NO idea. And neither do you. The only hit I could find on google was he said the Iraq War “turned out pretty well”. That’s a far cry from supporting it (it’s also a far cry from Harry Reid’s “This war is lost”). He seemingly has made no statement concerning Guantanamo Bay, which is odd since it’s only 90 miles away. He seemingly had no opinion on the Sami Al-Arian terrorism acquittal, or trial, in this state (He was the Florida Attorney-General at the time).

    So, rather than implying that Charlie “fit(s) into one of these categories” and that it’s bad for the party that “we” are not accepting him — how about you make the case that Gov. PrimeTime actually DOES fit into ANY category? HOW is the man different from Sen. Nelson or any Florida Democrat?

  • Mike gamecock DeVine
  • Mike gamecock DeVine
  • Mike gamecock DeVine

    I meant

  • Common_Cents

    We cannot out-democrat, democrats!!!

    When will Republicans learn that most of the MSM should be treated like a hostile opponent???

    We cannot be fast followers or a me-too party.

    We cannot allow Dems to set the agenda and nobody said we have to play by their rules.

    We must tack now and create clear differences for voters.

    Make DEMS own every last piece of wreckage.

    Look at what is happening in the Sotomayor confirmation. “Bush Sr, a REPUBLICAN, appointed her!!!”

    We cannot be Democrat lite.

    Read my lips, 2nd place is first loser!

  • Michael Dugas

    How on earth can you claim to want to fight the Obama Administrations agendas, particularly fiscally, and then throw your
    vocal support and money behind an alleged Republican who is vocally supporting Obamas agenda? On second thought I don’t want an explanation. There isn’t a suitable one.
    Just like there’s no reason on earth for you to interfere in my state
    prior to the primary. Is it that hard to see the damage you can do to
    Florida GOP voters with this? First off you are trying to remove choices from them. That goes against everything America stand for.
    Secondly you damage the psyche of our voters. A lot of us have no problem throwing our support by the honest winner of a primary. But how do you think we feel when our primary choice is taken away? It would make me angry..not you? And don’t you think that that could very easily lead voters staying home because they feel cheated…robbed in a sense? I do.
    And finally sir you have to stop relying MSM polls to determine what you believe in. There are a whole lot of Republican Floridians who are in no way happy with Crists support of bailouts, stimulus packages and Obama’s policies. That’s Republican voters sir, the ones that vote in those pesky primaries you all are trying to manipulate.
    On your Facebook page I posted about our contact at The Rep. Convention in Dallas many year back. You were a VERY vocal supporter of conservative principle and ideas. We were in charge back then and it looked like everything we believed in was going to be possible. It was easy to be a conservative then.
    I want you to be that same conservative NOW when it matters most. I want you fighting tooth and nail NOW to slow down and stop Obama’s destruction of everything that makes our country
    strong, prosperous and free.
    Wander off the easy path and be a conservative NOW.

  • penguin2

    the appeal of Crist. When is the Florida primary? The results of those Obama failed liberal policies should be showing up and people will be reacting to the whole mess.

  • evanm

    The fact that some Republicans swallow this garbage whole does not excuse him from dispensing it.

  • Aaron Gardner

    He caused it by getting involved in a primary that he has no business being involved in.

    Furthermore his constituents voted for him because he espoused conservatives principles and ideals. His endorsement of Crist is 108 degrees from his own principles.

    And as far as us quiting complaining and allowing him to do his job, well I think you forget that he works for us, not the other way around.

  • eburke

    of Republicans more difficult by promoting candidates who agree with those against whom we are trying to contrast ourselves.

  • http://www.hakubi.us/ Neil Stevens
  • bricklavin

    We are his employer. Not the other way around. When the titular leader untethers political tactics from fundamental party principles, party stakeholders have both the right and the duty to chastise the party’s duly elected managers.

  • Swamp_Yankee

    I’ve always considered myself a die-hard conservative, but sites like this have actually had the effect of making me more pragmatic.

    It?s simply inexplicable to me the amount of man hours, anger, money and resources that conservatives spend fighting other Republicans, especially those in purple and blue states.

    To me, armchair political pundits are like sport fantasy league players, who play without any consideration of the business ledger or the salary cap. They are oblivious to resources. Conserving resources and resource allocation is a key part of their strategic decision making.

    I?m astounded by our inability to challenge vulnerable Democrats. Bennet, Reid, and Lincoln, are showing weak numbers. But just like Pryor and Landrieu before them, we are content letting them skate on through. We got Republicans to fight.

    Do Republicans realize that we have a shot of taking Obama?s Senate seat, Biden?s Senate seat and Reid?s Senate seat in 2010? That would be truly epic.

    But let?s not get bogged down fighting Dems. Dems fight Republicans and Republicans fight Republicans. That seems to be the order of the day.

    The thing is that Republicans will always get sullied reputations. The real myth it is that real conservatives won?t get bashed. Republicans didn?t lose power because we weren?t conservative enough or ethical enough. We lost because the media and the entertainment industry make it their personal mission to destroy us. The unwavering, blistering attacks on Bush were beyond the pale. Any person or party will wilt under such treatment.

    We also lost favor because familiarity breeds contempt. People tend to blame the established party for most of their woes and with no media support it can get brutal for Republicans. We also lost favor because of the 800 pound gorilla in the room that no conservative ever talks about. If you really think spending had more to do with people turning their backs on Republicans in 2006 than Iraq, you are living in a lie. If you want to win, you cannot live a lie. Iraq killed us in 2006 and that trickled into 2008. Far more than NCLB or Medicare D ever did.

