Chairman's Update regarding the December 1st elections

Fellow REC Members:
The events of, and discussions before and after last Monday night’s meeting have produced a lot of confusion leading up to the important election that will be held Monday night. William
Harrison announced his intention of running against Jim Greer for the Chair of RPOF, and was elected as a Precinct Committeeman for his precinct, a first step to meeting the requirements to make that run. Because William is not otherwise eligible to run for BCREC Chairman at the 1 Dec election, a series of elections and resignations would have to follow, with the final result being to elect William as Chair of the BCREC prior to the Annual Meeting on January 10.

William’s reasons for mounting such an ambitious undertaking are based on his desire to see RPOF act as a strong influence to return Florida’s politics, which are controlled by our Party, to conservative principles of governing.
In discussions with William yesterday, he confirmed that the decision to seek the RPOF Chair is not firm at this time. He also confirmed his desire to be elected as Chair of the BCREC, regardless of the decision to run for Chair of RPOF. I am very concerned that the election Monday night might lead to misunderstandings and conflict within our ranks, since most of our members aren’t aware of what the issues are, and that’s not the way we do things. The election should be a time of celebration for what we’ve accomplished during the past cycle, and choosing
new leadership to go forward.

That’s a lot of verbiage to let you know that I will run for the Chair of the REC on Monday night, to serve for a short period. I have discussed this decision with John Salak and Dan Estes, who have announced their candidacy for Chair, as well as William. My purpose is to make sure that the election of the Chair of the BCREC will be held in the next couple of months, with every member being fully aware of the candidates and issues involved. There’s not time before Monday’s election to accomplish that goal.

I’m grateful for the trust you’ve given me in allowing me to serve you for the past two years. It’s time for new leadership, and my desire is that we make that decision based on full knowledge of the candidates and the circumstances. If William decides not to pursue the RPOF Chair, I’ll attend the RPOF Annual Meeting January 10 and be part of the delegation (with Jonathan and Melissa) to represent Bay County in the decisions to be made there. I’ll resign shortly after, in an orderly fashion, and announce an election date for the vacancy. If William does decide to run for Chair of RPOF, that decision would have to be made by mid-December. If the REC decides to support his candidacy, a second election will be required prior to the RPOF
meeting to elect him Chairman. As a 10 day meeting notice is required prior to the election, we have a very narrow window for the 2nd election meeting, especially with the Christmas and New Year holiday period.

I hope this decision will clear up any confusion about Monday’s election. The only other option that I could see was to postpone the election, and that creates other problems. My goal for the past two years has been to keep every member informed and run a transparent administration that involves every member. This action is intended to continue that practice.
Hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving. Thank you for your service to the REC.

Ted Haney

Chip Saltsman running for RNC Chairman

By Michael Patrick Leahy

Tennessean Chip Saltsman, most recently the manager of Mike Huckabee's remarkably successful "up from nowhere" 2008 Presidential campaign, has thrown his hat in the ring as a candidate for the Republican National Committee Chairmanship position.

At forty, Saltsman is the youngest of the announced candidates and arguably has the most electoral success in his background. He helped the ignoble Don Sundquist win the Governorship in Tennessee back in 1994, and has been involved in several successful Tennessee campaigns, ranging from Bill Frist's Senate election to the glorious defeat of native son and Democrat Presidential candidate Al Gore in 2000. Without a Republican victory in Tennessee in 2000, all of the drama in Florida wouldn't have mattered, and Al Gore would have been elected President.

Saltsman's relationship with Sundquist, the ultimate RINO (Republican in name only) , has been problematic. When elected to his second term in 1998, Sundquist reversed his campaign promise to oppose the imposition of any state income tax in Tennessee and introduced a proposal to do just that.

To his everlasting credit, Saltsman, who by that time had become Chairman of the Tennessee State Republican Party, vigorously opposed his old mentor's proposal, and was an important part of the conservative coalition of Republicans and talk show hosts ( a big tip of the hat to Phil Valentine and Steve Gill for that) whose protests and opposition killed the income tax proposal. Today, Tennessee remains one of the few states that does not have a state income tax. Many would argue that is one of the key reasons why the state continues to grow economically, even in these tough economic times.

The devolution of former Governor Sundquist's conservative principles are perhaps a case study of why Republicans nationwide must stick to truly conservative principles, articulating them well, and building the party by attracting voters to those principles, rather than modifying those principles to accomodate "moderates." When Sundquist, the Republican without principles, slunk off into ignominious obscurity at the end of his second term in 2002, he left behind a sordid record of broken promises and cronyism capitalism so revolting to voters that they readily ushered in his Democratic successor, current Governor Phil Bredesen.

Despite his work against Sundquist on the income tax, one weakness of Saltsman's candidacy may be questions about the degree to which he is firmly committed to conservative principles. He's never worked for a candidate who would be considered a "classic" conservative, for instance, and his public comments of late about reaching out to all groups sounds more like the failed "Big Tent Accomadation" policies of moderate Republicans who brought us the McCain debacle in 2008.

The role of the Party Chairman, however, is not necessarily to "paint the vision and imagery of the future." Instead, it's to build the ground game of technology, networks, communication infrastructure, and tactics, upon which the candidates can build their campaigns.

