(Take the R out of Republican and you have ... Reform?-java)
GOP reps. advised to avoid party brand
A new playbook for House Republicans urges them to run essentially as independents, showing empathy for voters, emphasizing local issues and ignoring many traditional party campaign practices.
The advice for House candidates is part of an effort to minimize Republican losses in a year when voters are exasperated by the economy, the Iraq war and President Bush:
“Encourage Republican candidates to establish themselves in a personal manner, emphasizing local issues whenever possible.”
“Candidates have to have a positive alternative vis-à-vis their Democratic opponents.”
“Work to develop an issues matrix that is different than in years past and also shows a deep empathy towards the voters.”
The advice, from consultants to the National Republican Congressional Committee, was presented this week to House leaders, including NRCC Chairman Tom Cole (R-Okla.).
The assessment is contained in a 15-point PowerPoint presentation provided to Politico and first reported by David Espo of The Associated Press.
The review was an effort to distill lessons learned from unexpectedly deep Republican losses in special elections in Illinois, Louisiana and Mississippi.
The assessment was provided by the NRCC Audit Committee, formed at the behest of House Republican leader John A. Boehner of Ohio.
The review found that the losing Republicans failed to successfully establish “themselves and their local brand in contrast to the negative perception of the national GOP.”
“Traditional Republican messages essentially did not work in these campaigns,” the analysis says. “Nationalizing these elections as a choice between a traditional Republican and a traditional Democrat did not work in this political environment.
“Democrats ran candidates that were a reflection of their districts.”
By Jackie Kucinich Posted: 07/31/08 07:56 PM [ET]
Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.) told GOP congressional hopefuls on Thursday that they should not be afraid to criticize both political parties – including Republican members of the House.
During a conference call, the National Republican Congressional Committee chairman instructed candidates, campaign managers and press secretaries that given the anti-incumbent environment, it could be beneficial for House GOP candidates to distance themselves from politicians they may be serving with next year.
“These [congressional approval] ratings are worse than we had on the eve of losing the majority,” Cole said. “Don’t be afraid to say you are disappointed in fellow Republicans… don’t hesitate to be anti-Washington, D.C.”
The NRCC chief discouraged candidates from attending the national convention in Minneapolis-St. Paul, saying that spending days there would be a “waste of time,” and they would be better off campaigning.
Cole stressed to the congressional candidates that they must capitalize on the energy issue, which has given the GOP a rare burst of political momentum.
“There is potential for a big showdown in the fall on this issue,” Cole said, pointing to the expiration of the executive order banning offshore drilling in September. “The Democrats are going to have to do something proactive on this issue.”
He suggested that Republican candidates call on their opponents to condemn Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) for leaving the energy issue to languish over the August break.
“Put them in a box on this issue in any way you can,” Cole said on the call, which The Hill was allowed to listen in on.
Candidates were also advised by NRCC staff to have an operative at each of their opponent’s speaking events and to make sure to record any radio interviews they might do, just in case they can be caught “doing something really stupid.”
In a recess packet distributed to Republican congressional candidates, the NRCC encouraged them to use GOP efforts on the House floor to push the energy issue as the centerpiece of their campaigns as they head into the crucial month of August.
The documents suggest that candidates hold press events at gas stations and details a list of energy bills that the Democratic-led Congress has, and has not, allowed to be voted on during the 110th Congress.
A timeline and a list of Republican-sponsored, energy-related discharge petitions are also included in the recess packet.
In addition to the materials for their candidates, each Democratic candidate will be featured on a “House Energy Report Card” featuring a forlorn donkey and a list of 101 courses such as “Alternative Energy 101” with the word “FAIL” written next to it.
The NRCC also launched a new ad Thursday, modeled after a movie trailer, that accuses House Democrats of having no energy agenda and features interviews with Pelosi on various news programs.
Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee spokesman Doug Thornell dismissed the GOP messaging as insincere.
“The Grand Oil Party is popping champagne corks after a week of reports showing record profits for their Big Oil buddies,” he said. “In fact, Big Oil owes House Republicans a big thank you card for consistently looking out for their bottom line instead of supporting Democratic efforts to lower gas prices for middle-class families.”
