RNC Chair Hopefuls Cite Love Of Reagan

Washington Post: Republicans Battling For Top RNC Post Suggest Their Party Has Lost Its Way

(Washington Post)  This column was written by Dana Milbank.

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The way Republicans are attacking themselves, who needs Democrats?

"You have Republicans scratching their head, going: 'Who are we? What do we believe in? What do we stand for?' " said Michael Steele, former lieutenant governor of Maryland.

"We have done a very poor job in communicating," added Chip Saltsman, former chairman of the Tennessee GOP.

"The hypocrisy, more than anything else, has killed our party," agreed Saul Anuzis, chairman of the Michigan Republicans. "We had become the bums."

And these are the guys who want to lead the party. The half a dozen men vying to be Republican National Committee chairman assembled at the National Press Club for a debate yesterday, but it quickly turned into a duel over who could best disparage their president and their party. Even the incumbent chairman, Mike Duncan, who is running for another term, warned that "if we don't do something about it, we're going to be the permanent minority in this country."

Luckily, all six RNC candidates agreed on a solution to the party's woes: They would say Ronald Reagan's name over and over, as if it were a tantric incantation.

Anuzis quoted Reagan in his opening statement. Former Ohio secretary of state Ken Blackwell lamented that too many Republicans "campaign like Ronald Reagan and then govern like Jimmy Carter." Saltsman talked about his high school days: "Ronald Reagan was president, and he got me excited."

Katon Dawson, chairman of the South Carolina GOP, tried to top that. "I was inspired as a college graduate by a fellow who walked in the room by the name of Ronald Reagan."

Grover Norquist, the moderator and head of Americans for Tax Reform, asked each candidate to name his favorite Republican president. The tally: Reagan, 6; Lincoln, 0. "Okay, everybody got that one right," the moderator announced.

The questions changed, but the same answer kept coming. Steele spoke of what "Ronald Reagan moved us to realize." Blackwell quoted Reagan two more times, prompting Steele to remind everybody that he was "inspired by the rhetoric and the words and the reality of a Ronald Reagan."

"And if you take a look at the constituency that we're losing today, it's the Reagan Democrats," Anuzis offered, for the session's 16th and final mention of the 40th president.

All the talk about the 1980s must have been a welcome respite for the Republicans, whose current situation is rather less memorable. The résumés of the men on the stage served as reminders of the GOP's problems: Duncan, who presided over the party's electoral debacle in November; Anuzis, who watched the GOP implode in Michigan; Dawson, a former member of an all-white country club. Then, of course, there was Saltsman, who mailed party members a CD with the parody song "Barack the Magic Negro." Saltsman's indiscretion has dominated the race, but moderator Norquist, a devoted Republican, was kind enough not to ask the candidates about the Magic Negro. Instead, he led them on a painful discussion about the Grand Old Party's efforts to appeal to the young.

"We have to do it in the Facebook, with the Twittering, the different technology that young people are using today," Duncan ventured.

"Let me just say that I have 4,000 friends on Facebook," contributed Blackwell, putting his hand on Dawson's and Anuzis's knees. "That's probably more than these two guys put together, but who's counting, you know?" Acknowledged Saltsman: "I'm not sure all of us combined Twitter as much as Saul."

Anuzis claimed he had "somewhere between 2- and 3,000" Facebook friends, which prompted Blackwell to remind the audience that he has 4,000 friends on the social networking site by waving four fingers behind Anuzis's head.

The candidates were significantly more comfortable when asked how many guns they own. Duncan claimed four handguns and two rifles, Anuzis boasted of two, and Blackwell replied: "Seven -- and I'm good."

"In my closet at home," replied Saltsman, "I've got two 12-gauges, a 20-gauge, three handguns and a .30-06. And I'll take you on anytime, Ken."

Even talk of their prized firearms, however, did not engage the candidates as much as their criticism of President Bush and the party they would lead.

"It's not the easiest thing in the world right now to be a Republican," Steele began, setting off 90 minutes of self-flagellation: "We are looked at being to some degree a party that is not friendly to minorities. . . . We lost our way. . . . Republicans should've had a little bit more you-know-what. . . . Obama caught us with our pants down. . . . They've bested us. . . . We can no longer afford to talk one way and behave in another." Norquist invited the candidates to name the biggest mistake of the Bush administration, and the answers tumbled out: The economic bailout. Greater deficits. Mishandling the Iraq war. Hurricane Katrina. Social Security. Immigration.

At one point, Anuzis had trouble even calling himself a Republican. "I have not been a lifelong Democrat," he said. "Republican," he corrected. "I actually became a Democrat," he went on. "Republican," he corrected again, "during my high school years."

Norquist invited the candidates to name their "least favorite Republican president," coaching them that "it's safe to go with the dead ones."

Replied Dawson: "We've got a few of those in the party right now."

[kansas1946]

Poor Republicans. The party is in total disarray and they are longing for the Reagan years. Well, they should have thought about that before they nominated someone like George W Bush to be president. It will take years to restart their party. Maybe if they can get back to supporting fiscal responsibility and get and come up with some ideas other than abortion and bashing g a y s, they might make some headway.

[actornaught]

ronnie raided Social Security supposedly to cover some of his record deficits, and augment his record taxes. (and don''t forget "unfunded mandates", the middle class was brutalized.)

As one of the original neocons, ronnie shamelessly went after any social program that worked, like Social Security, and tried to kill it.

[whatithink10]

"Washington Post: Republicans Battling For Top RNC Post Suggest Their Party Has Lost Its Way"

The Republican party has not lost its way. The Republican party pretty much accomplished what it set out to do since Nixon/Goldwater/Atwater/Reagan. The Republican party has never balanced a budget. The Republican party has never spent less than the Democrats. The Republican party pandered to divisions in order to get people to vote against their own self-interests and to ignore the reality of the Republican party versus the myths. That''s about it.

