Conservative Doug Hoffman slams Scozzafava in guest-blog at Malkin

The Conservative Party candidate in NY-23 whacks that RINO right between her beady little eyes:

I don’t think conservatives will be fooled. The more they learn about Dede Scozzafava, the worse she does in the polls. And the more they learn about my campaign, the better we do.
We can win this thing, but we're up against limited time and an awful RNC and NRCC decision to support a liberal candidate.
Well, if the Republican Party wants to declare war against conservatives, I'm going to fight on the side of conservatives.
If you want to join my fight, I need you. We need money and we need volunteers – boots on the ground. If you can help, go to my website and sign up. Then show up.
It’s time for conservatives to show the Republican establishment who's in charge.

Not just "yes," sir, but "Hell, yes!"

Trust me: Very Important People might make this The Mother Of All Showdowns with the RINO sellouts in the GOP Establishment. Lipstick, baby.

Full background on this crucial campaign at The American Spectator. I'm planning to travel to upstate New York in the coming week to cover the final push toward the Nov. 3 election. But before you hit my tip jar, be sure you hit Doug Hoffman's tip jar first.

But 'Pussy' is only implied!

The RNC released this video about Nancy Pelosi's attacks on the CIA, using a James Bond theme and finishing with the tagline, "Lack of Leadership. Democrats Galore." This is a play on the name Pussy Galore, the evil woman in the 1964 Bond flick, Goldfinger. As Darleen Click at Protein Wisdom says, "all kerfuffle breaks loose."

Try to read Taylor Marsh's hissie fit (this term is a derivative of hysteria, whose Greek roots remind us that the patriarchy has been oppressing womyn for 3,000 years) and never forget the accusation: It's Republicans who don't have a sense of humor.

Too bad this happened too late for National Offend A Feminist Week. But thanks to the RNC for keeping alive the festive holiday spirit.

(Hat tip: Memeorandum.)

UPDATE: Excuse me, but Allah is just wrong:

I’d love to know who among the Republican brain trust thought this was a good idea. Even if their motives were pure, after seeing what happened to Limbaugh’s “I hope he fails” comment, they simply have to be more attuned to how their message will be received and whether they’re giving their opponents easy opportunities to distort it.

No, this is brilliant. Get your enemy to promote your message, and do it in such a way that everybody who clicks will sit through the whole video in hopes of seeing -- "Pussy!" -- what the Left tells them they're going to see.

The joke is on the critics, of course, since the same term is a common substitute for "wimp," and "Democrats Galore" rather cuts to the heart of what the GOP is really trying to say about Democrats' approach to national security, eh?

Lighten up, man. Jimmie Bise has more on Pelosi-palooza, and Donald Douglas shows the vastness of Pelosia's gaping idiocy.

(P.S.: Note that when feminists are promoting The Vagina Monologues, it's "empowering" to shout this from the rooftops. Only when Republicans try it does the Left suddenly become as prudish as a Victorian schoolmarm.)

Update II: by Smitty
Joe Gandelman at The Moderate Voice delivers unintended comedy:

But it’s indicative of the continued lowering of the bar of American political discourse: even by the increasingly sleazy standard of political ads utilized by both sides, this ad is a particularly smelly one.

I'm not sure what clip you watched, Joe, but the one I saw was roughly as sleazy as, say, a Police Squad episode. Recommend good diet and excercise, Mr. Gandelman.

Steele's speech on GOP future

Allah is surprised by the excellence:

I remind you that this is Yet Another Invitation I Didn't Get.

Scandal for Steele at RNC?

Ralph Z. Hallow reports today on accusations of favoritism in hiring at the Republican National Committee. At the American Spectator blog, I write:

This is potentially devastating. There are too many out-of-work Republican operatives for the RNC chief to be awarding six-figure salaries under circumstances that invite accusations of favoritism. I've been a Michael Steele fan for years, but he must keep in mind those 77 votes for Katon Dawson on the sixth ballot.

It's already a Memeorandum thread, and we can expect some pretty acrimonious reaction from Steele's Republican critics.

As with so many previous problems afflicting the GOP, take note that this is not about ideology, it's about the "jobs for the boys" mentality of Beltway operatives. You've got no idea how many ex-RNC employees and unemployed former Bush administration staffers one meets at D.C. cocktail parties nowadays. This Hallow story will not ease their pain, and Steele could be destroyed by a toxic sea of grassroots discontent fed by Republican political professionals.

