"Hello? This Is The United States Calling; Are We Reaching?"
And this is precisely how the GOP's base should feel today. I will allow Hugh Hewitt to elaborate:
It is simply astonishing that a party in desperate need of its base's time, talent and treasure over the next two years would hustle back to home base to consult each other on who should lead the comeback.
In no other company or organization would a leadership change take place on such a schedule and with so little input from key constituencies.
At a minimum the GOP needs to give its troops and espeically its donors the opportunity to weigh in, and to allow for candidates to declare. There are many new members as well --and they managed to win last night. They need to be consulted, as does the RNC, but most especially acrivists and senior party operatives. The House doesn't exist as an island independent from the party, but the rush to engineer a succession communicates an unwillingness to recognize the significance of the set-back yesterday.
This is a grave mistake on behalf of House members. This move runs the risk of doing three things that could seriously jeopardize the chances of retaking the House in '08. Either they will fall back on the Hastert machine, which accomplished nothing but failure this year; Or they will be pushing others that are not nearly as moral as they portray, a la Jack Abramoff or Mark Foley; Or they will end up choosing someone who is less than adequate to handle our new House Speaker, Nancy Pelosi.
The Democrats handed us our heads on Tuesday night as much as we handed them the ka-bar to do the slicing. (And who says the Democrats do not relish in terrorist tactics.) But this issue--the one thing that could determine the direction of the GOP in the House for the next decade, cannot be trusted to the guys of the status quo who are content on playing games behind the scenes.
We are at war, and this is hardly a time to play political games. We do not need the status quo because they are the ones who dropped the ball in the run-up to Tuesday night. So, here is the deal.
We need a new House Minority Leader that is going to commit themselves to the GOP retaking and holding onto the House for the times ahead. The President has dug in, and is preparing to do his best to ensure GOP control of the White House. While we are sad that Rummy is gone, heis a patriot to this nation, and he will be remembered by the party as such. He "took one for the team," as Hugh put it yesterday. And he knew he was going to be gone if the election went bad. It did. He is. End of line.
NZ Bear is also in the mix, and is putting out a call for bloggers to help the House GOP find a new leader. But the first thing we must do is apply pressure to the House RIGHT NOW and stop them from their plan to elect a new leader in the next couple of weeks. THAT is why they are heading back to Washington, and if they do this, we are going to take it in the backside. Again, I cite Hugh:
N.Z. Bear is attempting to organize an effort to interview would-be Minority Leaders, and that is a very good thing and the GOP House leadership should cooperate with the effort and welcome it. I'd also like to see would be leaders sit down with Tim Russert, Bill O'Reilly and assorted other talking heads to see how they fare. I'd like to interview them for an hour each as well. The new Minority Leader will be the face of the House GOP for the next two very crucial years. If the party does not regain the majority in 2008, it is going to be uphill sledding. That means there is a huge need for a Minority Leader with great skill at candidate recruitment, fundraising, strategy and message delivery.
It probably means a new and younger face as well. Connections to the scandals that dragged the party down should be a disqualifier.
This is not a difficult thing to see or understand. The sprint to solidify the title of Minority Leader signals a great likelihood that the winner will get to keep it for a long time.
Slow down. Take in the commentary. Consult with your friends outside of the Congress. Let would be candidates think it through. Let the new members at least have the chance to meet with their colleagues.
Act, in other words, like a party confident of its beliefs and committed to their competent communication as the way to return to the majority.
So, to all of our readers, here is challenge number one: CALL THE HOUSE, and tell our representatives to end this folly of finding a leader now. (202) 224-3121. Call them and tell them to slow down. Challenge number two, get in contact with John Boehner (contact him hereor at (202) 225-4000) and Mike Pence (contact him here). Both of these men are looking for the leadership of the House, and while they may be in the running, the idea of sequestering themselves in a room away from everyone to make this choice is the wrong way to go.
