By Paul West
May 21, 2009
Baltimore Sun
OXON HILL - - The Republican National Committee approved a watered-down resolution Wednesday evening that called on President Barack Obama and the Democrats to stop "pushing our country towards socialism and government control."
The action, at a brief and rare special session of the RNC in Republican National Chairman Michael S. Steele's home county, spared the party the potential embarrassment of the more strident language of the original resolution.
An earlier version of the measure would have called for the opposition to "rename themselves the Democrat Socialist Party." The revised resolution was approved by a voice vote, in a package with two other measures, with just one dissenting vote by an unidentified committeewoman.
Steele, who worked behind the scenes in recent weeks to resolve the issue, had objected to the initial wording, warning in a memo last month that it would give the party's adversaries an opportunity to "mischaracterize Republicans."
Steele, a resident of nearby Upper Marlboro, presided over the 23-minute meeting, which concluded a three-day gathering of party officials.
The annual meeting of state Republican chairmen became a forum for Steele to try to relaunch his chairmanship after an uneven start. He delivered a speech Tuesday attacking Obama and declaring that after recent electoral losses, a Republican comeback has begun.
Steele described the sessions, held in Prince George's County at his request, as "successful." But he did not appear at a post-session news conference.
"There's some place he's got to be," an aide explained. A party spokesman, Trevor Francis, pointed out that Steele had never been scheduled to take questions from reporters.
Steele's exposure to the news media has been carefully controlled in the wake of a series of gaffes. At a private session with party leaders earlier in the week, he said he had learned his lesson and vowed to impose greater discipline on himself.
"I put my size 13s in my mouth several times, and I'm here to tell you I'm going to stop," Steele said, according to a participant.
Steele was asked on his way into the closing session why he wouldn't be taking questions from reporters.
"Because I'm tired," he said.
Sphere: Related Content
Showing posts with label GOP. Show all posts
Showing posts with label GOP. Show all posts
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Friday, January 30, 2009
Maryland GOP wins election as RNC chair
This is the best coverage I've seen of the RNC Chairs race today. Here's a wrap up from the Detroit Free Press. - Ed.
By TODD SPANGLER
Detroit Free Press
UPDATED AT 4:13 p.m.
WASHINGTON - Michael Steele, the first African American elected to statewide office in the state of Maryland, wins election as chairman of the Republican National Committee.
A former lieutenant governor in Maryland, Steele beat South Carolina GOP chairman Katon Dawson 91 to 77.
He replaces Mike Duncan, who dropped out of the balloting earlier today.
UPDATED AT 3:53 p.m.
Michigan GOP chairman Saul Anuzis dropped out of the race for Republican National Committee chairman for the best of reasons.
"Can't win," he said. "I know how to count."
It leaves two candidates for the job: Michael Steele, the first African American to win statewide office in Maryland as lieutenant governor, and South Carolina GOP chair Katon Dawson who once belonged to an all-white country club.
The race was headed into a sixth ballot with 85 votes needed to win. On the fifth ballot, Steele led Dawson, 79 to 69. Anuzis was third with 20 and dropped out without endorsing either of the remaining candidates.
He said he'll work with whoever gets elected and has no plans to take a position with the winner.
"I"ll move on," said Anuzis, who steps down as Michigan's Republican Party chair next month.
UPDATED AT 3:48 p.m.
Michigan GOP chair Saul Anuzis drops out of race to be Republican National Committee chairman.
That leaves South Carolina's Katon Dawson and Maryland's Mike Steele 79 to 69 with 85 votes needed to win. Anuzis had 20.
UPDATED AT 3:18 p.m.
Ohio's Ken Blackwell, one of two African Americans in the race to become the next chairman of the Republican National Committee, dropped out after the fourth ballot and threw his weight behind the other, Maryland's Michael Steele.
Michigan's Saul Anuzis and South Carolina's Katon Dawson remain the other candidates in the race going into the fifth ballot.
UPDATED AT 3:00 p.m.
With the departure of current chair Mike Duncan from the race, South Carolina GOP chair Katon Dawson has taken the lead to become the next head of the Republican National Committee.
