Most importantly, 2008 was the Year of the RINO.  Conservatives went from early February through November 4th with a low-grade headache and acid indigestion, and not even Dr. House could have diagnosed the cause. It wasn’t until November 5, when we recovered suddenly, that we knew.

The affliction was caused by mental equivalent of conflicting medications. We did our best to follow Ronald Reagan’s Eleventh Commandment (to not speak ill of a fellow Republican).  But with John McCain on the ticket, it wasn’t what the liberals call “cognitive dissonance”: we all suddenly became politically bipolar.  Yes, we voted for McCain anyway, knowing Obama would be worse.  And, if only in that, Obama will not disappoint.

Remember when President Bush nominated the politically moderate Harriett Miers for Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court in 2005 and then, under withering pressure from conservatives, reversed course and nominated Samuel Alito instead? Florida Governor Charlie Crist did just the opposite on January 2, 2009, when he gave in to media pressure and turned his back on known conservative Frank Jimenez, then appointed Appellate Justice Jorge LaBarga for the Florida Supreme Court.

 

It looks like we’ve bagged our first RINO of 2009.

Pat Toomey, President, Club for Growth

 

Richard Viguerie, Chairman, ConservativeHQ.com

 

Morton C. Blackwell, Virginia Republican National Committeeman

 

L. Brent Bozell, Founder and President, Media Research Center

 

Steve Forbes, Chairman & CEO, Forbes Media

 

David Keene, Chairman, American Conservative Union

 

Ed Meese, Former Reagan Adviser

 

Phyllis Schlafly, President, Eagle Forum

If Ken Blackwell is good enough for the likes of those folks, I'm thinking Ken Blackwell is good enough for me.

A recent Research 2000 poll of likely voters put [Reid's] approval rating at 38% and his disapproval rating at 54%, a possible reflection of voters' displeasure with gridlock and partisanship in Washington. And while Nevada broke for President-elect Barack Obama by 12 percentage points in November, the state voted for President George W. Bush in 2000 and 2004.

Elected Position:

Former Lieutenant Governor of Maryland

Policy Organizations:

Chairman, GOPAC

 

Member, Republican National Committee

 

Member, National Federal Election Reform Commission

 

Member, NAACP Blue Ribbon Commission on Election Reform

Awards:

2005 Aspen Institute–Rodel Fellow in Public Leadership

 

2005 Bethune-DuBois Institute Award

Elected Positions:

Former Ohio State Treasurer

 

Former Ohio Secretary of State

 

Former Mayor of Cincinnati

Policy Organizations:

Member, Board of Directors, National Rifle Association

 

Member, Board of Directors, Club for Growth

 

Member, Board of Directors, National Taxpayers Union

 

Chairman, Coalition for a Conservative Majority

 

Ronald Reagan Distinguished Fellow for Public Policy, Buckeye Institute

 

Senior Fellow, Family Research Council

 

Former Fellow, Heritage Foundation

 

Visiting Fellow, American Civil Rights Union

 

Visiting Fellow, Texas Public Policy Foundation

Writings:

Co-Author (with Jack Kemp) IRS v. The People: Time for Real Tax Reform

 

Co-Author (with Jerome Corsi) Rebuilding America: A Prescription for Creating Strong Families, Building the Wealth of Working People, and Ending Welfare

Quote:

The RNC needs a more basic and more comprehensive change of course than my competitors have thus far presented or, frankly, envisioned.

It is time to completely remake the Republican Party by returning to our core philosophy (limited government, traditional values and a strong defense), reaching voters more effectively (by better utilization of technology, targeting and voter identification and turnout), and reorganizing the RNC itself (spending smarter, replacing staff and consultants and modernizing our fundraising infrastructure).

In short, the old promise that you've received from candidates for chairman every two years that you will have "more input" ... just isn't going to cut it anymore. You must demand specifics.

h/t: Michelle, who pleads, "Stop me before I hurl a shoe."

Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN)

 

Rep. Mike Conaway (R-TX)

 

Rep. John Culberson (R-TX)

 

Rep. Geoff Davis (R-KY)

 

Rep. Mary Fallin (R-OK)

 

Rep. Jeff Flake (R-AZ)

  

Rep. Scott Garrett (R-NJ)

  

RSC Chairman Jeb Hensarling (R-TX)

 

Rep. Doug Lamborn (R-CO)

 

Rep. Robert Latta (R-OH)

 

Rep. Connie Mack (R-FL)

 

Rep. Sue Myrick (R-NC)

  

Rep. Joe Pitts (R-PA)

 

Rep. John Sullivan (R-OK)

  

Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC)

h/t : the Republican Study Committee

In a letter sent to the White House on Monday, the Republican governor says Bush would be committing a "very great mistake" that would "open the floodgates to federal monies for every distressed industry across this country -- and there will be many in this economic slowdown."

