John Hinderaker’s post on Powerline is today’s must reading. To say that John is upset with the anarchists is understatement. He’s got a right to be. I’ll let John’s words speak for themselves. Here’s what John said:

The first day of the RNC was fun but muted. One group, though, wasn’t deterred from pursuing its agenda by events in the Gulf. The Communist/anarchist/truther/pro-Obama protesters were out in force, committing various crimes and attempting to disrupt the proceedings.
The most shocking events are described by Jim Hoft, who was on a bus that was attacked from above when a group of protesters dropped sand bags on to the top of the bus. This is attempted murder: if the protesters had succeeded in hitting the windshield, a sand bag would have crashed through and killed the driver. The resulting accident would have killed or injured others on the bus. To my knowledge, the left-wingers/would-be murderers were not caught. (continue reading post »)

According to ABC’s Brian Ross, the McCain-Palin headquarters couldn’t be happier. Here’s why:

The McCain campaign raised more than $10 million in the two and a half days after Alaska Governor Sarah Palin was named as the vice presidential running mate, bringing the total raised in the month of August to more than $47 million, campaign officials tell ABC News.

The final, official figures are expected to be reported in the next few days, but the amount appears to be a record for the McCain campaign, almost twice as much as it has raised in any other single month.

“We’re still counting,” said campaign spokesman Brian Rogers.

Rush was right. A couple months ago, Rush was talking about the NRCC’s and NRSC’s anemic numbers, as well as McCain’s fundraising numbers. His opinion: When Republicans start acting like Republicans, the money will start flowing in. They did, starting with the House Oil Wars Rebellion. Donations have been improving ever since.

When Sen. McCain picked Gov. Palin, the floodgates flew open. Like Brian Rogers says, “We’re still counting.” That must bring a smile to Sen. McCain’s face. Following his acceptance speech Thursday night, he’ll get a check for $84 million. The good news is that Sen. McCain and Gov. Palin will be doing fundraisers for the RNC, which can spend the money on whichever race they choose.

Technorati Tags: RNC, John McCain, Sarah Palin, Fundraising, Election 2008

Cross-posted at LetFreedomRingBlog

Rep. Paul Broun defeated his NRCC-supported primary challenger last night. Thrashed him is more accurate. Barry Fleming was the NRCC-endorsed candidate; Rep. Broun was the RedState endorsed candiate. Here’s how Mr. Fleming attempted spinning his thrashing:

An NBC Augusta crew visited Fleming at his home in Harlem Tuesday night.

We asked if he thought the negative ads he ran during his campaign kept him from beating Broun.

“I think there were two things that were very decisive in this race. The first and most important is that there is a deep dissatisfaction, as I sensed, in the Republican base and that’s who comes out to vote in primaries. Mr. Broun did a very good job tapping into that dissatisfaction. Votes that normally would raise eyebrows, he actually turned that into “At least I know what’s going on in Washington,” said Fleming.

Here’s how RedState’s Jeff Emanuel sees it: (continue reading post »)

I’ve been critical of the GOP ever since the midterm election debacle. I’ve been especially critical of the RNC because they’ve undercut true conservatives while promoting squishy moderates. It seems like the RNC has specialized promiting CW Republicans instead of lining up behind solutions-oriented, outside-the-box-thinking conservatives.

This morning, I read Fred Barnes’ depressing column titled “The Colorado Model”. I wasn’t depressed because he wrote about the Democrats’ plan to win Colorado on all levels. It was depressing to hear Barnes talking like there wasn’t anything we could do to stop the anti-GOP trend.

I won’t tolerate that type of defeatism. That’s why I’d fire every Beltway-based GOP strategist. That’s why I’m ignoring every defeatist, process-oriented Beltway GOP pundit from this day forward. If these pundits and strategists want to whine about things instead of figuring out solutions to the biggest problems of the day, especially high gas prices, then they’re part of the problem. PERIOD.

That’s why I’ve been impressed with the House Republicans. I’ve participated in 2 blogger conference calls on energy recently. Organized by my representative Michele Bachmann, they’ve focused on increasing oil production. That’s a solution that the public understands and agrees with.

What’s more is that they’re dispelling the myth that “We can’t drill our way out of this crisis.” They’re also dispelling the myths that drilling won’t drop prices and that it’ll take forever to get the oil online.

