Home > Political Insider > Archives > 2008 > June > 02
Monday, June 2, 2008
Barr campaign to white supremacists: ‘Don’t let the door hit you on the way out’
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Libertarian blogs are reporting that Bob Barr is having it out with the same group of white supremacists who sullied Ron Paul’s Republican presidential campaign.
A pair of web sites, including something called Stormfront.org, on Monday ran an endorsement of Barr by James Buchanan:
“A vote for Bob Barr would at least send a message to the Republican Party that conservatives and Whites won’t sit still as they are stuck with a liberal presidential candidate like McCain.”
David Weigel at Reason.com offers this bit of essential background on Libertarian politics, and why that endorsement struck a nerve:
One of the bigger media blunders the Ron Paul campaign made was its handling of endorsements from the bigots at Stormfront. White nationalists slithered around the fringes of the Paul movement, and Paul refused to return a donation from Stormfronter Don Black on the grounds that he’d rather the money be spent on the Paul campaign than spent by racists.
Thirdpartywatch.com reports Barr campaign manager Russ Verney is having none of it. He immediately issued this statement:
”The Barr campaign is not going to be a vehicle for every fringe and hate group to promote itself.
“We do not want and will not accept the support of haters. Tell the haters I said don’t let the door hit you on the backside on your way out!
“Anyone with love in their heart for our country and for every resident of our country regardless of race, religion, nationality or sexual orientation is welcome with open arms.”
Permalink | Comments (40) | Post your comment |
The strategic warning from Senate Republicans: Let Democrats win big, and unions will flourish
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Any military strategist will tell you that the most difficult maneuver to pull off is the organized retreat — to do the things that, when faced with overwhelming opposition, prevent a total rout and preserve the core of one’s forces to fight another day.
John Ensign of Nevada, chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, is in that position now. He rolled through Atlanta this afternoon for a fund-raiser aimed at stemming the anticipated Democratic surge.
The event at the Capital City Club was closed, but Ensign — plus Sens. Johnny Isakson and Saxby Chambliss — held a short session with reporters (in the Cigar Room) before guests began arriving.
First the bad news from the man in charge of the effort to elect more Republicans to the U.S. Senate: “This sets up to be a very, very tough year for Republicans. I’m pretty straight with people about that.”
“We don’t expect to take the majority back. It’d be an extraordinary night if we were able to sneak back into the majority,” Ensign said. “Having said that, the number we get to is really, really important.”
If Democrats pick up more than six seats, their control of the chamber tilts toward the absolute.
What issues are at stake? Health care for one. Domestic energy exploration for another, according to Ensign. But the Nevada senator chose to emphasize another issue with reporters — and the guess here is that he said the same thing behind closed doors.
He spoke of unions and “the right to a secret ballot in a union election.”
“This will be a major national issue. For one thing, it will change politics for the next 50 to 100 years,” Ensign said. “If you take away a secret ballot, unions use intimidation. All you have to do, instead of a secret ballot, is get 50 percent of the employees plus one to sign a card saying they want a union.
“It’s an automatic union. Then within 60 days, it’s binding arbitration for the contract. Unionization rates would skyrocket in this country,” he said.
Sounds like an argument that might shake a few much-needed purse strings loose for Republicans.
Ensign addressed a number of other topics as well:
On John McCain’s vice presidential choice:
“I think it’s a year for Republicans not to play safe, personally. In other words, don’t take a conventional choice. Take a risk,” Ensign said. “Somebody who can broaden the base of the party. It’d be nice to find a woman, or somebody who wasn’t a white male. And who was really, really competent.”
On Libertarian presidential candidate Bob Barr:
“The minor party candidates can only be significant if they’re well-funded, and those don’t come around very often,” Ensign said. “Even Ralph nader was getting national attention, but after a while he became insignificant….You may here about [Barr] in Georgia, but you’re certainly not hearing about him in other places.”
On Chambliss and the farm bill:
“Saxby showed great leadership there. The way that he brokered, between Rrepublicans and Democrats, that bill does not happen without Saxby Chambliss. Many times that bill was dead. As a matter of fact, I can’t actually believe that bill came back to life,” Ensign said.
Chambliss’ race looks strong enough, the NRSC chairman said, that his group doesn’t anticipate spending any of its funds in Georgia this fall.
Photo credit: Associated Press
Permalink | Comments (12) | Post your comment |
Drowning in vice presidential prospects
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Atlanta will be awash in vice presidential prospects this week.
On Tuesday, former senators Sam Nunn of Georgia and William Cohen of Maine will hold a seminar on national service at the downtown Marriott Marquis.
Both men have been mentioned as possible running mates for Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama — Nunn more so than Cohen.
Tickets for the 10 a.m. event have already been distributed, so most of you will have to wait for the Internet broadcast.
On the same day, the Republican Governors Association begins a two-day conference at the Four Seasons Hotel Atlanta on 14th Street.
Two attendees, Charlie Crist of Florida and Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota, are routinely listed as potential running mates for Republican presumptive John McCain. Haley Barbour of Mississippi and host Sonny Perdue of Georgia will also be present.
Both have also been mentioned as vice presidential timber — though their names have surfaced less lately.
Permalink | Comments (2) | Post your comment |
Ralph Reed’s hard sell of a ‘Dark Horse’
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
This week, Republican political strategist Ralph Reed formally launches the publication of his political thriller “Dark Horse.”
The former chairman of the Georgia GOP is selling it hard — he’s got a web site up now that includes his own YouTube pitch.
The Wall Street Journal gave his novel the treatment on Saturday. Read an excerpt from Chapter One here.
Reed’s plot involves a Democrat who, defeated in a confusing presidential primary fight that goes to the national convention, becomes a born-again Christian and wins as an independent.
In the accompanying article, the WSJ says this:
To those who say the [Republican] party is too beholden to the religious right and should jettison those ties, Mr. Reed’s novel has this moral: Respect the power of evangelicals because they alone can swing an election.
And it says this:
The Web site publicizing the release of his book includes a list of “endorsements” from high-profile politicos. They include Karl Rove, President Bush’s former deputy chief of staff, and Fox News personality Sean Hannity. Notably absent are leaders of the religious right.
And this:
Mr. Reed says he put a little of himself into a lot of the characters. The one he thinks he most resembles: Jay Noble, the campaign manager for the independent Christian-conversion candidate. “I think that Jay Noble is someone who is extremely capable, a strategic genius, brilliant,” he says, “but spiritually and emotionally lost.”
Mr. Reed paused. “And that is not an uncommon personality among politics,” he says.
.JPG)
-1.JPG)
Services »