In the fourth round of balloting, Dawson took a 62-to-60 lead over Maryland's Michael Steele. Michigan GOP chairman Saul Anuzis was third with 31 votes.
Ohio's Ken Blackwell was fourth with 15 votes. To win, one of the candidates must get 85 votes.
Even though Anuzis remained well behind the others, his numbers did improve with the departure of Duncan from the race. Should his and Steele's forces come behind one or the other, they could propel their candidate to the chairmanship.
The contest is largely about change, with Duncan being criticized in some quarters for losses in congressional races and the presidency. Meanwhile, race has also played a role. Dawson was once a member of an all-white country club. Steele, a former lieutenant governor in Maryland, is African American. Sphere: Related Content
By TODD SPANGLER
Detroit Free Press
UPDATED AT 4:13 p.m.
WASHINGTON - Michael Steele, the first African American elected to statewide office in the state of Maryland, wins election as chairman of the Republican National Committee.
A former lieutenant governor in Maryland, Steele beat South Carolina GOP chairman Katon Dawson 91 to 77.
He replaces Mike Duncan, who dropped out of the balloting earlier today.
UPDATED AT 3:53 p.m.
Michigan GOP chairman Saul Anuzis dropped out of the race for Republican National Committee chairman for the best of reasons.
"Can't win," he said. "I know how to count."
It leaves two candidates for the job: Michael Steele, the first African American to win statewide office in Maryland as lieutenant governor, and South Carolina GOP chair Katon Dawson who once belonged to an all-white country club.
The race was headed into a sixth ballot with 85 votes needed to win. On the fifth ballot, Steele led Dawson, 79 to 69. Anuzis was third with 20 and dropped out without endorsing either of the remaining candidates.
He said he'll work with whoever gets elected and has no plans to take a position with the winner.
"I"ll move on," said Anuzis, who steps down as Michigan's Republican Party chair next month.
UPDATED AT 3:48 p.m.
Michigan GOP chair Saul Anuzis drops out of race to be Republican National Committee chairman.
That leaves South Carolina's Katon Dawson and Maryland's Mike Steele 79 to 69 with 85 votes needed to win. Anuzis had 20.
UPDATED AT 3:18 p.m.
Ohio's Ken Blackwell, one of two African Americans in the race to become the next chairman of the Republican National Committee, dropped out after the fourth ballot and threw his weight behind the other, Maryland's Michael Steele.
Michigan's Saul Anuzis and South Carolina's Katon Dawson remain the other candidates in the race going into the fifth ballot.
UPDATED AT 3:00 p.m.
With the departure of current chair Mike Duncan from the race, South Carolina GOP chair Katon Dawson has taken the lead to become the next head of the Republican National Committee.
In the fourth round of balloting, Dawson took a 62-to-60 lead over Maryland's Michael Steele. Michigan GOP chairman Saul Anuzis was third with 31 votes.
Ohio's Ken Blackwell was fourth with 15 votes. To win, one of the candidates must get 85 votes.
Even though Anuzis remained well behind the others, his numbers did improve with the departure of Duncan from the race. Should his and Steele's forces come behind one or the other, they could propel their candidate to the chairmanship.
The contest is largely about change, with Duncan being criticized in some quarters for losses in congressional races and the presidency. Meanwhile, race has also played a role. Dawson was once a member of an all-white country club. Steele, a former lieutenant governor in Maryland, is African American. Sphere: Related Content
RNC chairman Duncan abandons re-election bid
Even though this doesn't have anything to do with President Obama per se, I felt obliged to include it due to it's importance on the Presidential political process. - Ed.
By LIZ SIDOTI,
Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON – Mike Duncan, former President George W. Bush's hand-picked national party chairman, abandoned his re-election bid Friday after his support steadily erode over three rounds of balloting, ensuring a fresh face at the beleaguered GOP's helm.
"Obviously the winds of change are blowing," Duncan said as he withdrew from the race and got a standing ovation. The Kentucky Republican thanked Bush and said of his two-year tenure: "It truly has been the highlight of my life."