  • JadedByPolitics

    It is NOT the place of the RNSC to involve itself in the primaries that is the business of the VOTER’s PERIOD. You all did this with Specter and you helped elect a Democrat, you did it with Chafee and helped elect a Democrat….just curious if you see a pattern evolving where by the NRSC is electing DEMOCRATS. STOP IT PLEASE!!!!!!

    We The People of these United States of America know how to VOTE and we know who we want to VOTE for and WE don’t need you or your organization to tell US how to do it. It is now We The People who will not only help Rubio to get to the Senate but in the same swath make the NRSC irrelevent in future elections! It is a job WE are taking very seriously and I am seriously looking to the end of both Crist and the NRSC! ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!

    You all have LOST two election cycles with your GAMES now the adults in the room will have to ensure that Republicans are elected who actually work with the Republican caucus!

  • bk

    Or if he had used “Vichy Republican” instead of “Moby” perhaps?

  • mbecker908

    However, I will note that while there may be 145 comments at this point, nary a single defense has come forth from Senator Cornyn. I personally find it tiresome that the so-called leaders of the Party come trouncing in here, throw up a weak defense of a decision or policy and then depart, never bothering to deal with any of the points raised by commenters. I frankly didn’t put much effort into my comment because there’s simply no point to it. There is no hint that they pay the slightest attention to well thought out and well presented comments, this stuff is nothing more than something they can point to and say they are “communicating”.

    I’ll give the Bush White House credit for one thing during the run up to the Immigration Reform vote. They sent someone in here to post a diary and then they actually engaged in commentary with RS posters. That sort of behavior is apparently below Congresscritters and frankly I find it offensive. Franz can get away with blanket statements because he’s just that much smarter and that much better than the rest of the world. John Cornyn and the rest of the pathetic group know to us as the Republican Congressional Leadership aren’t anywhere near that good.

  • Mike gamecock DeVine
  • bk

    They have been losing like crazy for the past several years.

  • lawguy9801

    However, I believe you could not be more wrongheaded in your approach, and I definitely made the correct decision in sending a $0 donation card to the NRSC and a demand to be taken off your mailing list. I want NONE of my hard earned money going indirectly to Charlie Crist, in a state a conservative can definitely win.

    Below, I repost what I posted on your Facebook page (before someone deleted it):

    ?Senator Cornyn, I appreciate that you are active on your own Facebook page, unlike many other Congressmen. I read your post below about why the NRSC supports Charlie Crist over Marco Rubio – I was particularly intrigued by your comments that (1) Senate Republicans must stand against Democrat excesses, and (2) the Republican Party must account for regional differences in recruiting candidates.

    (1) The notion that Charlie Crist would stand against Democrat excesses is dubious at best. As you now know, Crist has said that he would have voted with Snowe, Specter and Collins in favor of the disastrous, boondoggle, Democrat-interest-group-payback ?Stimulus? bill. In light of the fact that NO Republicans in the House and only the three aforementioned moderate-to-liberal Republicans (or former Republicans) voted in favor of that absolute travesty, the notion that Charlie Crist would be anything other than a newer version of Arlen Specter does not withstand any scrutiny.

    (2) I generally agree that the party should take into account the character of the state in which the candidate is running. However, I think it is ridiculous to imply that Marco Rubio cannot win a Senate race. The bottom line is that Florida is a center-right state. First, he starts off with the Cuban Republican base in south Florida firmly on his side, and likely the conservative northern part of the state will also be firmly behind him. That leaves the swing areas in central Florida. Are you saying that Rubio – a young, articulate, intelligent, telegenic candidate with a record of accomplishment – is at a disadvantage against Kendrick Meek, the likely Democratic nominee? I find that very hard to believe. Yes, perhaps Rubio doesn?t have Crists?s high name recognition right now, but he has time to fix that in the year and a half before November 2010.

    ?The bottom line is that I ? and many other conservatives ? am irate that the NRSC has chosen to snub a principled conservative who CAN win Florida in favor of a completely unprincipled politician who polls well but seeks power for power?s sake and not to advance any sort of a conservative agenda. (E.g. would any governor with a semblance of conservatism take over his state?s property insurance market?) If this were a primary election in, say, New York or California, your argument may have a bit more strength. However, Florida is very winnable for Rubio in the general, and there is no excuse to throw him overboard in favor of Crist, no matter how superficially high his poll numbers are now. I sent back my NRSC mailer with a $0 donation and a request to take my name off the NRSC mailing list. Until I see a better strategy to advancing the election of as many conservative Republicans in the Senate as possible, I will be donating to individual candidates as I see fit.

  • Mike gamecock DeVine

    Reagan owned it 1982 when the GOP lost lots of seats. This is fundamental.

  • ceili_dancer

    Or is it out of principle?

  • Mike gamecock DeVine
  • ceili_dancer

    I remember seeing Specter/Kerry signs on the net.

  • izoneguy

    He is taking us down depression road. Things will not get better until Obama is gone and his radical agenda reversed.

  • hickosaurus

    Conservative voices will not be heard unless we support Conservative politicians that can effectively communicate conservative policies! Marco Rubio has shown us he’s a true Conservative and I would rather lose fighting than to support Crist because it’s the easy way out!!!! Charlie Crist’s early endorsement of John McCain, in the primaries, got us to this point in the first place!

  • Mike gamecock DeVine

    He denounces the “tone” of Rush and Newt calling out Sotomayor for her racist comments.

    Nothing about the tone of Sotomayor’s racist comments.

    Cornyn is nobody now, absent a real apology and changed behavior.

  • bricklavin

    No thanks.

  • Mike gamecock DeVine
  • E Pluribus Unum

    crist_obama
    .
    That is all.

