If Republicans Lose 2014 Elections, It Will Be Partly Due To In-Fighting Within The Party.

Will Harry Reid steal the coming elections?

Posted on September 23, 2014 by Chip Wood

The Republican establishment is getting its excuses ready in case its candidates don’t win enough elections this November to regain control of the Senate. At the top of the list is that conservatives didn’t give it enough money to spend.

That’s right. Forget the all-out war the Republican establishment has been waging against its most conservative members. Forget everything it’s done to smear Tea Party types who dared to challenge it. Forget all the dirty tricks, such as getting Democrats to tip the balance in the Republican primary in Mississippi.

Yep, we’re supposed to forget all of those past abuses and get behind the mealy-mouthed, me-too moderates that they have chosen for us, such as Thad Cochran in Mississippi or Pat Roberts in Kansas.

With standard-bearers likes those two worn-out hacks, no wonder so many conservatives are sitting on their wallets this time around. Heck, I suspect a ton of them won’t even bother to go to the polls this November. And who can blame them?

In a column in The Wall Street Journal, Karl Rove set the tone for this latest propaganda barrage. He began by reciting why things should look so rosy for Republicans: “The president’s job approval numbers are lousy, no Democrat in a competitive Senate race polls regularly above 50%, GOP enthusiasm is high, and independents are trending Republican.”

All of that should be very good news for Republicans, shouldn’t it? But Rove, one of the key establishment strategists, says there is a very dark cloud on the horizon. It is that the Democrats have a ton more money to spend.

“The midterm environment is terrible for Democrats,” Rove wrote, “yet each passing day provides evidence as to why a GOP Senate majority is still in doubt.”

In a story on super PACs, The Wall Street Journal detailed just how badly Republican candidates are being outspent. Here is what the newspaper reported has happened in the 10 top Senate races: “Since July 3, the largest super PACs aligned with Democrats have raised four times the money of pro-GOP super PACs, and have now spent $60 million to Republicans’ $38 million, data compiled by The Wall Street Journal shows.”

The study found that of the 25 highest-spending partisan super PACs, those affiliated with the Democrats have raised $110.2 million in this election cycle, compared to just $55.6 million for Republicans. Not only have the Democrats’ super PACs badly outspent their Republican opponents, they also have a ton more cash left on hand: $25.4 million compared to the Republicans’ $7.7 million.

The most effective money-raiser for the Democrats is the Senate Majority PAC, which is desperate to elect enough Democrats to keep Harry Reid (D-Nev.) in his powerful position as Senate Majority Leader.

So “steal” may be the wrong word to use in my headline. “Buy” is probably a more accurate description of what’s happening. Or would you prefer “purchase”?

Whatever description you prefer, Rove says that “reducing the Democratic cash advantage” is what is needed to “tip the needle in the GOP’s direction.” If that doesn’t happen, he warns, we’d better get ready “for two more years of Majority Leader Harry Reid.”

If that does happen, liberty-lovers have the Republican establishment to thank for it.

Until next time, keep some powder dry.

–Chip Wood

Funny Business--The Way The Republican Party Won In Mississippi And Will Lose In November!

Conservatives Erupt In Fury After Tea Party Candidate's Loss In Mississippi

 

By Brett LoGiurato20 hours ago

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AP

Conservative supporters of Republican Chris McDaniel were up in arms Tuesday night after McDaniel lost in Mississippi's Republican Senate primary runoff election. These conservatives were particularly furious that incumbent U.S. Sen. Thad Cochran had sought Democratic votes to push him over the top.

McDaniel led the charge, in a speech that quickly became anything but a concession late Tuesday night. He pointedly refused to concede or even mention Cochran's name in the speech but charged his opponent and supporters had decided the primary through "the help of liberal Democrats."

"There’s something strange about a Republican primary that’s decided by liberal Democrats," McDaniel said, after he was introduced by a supporter as "the Republican nominee" for Senate.