Whether it’s Michele Bachmann, John Peterson, Eric Cantor, Phil Gingrey or Roy Blunt, the House GOP is staying on this important battlefield and they’re defeating the Democrats on the field of ideas. They’re exposing the factual inaccuracies in the Democrats’ statements. (continue reading post »)

It took awhile for the Obama campaign to responde to the RNC’s launch of an ad criticizing Sen. Obama’s energy policy. Frankly, they should’ve taken a bit more time and gotten it right. This isn’t a compelling response:

An Obama campaign spokesman labeled the ad an “attack” and said the energy crisis can be solved only through honest debate.

“There’s a real choice in this election between John McCain’s promise to continue the Bush approach of trying to drill our way out of our energy crisis, which even he admits won’t lower prices this summer, or Barack Obama’s plan to provide meaningful short-term relief for our families and to make a historic investment in alternative energy development that will create millions of new jobs, keep the cost of energy affordable and secure our energy independence once and for all,” Obama spokesman Hari Sevugan said.

Sen. Obama is pretending if he thinks that there can be “short-term relief for our families” without increasing drilling for oil and natural gas. PERIOD. As for Sen. Obama’s position on energy, here’s part of what his website says:

Barack Obama’s Plan
Reduce Carbon Emissions 80 Percent by 2050 (continue reading post »)

The Republican Party isn’t the majority party here in Minnesota nor in our nation’s capital for a variety of reasons. I’d submit that the biggest reason why we aren’t the majority party is because we stopped being the party of ideas. Here in Minnesota, though, we’re taking corrective action, action that doesn’t rely on the state party.

Instead, what a group of activists have done is turned the MOB (Minnesota Organization of Bloggers) into the Activists’ News Network. Many of our state legislators stay in touch with what’s important to working class people by reading blogs like True North, Powerline, MDE, SCSUScholars, Let Freedom Ring, Ladies Logic and Shot In The Dark. Our House GOP leadership reads the blogs on a daily basis, as do their staff.

The House GOP Caucus has used this to stay in touch with what’s important with activists. That’s important because the activists/citizen journalists stay in touch with their neighbors, co-workers and friends. I can’t emphasize this point enough. If the GOP wants to return to majority status anytime soon, it has to start with listening to what the people are saying.

It’s my contention that the reason why earmarks have proliferated at the rate they have is in direct proportion to the RNC and other Beltway ‘alphabets’ not having a coherent or appealing agenda. To get an appealing agenda, the RNC must listen to the people living in the Heartland because what’s importatnt in the Heartland is dramatically different than what’s important to the Beltway’s opinion shapers. (continue reading post »)

I don’t know whether this idea is enough but it’s worth thinking about. Here’s what a commenter said that I think is worth considering:

This is the issue that saves the day for Republicans. The entire Republican Congressional and Senate delegations should assemble on the steps of the Capitol under a banner that reads “Republicans- The Party That Wants To Drill For Oil”. There should be an Energy Contract With America that includes the end to ethanol tariffs, building nuclear power plants, converting coal into gasoline and building new refineries. This will all take time, of course, but we should dump the enviro-nuts and start NOW!

With people extremely upset with high oil prices, people are looking for a comprehensive solution. They know that alternative energy isn’t the only thing that’s needed. They also know that conservation alone isn’t the solution. It’s my strong belief that people understand that we also need to increase our production of domestic oil. The best shortterm solution to energy prices is drilling domestically for oil. It isn’t subject to the production preferences of the Saudis, Venezuelans and Russians. It’s entirely within our control. Powerline has a great post up about the oil executives’ testimony. This should be the wake up call to Republicans. Here’s testimony that will wake people up fast: (continue reading post »)

I’ve been pondering this after reading about the NRCC lost 3 straight special elections. The answer is now clear. It’s time to stop pussyfooting around. It’s time to start rebuilding. I’m not worrying about Minnesota House seats. John Kline and Michele Bachmann will be fine. Erik Paulsen should keep MN-3 in GOP hands. What I’m worrying about is having leaders who don’t give a damn about Reagan’s principles. It’s been fashionable this year to dismiss Reagan. Ed Rollins started it. Mich Daniels told us to get over Reagan.

The day the Republican Party forgets about what Ronald Reagan stood for is the day that the Republican Party becomes Liberal Lite. Some think it’s already there. I’m not sure I’d disagree, though I’m not that fatalistic.