UPDATE: Marc Ambinder is dismissive of Hallow's scoop, but talks of Steele's opposition inside RNC:

A good number of long-time members can't accept the fact that Steele controls the party. They don't like the people he's put in place, but they can't find any egregious internal missteps, aside from perhaps the faux pas of paying some of his aides a generous salary. Steele has opened up many RNC contracts to competitive bidding, even though he has been criticized for smaller financial decisions. (Emphasis added.)

I'm sorry, but paying $180,000 to an "outreach director" is a bit more than a faux pas, especially with so many GOP operatives out of work. My friend Tara Setmayer is communication director for Dana Rohrabacher for about $90,000 a year. Wanna bet Tara would have taken that "outreach director" job for $100,000?

UPDATE II: Saul Anuzis is live-Twittering Steele's lunchtime "future of the GOP" speech, Yet Another Invitation I Didn't Get. Longtime readers will note the pattern: The more important the event, the more likely it is to be Yet Another Invitation I Didn't Get.

Occasionally I do cover important events, not because I'm invited, but because somebody accidentally lets me find out about it so that I can B.S. my way past security. B.S.ing past security is a vital skill for The Least Important Journalist in Washington.

Ready for 'hip-hop Republicans'?

Michael Steele thinks you are:

Newly elected Republican National Committee Chairman Michael S. Steele plans an "off the hook" public relations offensive to attract younger voters, especially blacks and Hispanics, by applying the party's principles to “urban-suburban hip-hop settings."
The RNC's first black chairman will “surprise everyone” when updating the party's image using the Internet and advertisements on radio, on television and in print, he told The Washington Times.

Did somebody say, "off the hook"?

Now you asked me, baby,
Say, what's my name?
I said I go by the name
Of Stacy McCain
And I'm the best --
I'm the creme de la creme!
My friends are all jealous
'Cause I'm better than them.
I'm a master of the amorous arts,
A well-known breaker
Of the ladies' hearts.
I been breakin' hearts
From coast to coast.
I'm in the Guinness Book of Records
'Cause I broke the most.

Now, it's time to introduce you
To my man Mike.
He's a free-stylin' daddy
Like I know you'll like.
Gonna bring some magic action
To the GOP.
With some super satisfaction
From the RNC.
Democrats ain't that
'Cause they can't bring the funk
Like Mike excites the night
With the elephant's trunk.

Now, let me hear you cheer
The American Dream!
From Maryland, our chairman's
Gonna make you scream.
Like the Reagan Revolution
And like in '94,
Mike's got the Right solution
That you want some more.
See the fact is that your taxes
Are still way too high.
And Obama?
Mama, that Democrat
Is gonna drain you dry.

Now I could keep on syncopatin'
'Til the break of dawn,
But the time for celebratin'
Will be later on.
And just in case you missed it,
Ladies, let's be clear:
Mike's number is unlisted
But the party's right here,
With a hiphop chairman
At the RNC,
He's a mojo repairman --
And you heard it from me!
Is that fresh? Is it def?
Is my jive signified?
Baby, I just bring the beats.
I hiphop. You decide.

RNC Tech Summit

"To call it hastily arranged would be an understatement. The RNC only announced it on Monday, giving participants two days to RSVP and four to prepare presentations. At the same time, organizers made the uncharacteristic decision to open it to the public: Anyone could show up and speak."

Yet another invitation I never got. How do they ever expect to fix their problems without asking me?

(Via Hot Air Headlines.)

Attention, Chairman Steele

Dear Sir:

I'm at the home of mutual friends -- you've enjoyed their hospitality -- where the dear lady and I were discussing the wretched cluelessness of Republican political operations, including this good ol' boy network of consultants/vendors who are overpaid to deliver crap. There is this thing where, if you're somebody's buddy from College Republicans 20 or 30 years ago, you therefore will get a contract to do . . . something. 

It's the old "Jobs for the boys" patronage principle, and the GOP can't afford to roll that way anymore.

The problem can be summed up, said our mutual friend, in two words: Charlie Black.

And then later, our friend made an unintentional pun when she said, "There needs to be some sort of blacklist" of people that don't get RNC business anymore. Ever. Period.