The conservative groups and others supporting McDaniel did not go as far as their preferred candidate, however. They acknowledged Cochran had come out on top, but they charged he did so at the expense of the party as a whole. Some threatened to leave the party. Others said establishment Republicans had lost support from their conservative base.

"This race was establishment versus Tea Party and when the GOP has to turn to Democrats to retain power, they have no principles," Amy Kremer, the former chair of the Tea Party Express and a supporter of McDaniel, told Business Insider. "If Cochran wins this race, the GOP establishment won, not with the support of the base, but by teaming up with Democrats. That means they have more in common with Dems than conservatives. 

"Conservatives have principles and are tired of the GOP ruling class elite that tax and spend like Democrats.  The GOP cannot win on their own, so what will they do in the general when they don't have the base and are running against Democrats? That is a losing ticket. Seems they didn't learn anything in 2012."

The old-school Cochran employed an unusual strategy in the runoff, courting black voters — the vast majority of whom are Democrats — and Democratic voters in general, who feared McDaniel would do damage if he emerged victorious in November.

It appears the strategy worked. In the 10 counties where Cochran's vote total improved most, blacks make up 69% or more of the population, according to FiveThirtyEight's Harry Enten. 

FreedomWorks, one of the conservative groups backing McDaniel, called Cochran's runoff strategy "disgraceful."

"If the only way the K Street wing of the GOP establishment can win is by courting Democrats to vote in GOP primaries, then we've already won," FreedomWorks President Matt Kibbe said in a statement. "Tonight is proof that the K Street establishment is intellectually bankrupt, and we are going to have to clean it up."

Sarah Palin's New Role--King Maker

Sarah Palin: I'll Keep Shaking Up Washington

Thursday, 13 Mar 2014 08:23 PM

By Todd Beamon

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Sarah Palin on Thursday endorsed Mississippi state Sen. Chris McDaniel in his tea party-backed bid to block Republican Sen. Thad Cochran from winning a seventh term this fall.

In an exclusive question-and-answer session with Newsmax, the former governor of Alaska says she will continue to endorse conservative candidates with "integrity and a steel spine" who are willing to stand up to the permanent political class and not just go along to get along with "the corrupt status quo."

McDaniel, 41, faces Cochran in a June 3 primary. Recent polls have shown him within striking distance of the 76-year-old incumbent, the second-most-senior Republican in the Senate.

Palin also told Newsmax that the Republicans had "better" retake the Senate this fall and that if she had said "even one-tenth of the crazy things" Vice President Joe Biden had said during the 2008 presidential campaign, "the media would call for me to be institutionalized."

Here are Palin's responses to Newsmax:

Palin: "I’m determined to work every election cycle to increase the number of commonsense conservative women leaders in D.C. who will shake things up in the good ol’ boy permanent political class."

"Courage, integrity, common sense, discipline, fiscal restraint — and a firm grounding in the time-tested truths that have made our nation exceptional."

There are a number of GOP women running for Congress this fall, including former Michigan Secretary of State Terri Lynn Land and Rep. Shelley Moore Capito in West Virginia. Both are running for the Senate. Is that surprising?

"I don’t think of women leaders or women candidates as 'novelties.' Women have been leaders since ancient times. From Cleopatra, Joan of Arc, Elizabeth I of England, Catherine the Great — right on down to Golda Meir, Margaret Thatcher, and Angela Merkel.

"We’re half of the human race. I’ve raised my own daughters to know that they can do anything. There are no barriers they can’t overcome as women.

"Many strong women have blazed those trails before us. I honestly don’t consider gender in looking for public servants."

Are these candidates going to have tough campaigns?

"Sadly, women candidates do have to prove themselves in general. Damn men! We’re held to a different standard.

"I certainly don’t complain or whine about this, but, for example, consider the stupid stuff that comes out of Joe Biden’s mouth all the time. If I had said even one-tenth of the crazy things he said in 2008 or since then, the media would call for me to be institutionalized. Some of that is the typical media bias against conservatives, but not all of it.