  • ceili_dancer

    When I look at Gov. Crist, I see Mayor Bloomberg. I see a Republican of convenience, when it’s politically expedient he’s a Republican. When it matters or the finger is in the wind, principles be damned, He’ll support tax increases, “porkulus, Man-made global warming… When the rubber hits the road, crickets are chirping when it counts. (see Snowe and Collins)

  • Vegas_Rick
  • eburke

    A picture is, indeed, worth a thousand words.

  • itrytobenice

    I can’t give you enough 5s for that. So pretend right now that you can see me blowing kisses and winking at you. You are my idol.

  • Darin_H

    Not enough 5′s in the Interwebz for that EPU!

  • INC

    is the way I thought the phrase went.

    Otherwise, comment is worth 1,000 words!

  • MrMosis

    goodness is he ever gifted. And thankfully he uses his gifts for good, perhaps even towards the purposes of God.

    Thanks EPU, time to break out the credit card.

  • TNJim

    I just gave you one 5 because I didn’t want to break my keyboard! Macbook pros are expensive!

  • David_Rasbold

    … let me ratchet it up a bit. Even with an apology he is a nobody now. An apology would just mean he was “caught” and likely wouldn’t signify an actual change of heart or behavior. It would only be to placate.

    It should now be one of our goals to see Cornyn replaced as head of the NRSC. The first step in that is to make sure Rubio is nominated as the Republican candidate.

    I’ve donated to Rubio and encourage others to donate today.

  • Mike gamecock DeVine

    investors then were investing because of the policies Reagan put in place. Not now and really not since 2007 when the dems took over Congress.

    The recession is a LONG way from the bottom and yes, it may well get so bad that it could be called a depression and it is going to take years to fix it.

  • Mike gamecock DeVine

    he should be replaced but Jeff Sessions can’t fill all the positions, and I can’t think of any real conservatives in the Senate besides him just now…

  • izoneguy

    I think I am done with our Senators….
    I will actively be looking for new folks to take their place.
    Cornyn’s canned responses to my e-mails were the typical political drivel. Kay Bailey is no better, worse even. It is time for real conservatives to step up and swing for the fences.

  • Mike gamecock DeVine
  • Mike gamecock DeVine

    is to watch the so called stars like Cantor, Cornyn et al fold like beach chairs under fear of Obama and the drive bys, just as the economy is tanking and making the ground fertile for a conservative comeback next year.

  • eburke

    rather than playing to win…’cause we lack the courage of our convictions (probably ’cause most of these guys have none.)

  • eburke

    at least produced some ‘short-term’ results. This ‘pandering’ gig gets neither.

  • SESummers

    “Senator Cornyn, your statement explaining why Republicans have lost support is, in my estimation, in conflict with reality. It appears that you’re either being deliberately disingenuous, perhaps in order to defect blame for your ACTUAL failings that have really caused the problem, or there may be flaws in your ability to comprehend reality, possibly caused by an intellectual deficit, or more likely just wishful thinking.”

    I’d have said that instead, but it wouldn’t fit in the comment title, and the attitude that “if we can just get our tactics right we can fool ‘em and win elections again” (instead of realizing that without our principles, Republicans are just as bad as Democrats), has me so angry that I thought the blunt version was more appropriate.

    My apologies if it came across more offensive than I’d intended.

  • $peciallist

    Our leaders are folding like a ______………(fill in the blank)

    i’ll start….’Cheese Omelette’……..

  • Kitty

    It was the Dem establishment that said that Hillary was inevitable. They gave Obama zero chance.

    Is it so hard for you to understand that Republicans may want a Republican to represent them. I have a feeling that Crist would run better as a Democrat than a Republican.

    Give the voters a choice – they may just choose the Republican

  • David_Rasbold

    If there’s ever been a case for human cloning… this is it.

  • Mike gamecock DeVine
  • itrytobenice

    I want at least 50 Coburn clones as well.

    *Oh happy daaayyyyy*

  • eburke

    have our shorts in a wad:

    “Do Republicans realize that we have a shot of taking Obama?s Senate seat, Biden?s Senate seat and Reid?s Senate seat in 2010?”

    So let’s go DO that!!!! Instead, our bold, fearless leaders at the NSRC are spending human and financial resources taking sides in a GOP primary battle between a liberal and a conservative in a light Red state! And against an young, articulate, fearless pol who is a member of the very ethnic group that the same clowns who made this decision spend countless hours plotting to ‘win over.’

    We conservatives didn’t pick this fight. Cornyn and the NSRC did. If ya want to get cranky with someone, ya might want to start there.

  • Aaron Gardner

    Crist and Cornyn did. The point is that the NRSC shouldn’t be involved in endorsing either Crist or Rubio in the fricken primary.

    Let the primary be decided by the voters instead of the NRSC. After their is a clear Republican candidate then everyone in the party should try and stand behind the Republican and fight the Democrat.

    Why is this concept so hard for so many to understand.

    Rubio entered the race for the Senate in February.

    Crist entered the race in May.

    NRSC endorsed Crist on the same day as his announcement.

    The time line is clear Crist and Cornyn caused a division where none was needed. Also take into account that Crist could have run for another term as Governor and you start to really wonder what the heck Crist and Cornyn were thinking, if they were at all.

  • bk

    That would have avoided much of this grief, right?

  • http://www.ssce.net/Web-Articles/Web-articles-indexed-authors.html#authors-l JLenardDetroit

    Thanks for joining the crowd Swamp ;-) lol

    Some go off on the Monolithic comment…. ROTFLMAO….
    Have they been paying ANY ATTENTION to some of the conversations around RedState. I also know some, first hand, here in Michigan all of whose in depth Sit-It-Out discussion attitudes are part of the reason we had retained Governor Jennifer Gran(munist)holm and got Debbie Stab(y)enow(andagainlater) and stuck with Carl Levin seemingly forever! So please people, don’t pretend you don’t know some 100%ers!!!!!