Here is challenge number three, who would be your choice for the leadership of the House? While we agree that Mike Pence would be a decent choice there are others like Eric Cantor, John Shadegg, Pete King, Spencer Bachus, Duncan Hunter, and Heather Wilson that could serve the role eqaully as well, if not better, than the people we have had in the past.
This is all about the future, and the House is important. If we make the wrong choice now, they this will be an uphill battle for a long time. We have to make gains, if not retake the House in 2008. The same goes for the Senate, but that is a subject for a later time (maybe sometime today), but the house is absolutely important right now because the "good ol' boys" are already moving on this, and if they screw this up, they will end up condemning the party to second-tier status in the House.
So get on the phones and send them e-mails--each day and every day--and tell them to stop movcing forward. Let their base disseminate who would be best to serve the party in the House. And we would be wise to remind them that the base was not pleased with them this time around. If they move ahead with a new leader without our input, we are more than likely going to continue being unhappy.
An unhappy base equals more lost elections. We will not support those who do not listen to us, and that is the key to them. Not going to listen? Then we are not supporting the party. No more funds. No more grass-roots activity. And where will they be then? Out of a job; that is where they will be.
It is time that the blogosphere exert some of its influence and muscle to get this stopped now. The Congress knows how potent of a weapon we can be in politics. So let us get this show on the road. It is time for a change in the party. We need solid, strong, tenacious leadership in the House, and in the Senate. The Democrats will not play nice with us, and we should know that. So we are going to need leaders willing to stand up to them, and capable of doing so. Let us get moving, ladies and gentlemen, because time is being wasted, and we can ill afford to waste anymore than we already have. I have already called the Capitol and made my thoughts known, and I have already sent out my e-mails. I will do this tomorrow, and the next day, and the next until these people get it through their heads that they will listen to us, or they will be left in the cold.
Marcie
And this is precisely how the GOP's base should feel today. I will allow Hugh Hewitt to elaborate:
It is simply astonishing that a party in desperate need of its base's time, talent and treasure over the next two years would hustle back to home base to consult each other on who should lead the comeback.
In no other company or organization would a leadership change take place on such a schedule and with so little input from key constituencies.
At a minimum the GOP needs to give its troops and espeically its donors the opportunity to weigh in, and to allow for candidates to declare. There are many new members as well --and they managed to win last night. They need to be consulted, as does the RNC, but most especially acrivists and senior party operatives. The House doesn't exist as an island independent from the party, but the rush to engineer a succession communicates an unwillingness to recognize the significance of the set-back yesterday.
This is a grave mistake on behalf of House members. This move runs the risk of doing three things that could seriously jeopardize the chances of retaking the House in '08. Either they will fall back on the Hastert machine, which accomplished nothing but failure this year; Or they will be pushing others that are not nearly as moral as they portray, a la Jack Abramoff or Mark Foley; Or they will end up choosing someone who is less than adequate to handle our new House Speaker, Nancy Pelosi.
The Democrats handed us our heads on Tuesday night as much as we handed them the ka-bar to do the slicing. (And who says the Democrats do not relish in terrorist tactics.) But this issue--the one thing that could determine the direction of the GOP in the House for the next decade, cannot be trusted to the guys of the status quo who are content on playing games behind the scenes.
We are at war, and this is hardly a time to play political games. We do not need the status quo because they are the ones who dropped the ball in the run-up to Tuesday night. So, here is the deal.
We need a new House Minority Leader that is going to commit themselves to the GOP retaking and holding onto the House for the times ahead. The President has dug in, and is preparing to do his best to ensure GOP control of the White House. While we are sad that Rummy is gone, heis a patriot to this nation, and he will be remembered by the party as such. He "took one for the team," as Hugh put it yesterday. And he knew he was going to be gone if the election went bad. It did. He is. End of line.
