NRCC to Republicans: Run against the GOP
Posted August 1st, 2008 at 3:05 pm
newser.com
In April, Minority Leader John Boehner told the House Republican caucus they had nothing to worry about. Republicans knew, he said, precisely how to keep “red” districts in GOP hands — nationalize the races, tie the Dems to Obama and Pelosi.
After Boehner’s strategy failed miserably three times in three months in three reliably-Republican districts, the party has a different strategy in mind.
Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.) told GOP congressional hopefuls on Thursday that they should not be afraid to criticize both political parties — including Republican members of the House.
During a conference call, the National Republican Congressional Committee chairman instructed candidates, campaign managers and press secretaries that given the anti-incumbent environment, it could be beneficial for House GOP candidates to distance themselves from politicians they may be serving with next year.
“These [congressional approval] ratings are worse than we had on the eve of losing the majority,” Cole said. “Don’t be afraid to say you are disappointed in fellow Republicans… don’t hesitate to be anti-Washington, D.C.”
And while Republican candidates up and down the ballot flocked to New York four years ago for the last national convention — it’s historically an ideal place to raise a lot of money — the NRCC is also advising Republican candidates this year to skip McCain’s nominating convention in Minneapolis-St. Paul, calling it a “waste of time.”
It looks like the party’s “election anxiety disorder” still needs a little treatment.
On a related note, some of these same Republican leaders have a related plan on how to attack Barack Obama.
Barack Obama returns to Capitol Hill on Tuesday to speak with House Democrats, and Republicans will try to spoil the party by linking the Democrats’ presidential nominee to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and their reluctance to allow votes on offshore oil drilling.
Rep. Adam Putnam (R-Fla.) and Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) will greet Obama’s arrival with a news conference in which they’ll assert that Reid (D-Nev.) and Pelosi (D-Calif.) are holding up votes on offshore drilling in order to protect Obama.
They’ll also begin to use “Pelosi-Reid-Obama” in the all-in-the-same-breath way that Democrats now use “Bush-McCain” — to make the parties’ popular candidates indistinguishable from their less beloved incumbents.
If Dems are lucky, Republicans will actually pursue this. Pelosi and Reid aren’t especially well known, and aren’t particularly unpopular among those who do know them.
When the GOP tried to win congressional races by tying Democratic candidates to Obama, it failed badly. Now they want to win a presidential race by tying Obama to Democratic congressional leaders?
How very odd. |