    As for the rest of it…. I have been EXTREMELY outspoken regarding an EXCEPTION to;/for Florida based on the REQUIREMENT to hold that seat.

    I’m not going to bother to repeat everything, but for those who happen to stop by to do anything other than JUMP THE BANDWAGON RIDE TO RUNOVER THE SENATOR…. You can look at the talk via the links below and JUDGE FOR YOURSELF on a CASE BY CASE BASIS not some MONOLITHIC POLICY OF CONSERVATIVES NEED ONLY APPLY – that we are seeing some of in this very Diary, while trying to say…. “but, really… we’re not 100%ers”….. READ YOUR OWN WRITINGS IN THIS DIARY FOLKS!!!!!!

    Before I go on I’ll remind… I’m for Toomey (he has/is ESTABLISHED) we do NOT need Ridge (his negatives with Dem’s tying him to Bush would NOT work)….. I am for Rubio IF he can step up and demonstrate a GOOD CHANCE to win the General, though am lambasted daily for my willingness to “understand” the strategy and need to hold that FL seat……

    For the Open Minded looking to make decisions based on objective strategy decisions on a case by case basis you may want to check out some of these conversations…..As I’ve said, I will continue to point out the other POINTS in each regard on this Daily (sometimes hourly) DEMANDS rather than asking to work together…. and yet people wonder why they are not responsive….. Why he bothered to provide any material is a mystery to me…..

    +using Primaries to build up future candidates – using Primaries to build up future candidates
    +Crist/Rubio 12pts – Crist/Rubio 12 points [with links] (since it has some links, I’m not going to try and recreate it all with cut/paste)
    +Crist & taxes – Crist and taxes [includes press-links]
    +    sitting out elections banter – in depth Sit-It-Out discussion
    +RNC called – RNC called, I hung up!
    +Daily Dimes Dichotomy – creating an NRSC: Daily Dimes Dichotomy
    +how AltParty is RINOism – can one catch RINOvirus?
    +working together – standing up about working together
    +Primary McLame – going at McCain in a Primary, finally
    +GOP Platform – GOP (still Conservative) Platform
    +Deli-story – Deli-story
    +ZERO-strategy – ZERO-strategy
    +Red-Dogs – Red-Dogs, RINOs, CINOs, DINOs, PLINOs, and Blue-Dogs, oh my… The Political Zoo – what/who are they?
    +BLUE-ism – BLUE-ism
    +Bi-Partisan – again, Bi-Partisanship has really been Democrats joining with Republicans (here) and here
    +Issues – 2008 Election Issues recap [with links]
    +Contract – Contract with America (original, a part 2?)
    +unintended consequences – unintended consequences (Democrats always ignore)
    +Daniel Hannan (British MEP) – mbecker’s: What the Leader of the Republican Party should sound like! Productive vs non-Productive sectors of the Economy same here as in UK.
    +Extortion – Extortion, pure and simple (to raise taxes or avoid legislation)

  • eburke

    starts attempting to attack the Dems for their policies (I know, allow me to dream here) you don’t think that the NDSC would run this picture in any ads undercutting Crist, do ya?

    I mean…they wouldn’t do something like *that* would they?

  • smagar

    Are you a judge, in real life?

  • randy streu

    Unless they have reason to believe a photo of Crist snuggling Barry would annoy them in a way that actually VOTING for a Dem would not.

  • bk

    would the NDSC just run comments from Cornyn and the like about how Rubio can’t win because he doesn’t follow the “big tent” approach?

  • eburke
  • eburke

    an aneurysm if I don’t get this off my chest.

    Senator Cornyn, THIS is yet another proof that you and the rest of the GOP leadership just don’t get it:

    “With an almost filibuster-proof majority in the Senate, and Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid at the helm in Washington, the Democrats have already successfully used their majority…blah, blah, blah.”

    To use one of the all-time classic film phrases: Hey McFly!!! Hello!! For at a minimum of the last 2 election cycles we (okay, *you*) have been running a “Vote for us ’cause we’re not as liberal as them” campaign. All the stupid ads which with dire, somber music talk about electing Republicans ’cause it’ll keep the mean, evil Democrats out of power.

    1) If you actually think that the ‘squishy middle’ which determines elections even knows who the hell Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid are, I want whatever it is you’re smoking ’cause it must be some really good stuff; and,

    2) If you don’t think that these same people don’t see those ads as what they really are which is: Vote for us because then we’ll have the power instead of them”, well, then….see my request above. They may be uninvolved…..that doesn’t mean they’re totally stupid.

    People don’t vote *for* someone because that person is *against* something else. People flock to leaders who they intuitively sense are *for* something. *THAT* is how RR created a big tent. He didn’t spend all day figuring out how to pander to the electorate…he LED them to the tent by being unapologetic about his beliefs. THAT is why people who didn’t necessarily agree with him on every jot and tittle voted for him anyway – because he was a LEADER!!!

    Ya might want to try that sometime.

    Rant: Off

  • itrytobenice

    A terrorist with a Marine in his face.

    A losing hand of 5 card stud.

  • itrytobenice

    These guys aren’t leaders. Leaders lead. These guys are just desperately grasping onto their seats while the democrats use them for wallpaper.

  • JustLeaveMeAlone

    n/t

  • 6eorge Jetson

    I thought that one was obvious

  • E Pluribus Unum

    My, oh, my, itrytobenice!