The move scrambled a field now down to four as the Republican National Committee moved ahead with a fourth round of balloting, with candidates seeking to reach the 85-vote majority threshold to become the new chairman. Whoever wins will inherit a party trying to recover after crushing defeats in back-to-back elections that saw Democrats take control of Congress and the White House.
Duncan dropped out without endorsing a candidate.
After three rounds, former Maryland Lt. Gov. Michael Steele and South Carolina GOP Chairman Katon Dawson had momentum on their side, having gained votes with each tally. Michigan GOP Chairman Saul Anuzis' support was holding steady, while former Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell was trailing.
Thus far, only Duncan has dropped out and thrown his support behind another, though behind-the-scenes negotiations among aides to all the candidates were in full swing. The field is expected to narrow further the more rounds of voting there are, and that means seemingly anyone could end up with a majority.
The results of the first three rounds boded poorly for Duncan, whose lost votes at every turn while Steele and Dawson gained. From the start of the voting, the majority of the RNC cast votes that indicate members want a new direction under a fresh leader, rather than a chairman who is linked to the unpopular former president. Sphere: Related Content
By LIZ SIDOTI,
Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON – Mike Duncan, former President George W. Bush's hand-picked national party chairman, abandoned his re-election bid Friday after his support steadily erode over three rounds of balloting, ensuring a fresh face at the beleaguered GOP's helm.
"Obviously the winds of change are blowing," Duncan said as he withdrew from the race and got a standing ovation. The Kentucky Republican thanked Bush and said of his two-year tenure: "It truly has been the highlight of my life."
The move scrambled a field now down to four as the Republican National Committee moved ahead with a fourth round of balloting, with candidates seeking to reach the 85-vote majority threshold to become the new chairman. Whoever wins will inherit a party trying to recover after crushing defeats in back-to-back elections that saw Democrats take control of Congress and the White House.
Duncan dropped out without endorsing a candidate.
After three rounds, former Maryland Lt. Gov. Michael Steele and South Carolina GOP Chairman Katon Dawson had momentum on their side, having gained votes with each tally. Michigan GOP Chairman Saul Anuzis' support was holding steady, while former Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell was trailing.
Thus far, only Duncan has dropped out and thrown his support behind another, though behind-the-scenes negotiations among aides to all the candidates were in full swing. The field is expected to narrow further the more rounds of voting there are, and that means seemingly anyone could end up with a majority.
The results of the first three rounds boded poorly for Duncan, whose lost votes at every turn while Steele and Dawson gained. From the start of the voting, the majority of the RNC cast votes that indicate members want a new direction under a fresh leader, rather than a chairman who is linked to the unpopular former president. Sphere: Related Content
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Obama holds GOP-only talks on stimulus package
by Carolyn Lochhead,
San Francisco Chronicle
Washington Bureau
It's a rare sight in Washington to see the president walking the halls of the Congress, stopping to talk to reporters in the usual hallway haunts, and rarer still to see him meet with the opposition party to hear their ideas on the first big legislation of his presidency.
Still stranger was this: The leaders of the out-of-power party, thrashed in two consecutive elections and the subject of all this presidential courting, told their members to vote against the president before he even arrived to hear their grievances.
Hours before President Obama arrived Tuesday for GOP-only talks in the House and Senate on the $825 billion economic stimulus bill, House Republican leader John Boehner of Ohio and his deputy, Rep. Eric Cantor of Virginia, told a closed-door meeting of Republicans to vote against the bill because it has too much government and will not revive the economy.
To be sure, Republicans sounded less churlish when they came out of their meetings with Obama. They sang his praises for reaching out to them and instead blamed House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of San Francisco and other Democratic leaders for writing the legislation without them.
Surprised by openness
Some seemed surprised at how friendly and open Obama was. Others noted the advantages he brought as a former Senate colleague.
"One of his great strengths is, he's very comfortable with himself, and therefore others are comfortable with him," said Senate Republican conference chair Lamar Alexander of Tennessee. "I think he has a certain ease about him. He did as a senator, and I think he's made an easy transition to the presidency. After all, as he did remind us, he's only been there five days."