"The truth is, women candidates have to work harder. Women know this. That’s what makes us tougher than men. I hung a poster in my husband’s airplane hangar that reads: 'God created men first. Then He had a better idea.' "

What's the biggest issue for the GOP this fall?

"Obamacare. Candidates can speak directly to voters about our frustrations with what the Democrats and the Obama administration have done to American households. It’s atrocious."

You said on Facebook on Wednesday that you intend to endorse more candidates this cycle. In Texas, you endorsed Attorney General Greg Abbott for governor. Who else are you supporting?

"First off, I don’t endorse anyone who hasn’t first requested an endorsement. I don’t believe in inviting myself to anyone else’s rodeo. I only want to be helpful, so I don’t jump in if I’m not asked to.

"Second, I look for people who are willing to stand up to the permanent political class in D.C. and not just go along to get along with what is all too often a corrupt status quo bankrupting our country. We need people of intelligence, ingenuity, and integrity in D.C. now more than ever.

"I look for someone who, hopefully, has a track record that shows that they were willing to be courageous in working to get things done for the people who elected them — whether that be fighting to balance a budget or pushing through fiscal reforms or fighting cronyism and corruption.

"I look for people who have integrity and a steel spine and who clearly understand the problems facing our nation today.

"Finally, I do adhere to the old wisdom to look for the strongest conservative who can win. I don’t mind backing a long-shot candidate, but they have to be a good candidate who has it together and can run a credible campaign.

"For example, I was honored to back Sen. Ted Cruz in 2012. Even though he was a long-shot candidate when I endorsed him, I knew he was a great candidate with a good campaign organization behind him. He just needed something to help his campaign soar.

"His victory is his own because all the ingredients for success were there when I endorsed him. I just got to hand him a proverbial megaphone, and the voters wisely chose him."

Any more this year?

"You betcha! Good, bad, or ugly — when they ask for my endorsement and receive it, the curiosity factor kicks in!"

You endorsed 18 candidates for state, House, and Senate races in the 2012 cycle — including six women. Even though not all of them won, how do you think your endorsements help?

"We helped shine a light on candidates who may not necessarily get enough attention because they’re outsiders, not part of the political machine.

"As for women candidates in particular, I think the 'Mama Grizzly' effect of all those conservative women running in 2010 really shook things up. I think it really scared the Democrats who suddenly realized that they couldn’t take things for granted.

"You didn’t see any of the 'war on women' stuff being thrown at the GOP in 2010, and I think that’s because the 'Mama Grizzlies' were a force to be reckoned with."

With the GOP on the cusp of re-taking the Senate, what must the Republican Party do win?

"Don’t speak down to women. Don’t speak down to working-class, blue-collar Reagan Democrats. Don’t pander either. Everyone can spot a phony.

"You reach out to voters by speaking up for the American principles that have made our country great. Speak up for liberty and opportunity and prosperity. That’s a message that every America responds to."

Turnout is generally lower in midterm elections. What's your advice to voters?

"Get involved. Don’t get discouraged. Get energized. Keep the faith. We’re going to turn things around. If you don’t vote, then you can’t complain.

"Don’t use gender as the barometer either, because there are good male candidates too — though I always say, 'Behind every good man stands a surprised woman!'"



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GOP Is Imploding. They Have NO ONE To Blame But Themselves!

McCain Censure the Latest Sign of GOP Fratricide

 

By Eric Pianin2 hours ago

If there were any doubts that Republicans are in the throes of ideological fratricide that could threaten their prospects for success this fall, they were dispelled over the weekend in Arizona.

In a move both bizarre and ill-timed, Arizona Republican Party members voted to censure Sen. John McCain – a highly-decorated Vietnam War hero, maverick conservative and 2008 Republican presidential nominee – for being too liberal for their taste.

“Only in times of great crisis or betrayal is it necessary to publicly censure our leaders,” stated the resolution which was approved by acclamation. “Today we are faced with both. For too long we have waited, hoping Senator McCain would return to our Party’s values on his own. That has not happened.”