Well, a Freudian slip, perhaps, but I think you get the idea. As my country kin might say, "There's too many pigs for the tits." And as I can imagine that the whole world right now is trying to get your attention to tell you what to do or to seek favors, all I can do is throw this up on my blog and tell you that our friend has hit the nail squarely on the head. Some fat pigs who've been sucking on the GOP tits too long need to be retired, voluntarily or otherwise.

Chairman Steele, you are the new sheriff in town. To the Charlie Black class of Republican Party operatives, you should say, "There is this thing out there called 'the private sector,' where you get paid according to results. Good luck with it, because we're not going to pay you to lose any more elections. Nice doing business with you. Now get out of my office."

'You know where he stands'

Dave Weigel interviewed a Republican activist from Virginia at the RNC meeting:

According to Chase, what the Republicans needed was more clarity, more conservatism, and more exposing of how the Democrats wanted to run people’s
lives -- how they wanted to decide which baby birds got the worms. "I supported Mitt Romney, because John McCain was not a real conservative," Chase said. Chase has been given new hope by her party's unanimous vote in the House of Representatives against the stimulus package. Going into [Friday's] vote for Republican National Committee chairman, Chase supported Katon Dawson, the conservative head of the South Carolina Republican Party. "He's a fantastic messenger," Chase explained. "You know where he stands."

Like you knew where George Allen stood. The operative word here is "you," by which Jo-Ann Chase means to indicate the conservative base, who require constant assurance that their candidate is a True Believer who is with them 100% on every issue, or else they fear they're being sold out.

This kind of political paranoia, this obsessive fear that your Republican friends are not really your friends -- and perhaps not really Republican -- has a basis in fact. (Cf., presidents named "Bush.") But it is stoked to the point of psychopathology by certain prominent people (I won't name names) who don't seem to understand a fundamental principle of coalition politics: You can't govern if you don't win.

I share with Ms. Chase her disdain for John McCain, for whom I would never vote if you put a gun to my head. But at some point, you have to get over that particular species of recto-cranial inversion which tells you that Katon Dawson is what the RNC needs at this desperate juncture. Katon Dawson would have been fine when the party was at its zenith of power circa 2003. At this point, however, he simply will not do.

That isn't really Katon Dawson's fault, nor Jo-Ann Chase's fault, but it is the reality of the situation, and conservatives who want to live in a cloud-cuckooland where every swing voter understands what is meant by "true Republican principles" have got to get a grip on reality, or else the GOP will go the way of the Whigs.

The Republican Party's problems may not really be as bad as they look right now, in the immediate aftermath of S.S. Maverick's encounter with the Obama iceberg, but solving those problems will require some very shrewd messaging and very shrewd messengers, and if Jo-Ann Chase wants to do something to save her party from further disasters, she needs to get her prayer circles working for Michael Steele. He's gonna need all the help he can get.

Steele and the dreaded M-word

My latest at Pajamas Media:

You knew the contest to become chairman of the Republican National Committee was getting ugly when they started throwing around nasty slurs like "moderate."
Michael Steele got tagged with the dreaded M-word as part of a vicious guilt-by-association smear. He sustained more damage from his acquaintance with RINOs like Christie Todd Whitman than Barack Obama suffered for hanging out with unrepentant terrorist Bill Ayers.
After Steele survived a bruising six-ballot battle Friday for the GOP chairmanship, Liz Sidoti of the Associated Press made sure to cast the election in ideological terms, dubbing the former Maryland lieutenant governor "the most moderate candidate in the field."
In truth, Steele is a committed pro-life Catholic who proudly calls himself a "Reagan Republican," and ideological differences had relatively little impact on the RNC's choice. . . .

You should read the whole thing.

'The RNC has been controlled since 1988 by cretinous b******s'

Thus saith Quin Hillyer, in answer to Jim Antle's remarks about the disconnect between the GOP and the conservative movement, remarks provoked by my own wee-hour musings on that subject.

Nothing like stirring up a bloody good row, just for the hilarious fun of it all. Speaking of which:

That Robert Stacy McCain is a tedious nothing will come as no surprise to those of us with a Web browser and the ability to read.

Freddie, you just earn a spot on my quote wall. If you're going to cut a man, eviscerate him. Style points!

UPDATE: Sorry it took so long to update, but I was (a) exchanging e-mail with mentors, colleagues and proteges; (b) cross-posting at AmSpecBlog, and meanwhile (c) honing my blade.