  • E Pluribus Unum

    Now THAT is an interesting and germane point there, RR. Good question.

  • bk

      

  • http://moelane.com/ Moe Lane

    Oh, the name-calling would still be at best problematical, but considering how high passions are on this particular subject you tell me how to keep it down to a dull roar.

  • bk

    in terms of most responses generated in the shortest time.

  • Aaron Gardner

    see here and here, although this attempt at spreading the word seems to have bit Cornyn in the biscuits since the majority of opinions from the second link seem to side with the base rather than the NRSC’s flawed logic.

    But i suppose Cornyn can be proud that TPMDC agrees with him and seen fit to use his words to further the divide between the base and the NRSC.

    Great job Senator….with work like that the Dems won’t even need to campaign…you are more than willing to do it for them.

  • Mike gamecock DeVine

    with the GOP. I challenged my church as a teen on this and the legal community in my home town. I left the dem party over this once I realized it was racist.

    And while I really don’t even pretend to understand the whole moby/troll crap, I did agree with you on your chastisement of Cornyn, and that was before we learned of his NPR attack on Rush and newt for speaking the obvious truth about Sotomayor and Obama.

  • JoeG

    May I suggest that before you allow any “leadership” to post and run, that you request a gentleman’s agreement that it will be a conversation.

    Sen. Thompson did so. Many others post and never come back to read the responses.

  • $peciallist

    ‘Folding like a terrorist with a Marine in his face.’…lol

  • Aaron Gardner

    For the record part of being respectful is to put up evidence when you make accusations.

    Name one regular poster in this thread who is calling for 100%’ers.

    And I find this comment to be highly disrespectful:

    For the Open Minded looking to make decisions based on objective strategy decisions on a case by case basis…

    Am I to assume that you mean those of us who are strictly against the NRSC being involved in primaries are closed minded Neanderthals who base their decisions solely on ideology instead of objective strategy decisions?

    Seriously…this calling everyone else out while riding the fricken fence shtick is getting real old real fast.

  • http://www.ssce.net/Web-Articles/Web-articles-indexed-authors.html#authors-l JLenardDetroit

    Having created the Message Sending Daily Dimes Dichotomy – creating an NRSC: Daily Dimes Dichotomy strategy by which we Conservatives can/do send a Physical message that can/will get their attention….. (Plus, the long ago: RNC called – RNC called, I hung up! telling them I want to see a better message than last election before I’ll contribute again)….

    But then there is the Lose, lose, lose…. but how everyone will self-justify to themselves their actions as a WIN (actually WE won this, because we lost that election – we lost that, despite having won that election – etc) somehow while having given Democrats more seats/power…… The people who SitOut the Election or Vote for an Alternate Party Candidate will point fingers at the RNC/NRSC/etc… saying they didn’t provide inspiring enough Candidates in order to garner their vote…. While the Democrats thank them for handing them the Elections… oops, I mean, of course, the losing Candidates/RNC/NRSC/etc will blame the Base (and not so incorrectly) that the LOYALTY THING is a two-way street….. Everybody will blame everyone else and accept ZERO fault of their own and/or fellow Republicans…. The “Chicken or the Egg” of who aggrieved whom first…. and the YOU MUST do this before I’ll do that – that leaves both sides in a 6 year old children Staring to see who blinks first contest while, again, Democrats keep winning…. I can still hear them now… “You go first” … “No, you go first poopy-face”…. “I’m not a poopy-face, you’re a poopy-face” …. “Am not…” Yet no-one will recognize those arguments happening here with only slightly higher language/rhetoric.

  • Aaron Gardner

    instead of making this into an argument about conservatives v. moderates as you seem to be insistent upon doing.

    To me this isn’t about conservatives v. moderates, this is about the NRSC sticking their noses into primaries that they really have no business being involved in.

    If Vermont wanted to put up a Crist against Leahy and no other primary challengers campaigned I would support Crist…hands down.

    But those aren’t the facts about what is happening and you can try and ride the fence with this be respectful mantra while taking veiled shots at those who take issue with what the NRSC is doing but that stil won’t change the facts.

    So for the last time time, this isn’t about RINO v CONSERVATIVE it is about the NRSC v. the People of Florida having the right, more so the duty, to choose their own standard bearer for the Florida GOP and Senate seat.

    So please quit.

  • http://theminorityreportblog.com David Hinz

    for 9 cents…

    I expect the cost of processing the thing to FAR out-weigh the donation…

  • JadedByPolitics
  • http://www.ssce.net/Web-Articles/Web-articles-indexed-authors.html#authors-l JLenardDetroit

    having said many times the NRSC should butt out of Primaries….

    Next…. ;-) lol

    and I had provided links in that post you responded to, for one… as for the ones I speak of here in my home state… you want their phone numbers I presume?!?! You’ll find most of them now at Libertarian Party rallies or Taxpayer Union Party (or whatever it’s called today) that will NOT get one candidate elected.

    You have a point in that you said “name one in this thread”… I don’t know if those to which I referred (in part in those links) are participating in ‘THIS” thread, was saying there are some here at RS in general. Did I say those in this thread? NO. But it again doesn’t stop some from insisting on parading around in the shoes. And again, I specifically said I know some in my own State, so it is NOT all about RS. I find it amazing that you might actually think some of those folks aren’t here and/or out there when you read/reply to alot of the same posts I do.

    There is one user here at RS, I’m not going to name him directly, that I respect for at least having admitted in 100% plain talk he is more than happy to NOT vote if he doesn’t have his First choice candidate – while many others still dance around it (That last statement is GENERAL, of course,, not about you, just responding to your post). Another user I have respect for because “he” finally admitted he says he’ll leave or SitOut “in emotional fits” at time…. I can appreciate that honesty… and that may be true of others, but we don’t know that if they don’t admit that at times…. We certainly do not see everything posted here at RS.