With a ground game in place, it will then be up to that crowd of ambitious Presidential wannabes to build the imagery, vision, and mythical narrative for the future that will appeal to the critical 18 to 29 year old demographic in whose hands the balance of power lay in 2008. That same demographic group will be even more important in 2010 and 2012. Just as Ronald Reagan did in 1980, and Newt Gingrich did in 1994, one of these pretenders to the throne --Sarah Palin, Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee, Bobby Jindahl, or candidates to be named later--will emerge from the pack when and if they are able to build such a vision.

The 2012 horse race is not the race that matters now. Instead, it's the January 2009 horse race for the Chairmanship of the Republican National Committee that matters.

Saltsman is considered an underdog in the race, but is pursuing the position with great vigor. The "Big Three" announced candidates--former Maryland Lieutenant Governor Michael Steele, current Michigan Republican State Chairman Saul Anuzis, and current South Carolina Republican State Chairman Katon Dawson-- have garnered more press, but Saltsman has hired a former Mitt Romney operative to help him communicate with the 168 Republican National Committee members who will select the new chairman in January, 2009.

The Romney move is a smart one for a politico so closely tied to Mike Huckabee. One of the objections to Saltsman is that he is merely a stalking horse for Huckabee's 2012 campaign.

Saltsman has made another smart move, by putting out a 10 page summary of his plan for victory, and publicly endorsing the "goals" of the Rebuild the Party wing of the party. That's a group of young turks headed up by the brilliant thirty year old Patrick Ruffini, which has laid out a very specific plan for reclaiming the internet for the Right.

Saltsman's rival, Saul Anuzis of Michigan, has also endorsed the Rebuild the Party plan, and, unlike Saltsman, is also using the social media tools described in the plan (Twitter, Facebook, Ning networks, including the Rebuiild the Party Ning Social Network to connect with the conservative base of internet activists.

Surprisingly, neither Steele nor Dawson have endorsed the Rebuild the Party plan, leaving both of them currently exposed to charges that they represent the old "Brain Dead Luddite" faction of the Republican Party that let Howard Dean, Barack Obama, and a legion of inspired left wing netizens completely pummel the party in 2008.

Anuzis, in particular, has made great efforts to demonstrate that he is not a Brain Dead Luddite. He has been extraordinarily accessible to the conservative internet activists who make up the Rebuild the Party network. To use the terms of conservative icon Richard Viguerie, he is in practice demonstrating how to "re-engineer" the successful Democratic internet tactics and strategies.

Most observers are probably picking Michael Steele as the front runner for the Chairmanship. While that may be the case today, it would be unwise to count either Saltsman or Anuzis out until after the last vote is cast in January.

As that famous philosopher Yogi Berra once said, "It ain't over till it's over."

Thanksgiving message from Gov. Crist

Dear Friends,

This week we celebrate the many things we as Floridians – and Americans – have to be grateful for. God has bestowed many blessings upon our state, giving us opportunity and hope for the future.

Last week I had the pleasure of announcing $10 million in grants to repair and maintain 19 senior centers around the state, including funds for construction of new senior centers. Senior citizens contribute so much to our state and I am pleased our state is giving back to them by funding the centers that play an essential role in their overall health and community involvement. The grants will help the centers continue to provide the essential services that add to their independence and well-being.

I am proud to have announced this week that our state is continuously increasing the number of children in state care being placed in loving, permanent homes. I am grateful for the hard work and commitment of the adoption agencies and families that continue to make this possible. It is appropriate that during the National Month of Adoption we are observing a holiday that reminds us to be thankful for all that we have.

As we celebrate Thanksgiving, let us remember we have countless opportunities to give back to our fellow Floridians. We should all work together in service to our communities, never taking for granted the many blessings that we hold dear.

May God bless each and every family and the great state of Florida.

NY Times interview with Karl Rove

Do you see the election results as a repudiation of your politics?
Our new president-elect won one and a half points more than George W. Bush won in 2004, and he did so, in great respect, by adopting the methods of the Bush campaign and conducting a vast army of persuasion to identify and get out the vote.

But what about your great dream of creating a permanent Republican governing majority in Washington?
I never said permanent. Durable.

Do you think John McCain attacked too much or not enough?
Dissecting the campaign that way is not helpful.

Have you met Barack Obama?
Yes, I know him. He was a member of the Senate while I was at the White House and we shared a mutual friend, Ken Mehlman, his law-school classmate. When Obama came to the White House, we would talk about our mutual friend.

Did you have lunch together? Talk in the hall?
We sat in the meeting room and chatted before the meeting. He had a habit of showing up early, which is a good courtesy.

Are you going to send him a little note congratulating him?
I already have. I sent it to his office. I sent him a handwritten note with funny stamps on the outside.

What kind of funny stamps?
Stamps.

Do you have any advice for him? You already criticized Rahm Emanuel, Obama’s new chief of staff, as a sharply partisan choice.
I raised a question as to whether this would be the best use of Rahm Emanuel’s talents. If you’re trying to work through a big legislative priority, it is sort of hard if you have a guy who has a reputation as a tough, hard, take-no-prisoners, head-in-your-face, scream-and-shout, send-them-a-dead-fish partisan.