Our friend Mr. deBoer has dabbled a bit in the clever art of making "The Conservative Case for [INSERT LIBERAL CAUSE HERE]." Having previously noted Conor Friederdorf's "Conservative Case for Gay Marriage," we now behold Freddie deBoer's "Conservative Case for Global Warning Hysteria":

Faced with broad scientific consensus, a clear notion of individual responsibility, and clear and present threats to our health and our economy, environmentalism wasn't just for environmentalists anymore. Happily, the growing public consensus that climate change must be genuinely confronted has translated into bigger implications for environmentalism and public policy. Genuine reflection about the limits of our consumption and the impact of our behavior on the world around us -- profoundly conservative concerns -- is back on the national political table, in a way that has never been possible before.

The discerning mind comprehends at once what a universe of rhetorical opportunity awaits our rising generation of conservative intellectuals. If the "The Conservative Case for the Trillon-Dollar Stimulus" has not yet been published, it is only because David Kuo had to cease operations while that essay was still being drafted. But fertile minds are now busily inquiring after new venues for publication of:

• "The Conservative Case for Card Check"
• "The Conservative Case for Trans-Fat Bans"
• "The Conservative Case for Abolition of the Electoral College"
• "The Conservative Case for Labial Piercing, Face Tattooing and Other Extreme Body Modifications"

You get the drift. One supposes that these young geniuses, once they've finished writing "the conservative case" for everything on the contemporary scene, will then proceed to write critical histories such as "The Conservative Case for Pol Pot," "The Conservative Case for the Assassination of Archduke Ferdinand," "The Conservative Case for a Regicide Peace," and so forth.

Excuse my amusement. A protege e-mailed Saturday to mention that my name came up when she recently interviewed for a publishing job. If she should get the job, maybe her influence could help an old geezer get a small contract for a pamphlet urging what nowadays would be considered a most startling idea:

The Conservative Case for Conservatism.

UDPATE II: I stand accused of "shameless Palin-worship." But I'm never gonna pull 250K visits per month with "Daniel Larison bikini pics" . . .

Salute to RNC Chairman Michael Steele

Video via Hot Air:

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

And hey, remember how Dems screamed "fight the smears" anytime anybody mentioned Rev. Jeremiah Wright or Bill Ayers? Well, look who's dumping guilt-by-association attacks on Steele. (H/T: Amanda Carpenter.)

The new chairman gets congratulations from Ed Driscoll, CrankyCon, and Hugh Hewitt. General jubilation at AOSHQ.

PREVIOUSLY:

• RNC: The Man of Steele
• Ready to rumble at RNC
• Saltsman withdraws from RNC race
• Blackwell 'dangerously incompetent'?
• RNC chair debate
• But seriously, folks . . .
• Steele blasts RNC 'cocktail party'

RNC: The Man of Steele

UPDATE 5:45 p.m. ET: Well, it's over, and now the MSM takes over to distort everything. Michael Steele is predictably misidentified as a "moderate" by the Associated Press. Sigh. And here's Chris Cillizza of the Washington Post seeking the Pulitzer Prize for non sequiturs:

Asked about the controversy surrounding Rush Limbaugh and his back and forth with President Barack Obama, Steele was careful not to wholly embrace the controversial conservative talk radio host. "Rush will say what Rush has to say, we will do what we have to do as a party," said Steele.

Eh? What does that have to do with anything? When was Howard Dean ever asked about any "controversy surrounding" Keith Olbermann or Randi Rhodes or Dan Rather?

Thanks to Dan Riehl for the linkage. A good roundup at Hot Air.

After the fifth ballot, I went outside to have a smoke and found myself chatting with Sally Atwater, widow of former RNC chairman Lee Atwater. Wow.

UPDATE: Hey, get your DNC talking points via Politico.

UPDATE 4:15 p.m. ET: Sixth ballot:

• Steele 91
• Dawson 77

A hard-fought battle. Steele just gave his acceptance speech. Will update later with sundry notes.

UPDATE 3:40 p.m. ET: Fifth ballot:

• Steele 79
• Dawson 69
• Anuzis 20

Anuzis announces his withdrawal but does not endorse. If Steele can get just one-third of the Anuzis vote, Steele wins.

UPDATED & BUMPED 3:13 p.m. ET: BLACKWELL DROPS OUT, ENDORSES STEELE. WILL UPDATE AFTER 5TH BALLOT.