McCain’s offenses cited in the resolution included working on comprehensive immigration reform, or “amnesty,” and not going along with last year’s conservative strategy to “defund” President Obama’s signature health-care law, according to a report in The Arizona Republic.

The resolution reads like a federal indictment on espionage charges, condemning McCain “for his continued disservice to our state and nation,” and said state Republican leaders “will no longer support, campaign for or endorse John McCain as our U.S. Senator.”

McCain’s office declined to comment on the resolution over the weekend, but former three-term Republican Sen. Jon Kyl told the newspaper that the move – while not exactly surprising given growing disenchantment with McCain – was “wacky.”

“I’ve gone to dozens of these meetings and every now and then some wacky resolution gets passed,” Kyl said. “But most people realize it does not represent the majority of the vast numbers of Republicans.” Kyl added that McCain’s voting record was “very conservative.”

Indeed, McCain was rated 91 percent by the American Conservative Union on his positions last year and holds a lifetime positive rating of 87 percent. McCain was once touted as a “maverick” independent who voted close to the ideological middle of the Senate.

After losing to Obama in the 2008 presidential election, McCain made such a dramatic shift to the right that by 2010 he was tied with Tea Party favorite Jim DeMint of South Carolina for the title of the Senate’s most conservative member, according to a National Journal analysis.

McCain’s sins, in the eyes of state party Republicans in Arizona, include his support of the Senate-passed bipartisan immigration reform bill that would provide 11 million illegal immigrants a pathway to citizenship. State Republican officials are adamantly opposed to any bill that smacks of “amnesty” for illegal immigrants and their children.

Another sin committed by the often-free-wheeling, combative McCain was clashing with rising conservative Senate stars, including Rand Paul of Kentucky, Ted Cruz of Texas and Mike Lee of Utah, over national security and budget policy as well as Obamacare.

Last March, McCain told the media that Cruz, Paul and Rep. Justin Amash (R-MI) were “wacko birds” for their outspoken brand of politicking on the Hill. McCain also criticized Paul for his nearly 13-hour filibuster that pressured the Obama administration to clarify its position on the use of domestic drones, calling it a “disservice to a lot of Americans.”

McCain later apologized for the “wacko birds” comment, but not before Paul in a speech to conservatives dismissed McCain as part of the old guard of the GOP that “has grown stale and moss covered.”

His final misdeed was to side with Democrats last fall in deriding GOP efforts to block passage of a budget and threaten a government shutdown to force cuts in spending for the Affordable Care Act. In a Sept. 25 floor speech that drew Democratic praise and GOP hostility, McCain said that while he had vigorously opposed passage of Obamacare, “elections have consequences.”

“I'd remind my colleagues that in the 2012 election, Obamacare . . . was a major issue in the campaign,” he said. “I campaigned all over America for two months everywhere I could, and in every single campaign rally I said, ‘And we have to repeal and replace Obamacare.’ Well, the people spoke. They spoke, much to my dismay, but they spoke, and they re-elected the president of the United States.”

Many in the Arizona Republican Party have been apoplectic about these offenses and couldn’t wait to formally convey their displeasure – although McCain’s current term isn’t up until 2016, when he turns 80. He announced in October that he was considering running for a sixth term.

Timothy Schwartz, who authored the censure, said McCain “has abandoned us” and called on party leaders to hold him accountable. McCain always works with Democrats but not with Republicans,” Schwartz said, speaking in support of the censure.

Such interparty tensions could have troubling consequences for Republicans this year in their bid to retain control of the House and recapture a majority in the Senate. Seven of 12 Republican senators up for reelection – including Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky – are facing primary challenges from Tea Party candidates.

For now, Sen. Thad Cochran of Mississippi appears to be the most endangered GOP incumbent. The politically potent Club for Growth has endorsed his primary challenger, state senator Chris McDaniel. The other Republicans facing primary challenges appear to be in pretty good shape.

Yet just a few Republican primary upsets – as we saw, for example, in Indiana and Missouri in 2012 – could result in a weaker general election field and costly losses for the GOP.