What about you? You were always seen as very partisan.
I wasn’t the chief of staff. And you’d be surprised by the Democrats I actually met, got to know and worked with.

Do you like Joe Biden?
I think he has an odd combination of longevity and long-windedness that passes for wisdom in Washington.

Do you regret anything that happened in the White House during your tenure?
Sure.

You’ve been booed off stages recently.
No, I haven’t. I’ve been booed on stages. I’m a little bit tougher than to walk off a stage because someone says something ugly.

Do you think the era of negative politics is over?
No.

Do you see yourself as being associated with it in any way?
Look, in 1800 the sainted Thomas Jefferson arranged to hire a notorious slanderer named James Callender, who worked as a writer at a Republican newspaper in Richmond, Va. Read some of what he wrote about John Adams. This was a personal slander.

What did he say?
He said he lacked the spine of a man and the character of a woman. Negative politics have always been around.

Do you think you’re negative?
No.

You’ve never repudiated President Bush.
No. And I never will. He did the right things.

What about Iraq and the economy?
The world is a better place with Saddam Hussein gone.

Do you have any advice for him at this point?
With all due respect, I don’t need you to transmit what I want to say to my friend of 35 years.

Remember, attack politics are out. It’s a new age of civilized discourse.
You’re the one who hurt my feelings by saying you didn’t trust me.

Did I say that?
Yes, you did. I’ve got it on tape. I’m going to transcribe this and send it to you.

Steele: Reports of GOP death exaggerated

Sure, Republicans have had a hard couple of elections. But you’ll excuse me for suggesting that reports of our death have been more than a little exaggerated.

In fact, the electorate shifted only about 4 points from Republicans to Democrats since 2004. That year, George W. Bush took 48 percent of the vote against Barack Obama’s approximately 52 percent in this election. Now, don’t get me wrong, that 4-point shift produced the best vote tally for a national Democrat since Lyndon B. Johnson.

But the admittedly major defeat for the home team that resulted from a mere 4-point shift need not send Republicans to the locker room just yet. The fact is that despite dire predictions to the contrary, turnout in 2008 was about the same as it was in 2004. The real problem was that Republican turn-out pitched down while Democrat turnout surged.

We can get those votes back and then some. But we have both strategic and tactical improvements to make.

Return to timeless Republican principles. And include a positive, optimistic message that envisions a new, stronger, more prosperous American future. Ronald Reagan spoke to our deepest longing as a people. He gave a voice to principles that are true for all people in all times. Retool our message, but base it on those proven conservative principles for which our party has always stood: Our freedom is from God, not government. Our prosperity comes from a free people in a free market, not overtaxing, free-spending bureaucrats. We celebrate and protect life, born and unborn. And our best hope for a brighter future is in the empowerment of individuals and families, not in the constraints imposed by a bloated bureaucracy.

Organize in every state. Our successes are mostly centered in Appalachia, the South and the Great Plains. We’ve been nearly completely shut out in New England, and we’re only slightly better off in the mid-Atlantic. Things don’t look any better in the Rust Belt or the West Coast either. Democrats have done a great job of outworking us in these areas. We need a new approach that assures Republicans play in every state; take nothing for granted. We may not win everywhere we play, but we certainly won’t win if we don’t play everywhere we can.

Appeal to the forgotten middle class. Obama beat us in the cities, suburbs and exurbs. We beat him in the rural areas. Our message of economic growth, lower taxes, more accountability in education, personal responsibility and fiscal restraint will appeal, but we have to refine it and do a lot better job of getting it out.

Build a broader coalition. Obama’s coalition consisted of a broad cross-section of Americans. Young voters went for Obama 68 percent to 30 percent. He beat us among Hispanics by a 2-1 ratio. He won the votes of Asians, women, African-Americans and seniors. This doesn’t have to be the case. We have the message, but we have to improve our credibility with these voters.

Stop the blame game. We have to stop trying to lay blame for our losses. It’s embarrassing to see what unnamed McCain aides are saying about Sarah Palin. Worse, it’s not fair, relevant or productive. Instead, we have to recognize we have all contributed to the problem and it will take us all — working together — to repair it.

Use new communication tools. Not only was our message stale, the means by which we’ve conveyed our message has been lackluster — at best. Television advertising is great, but it’s not enough in this new age of Facebook, YouTube, bloggers and Twitter. In addition to updating our message, we have to update the means by which we communicate it.

The Republican Party needs an overhaul not just an adjustment if we’re to create a new Republican majority. Once again, we need to speak directly to the hopes, concerns and aspirations of Americans. So let’s stop telling Americans what we’re against and instead articulate a compelling vision of what we’re for, how we’ll lead and where we want to go.

And we need to do it in a far more powerful, relevant and credible way. The result of this election gives us the chance to take a step back, reassess, re-engineer and figure out how to do that. And that’s good news.


(Michael Steele served as lieutenant governor of Maryland from 2003 to 2007 and is currently a candidate for chairman of the Republican National Committee.)