UPDATE 2:50 p.m. ET: Fourth ballot:

• Dawson 62
• Steele 60
• Anuzis 31
• Blackwell 15

Hmmm. Looks like 28 of Duncan's votes went to Dawson, so my friend who warned earlier to watch out for Katon might have been onto something. If Steele and Anuzis could join forces, that's it. Next vote set to begin at 3 p.m., results probably by 3:20.

BTW, of all people, guess who I just bumped into? Vanderbilt Professor Carol Swain.

UPDATED & BUMPED 2:24 p.m. ET: DUNCAN PULLS OUT. DOES NOT ENDORSE. FOURTH BALLOT READY TO BEGIN. WILL UPDATE!

FOLLOW-UP 2:31 p.m.: Welcome Michelle Malkin readers. After the 3rd ballot, Blackwell, Steele and Duncan were seen conferring in a corridor. That conference apparently was related to Duncan's subsequent withdrawal. In his withdrawal speech, Duncan said, "Obviously, the winds of change are blowing at the RNC." He got a standing ovation, but did not endorse any of the other candidates. Members voted down a motion to delay the 4th ballot. Will update with the results. If Duncan's people back Steele, that's it. We shall see.

EARLIER: Third ballot:

• Steele 51
• Duncan 44
• Dawson 34
• Anuzis 24
• Blackwell 15

Hmmm. Steele takes the lead, but Dawson slightly closes the gap. Somebody pointed out that if Duncan were to drop out now, he could throw his support to another candidate and probably be the kingmaker. But if he keeps losing votes on successive ballots, he won't have that power much longer.

An RNC staffer (and Duncan supporter): "Off the record? I think you've got to watch out for Katon." All manner of crazy speculation among the press corps. We shall see.

Second ballot:

• Duncan 48
• Steele 48
• Dawson 29
• Anuzis 24
• Blackwell 19

Duncan held onto most of his first-ballot support, but Steele moves into a tie. Blackwell dropping below 20 is ominous for him. Just talked to John LaBeaume, who points out that Blackwell endorsing Dawson (or vice-versa) would produce a bloc of 48 votes. A combo of Anuzis and Steele would control 72 votes. Too early to tell yet which way this will swing.

First ballot:

• Duncan 52
• Steele 46
• Dawson 28
• Anuzis 22
• Blackwell 20

Steele was stronger than expected, and Blackwell weaker than expected. My best source had predicted 55 for Duncan on the first ballot, so he came in lower than predicted. A Blackwell supporter just said it's 1997 all over again, when Nicholson got 23 votes on the first ballot but pulled out to win in six ballots.

Assume: 52 votes is the ceiling for Duncan. As someone in Press Row pointed out, that's 116 votes for change.

They just gave the call for members and proxies to vote for the second ballot. Expect further updates . . .

PREVIOUSLY:

• Ready to rumble at RNC
• Saltsman withdraws from RNC race
• Blackwell 'dangerously incompetent'?
• RNC chair debate
• But seriously, folks . . .
• Steele blasts RNC 'cocktail party'

Ready to rumble at the RNC

The American Spectator owes me combat pay for the five hours I spent in the hospitality suites last night to get the report I filed at 3 a.m.:

Just got back from the Capitol Hilton and, after five hours of heavy schmoozing with attendees at the Republican National Committee's winter meeting, I can say with a high degree of certainty that anyone who tells you they know the outcome of the RNC chairman's vote is lying.
As to Chris Cillizza's claim that Katon Dawson's got the mojo -- didn't see it. Maybe the Dawson faction is playing possum, but if the South Carolinian is a "force to be reckoned with," it's a stealth momentum so hush-hush as to be undetectable to an outsider. . . .

Please read the whole thing. My brain's sore from all the hard work of trying to figure this thing out. I'm looking around on the Web this morning, and nobody's got any more idea of how it's going to turn out than I do, which is to say, none at all. The Politico's Alexander Burns:

GOP insiders say Friday's contest to elect the next chairman of the Republican National Committee will be a long and drawn-out affair, with multiple ballots necessary to determine the winner. In part, it's a reflection of a party that, even after a nearly three month-long chairman's race, remains deeply uncertain of which candidate can best lead the GOP back to power.

See? That's Objective Journalese for "I don't have a freaking clue."

UPDATE: The American Spectator's Jim Antle mentions the RNC chairman's contest on the way to a vicious fisking of David Frum's "New Majority."