NZ Bear is also in the mix, and is putting out a call for bloggers to help the House GOP find a new leader. But the first thing we must do is apply pressure to the House RIGHT NOW and stop them from their plan to elect a new leader in the next couple of weeks. THAT is why they are heading back to Washington, and if they do this, we are going to take it in the backside. Again, I cite Hugh:
N.Z. Bear is attempting to organize an effort to interview would-be Minority Leaders, and that is a very good thing and the GOP House leadership should cooperate with the effort and welcome it. I'd also like to see would be leaders sit down with Tim Russert, Bill O'Reilly and assorted other talking heads to see how they fare. I'd like to interview them for an hour each as well. The new Minority Leader will be the face of the House GOP for the next two very crucial years. If the party does not regain the majority in 2008, it is going to be uphill sledding. That means there is a huge need for a Minority Leader with great skill at candidate recruitment, fundraising, strategy and message delivery.
It probably means a new and younger face as well. Connections to the scandals that dragged the party down should be a disqualifier.
This is not a difficult thing to see or understand. The sprint to solidify the title of Minority Leader signals a great likelihood that the winner will get to keep it for a long time.
Slow down. Take in the commentary. Consult with your friends outside of the Congress. Let would be candidates think it through. Let the new members at least have the chance to meet with their colleagues.
Act, in other words, like a party confident of its beliefs and committed to their competent communication as the way to return to the majority.
So, to all of our readers, here is challenge number one: CALL THE HOUSE, and tell our representatives to end this folly of finding a leader now. (202) 224-3121. Call them and tell them to slow down. Challenge number two, get in contact with John Boehner (contact him hereor at (202) 225-4000) and Mike Pence (contact him here). Both of these men are looking for the leadership of the House, and while they may be in the running, the idea of sequestering themselves in a room away from everyone to make this choice is the wrong way to go.
Here is challenge number three, who would be your choice for the leadership of the House? While we agree that Mike Pence would be a decent choice there are others like Eric Cantor, John Shadegg, Pete King, Spencer Bachus, Duncan Hunter, and Heather Wilson that could serve the role eqaully as well, if not better, than the people we have had in the past.
This is all about the future, and the House is important. If we make the wrong choice now, they this will be an uphill battle for a long time. We have to make gains, if not retake the House in 2008. The same goes for the Senate, but that is a subject for a later time (maybe sometime today), but the house is absolutely important right now because the "good ol' boys" are already moving on this, and if they screw this up, they will end up condemning the party to second-tier status in the House.
So get on the phones and send them e-mails--each day and every day--and tell them to stop movcing forward. Let their base disseminate who would be best to serve the party in the House. And we would be wise to remind them that the base was not pleased with them this time around. If they move ahead with a new leader without our input, we are more than likely going to continue being unhappy.
An unhappy base equals more lost elections. We will not support those who do not listen to us, and that is the key to them. Not going to listen? Then we are not supporting the party. No more funds. No more grass-roots activity. And where will they be then? Out of a job; that is where they will be.
It is time that the blogosphere exert some of its influence and muscle to get this stopped now. The Congress knows how potent of a weapon we can be in politics. So let us get this show on the road. It is time for a change in the party. We need solid, strong, tenacious leadership in the House, and in the Senate. The Democrats will not play nice with us, and we should know that. So we are going to need leaders willing to stand up to them, and capable of doing so. Let us get moving, ladies and gentlemen, because time is being wasted, and we can ill afford to waste anymore than we already have. I have already called the Capitol and made my thoughts known, and I have already sent out my e-mails. I will do this tomorrow, and the next day, and the next until these people get it through their heads that they will listen to us, or they will be left in the cold.
Marcie
posted by Syd And Vaughn | 11:29 AM
1 Comments:
I like the positive action. Congress is a good starting place. Good thinking. Looking ahead, I suggest 1000 names of potential presidential candidates from all walks of life. I like John Kyl. I'm not giving up on Allen, Talent or Steele... Rawriter
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