Even the most conservative Republicans praised Obama as being genuine and open before denouncing the stimulus as a waste of money and a pile of new debt.
Republicans want more tax cuts. Economists argue that the problem with tax cuts is that in recessions, they are mostly saved, not spent, and so have very little stimulative effect. Republicans acknowledged that and so argued to make them permanent - essentially the policy of the Bush administration.
Obama said that part of his effort is to change politics as usual in Washington and break through the traditional partisan bickering over ideology to focus on what might work.
He argued that economic indicators are so bad - including plans to lay off tens of thousands more people announced on Monday by major companies such as Home Depot and Caterpillar - that Congress should pull together quickly behind a stimulus plan that can help stop the bleeding.
"I try to remind people that even with modifications made in the House, we still have $275 billion of tax cuts" in the stimulus Obama said. He said he reminded Republicans that he started out with $300 billion in tax cuts "that got a lot of praise from the Republican side and some grousing from my side of the aisle. I think we're still working through the process, but I'm very grateful" for the opportunity to listen.
The House is set to vote on the bill today. The Senate will take longer, and then the two different versions must be reconciled - a point at which House Republicans plan to make their presence felt.
Bipartisan hopes
The White House is hoping for a bipartisan vote to set the tone for much tougher battles to come over a new banking-system rescue, health care reform, energy and a host of other issues.
Obama asked Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Los Angeles, to remove from the bill $200 million for family-planning services to low-income people that had become a hot Republican talking point. Waxman complied.
"The president took some very tough questions, didn't dodge them, gave very direct and specific answers," said Sen. Robert Bennett, R-Utah. Nonetheless, Bennett, echoing many other Republicans, said he and others "are not completely convinced that it will, in fact, produce a stimulus."
Sen. Kit Bond, R-Mo., who recently suggested that Guantanamo Bay prisoners should be sent to Alcatraz, complained that "bailing out profligate states like California that have not been able to control their budget does not seem to me to be the highest priority for federal spending."
Republicans also pointed out Congressional Budget Office estimates for the stimulus that show an additional nearly $350 billion in interest payments over 10 years, bringing the total cost of the stimulus to nearly $1.2 trillion. They said Obama may want to make investments, but congressional Democrats added items that Bond said were "just thrown in at the last minute" and won't stop job losses.
President confident
Obama said he is confident that things can be worked out.
"But the key right now is to make sure that we keep politics to a minimum," he said. "There are some legitimate philosophical differences with parts of my plan that the Republicans have, and I respect that. In some cases, they may just not be as familiar with what's in the package as I would like. I don't expect 100 percent agreement from my Republican colleagues, but I do hope that we can all put politics aside and do the American people's business right now."
Rep. Ellen Tauscher, D-Walnut Creek, said she ran into a GOP colleague who had just come out of the meeting with Obama.
"He said, 'He's just so impressive,' " Tauscher said. "I said, 'He's the real deal, isn't he?' But will he vote with us tomorrow? Probably not."
She blasted Boehner and Cantor for urging their members to vote against the package before even listening to what Obama had to say.
"Are you really going to listen to the people who lost the House for you?" Tauscher commented. "At some point, you have to vote your conscience."
Chronicle staff writer Zachary Coile contributed to this report. E-mail Carolyn Lochhead at clochhead@sfchronicle.com. Sphere: Related Content
San Francisco Chronicle
Washington Bureau
It's a rare sight in Washington to see the president walking the halls of the Congress, stopping to talk to reporters in the usual hallway haunts, and rarer still to see him meet with the opposition party to hear their ideas on the first big legislation of his presidency.
Still stranger was this: The leaders of the out-of-power party, thrashed in two consecutive elections and the subject of all this presidential courting, told their members to vote against the president before he even arrived to hear their grievances.
Hours before President Obama arrived Tuesday for GOP-only talks in the House and Senate on the $825 billion economic stimulus bill, House Republican leader John Boehner of Ohio and his deputy, Rep. Eric Cantor of Virginia, told a closed-door meeting of Republicans to vote against the bill because it has too much government and will not revive the economy.