UPDATE II: American Spectator managing editor J.P. Freire was also at the RNC meeting last night, but he apparently went to the meeting, as opposed to the hospitality suites, where all the real deep investigative journalism takes place.

UPDATE III: If you're on Facebook, here's video of an interview I did last night with Saul Anuzis's sister.

UPDATE IV: Video now on YouTube:

But seriously, folks . . .

My earlier suggestion that RNC Chairman Mike Duncan has slipped a cog and needs to be shipped to an asylum got linked by my old NoVaTownhall buddy Joe Budzinski. That suggestion was occasioned by Duncan's letter proposing the creation of an in-house RNC think tank (I've cribbed the text of the letter from TPM and pasted it below).

Jocularity aside -- although, really, Duncan probably could use some stress-free relaxation --your chairman's idea of creating a DC-based RNC policy shop is 180 degrees out of phase with what really needs to be done to fix the Republican Party. The party's problems have nothing to do with a shortage of "new ideas," but rather have to do with systemic and structural problems that prevent the party from acting effectively on the good ideas it already has (which are not really "new ideas").

• First and foremost, the GOP needs to abandon the top-down methods that have prevailed during the Bush years. The national party leadership and committees must stop interfering in GOP primaries. Go back to 2006, when the NRSC spent money defending Lincoln Chafee against Steve Laffey's primary challenge. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. Republican incumbents must be told bluntly that NRSC and NRCC won't defend them against primary challengers. And that's just the tip of the iceberg. The national leadership has also interfered in open-primary situations, showing favoritism toward certain "approved" candidates, for example, favoring Johnny Isakson over Herman Cain in the 2004 Georgia Senate primary.
• Second, the GOP needs to update its fund-raising mechanism, especially in terms of online contributions and small-donor development. Patrick Ruffini, Jon Henke and Soren Dayton have been pushing on the online front at Next Right, and the party needs to pay attention to those guys. In that regard, I'd also like to mention my own "Old School in the New Media" philosophy, namely that online activism works best when it is combined with old-fashioned face-to-face contact. The rise of the Internet has actually put a premium on "face time," and the GOP could enhance its fundraising by creating opportunities for online donors to have direct face-to-face interactions with elected officials and party leaders.
• Third, the party needs to improve its programs for targeting key races, both offensively and defensively. The GOP needs to study the role of the "compete everywhere" strategy in the Democrats' recent comeback. And RNC HQ needs to get some people who can see the importance of supporting a candidate like Allen West, whose entirely viable campaign was neglected by the national leadership until after Labor Day. In terms of candidate recruitment, rather than the national party bigfooting into contested primaries, they need to work with state and local officials to organize more grassroots-level recruitment efforts.
• Fourth, the party needs to rethink its media strategy. There is no reason in the world why the party of Ronald Reagan should allow its media operations to be run by people who don't know anything about the media. As I've said before, the GOP spent something like $900 million in the 2008 cycle and can't buy a fucking clue about media. People outside the news industry don't realize the extent to which "media bias" against Republicans is caused by the assholes who run the GOP. The Tucker Bounds Syndrome -- putting campaign hacks who've never worked a day in a newsroom in charge of media operations -- must end. Media relations is about relationships, and the standard GOP campaign playbook of treating reporters like crap is a big part of why the party enjoys such a horrible image.
• Finally, don't overthink it. The Republican Party (a) nominated a 72-year-old bald guy for president and (b) lost. You don't need a policy wonk to tell you that (a) might have something to do with (b). The current woeful state of the GOP has many sources, but most of them involve routine political incompetence. Just one example: Mark Foley. Do you realize that Foley had wanted to retire in 2006, but that Karl Rove pressured him to run for re-election anyway? When a reputed "genius" like Rove is making bonehead moves like that, Republicans deserve to lose.

Political incompetence can't be solved by hiring a bunch of wonks, which is why Duncan's "Center for Republican Renewal" is such a lousy idea. The problems of the GOP are not policy problems.