[whatithink10]

Will some reporter please explain what Ronald Reagan did to the social security trust fund. What a joke!

[whatithink10]

"He was not devisive.

Posted by kansas1946 at 07:56 PM : Jan 06, 2009"


As he started his campaign in Philiadelphia, Miss. where three civil rights workers had been brtually killed about 15 years before, he pretty much pandered to make sure all the Dixiecrats came to the Republican party...thereby destroying it.

[whatithink10]

"Blackwell was CRUSHED in the election for governor in Ohio 2 years ago. Even Republicans didn''''t vote for him!! LOL


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Posted by raflin0010 at 02:54 PM : Jan 06, 2009"



This last election pretty much proved that about all that''s left in the Republican party are religious nuts and racists. I''m not surprised.

[standlee5]

It''s not going to matter anyway because by the time obama and the Dem House and Senate are done we''re going to be trillions in debt and in a WWIII. So whatever. Small Govt. will come when we''re done as a country and less taxes will come when nobody has any money to pay anything. Done deal the Dems win.

[standlee5]

Small Govt. It''s like this beast that keeps growing and growing and now it feeds on itself. Like CA is going to go under but yet they can''t reduce the size of govt. necessay because it''ll overwhelm the unemployment insurance. It''s like we''ve created this monster that''s going to devour all of us.

[kansas1946]

Come on, CBS, get the word g a y s out of your scratch list. There is nothing wrong with that word. It is not profane, it is not politically incorrect. I get tired of having to double space.

[kansas1946]

The next four years will reveal once again, without a doubt Ronald Reagan was the greatest President since George Washington.

Posted by BillRich11
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Even though I strongly supported Obama, I did like Reagan. He was a leader. He was able to pull people together and had many Democrats supporting him. He was not devisive. He rarely mentioned abortion, ***, religion, etc. He was not a hypocrite. He had a vision. He was a grand speaker, had a sense of humor, and loved his job. He may not be the greatest president since Washington, but compared to what the Republicans have given us since, he looks pretty good.

[kansas1946]

"We have done a very poor job in communicating," added Chip Saltsman, former chairman of the Tennessee GOP.
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I think on the contrary. They did a wonderful job of communicating what they are. A small minded, hypocritical, dangerous, partisan, hateful, antagonistic, bunch of fools. That is the message they communicated and that is what they are.

[tonyatq]

SAD SAD SAD! Where is Sarah?

If Ronnie Raygun is the best they got, then they might as well build a golf course out there in that wilderness, they''re gonna be there for awhile.

[mswolfestock]

I haven''t decided if this is really funny or really scary . . . . .

They all today are just as much out of touch as Old Ronnie was then. The Gipper started this whole mess we are in today, and remember what happened to him. They''ll all become senile, drool, and then die.

[heathme2003]

Hi "likeitis5050"

I like your comment alot!
Especially the part:

"Truth is most of the Democrats are nothing but bullies and blow hards anyway...Pelosi only cares about her gavel and Reid doesn''''''''t know whether to wind his azz or scratch his watch."

Very funny.


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Posted by peace4321 at 03:49 PM : Jan 06, 2009
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Let''s see: a Republican president with the lowest approval rating ever and a Republican presidential candidate who tapped a cheerleader as a vice presidential candidate. You two shouldn''t point fingers.

[strangeworld]

When the current president (bush) took office, he quickly sealed the records of both the reagan and bush I administrations - the most likely explanation is that he didn''t see good things happening for the republican party if the voters of the US knew the actual truth about the reagan/bush years and the corruption that was rapant during that time. Call your congressmen and tell them to unseal those records...let the American voters/taxpayers see what actually went on during those regan years instead of rewriting history.

[texasbeta]

You have to adore conservatives...rather than argue points, they do just what McCain and Palin did...cite catch phrases and call people names. It is classic...the group that claims they are not from monkeys/apes are the ones who most resemeble their mentality.

[strangeworld]

Why profess love of reagan - the guy''s eight years in office started the economic slide that has now turned into a financial disaster for most Americans. Reagan started putting everything on the bill, adding to the debt tremendously. While the wealthy were raking it in hand over fist, he was busy changing the formulas for the way that the CPI (consumer price index) and unemployment were calculated so he could make himself look better and allow employers to give smaller raises. Reagan was a failure, just like the modern republican movement...anyone who believes otherwise is rewriting history and has their head in the sand regarding the long-term problems that his time as president has caused to the US.

[texasbeta]

Reagan circumvented the Constitution, had an illegal war for money, tried to create an Evanglical dominated and govt endorsed nation, was a proponent of a fake economic theory that has been proven not to work and only benefits the rich corporate interests, was the King of increasing the income gap witin the country, and an open racist. Sounds alot like Bush to me...neither are good people and neither knew what they were doing. Reagan got credit for bringing down the wall, but the Soviet empire was built on propganda...Reagan didn''t do squat that benefitted the country.

[likeitis5050]

Eventually it''s going to come out....they don''t need to work on attacks to use against Democrats...just get back to the basics. They were in such a big hurry to be liked by the Democrats they forgot they don''t even like to PLAY with them. Who cares if the Democrats have the best toys tax payer money can buy? Sometimes you just have to stop and ask yourself...''why do I care what they think?'' Truth is most of the Democrats are nothing but bullies and blow hards anyway...Pelosi only cares about her gavel and Reid doesn''t know whether to wind his azz or scratch his watch. But they think they have the only game in town so no one can mess with them. Fine. Start a new game one block over and watch how fast the nosey azzes come snooping to see what all the laughter is about.