To be sure, Republicans sounded less churlish when they came out of their meetings with Obama. They sang his praises for reaching out to them and instead blamed House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of San Francisco and other Democratic leaders for writing the legislation without them.
Surprised by openness
Some seemed surprised at how friendly and open Obama was. Others noted the advantages he brought as a former Senate colleague.
"One of his great strengths is, he's very comfortable with himself, and therefore others are comfortable with him," said Senate Republican conference chair Lamar Alexander of Tennessee. "I think he has a certain ease about him. He did as a senator, and I think he's made an easy transition to the presidency. After all, as he did remind us, he's only been there five days."
Even the most conservative Republicans praised Obama as being genuine and open before denouncing the stimulus as a waste of money and a pile of new debt.
Republicans want more tax cuts. Economists argue that the problem with tax cuts is that in recessions, they are mostly saved, not spent, and so have very little stimulative effect. Republicans acknowledged that and so argued to make them permanent - essentially the policy of the Bush administration.
Obama said that part of his effort is to change politics as usual in Washington and break through the traditional partisan bickering over ideology to focus on what might work.
He argued that economic indicators are so bad - including plans to lay off tens of thousands more people announced on Monday by major companies such as Home Depot and Caterpillar - that Congress should pull together quickly behind a stimulus plan that can help stop the bleeding.
"I try to remind people that even with modifications made in the House, we still have $275 billion of tax cuts" in the stimulus Obama said. He said he reminded Republicans that he started out with $300 billion in tax cuts "that got a lot of praise from the Republican side and some grousing from my side of the aisle. I think we're still working through the process, but I'm very grateful" for the opportunity to listen.
The House is set to vote on the bill today. The Senate will take longer, and then the two different versions must be reconciled - a point at which House Republicans plan to make their presence felt.
Bipartisan hopes
The White House is hoping for a bipartisan vote to set the tone for much tougher battles to come over a new banking-system rescue, health care reform, energy and a host of other issues.
Obama asked Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Los Angeles, to remove from the bill $200 million for family-planning services to low-income people that had become a hot Republican talking point. Waxman complied.
"The president took some very tough questions, didn't dodge them, gave very direct and specific answers," said Sen. Robert Bennett, R-Utah. Nonetheless, Bennett, echoing many other Republicans, said he and others "are not completely convinced that it will, in fact, produce a stimulus."
Sen. Kit Bond, R-Mo., who recently suggested that Guantanamo Bay prisoners should be sent to Alcatraz, complained that "bailing out profligate states like California that have not been able to control their budget does not seem to me to be the highest priority for federal spending."
Republicans also pointed out Congressional Budget Office estimates for the stimulus that show an additional nearly $350 billion in interest payments over 10 years, bringing the total cost of the stimulus to nearly $1.2 trillion. They said Obama may want to make investments, but congressional Democrats added items that Bond said were "just thrown in at the last minute" and won't stop job losses.
President confident
Obama said he is confident that things can be worked out.
"But the key right now is to make sure that we keep politics to a minimum," he said. "There are some legitimate philosophical differences with parts of my plan that the Republicans have, and I respect that. In some cases, they may just not be as familiar with what's in the package as I would like. I don't expect 100 percent agreement from my Republican colleagues, but I do hope that we can all put politics aside and do the American people's business right now."
Rep. Ellen Tauscher, D-Walnut Creek, said she ran into a GOP colleague who had just come out of the meeting with Obama.
"He said, 'He's just so impressive,' " Tauscher said. "I said, 'He's the real deal, isn't he?' But will he vote with us tomorrow? Probably not."
She blasted Boehner and Cantor for urging their members to vote against the package before even listening to what Obama had to say.
"Are you really going to listen to the people who lost the House for you?" Tauscher commented. "At some point, you have to vote your conscience."
Chronicle staff writer Zachary Coile contributed to this report. E-mail Carolyn Lochhead at clochhead@sfchronicle.com. Sphere: Related Content
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