The Duncan Memo

Republican National Committee
To: RNC National Committee Members
Fr: Chairman Robert M. "Mike" Duncan
Re: The Center for Republican Renewal
Date: Friday, December 19
I am pleased today to announce the creation of the Center for Republican Renewal, a new office of the Republican National Committee that will identify, generate, and promote public policies that advance Republican principles of sound governance. I began exploring this idea in the days immediately following the November election. I would like to take this opportunity to explain the concept and how you as a Committee Member can participate in this exciting new endeavor.
Background and Context: Pre-Reagan and Pre-1994
The Center for Republican Renewal is a natural development given the political landscape and follows on previous efforts in this vein after the elections of 1976 and 1992. In each of those years, a Democrat was elected president with vague promises of change and came to power with strong Congressional majorities and a majority of governorships. Moreover, the Republican "brand" was in trouble due, in large part, to self-inflicted wounds.
As we all know, circumstances quickly shifted in our favor. In 1980, the party rebounded and we had Ronald Reagan in the White House, a Republican Senate, and several new Republican governors. In the historic 1994 election, we gained control of both houses of Congress and a majority of governorships - after earning only 36 percent of the presidential vote just two years prior.
Those quick comebacks in 1980 and 1994 did not just happen. They took hard work and smart thinking - not only from the standpoint of candidate recruitment, fundraising, and political strategy, but also from the standpoint of ideas. Put simply, Republicans gave voters a reason to elect them, and that reason was better policy. Each time, the driving force behind the resurgence of our Party was the Republican National Committee.
In 1977, RNC Chairman Bill Brock pushed the party into the work of ideas with twin endeavors: first, the creation of a quarterly public policy magazine, Commonsense, which embraced serious policy discussion as a vehicle for innovative policies and breakthrough ideas; and second, the formation of "Policy Councils," groups of public policy experts from across the nation who advised the party and its leaders on the best approaches to the nation's problems. These efforts were central to backing up
the claim that Republicans were the "party of ideas," and were a precursor to the Reagan Revolution in 1980.
In 1993, RNC Chairman Haley Barbour responded to the previous year's defeats by committing the party to intellectual engagement, reviving the Commonsense magazine and going so far as to create a separate entity to develop policy alternatives. He explained this decision through "three premises: that fundamentally, ideas make a difference in politics; that, traditionally, ideas which make a difference have been associated with political parties; and, that currently, such ideas are less
likely to be found inside the Washington beltway - and its thinking - than outside." The RNC's enthusiasm for debate and intellectual engagement fed directly into the development of the Contract with America and the Republican Revolution of 1994.
The common thread of these two periods - pre-1980 and pre-1994 - was that the Republican Party showed it was confident enough with its principles and core values that it could embrace debate and even disagreement in the pursuit of superior public policy solutions.
The Decision to Create the Center for Republican Renewal
It was in light of this history that I decided in early November to commit the RNC to a similar, policy-focused effort. Republicans have grown accustomed to having our party recognized as the "Party of Ideas," but we must acknowledge that many Americans today believe the party is stale and does not deserve that label. This is not a critique of our principles of a strong national defense, growth-focused economics, constitutionally-limited government, and a defense of traditional values. Rather, it is a reflection that we have not used our principles to provide solutions to the kitchen table concerns of middle-class America.
We must recognize that being the "Party of Ideas" requires daily effort to apply principles to the particular public policy questions of the day. All Republicans have an obligation to develop principled solutions rather than falling back on ideology alone; we must show how our ideology can be applied to solve problems.
When we have a Republican President, that challenge falls to the White House and Congress. However, when the table is set as it is today, the RNC must play an enhanced role.
I believe we have an opportunity - and an obligation - to regain the American people's trust by showing them that it is the Republican Party that will provide the principled policies that will better improve the lives of all Americans. To do that, we must:
* Always bear in mind that good policy is good politics and that the Party should play a fruitful role in identifying and generating innovative ideas.
* Seek solutions outside of Washington, D.C. - listening directly to the American people and learning from those who are grappling with real problems.
* Remember that the laboratories for Republican policymaking are in the states, counties, cities, and towns of our nation, not in the halls of a Democrat-dominated Congress.
* Help coordinate policy approaches and alternatives between Congress, the Governors, and state and local officials.
* Be open to principled solutions no matter where they originate.
* Use new technologies to better create communities of support and innovation, and build those communities around shared ideas.

