AuH20
11-04-2014, 11:57 AM
Hmmmm.
http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2014/11/midterms-hollow-victory-gop-112463_full.html#.VFkTIGd4AUt
Understanding the incestuous ties between Republican consultants—the unending referrals of business between these friendly and insular consultant cliques—and the group think they promote is vital to comprehending the Republican predicament in 2014. Many of the groups that profited from Mitt Romney’s loss in 2012 are now helping Republicans in 2014. Ron Bonjean, who worked for former establishment Republican leaders like Dennis Hastert and Trent Lott and is also a partner at a bipartisan firm, Singer Bonjean Strategies, in September took up an independent position with the NRSC. (The “Singer” in that firm, by the way, would be one Phil Singer, who worked for Chuck Schumer and served as the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee’s communications director in 2006.)
The coveting of power for the sake of power and consultant-led group think have misdirected the GOP to strategic blunder after blunder.
In North Carolina, the GOP hedged its bets behind the candidate who most looked like the men already hanging out at their Capitol Hill Club. Thom Tillis, speaker of the North Carolina House of Representatives, might pull off a victory, but it will be in spite of himself and more because of voter unhappiness with the incumbent. North Carolina voters appear sold on Tillis only because he is not Sen. Kay Hagan. His campaign has struggled, even after taking advice from the National Republican Senatorial Committee.
In Kansas, instead of suggesting that Pat Roberts retire, Republicans in Washington rallied to keep the old establishment warhorse. The Washington Republicans’ treatment of Roberts stands in stark contrast to what they did to conservative Sen. Jim Bunning, who was quickly dispatched in 2010’s Kentucky race in favor of Trey Grayson. Grayson, of course, went on to lose the primary to Rand Paul.
Roberts does not live in Kansas. He has spent most of his time on the campaign trail touting his Washington endorsements. Press reports note that he did not even have an internet connection in his campaign office until a few weeks after the primary. But the Republicans in Washington thought he was a safer pick than finding a fresh face.
In numerous other states the Republican Party has had a hard time rallying voters to its side on its issues. The Republicans who win on Tuesday will do so as anti-Barack Obama candidates, not as Republicans with an agenda worth supporting. There are three reasons for this failure, all of which directly derive from the mistakes made by the same pool of GOP-commissioned consultants who win whether the party wins or loses.
First, in the Mississippi primary, the National Republican Senatorial Committee, Chamber of Commerce, and other affiliated groups made a decision to run a ruthless campaign against the Republican base. Conservative activists were called racists and bigots. Conservative organizations were accused of profiting off the races — something psychologists would term “projection.” Mitch McConnell, the Senate Republican leader declared the tea party candidates challenging Washington’s picks would be ruthlessly stamped out.
Republicans in Washington who declared war on their very base are now shocked that conservative voters have little interest or motivation in helping Pat Roberts, Thom Tillis, David Perdue, or a host of other candidates. A Republican establishment that has spent several years badmouthing Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and outside groups like the Senate Conservatives Fund now find themselves openly begging the Senate Conservatives Fund to engage in races while they fly Ted Cruz around the country to motivate the base.
Second, the Washington Republicans decided to stand behind insiders and creatures of Washington at a time when Americans across the country, regardless of party, have come loathe Washington and the insiders who feed off it. In September, a Washington Post/ABC poll showed that 47 percent of voters “strongly disapprove” of the GOP, and 72 percent of Americans generally disapprove of the congressional GOP. Despite these numbers we see almost no new faces running. Ed Gillespie, a lobbyist and former RNC Chairman, is the GOP’s struggling candidate in Virginia. Pat Roberts is their guy in Kansas. Thom Tillis struggles in North Carolina as the Washington Republicans’ pick.
http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2014/11/midterms-hollow-victory-gop-112463_full.html#.VFkTIGd4AUt
Understanding the incestuous ties between Republican consultants—the unending referrals of business between these friendly and insular consultant cliques—and the group think they promote is vital to comprehending the Republican predicament in 2014. Many of the groups that profited from Mitt Romney’s loss in 2012 are now helping Republicans in 2014. Ron Bonjean, who worked for former establishment Republican leaders like Dennis Hastert and Trent Lott and is also a partner at a bipartisan firm, Singer Bonjean Strategies, in September took up an independent position with the NRSC. (The “Singer” in that firm, by the way, would be one Phil Singer, who worked for Chuck Schumer and served as the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee’s communications director in 2006.)
The coveting of power for the sake of power and consultant-led group think have misdirected the GOP to strategic blunder after blunder.
In North Carolina, the GOP hedged its bets behind the candidate who most looked like the men already hanging out at their Capitol Hill Club. Thom Tillis, speaker of the North Carolina House of Representatives, might pull off a victory, but it will be in spite of himself and more because of voter unhappiness with the incumbent. North Carolina voters appear sold on Tillis only because he is not Sen. Kay Hagan. His campaign has struggled, even after taking advice from the National Republican Senatorial Committee.
In Kansas, instead of suggesting that Pat Roberts retire, Republicans in Washington rallied to keep the old establishment warhorse. The Washington Republicans’ treatment of Roberts stands in stark contrast to what they did to conservative Sen. Jim Bunning, who was quickly dispatched in 2010’s Kentucky race in favor of Trey Grayson. Grayson, of course, went on to lose the primary to Rand Paul.
Roberts does not live in Kansas. He has spent most of his time on the campaign trail touting his Washington endorsements. Press reports note that he did not even have an internet connection in his campaign office until a few weeks after the primary. But the Republicans in Washington thought he was a safer pick than finding a fresh face.
In numerous other states the Republican Party has had a hard time rallying voters to its side on its issues. The Republicans who win on Tuesday will do so as anti-Barack Obama candidates, not as Republicans with an agenda worth supporting. There are three reasons for this failure, all of which directly derive from the mistakes made by the same pool of GOP-commissioned consultants who win whether the party wins or loses.
First, in the Mississippi primary, the National Republican Senatorial Committee, Chamber of Commerce, and other affiliated groups made a decision to run a ruthless campaign against the Republican base. Conservative activists were called racists and bigots. Conservative organizations were accused of profiting off the races — something psychologists would term “projection.” Mitch McConnell, the Senate Republican leader declared the tea party candidates challenging Washington’s picks would be ruthlessly stamped out.
Republicans in Washington who declared war on their very base are now shocked that conservative voters have little interest or motivation in helping Pat Roberts, Thom Tillis, David Perdue, or a host of other candidates. A Republican establishment that has spent several years badmouthing Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and outside groups like the Senate Conservatives Fund now find themselves openly begging the Senate Conservatives Fund to engage in races while they fly Ted Cruz around the country to motivate the base.
Second, the Washington Republicans decided to stand behind insiders and creatures of Washington at a time when Americans across the country, regardless of party, have come loathe Washington and the insiders who feed off it. In September, a Washington Post/ABC poll showed that 47 percent of voters “strongly disapprove” of the GOP, and 72 percent of Americans generally disapprove of the congressional GOP. Despite these numbers we see almost no new faces running. Ed Gillespie, a lobbyist and former RNC Chairman, is the GOP’s struggling candidate in Virginia. Pat Roberts is their guy in Kansas. Thom Tillis struggles in North Carolina as the Washington Republicans’ pick.