 

Sanford, a potential 2012 contender for the GOP nomination, is siding with the anti-bailout wing of his party that is furious with Bush for trying to prop up the Detroit automakers and help distressed banks. He also is siding with his fellow Southern politicians who have sparred with Northern Republicans who hail from manufacturing states that are heavily unionized and have a significant Big Three presence.

Kudos to Gov. Sanford.  Let's hope this move will inspire other Republicans to stand up for the free market.

Specter let loose with a stream of Polish jokes. The Post said he recounted the old one about a person who tells another person that he knows a good Polish joke. The man responds, "Hey careful, I'm Polish!" Specter delivered the punchline: "That's OK, I'll tell it more slowly."

I'm not big on political correctness, myself, but a whole lot of folks make their voting decisions on items of even less consequence than a politician's fondness for ethnic jokes.

Not that Pennsylvanians don't already have PLENTY of reasons to vote against Arlen Specter in 2010.

In a meeting yesterday afternoon, John Boehner informed Rep. Don Young that Boehner would not support Young’s candidacy to remain Ranking Member on the House Natural Resources Committee.

 

It is very unlikely the Steering Committee will support Young either, which means he is toast.

 

This is a great, great sign from the Republican leadership.

He reports this afternoon:

House sources tell me Don Young has decided to withdraw from consideration for the position. This is great news.

Boo-yah!!!  Don Young's profile is here.

At the time, I took a look at Duncan Hunter and determined that he was great on defense, guns and borders, but really bad on federal spending.

Given many, many chances to restrain the size and scope of the federal behemoth, Duncan Hunter all-too-often went the other direction.

Case in point : Duncan Hunter's 2007 Club for Growth rating was 26%.

He did receive an 82% rating from Citizens Against Government Waste in 2003, but the rest of the years, Duncan Hunter has failed to live up even to that mediocre standard.  His 2004 CAGW rating was a dismal 51%. Overall, Hunter has a lifetime average of 65% from these two groups--which places him in the LOWER HALF of the California Republican delegation. (More data here).  Hunter's ratings from the National Taxpayers' Union echo the numbers from Club for Growth and CAGW, with Hunter's NTU ratings hovering around the 50% level in most years (more here).

I suspect we can expect to see more of Duncan Hunter in the coming years, but his recent vote in favor of the ginormous automaker bailout should confirm to his supporters that he is not the kind of leader true, limited-goverment conservatives should be supporting for higher levels of leadership within the GOP.

Barton (TX)
Buyer
Camp (MI)
Capito
Castle
Ehlers
Emerson
English (PA)
Frelinghuysen
Hoekstra
Hunter
King (NY)
Knollenberg
LaHood
LaTourette
Lewis (KY)
Manzullo
McCotter
McCrery
McHugh
Miller (MI)
Murphy, Tim
Porter
Ramstad
Regula
Rogers (MI)
Ryan (WI)
Smith (NJ)
Souder
Upton
Walsh (NY)
Young (AK)

The anonymous, treacherous lies McCain's advisers have been launching against former VP candidate Sarah Palin since the clothing allowance story was leaked several weeks ago is truly reprehensible, but not unexpected. Whenever liberal Republicans and their allies in the Old Media stumble into a true conservative believer, they go right to their Saul Alinsky socialist playbook – conservatives are stupid, naïve, Christian fanatics, sexist, homophobes, racists, hypocrites, etc.

 

Some of the more memorable slanders and libels include:

 

Palin thought that Africa was a country, not a continent;

Palin didn't know the countries that signed the NAFTA treaty;

Palin went overboard in her shopping spree. 

What is that sound you hear? No, not a strong denunciation by John McCain in support of Palin …it's crickets chirping. McCain by his silence is tacitly supporting the hateful slander against Palin. In my opinion, McCain is a bitter, jealous political hack whose days in the spotlight have long passed (i.e., his defeat by Bush in 2000)...

 

Palin was right to refer to these gutless hacks of the McCain campaign as "cowards." When will the GOP grow a pair and follow her lead?

Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski has some Republican-to-Republican advice for Gov. Sarah Palin: If you want to make a run at the White House, keep your hands off my Senate seat.

Murkowski, up for reelection in 2010, is nervously awaiting word on whether John McCain’s former running mate will run against her in the GOP primary. But she says Palin is the one who should be nervous.

“I can guarantee it would be a very tough election,” Murkowski said in an interview.

Sen. Murkowski's RINOHunter rating is 56.58%.