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Sunday, October 19, 2008
In the coming race for chairmanship of the RNC, the name of Newt Gingrich comes to mind
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
It remains rude to discuss the topic in public, but here and elsewhere, Republicans have begun to ponder the matter of who will become the face of a GOP in exile — who will pick up the pieces of what could be the most shattering election in decades.
As they would with any blood relative in an ICU ward, Republican leaders insist to outsiders that John McCain will recover and take the White House on Nov. 4.
And if that happens, no one will be happier than Alec Poitevint of Bainbridge. Shortly after he took his oath of office, McCain would appoint a new chairman of the Republican National Committee. And Poitevint’s on the short list.
A former state GOP chairman, Poitevint was one of McCain’s earliest supporters. He once served as treasurer of the RNC. From deep southwest Georgia, Poitevint is not well-known, and is not terribly comfortable in front of reporters. But with a Republican as president, he wouldn’t need to be.
But if McCain flatlines, if Barack Obama’s lead holds up for 15 more days, then the qualifications for the job of leading a Republican party in receivership change considerably.
They could, in fact, boil down to this: Who has the skills, and the proper philosophy, to face down the first African-American president in history, a man who already displays the media talents of a Bill Clinton or Ronald Reagan?
Future ambition and the presidential contest of 2012 become a factor. Sarah Palin has been mentioned as a possible candidate. So has Mitt Romney, or his stand-in. But another name is bound to come up — that of former U.S. House speaker Newt Gingrich, the 65-year-old former Georgia congressman.
There are abundant reasons to wonder why Republicans would turn back to the 1990s in an effort to cope with an uncertain future. But the fact is, the rebellious contingent of Republicans in the U.S. House has become the most cohesive element of the GOP — and this year Gingrich emerged as its voice, especially during debate over the $700 billion bailout of Wall Street.
“If Newt assumed the role of RNC chair in the wake of a disastrous November, he would be at home with that position,” said U.S. Rep. Jack Kingston of Savannah. “He served in the dark and dreary times inthe wake of Jimmy Carter’s election, when — particularly in Georgia — times were very bleak for the Republican party.
“One ofthe problems McCain and George Bush both have is they’re not good speakers.Obviously, Mr. Obama is. And I think Newt could go head to head with him,” Kingston said.
For obvious reasons, Gingrich won’t discuss the topic. Only last year, after much public deliberation, the former congressman declined to jump into the presidential race that is only now ending — citing the legal complications it would have for American Solutions, his self-described clearinghouse for new ideas.
“He’s got more clout where he is now,” said U.S. Rep. John Linder, who was a top lieutenant during the heady days of the Gingrich speakership.
State GOP chairman Sue Everhart, who will cast one of the 150 votes that will decide the matter, said something similar. She noted that the national job requires a talent for dealing with bureaucracy and soothing sensitive egos. “I think it would cramp his style too much. You’ve got to be nice to people whether you like them or not,” she said.
In a post-McCain world, a three-month fight for the RNC chairmanship would also be a ideological clash. On one side would be those who think the Republican party failed because it wasn’t conservative enough — because it strayed from the precepts of the Gingrich-led revolution of ’94.
A chairman Gingrich would then be another Moses, resuming command after a mass Republican flirtation with the Golden Calf.
But on the other side of the GOP gulf are those who worry who worry that the GOP has limited itself by catering too forcefully to the Christian right and other interests. This is the “narrowing” that former secretary of state Colin Powell spoke of on Sunday, just before endorsing Obama.
Everhart counts herself among those who want to broaden the GOP reach, not purify it. “[Gov.] Sonny Perdue wasn’t elected by Republicans. He was elected by Democrats and independents, too,” she said.
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ICYMI: Martin distances himself from the Fair Tax attack on Chambliss
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A debate featuring the three candidates for U.S. Senate, taped Saturday, will be aired at 12:30 this afternoon on WSB-TV.
My AJC colleague Jim Tharpe writes that this is what you can expect:
Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Jim Martin on Saturday distanced himself from an advertisement by his own party that attacks the so-called Fair Tax.
The proposed national sales tax would replace the federal income tax. It is supported by Martin’s Republican opponent, U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss.
The national Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee has pumped $500,000 into Georgia for attack ads against Chambliss including the Fair Tax ad, which last week started blanketing the TV airwaves in metro Atlanta.
Martin, who is in a tightening race with Chambliss, backed away from the ad during a 30-minute debate involving Martin, Chambliss and Libertarian Allen Buckley at WSB-TV studios Saturday afternoon….
“It’s not my ad,” Martin said during the debate. However, he added, “It is factually correct.”
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Sarah Palin on SNL: ‘Caribou Barbie’ raises the house — and Tina Fey was there, too
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Sarah Palin, the Republican nominee for vice president, survived NBC’ “Saturday Night Live” in fine fashion last night.
But darned if you could tell whether it was her or Tina Fey in the early moments of the opening skit. (It was Fey who started the fauxpress conference off, and Palin finished it.)
Politically, what pushed the envelope? SNL persuaded the real Palin to utter one of her famous nicknames: “Caribou Barbie.”
In a second “Weekend Update” skit, we had Eskimos, Todd the snowmachine racer, a dying moose, and a Republican vice presidential nominee who showed she can actually keep a beat:
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