Despite Democratic cries of hypocrisy during a year that has brought Republicans little to cheer about, the energy debate has swayed editorial boards and public opinion largely to the GOP.
Conference Chairman Adam Putnam (R-Fla.) warned in the August 2008 district work kit that the GOP must take advantage of the opportunity.
“If we don’t build on this momentum and lock it down now, we don’t stand a snowball’s chance of getting something done and regaining the trust of the American people.”
In addition to energy, the conference recess packet also includes talking points on the economy, security, healthcare and various other initiatives.
While Republicans may currently hold the high political ground on energy, many Americans still lay the blame at the feet of the Bush administration for the cost of gas.
According to a July 31 CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll, 54 percent of those surveyed blamed the Bush administration for the cost of fuel, 51 percent blamed the ban on offshore drilling for gas prices and 68 percent blamed the oil companies for the rise in gas prices. Only 31 percent blamed Democrats in Congress.
September 15, 2008 10:36
Their Brand is Collapse
Posted by Joe KleinJohn McCain is up with an ad touting his "experience" to deal with the financial crisis. But no specific experience is cited--which is attributable to the fact that McCain has been a happily orthodox Republican when it comes to financial regulation these past 26 years. He's against it. He's against Washington telling you how to run your business. The unseen hand of the market and all that...
This has been the long-standing Republican bait and switch--scaring small businesses with the threat of new regulations if the Democrats win, commiserating with larger businesses about the evils of environmental and plant safety rules, while lifting as many regulations as possible governing the financial titans whose credit should be at the heart of new economic development. But that hasn't been happening: the financial titans have been going for the quick buck rather than the sound one. Money and creativity have been redirected during the Reagan-Bush era away from substantive loans to real businesses into a Ponzi scheme of borrowing by investment bankers, so they could engage in the most irresponsible, if lucrative (for them) speculative lending imaginable...In this sense, the mortgage crisis was a perfect metaphor for Republican financial governance: Investment banks like Lehman--R.I.P.--took loans to invest money in...bad loans. In this case, the loans were bad mortgages. This is called throwing good money after bad.
Actually, John McCain has excellent experience--a ringside seat--in the vagaries of this experiment in greed and anarchy. He was a member of the Keating Five. This was the signature scandal of the Savings and Loan crisis, twenty years ago. It concerned the insider help that five Senators gave Charles Keating and his Lincoln Savings and Loan, in return for contributions and gifts. The deregulation of S&Ls--community banks dedicated to local mortgages (like George Bailey's bank in "It's A Wonderful Life")--enabled slick operators like Keating to make reckless loans in new areas where they had no expertise. The final tab to the taxpayers was $165 billion.
McCain wasn't the worst offender in the scandal. He was included in the Five to make it bipartisan (the other four were Democrats). But he knew Keating, partied with him, made inquiries on his behalf. He once told me that his role in the scandal was harder on him, in some ways, than being a prisoner of war "Because my honor was called into question."
After an experience like that, you might think Senator Honorable would have devoted himself to preventing other such crises--to making sure the Big Wall Street Casino was operating according to rules that wouldn't screw the small investors and, more to the point, the taxpayers. But he walked the anti-regulatory party line, with only occasional exceptions...and tried to lay down a smokescreen of righteousness by campaigning against small potato[e!]s like legislative earmarks--money to study the mating habits of, uh, crabs, in, uh, Alaska (proposed by Governor Honorable).
What we are seeing on Wall Street today is the result of an ideology gone amok. There was call to loosen and change the antiquated regulations governing investment back in 1980. But the Republican era has seen that loosening go to the point of near-cataclysm. Banks are failing, markets dropping. We are in the midst of a slow-motion economic crash. What happens next is an economic contraction: loans aren't available, so businesses can't expand. A crash comes at the beginning of a period of economic trouble.
John McCain, after his political near-death experience, could have made the responsible regulation of markets one of his great causes. He didn't. And today he said, once again, "The fundamentals of our economy are strong." I hope he's right, but it's entirely possible that he knows as much about our economy as Sarah Palin knows about The Bush Doctrine.
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