    /SARCASM

    Take care

    I will also be one of the few with the gumption to state plainly that there are plenty of folks that would just prefer a Pat ourselves on the Back Echo Chamber here….. Again, not going to name names, but I throw those shoes into the middle of the Floor (and you yourself know darn well) there are plenty of people those shoes FIT!

    You said it was “veiled insults” well I made some specific ones here (not naming names though) and I’ll state specifically not the intent but I could also equally employ the tactic and just accuse you of attempting to dismiss by accusation. But I’d rather not play that game.

    If not 100%, I don’t seem to ever see anyone attempt to put that magic % out there to what they “will accept”… I have said I am more than happy to work with 75%+ folks in the Party.

    My intent is certainly NOT to argue with you …. It was/is only to point out to Cornyn and the few others willing to step up on occasion and disagree with the Majority here at RedState that they are not alone and that others see it whether or not they respond or not! It is strictly a CASE BY CASE basis that I will agree or disagree, based on merit of each thought/strategy.

    I disagree with analysis on ONE RACE, and I get grief like I’m in 100% opposition at times IMO… but I will remain having the courage to go against the grain…..

    I could just as easily joined in the choir with the do not donate (which I agree with and is in 2 of the links I provided, and that I specifically spelled out in another post in this thread)….. but I will not inspire others who may disagree to ever speak up if I don’t complete the thought of when/where I disagree…. And the focus always seems to be on the disagreement part… Human nature, of course, why bother (other than to Pat ourselves on the Back in the Echo Chamber) to only chime in where we agree….

    So keep up the good work and speaking out when/where you disagree… I will do the same… and I encourage others to do likewise…. but people see the examples of the responses of the few of us willing to buck the “normal” outrage response people prefer to see in response to Cornyn. I think it is a shame that some of them that I suspect would otherwise speak up for WORKING TOGETHER feel they should remain silent…. Go along to get along.

    I now return you to the normal Echo Chamber ;-) lol :)

  • Mike gamecock DeVine

    provide a verifiable quote. Moderates are demanding that conservatives shut up and have since 2006.

  • mbecker908

    Is a by-product of my complete frustration with both what passes for Republican Leadership and the history of people like Cornyn popping in here, tossing in a diary that generates significant commentary that challenges the fundamental policies being promoted by the “leadershilp” and not bothering to respond to a single issue raised.

    As I noted above, I did respect the Bush WH for at least sending in sacrificial lambs to respond to comments. Cornyn, etal can’t even bother with that. As far as I’m concerned that’s pretty standard moby/troll behavior even if it is posted on the front page. They aren’t the least bit interested in discussing the issues, they’re just interested in making us go away (as in shut up).

    I’m irritated by all the “thanks Senator” for this drive by piece of unmitigated BS (note to bs: caps, not “you”). As Aaron notes above, this is nothing more than smoke and mirrors that they can use to promote the utterly false idea that the NRSC is doing anything but promoting themselves. Senator Cornyn has been in DC too damn long.

  • Mike gamecock DeVine

    and in general I am so focused on substance, that it must explain my complete disinterestedness in identifying trolls.

    But I agree with you.

  • 6eorge Jetson

    As would Vichy, Squish, or other non-conspiracy-implying pejoratives

  • Mike gamecock DeVine
  • mbecker908

    But I’m pretty close to being angry. And you’re right.

  • RedInABleuState

    …with a chorus of AMENs!

  • RedInABleuState

    “This isn?t a short term game. Let?s start playing a longer term strategy so our party will be stronger in the future.”

  • Aaron Gardner

    All those comments in you post about echo chambers is crap and you know it….we have lively debate around here…even between solid conservatives.

    And again I will point out to you that this isn’t about conservatives v. moderates, it is about the role of the NRSC in primaries.

    The top down method of politics doesn’t work, the good Senator works for us, not the other way around.

    He needs to learn to be responsive to us because we are the ones who put him in the Senate and provide all of the money the NRSC doles out.

    The fact that you can’t grasp this concept is disturbing to say the least.

    But go ahead and keep telling everyone how they should be respectful while you veil your attacks in sarcasm and happy faces….your fifteen minutes a going by fast…it would behoove you to make a course correction.

  • $peciallist

    special@pacbell.net

  • eburke

    nice snark SE (I just *love* sarcasm :-)

  • http://theminorityreportblog.com David Hinz

    we are the rightwing nutcases that Sen Spectre warned him about…

    All 48 million of us…

  • itrytobenice

    and kudos.

    Well said.

  • http://www.hakubi.us/ Neil Stevens

    Do you have any evidence for this accusation, that redloft is shilling for the NRSC?

  • Aaron Gardner

    because the NRSC doesn’t reply to comments that are made to their own FP posts…;^)

  • itrytobenice

    that there’s a Republican voter out there somewhere who thinks it is appropriate for the NRSC to interfere in R primaries and promote the more liberal candidate over the conservative candidate. It is even *possible* – though I would think remote – that the same person would care about politics to an extent that would lead him/her to a political website like RS.

    But I think there are just higher odds that whoever posted this diary on Sen. Cornyn’s behalf thought it would be well not to have 100% of the comments in opposition to the opinions they expressed in the diary.

    Now if I had access to all that gorgeous supersecret information that you guys have…my naturally nosy nature would have me all over it trying to figure out who this is. It’s either a rare species of Republican or a plant.

