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RNC Reassures the Roots

GOP leaders and close allies in the evangelical movement hosted a conference call today aimed at easing conservatives' concerns about the nomination of White House counsel Harriet Miers to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Republican National Committee Chairman Ken Mehlman hosted the call this afternoon and was joined by a cavalcade of movement conservatives, including Chuck Colson, the head of Prison Fellowship ministries, and James Dobson, founder and chairman of Focus on the Family.  The speakers sought to reassure an audience of grassroots conservative activists from all 50 states that Miers was indeed the right (literal and ideological) pick.

Mehlman struck a conciliatory tone in the call, pointing out that concerns on the right are understandable.  "So many people in the past have had voting records that are different than have been advertised," he said. But he quickly noted that because President Bush knows the nominee on a personal level "it is hard to imagine a president having a better knowledge of a nominee."

Colson and Dobson largely seconded that opinion, although the latter left himself a bit of wiggle room in his statements.

Dobson declared that Miers will be an "excellent justice" but said he was not "absolutely positive" about that statement.

Since Daily Kos had publicized the call-in information before the conference call even began, I assume the speakers weren't giving away any intimate secrets about their strategy. But the conference call clearly shows that GOP leaders are moving quickly to quell conservative unrest about Miers. 

The question now:  Are GOP activists taking their leaders' advice?

By Chris Cillizza |  October 6, 2005; 5:18 PM ET  | Category:  Politics and the Court
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Comments

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Your site is realy very interesting.

Posted by: Dublin Flats | March 22, 2006 9:41 AM

Posted by: noises | December 7, 2005 10:07 AM

Posted by: approximately | November 14, 2005 2:16 PM

Posted by: rds | Oct 7, 2005 11:54:13 AM

Ah, yes, that's me. An extreme left winger.

Except that I was a registered Republican until 2000.

Welcome to a creation of the Republican party's policies.

Posted by: Casey Morris | October 8, 2005 7:44 AM

Excuse me but "that tool Froomkin" just happens to be one of the best writers at the Washington Post! If you dont care for his opinions and the info,links he shares with us daily you are in the minority--check out Bush's new poll numbers at CBS,only a 37 percent approval number!

Posted by: Nancy/Ca | October 7, 2005 2:39 PM


"Chris:

Thanks for this informative column. I find it puzzling why the comments on this site are dominated by extreme left-wingers. I think perhaps Dan Froomkin's tone attracts them."

I think it could be because conservatives, having only discovered the benefits of "fire" a couple of decades ago and still trying to determine if this "evolution" thingie of Darwin is going to catch on still haven't yet bought into this new fangled "Internets" doohicky.

Kidding! Kidding! I'm only joking. Don't shoot!

Posted by: J. Crozier | October 7, 2005 1:14 PM

Yeah where is that tool Froomkin, he needs to be back so i can explicitly not read his crap. :P

Posted by: lollerskates | October 7, 2005 12:47 PM

Yeah where is that tool Froomkin, he needs to be back so i can explicitly not read his crap. :P

Posted by: lollerskates | October 7, 2005 12:45 PM

Yeah where is that tool Froomkin, he needs to be back so i can explicitly not read his crap. :P

Posted by: lollerskates | October 7, 2005 12:44 PM

Chris:

Thanks for this informative column. I find it puzzling why the comments on this site are dominated by extreme left-wingers. I think perhaps Dan Froomkin's tone attracts them.

Posted by: rds | October 7, 2005 11:54 AM

President Bush can have flunkies "re-assuring" everyone all he wants. We now discover, in addition to being unaware of how to balance a budget and conduct emergency relief actions, President Bush is unfamiliar with conducting a job search.

This lifelone conservative and Republican is now only describing himself as conservative. The GOP and President Bush have virtually no support among my conservative friends. They have richly earned this disfavor.

Posted by: T J Story MD | October 7, 2005 10:56 AM

Once again, the best part of this blog, by far, are the comments.

Shouldn't the MSM be investigating what extremist right-wing ideologues are being told to pacify them? Perhaps, just speculation of course, administration assurances that Roe V. Wade will be overturned?

I am sick to death of the Christian Taliban holding this country hostage, but equally as sick of the lack of investigation of this by alleged 'news' organizations.

Posted by: scootmandubious | October 7, 2005 9:38 AM

correction- its

Posted by: Casey Morris | October 7, 2005 12:35 AM

Chris,

I was on that phone call. That's not exactly what happened and I think you are intellectually dishonest to suggest that it was.

To begin with, Melhman sounded both irritated and exercised that he even had to make the phone call. The rest of the folks were the conciliatory ones. Mehlman didn't strike a tone anywhere near conciliation until more than halfway through the call.

Frankly, you missed blogging the more interesting parts of the phone call. For example, the part where Colson stated that he and Dobson were "joined at the hip", or the part where Dobson said that he had had four meeting with the White House since the choice of Miers was clear.

More importantly, and in light of the President's speech today, and John Warner's well prepared appearence on Hardball this evening, you missed the part where Ken Mehlman said that Harriet Miers should be supported because, as a justice, she wouldn't get in the way in the War on Terror.


Also, when you refer to Charles Colson, it would be more honest to refer to him as "convicted Watergate felon and leader of the evangelical group Prison Ministries."

Let's be clear that the RNC is using a felon to push it's choice for the Supreme Court.

All in all, not an inspiring job blogging the "Call to the Faithful."

Posted by: Casey Morris | October 7, 2005 12:33 AM

Where's Froomkin?

Who is this Bush apologist?

Posted by: | October 6, 2005 5:43 PM

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