The Republican Party must not cede the policy field to the Democrats, and it must use the tools at its disposal to expand the portfolio of ideas that our candidates will have in the next cycle. As former Chairman Brock wrote in 1977, "the contest for votes must also be a contest for ideas." The Center for Republican Renewal will be dedicated to that proposition.
Structure and Leadership of the Center for Republican Renewal
The Center will be a division within the RNC and will operate from our national headquarters. Its budget has been approved by the RNC Budget Committee. At the outset, we anticipate a staff of approximately ten dedicated employees.
The executive director of the Center will be Steven J. Duffield. Many of you know Steven as the executive director of the 2008 Platform Committee, which produced a platform that was praised widely as being concise, principled, and forward-looking. Steven came to the Platform Committee after serving as a leadership policy advisor and chief counsel to Senator Jon Kyl (AZ) at the Senate Republican Policy Committee.
We will also be recruiting RNC Members and other conservative leaders to assist the Center with strategic planning and guidance as a Board of Advisors to the Center. In addition to RNC Members, this Board will include former Cabinet Secretaries, current and former Governors and Members of Congress, leaders of conservative Policy groups, and other Republican leaders.
Overview of Projected Activities
The Center will be aggressive and very active in the policy community. In general terms, we can group its projected activities into three areas: 1) increased policy focus through RNC activities; 2) nationwide policy outreach; and, 3) extensive policy debate and discussion.
First, the Center will be a resource to you as a Member of the Republican National Committee and to other Republicans because we will now have in-house experts on current policy issues and debates. The Center's analysts will create detailed policy products, from fact sheets and backgrounders to critiques of proposed legislation, which will be fact-intensive and professionally crafted to ensure
accuracy. These products will be useful to RNC members, to our new Speaker's Bureau, to our Communications team, and to Republicans across the nation. This written product will be developed in cooperation with Republican elected officials both in Washington and in the states.
Second, the Center will engage in aggressive policy outreach throughout the nation. This will be one of many opportunities for your direct involvement with the Center. This outreach will include the reestablishment of the Policy Councils so that we can draw on the substantive expertise of policy experts who work with Republican Governors and legislators, Congressional leaders, and think tanks nationwide. The goal is to learn constantly and ensure that potential applications of our Republican
principles are fully understood, shared, and promoted.
Third, the Center will be committed to the debate and discussion of ideas. We believe that it is best to have policy discussions within the party and that we should not fear disagreement. To that end, the Center will build on the 1977 and 1993 efforts with Commonsense by developing a new website devoted to public policy. We will invite original content from experts and then encourage debate. This will be another opportunity for Member involvement with the Center. The website also will host policy blogs that will provide forums for substantive analysis of the key issues facing the nation, and input from the public will be gathered on a systematic basis. Our goal is to grow a community founded on common goals and aspirations.
As the months pass, we anticipate the Center branching into other areas and finding other tools and tactics that will advance our ideas. It will be a nimble operation that is quick to shift when circumstances demand it.
Conclusion
I am very excited about the Center for Republican Renewal because I believe it is an integral part of our rebuilding process. I look forward to your suggestions on how to make the most of this new endeavor.

McCain's 'unorthodox strategy'

• Step One: Win Republican nomination.
• Step Two: Lose in November.

Pretty simple, but Jonathan Martin tries to make is seem . . . nuanced:

For reasons of financial necessity, personal preference and plain politics, John McCain is gearing up to run one of the least traditional presidential campaigns in recent history.
The problem is that even prominent strategists within McCain’s own party wonder if his unorthodox strategy will work.
Facing the prospect of competing against a Democrat who is on track to shatter every fundraising record — and confronted by his own inability to rake in large bundles of cash — McCain and his keyadvisers have largely been forced into devising a three-pronged strategy that they hope can turn their general election weaknesses into strengths.
McCain will lean heavily on the well-funded Republican National Committee. He will merge key functions of his campaign hierarchy with the RNC while also relying on an unconventional structure of 10 regional campaign mangers.
And finally — and perhaps most importantly — McCain will rely on free media to an unprecedented degree to get out his message in a fashion that aims to not only minimize his financial disadvantage but also drive a triangulated contrast among himself, the Democratic nominee and President Bush.

"Free media" = MSM. Yeah, we all know how the MSM love to lavish positive coverage on Republicans. This plan is genius -- genius, I tell you!

Also note that the McCain campaign is planning to raid the RNC treasury big-time. So anybody who gives a dime to the RNC will effectively be giving money directly to McCain '08. News of that scheme ought to dry up the RNC's small-dollar donations overnight.

Am I the only one who sees the omens of a colossal Republican disaster in November?