  • Aaron Gardner
  • Aaron Gardner

    ….although it is better explained in the books, the basic idea is that the Emperor from Episode VI is actually about the 4th or 5th generation of clone…and that is why his face is all distorted and messed up….Of course Lucas ruined all that when he made Episode III Revenge of the Sith and made it appear that the Emperor was disfigured due to Mace Windu blocking the Emperor’s Force Lightning back onto Emperor Palpatine.

    Anyhow…I think i have fully exposed myself as a Star Wars geek at this point so I suppose I should just shut up…;^)

  • http://theminorityreportblog.com David Hinz

    he’s the smartest man in the room…

    :-) :-) :-)

    We can all make smiley feces

  • $peciallist

    totally awesome jeopardy pic….extremely well done

  • 6eorge Jetson
  • $peciallist

    Stars Wars kicks butt on Wiki…

  • http://www.hakubi.us/ Neil Stevens
  • Aaron Gardner

    BTW If L.A. had played all their games like they did tonight the series would have been over by game 4…congrats!!

  • redloft

    and once I will say this again, I do not work for the NRSC. I realize I hold an unpopular point of view on this issue, but I like the fact that the NRSC is trying to clear the field in order to save resources. Not only did Republican leadership ask Crist to run, but the numbers are in his favor by so much, this seat is a virtual lock. Put aside your ideology for a second and look at the bigger picture. The seat is Crist’s (assuming a nightmare scandal does not takes place). Take the win and move on.

  • http://www.hakubi.us/ Neil Stevens

    Odom needs to stay awake!

  • http://www.hakubi.us/ Neil Stevens

    Nuggets fan?

    If so it must be heartbreaking for your team to stop playing defense for the last 5 quarters of the season. Just infuriating, even if Mike Breen was terribly biased in your favor (well, anti-Lakers…)

  • bs

    I’d say there are plenty of such voters. Even if the polls are off by a factor of two, there’s still a bunch of ‘em out there.

  • http://briansimpson.wordpress.com Brian Simpson

    Check processing is usually about 10 cents.

  • MrMosis

    In fact there are so many good comments here…. I hope the aides print it out and hand a hard copy of all this to the good Senator. I hope Michael Williams can help bring him back home when he joins him in ’10, if it’s not too late by then.

  • smagar

    Are you saying that Crist isn’t popular among Florida Republicans?

    Cornyn picked Crist because of his electability.

  • Achance

    I’m not a cold call or just somebody on a registered voter list. I have a long record of contributing to the Republican Party at various levels and some years in significant amounts. Nevertheless, I constantly get the calls made by some semi-literate call center worker wanting me to help them stop some or another evil Democrat and elect Republicans; never a word about policy or program, mostly, I think, because the RSCC, the RNCC, and the RNC itself has no policy or program beyond getting their butts back in the big chairs.

  • eburke

    who is Michael Williams? Running for KBH’s seat? I grew up in the Dallas area and my folks still live there so I’m just curious. Wanna give ‘em a heads up on any promising candidates they can support.

    Thanks!

  • Aaron Gardner

    But I was never a Nuggets fan….I grew up in Phoenix and love the Suns…regardless of their poor performance this year…;^)

  • cwilson

    from another Floridian against Prime Time Charlie. I can’t believe Cornyn believes this tripe about Crist’s electability. Sure, he won the governorship on the backs of what are now known to be simply campaign promises lies, and his star is fading fast among actual Republicans. Democrats love him, so his overall ratings remain fairly high. BUT….

    In the general election, those Democrats will have their own candidate to vote for. Why would they support an almost-Democrat, whom they like better than other Republicans, when they have the Real Thing? Meanwhile, Gov. No-New-Taxes has squandered ANY possible support from his own party voters, ignoring Beltway-types like Cornyn.

    No, I don’t think Crist is a very strong candidate for Senate at all — and ticking off Hispanics in this state by publicly dissing Rubio, while trying to replace Mel Martinez, is a REALLY bad idea.

    Senator Cornyn, YOU are part of the problem WE Republican grassroots have with the Party. Since you refuse to lead, then follow or get out of the way. Change IS coming.

  • http://www.hakubi.us/ Neil Stevens

    Heh.

    Steve Kerr.

    Hee hee.

    Steve Kerr.

    Steeeeeeve. Kerrrrrrrrr.

    What he has against his employer I’ll never know.

  • cwilson

    …who love Charlie, but will have their own candidate in the general to vote for.

  • cwilson

    …but that’s what I’m saying. Prime Time Charlie is popular among Florida democrats. But they’ll have their own candidate to vote for in the general election. Why would they vote for New Coke when they’ll have Coke Classic on the ballot?

  • Aaron Gardner
  • eburke

    I think that’s the whole point of about 275 of these posts.

    For the “I’ll vote for any human being who hasn’t assumed room temperature as long as they have an ‘R’ next to their name” crowd, I would like to know (in all seriousness) your answers to the following questions/informational requests:

    1) Please provide the data proving that a young, telegenic, articulate, conservative Hispanic (you know, a member of a class that the ‘identity politics wing’ of the party says we’re supposed to be ‘reaching out to) can’t win in a light red state that overwhelmingly elected Jeb Bush twice despite his last name.

    2) Please provide the name of the winner of the Guiliani/Clinton matchup that the ‘data’ in the summer of ’07 said was inevitable in the ’08 election

    3) California is an economic basket case right now as a result of liberal, socialistic, public employee union politics. Please explain how the GOP is supposed to hold CA up as a living, breathing example of failed Dem policies when the Governor who is promoting most of them is a Republican.

    4) Unless every respected economist that’s not in the tank for The One is wrong, we will be in the midst of a nasty downturn by the time 2010 elections roll around. Please explain how Charlie Crist in his campaign in FL, or the NSRC nationwide, draws a distinciton between us and them when Crist not only supported Porkulus and the stimulus package, he slobbered all over The Messiah and begged for its passage.