The good news for Minnesotans is that we’re building a strong farm team here. There are other glimmers of hope elsewhere, too. Jeb Hensarling, Mike Pence, Jim DeMint and Tom Coburn are helping rebuild the party. What we need is someone with a Reganite vision of conservatism. That person must have a confidence that liberty and prosperity are the cornerstones of Reagan’s conservatism. That person must be an optimist. That person must be a leader with well-thought through convictions.

It’s always been my contention that people didn’t understand Reagan’s greatness. Tip O’Neill and others thought of him as an “amiable dunce.” Far from it.

We don’t need another Reagan. We just need a true conservative leader. We need someone who doesn’t pick RINOs when he can have a conservative.

Technorati Tags: Reagan, Conservatism, Leadership, Special Elections, RNC

Cross-posted at LetFreedomRingBlog

Now that the North Carolina GOP advertisement is the latest buzz, John McCain weighed in against the ad. That’s a shame. He should’ve said he didn’t agree with it but that it’s the NCGOP’s call on whether they should run it. Instead of doing that, he tried lecturing Republicans:

McCain called the ad “offensive” and said it “degrades our civics and distracts us from the very real differences we have with the Democrats.”

“From the beginning of this election, I have been committed to running a respectful campaign based upon an honest debate about the great issues confronting America today. I expect all state parties to do so as well,” McCain wrote in an e-mail to Daves, asking her to pull the ad.

Sorry, Sen. McCain, but this isn’t part of your business. If the North Carolina GOP wants to tie Rev. Wright to Democratic gubernatorial candidates, then they should do so without getting lectured by an outsider, even if that outsider is the GOP presidential nominee. PERIOD.

I’d further ask Sen. McCain what he finds offensive about the ad. The fact that it’s causing Sen. Obama grief tells me that it’s worth running. I’d also suggest that the Pastor J-Wright issue is important to alot of people. Just because John McCain doesn’t want to hit Obama hard on the character issue doesn’t mean that those issues are off limits. I suspect that the North Carolina GOP is attempting to put the Democrats’ candidates for governor on the defensive for endorsing Sen. Obama. I suspect that they’re trying to say that his judgment isn’t solid and that these candidates have exercised poor judgment in endorsing him.

I also suspect that this ad is having great effect in North Carolina because it’s a solidly red state. Pastor J-Wright’s anti-American diatribes won’t sit well with North Carolina voters.

That’s fair game as far as I’m concerned.

Technorati Tags: John McCain, RNC, North Carolina GOP, Obama, Jeremiah Wright, Election 2008

Cross-posted at LetFreedomRingBlog

With Barack Obama and Hillary fundraising articles often occupying the front page, it isn’t unreasonable to think that the RNC trailed the DNC in fundraising, too. According to this NY Times article, that isn’t the case at all.

The Democratic National Committee ended 2007 nearly flat broke, with cash of $2.9 million and debts of $2.2 million. Since then it has raised some money, paid down debt and managed to put $3.7 million in its piggy bank. This compares, however, with $25 million that the Republican National Committee has in cash on hand, after having raised $97 million since the beginning of 2007.

That isn’t the only bad news for Democrats:

Already, President Bush, who spoke at 29 Republican fund-raisers and is credited with raising $63.5 million last year, is lined up for more R.N.C. fund-raising in the weeks ahead. This money is likely to provide the financial muscle for Mr. McCain to continue his attacks on both Democratic candidates.

Expect John McCain to have all the finances he’ll need in fairly short order. I’ve always maintained that the fundraising totals for the GOP presidential candidates was as much about the big money guys waiting until the nominee was picked as it was about each candidate having some serious flaws.

Once McCain is fully funded, expect the alphabets (RNC, NRSC & NRCC) to kick into high gear. By the time the fall campaign kicks in, we’ll be able to fund alot of challengers for the House.

I’ve always been an optimist but I’m seeing some indicators that tell me that 2008 isn’t going to be the bad year like everyone’s predicting. We’ve weeded out alot of the RINOs in congress which will energize us for this fall’s campaign. We’ll have the money to fund our candidates. All that’s left after that is to outwork our opponents. That’s certainly possible.

Technorati Tags: RNC, DNC, NRSC, NRCC, John McCain, President Bush, Fundraising, General Election, Election 2008

Cross-posted at LetFreedomRingBlog