    5) Please explain how Crist in FL, or the NSRC nationwide, castigates the Dems for raising taxes during an economic downturn when Crist just got done doing the same thing in FL.

    6) Please name *any* leg of the stool of the Reagan Republican party of which Charlie Crist has demonstrable proof that he supports.

    7) Finally (not because I’m out of questions but because this is going to become a full-length diary pretty soon), When Barry leaves the White House (God, let it be soon), if he moves to your state, switches to the Republican Party and runs for the Senate again, would you vote for him in the general election against the Dem candidate.

    Just wondering

  • randy streu

    nice rundown.

  • eburke
  • Aaron Gardner

    ok…not quite as good as Khhhaaaannnnn!!!! But I think you get the picture…lol

    I didn’t like the trades he made even though Shaq had a good year and Richardson made an impact, I still think we lost a lot in Bell and Marion. And the coaching changes…really you can’t change the Suns into a fricken east coast defensive style of team…it just won’t work and the fans really can’t stand it.

    Hopefully he has learned his lesson.

  • INC

    Do I ever agree. I was thinking this yesterday. Why does Cornyn post something and then never come back to engage and defend and answer objections?

    What’s the point? I think it only raises frustration here.

  • smagar

    who votes to put people like Carl Levin in charge of Armed Services and Pat Leahy in charge of picking the nation’s lifetime judiciary

  • smagar

    pretty well, I’d think.

    Life is not all about domestic politics.

  • smagar

    then so am I.

  • smagar

    Crist just won statewide election, right?

    Are you saying that the people who voted to have him run their home state’s affairs won’t send him to Washington? Why?

  • DONTREADONME

    the GOP is going to do exactly what you are arguing for here? As much as I disagree with you on this point, it does not make a difference because the GOP will take your advocated posture versus our advice. That being said, what will it take as far as elections go to convince you that we were right and you were wrong? Of course you will say, I know I am right, but a small exercise in what if? The last two elections convinced me I am right, but my advice will not be heeded and it appears the GOP will follow exactly what you believe is the best course. So, I will admit I am wrong if the GOP is able to pick 25% more seats in the House and 10% more seats in the Senate in the 2010 election. I am giving you 10% in the Senate since the majority of seats up for re-election are the GOP.

  • Mike gamecock DeVine

    the recession will be so bad that the GOP will pick up many seats next year in spite of ourselves.

  • Aaron Gardner

    sorry…no sale.

  • eburke
  • http://www.hakubi.us/ Neil Stevens

    I was always a fan of Marion even during the tough playoff series.

    I was all smiles.

  • http://www.ssce.net/Web-Articles/Web-articles-indexed-authors.html#authors-l JLenardDetroit

    it costs them further if you send the donation back in a pre-paid postage envelope that came from a mailing from them to begin with – creating an NRSC: Daily Dimes Dichotomy – which is why I created the strategy for Conservatives to send a physical message (separate letter can, of course, be included with it) but getting the ultra-small donation – if enough RedStates and even beyond start to do it – will get some attention. They will know the concept came from us here at RedState. I originally said $1 and AceinTX said dime, giving the strategy its name. Another user, forget who off hand, suggested sending an actual DIME painted Red, but we all know we’re not supposed to send actual money through the mail.

    If enough people do it, they certainly won’t have to acknowledge our grievances but (again, if they get enough) the word should start to get around. They are going to just plain ignore the complaints they are getting any/every where else.

  • http://theminorityreportblog.com David Hinz

    the time and energy involved in recording and acknowledging all of those 10 cent donations is priceless

  • http://www.ssce.net/Web-Articles/Web-articles-indexed-authors.html#authors-l JLenardDetroit

    to deal with the contribution (or as someone else pointed out, who I don’t recall – may have been AceinTX) or to spend the money to send it back which costs them time/money (they remind us every penny counts) also…. Either way, sends a physical message/point rather than just words here at RS that they are probably ignoring anyway.

    I stuck with Ace’s change to a Dime because I could call it a 3D strategy
    Daily Dimes Dichotomy – creating an NRSC: Daily Dimes Dichotomy…. Dave can speak for himself, but I think he wanted to take it that one step further based on a Diary by Erick called “NOT One Dime” – hence 9 cents being NOT One Dime…. Again, not supposed to send actual “Money” but a physical dime would probably irritate them too!

    I’m waiting on an RNC mailing so I’ll have a postage paid return envelope to send a DIME to the RNC also…. Goes back to a 02/09 Diary: RNC called, I hung up!…. I told them I expect to see something worth supporting before I’ll donate again, but this Dime Donation Dichotomy (if you prefer that 3″D”) sends them a physical message by which I make my point – and will include a note with the donation (maybe even a copy of that RNC diary)….

    This message works coming from anyone, but of course matters (a tad bit) more coming from those of us who have been contributing in the past – letting them know funds they would have otherwise counted on are not coming this time!!! And, we get mailings and those Postage-paid return envelopes that then cost them when we send in our minuscule donation.

    Not sure you saw that one Dave…. Maybe you did and didn’t have any Sticks sharpened that day ;-) (inside joke for dave/me)

    So again, if enough people start doing this it will get at least SOME attention and they will know it came about from RS discussions.

  • eburke

    (which is used on a regular basis around here, cf. itrytobenice’s comment directly below) and it was directed at EPU’s post. Why you felt the need to interject a personal snark into a thread which was previously nothing more and nothing less than posters giving vigorous assent to another poster for what they believed to be a very cogent posting I’m less sure.