http://blog.washingtonpost.com/thefix/ en Copyright 2008 Wed, 02 Apr 2008 14:28:13 -0400 http://www.movabletype.org/?v=3.36 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss UPDATE, 5:00 pm : The Iowa Republican Party is declaring the passage of the "Ohio" plan as a strong first step in keeping the Hawkeye State caucuses first in 2012. "This is a great day for the state of Iowa," said state party chairman Stewart Iverson. "Iowans take their role in the nominating process very seriously. We invest the time to get to know the candidates and their positions on the issues, and understand the extremely significant role we have in selecting the next president." UPDATE, 3:45 pm: An astute reader notes that the actual "pods" for the large states were amended during the process and no longer split only on geographic lines. The new pod lists are after the jump. Also, Saul Anuzis, the chairman of the Michigan Republican Party, said he opposed the Ohio plan, and, in an email to supporters said the plan could drastically extend http://blog.washingtonpost.com/thefix/2008/04/republicans_weigh_calendar_cha.html http://blog.washingtonpost.com/thefix/2008/04/republicans_weigh_calendar_cha.html Republican Party Wed, 02 Apr 2008 14:28:13 -0400 With Michigan's Republican primary set for tomorrow and South Carolina and Florida ready to choose their candidate by the end of the month, it's no secret that what happens in these three states could very well determine the GOP nominee. But, even as the candidates for president stump in these crucial states, another intriguing battle is going on -- the jockeying to be the next chairman of the Republican National Committee. Why? It just so happens that the three state party chairmen -- Katon Dawson of South Carolina, Jim Greer of Florida and Saul Anuzis of Michigan -- are the three most often mentioned candidate to head the RNC come 2009. Although none of the three are openly running for the post -- that would be unseemly after all -- evidence exists that seems to point to their interest. Take Anuzis's invitation for national reporters to a "Drinks and Gab" http://blog.washingtonpost.com/thefix/2008/01/the_race_within_the_republican.html http://blog.washingtonpost.com/thefix/2008/01/the_race_within_the_republican.html Republican Party Mon, 14 Jan 2008 16:00:00 -0400 It's easy to forget amid the granular coverage of the primary horserace that once the nominees are chosen -- some time in late January or early February-- we will be faced with the longest general election in modern political history. Conventional wisdom dictates that the nine-month slog will focus primarily on 10-12 battleground states -- Ohio, Florida, Iowa, New Mexico, Minnesota to name a few -- that have been at the epicenter of the last two presidential elections. (Michael Barone detailed the even-steven split of the American electorate first and best in his essay "The 49 Percent Nation.") But what if that conventional wisdom is wrong? What if continued discontent with President Bush and the war in Iraq is in the process of fundamentally altering the playing field -- broadening the number of states that are potentially in play for the Democratic nominee? A new poll out of Indiana should http://blog.washingtonpost.com/thefix/2007/11/indiana_an_emerging_purple_sta.html http://blog.washingtonpost.com/thefix/2007/11/indiana_an_emerging_purple_sta.html Republican Party Tue, 27 Nov 2007 15:03:00 -0400 California Rep. John Doolittle's defiant pronouncement that he will seek re-election to the House in 2008 has to send shivers down the spines of savvy Republican strategists. For months, political operatives have been acting as though Doolittle's retirement is a foregone conclusion due to a series of ethics questions that continue to dog him. Two members of the Republican House leadership pointedly refused to endorse him earlier this week and several serious primary challengers have already emerged. If Doolittle makes good on his promise to seek re-election he could wind up as the GOP nominee due to his name identification in the district and the distinct possibility that the anti-Doolittle vote would be split among several candidates. Doolittle as the Republican nominee also virtually assures that 2006 Democratic nominee Charlie Brown will be the next Congressman from the 4th District, despite the seat's underlying Republicanism. Brown was little known and http://blog.washingtonpost.com/thefix/2007/09/doolittle_says_he_will_run.html http://blog.washingtonpost.com/thefix/2007/09/doolittle_says_he_will_run.html House Fri, 07 Sep 2007 17:21:14 -0400 http://blog.washingtonpost.com/thefix/2007/06/video_who_won_the_gop_debate.html http://blog.washingtonpost.com/thefix/2007/06/video_who_won_the_gop_debate.html Republican Party Wed, 06 Jun 2007 07:17:29 -0400 Comity reigned, for the most part, in tonight's Republican presidential debate as the candidates largely agreed on the way forward in Iraq, while disagreeing about their differences on illegal immigration. Rudy Giuliani, John McCain, and Mike Huckabee The third debate was billed as a potential showdown on immigration between former Gov. Mitt Romney (R-Mass.) and Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), who have engaged in a long distance back and forth over the issue in the last month. Instead, it was McCain and Giuliani who clashed about the comprehensive immigration reform bill -- sponsored by McCain and supported by President Bush. Giuliani described the legislation as "a typical Washington mess" and the result of a series of compromises that had rendered it toothless. After Giuliani listed a series of changes he would require before supporting such a bill, McCain retorted: "Rudy you just described our legislation." Giuliani refused to let the issue http://blog.washingtonpost.com/thefix/2007/06/gop_debate_wrap_up.html http://blog.washingtonpost.com/thefix/2007/06/gop_debate_wrap_up.html Republican Party Tue, 05 Jun 2007 21:29:42 -0400 Just when you thought we would make it through the debate without any serious internecine attacks, Rep. Duncan Hunter brought out the Howitzer -- Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.). Rep. Duncan Hunter at Tuesday night's GOP debate. (AP) Referring to Giuliani, Romney and McCain, Hunter said: "The guy who has the most influence with these three gentlemen is Ted Kennedy. We need to move away from the Kennedy wing of the Republican party." Hunter said Romney's health care program was a form of socialism and that McCain had colluded with Kennedy on immigration. All three of the attacked candidates had a chance to respond. Giuliani was most effective, calling on the party to rally around two unifying principles: staying on offense against terrorism and on offense in building a "growth" economy. "We have to respect our differences," said Giuliani. http://blog.washingtonpost.com/thefix/2007/06/sen_kennedy_the_socialists.html http://blog.washingtonpost.com/thefix/2007/06/sen_kennedy_the_socialists.html Republican Party Tue, 05 Jun 2007 21:03:05 -0400 CNN's Wolf Blizter just asked each candidate to name President George W. Bush's "biggest mistake." None of the candidates gave a direct answer, but here's a sampling of their answers in a word (or three): * McCain: Spending * Giuliani: Accountability (lack thereof) * Romney: Too "small bore" (that "vision" thing) * Brownback: Spending * Tommy Thompson: No New Ideas * Tancredo: Ran as a conservative, governed as a liberal * Paul: The war, empire building * Gilmore: Principle (not standing on it) * Hunter: Not focusing on the family * Huckabee: Excess taxes, immigration, lack of communication Play Video VIDEO | (Courtesy CNN) http://blog.washingtonpost.com/thefix/2007/06/dubyas_biggest_mistake.html http://blog.washingtonpost.com/thefix/2007/06/dubyas_biggest_mistake.html Republican Party Tue, 05 Jun 2007 20:55:16 -0400 Sam Brownback isn't pulling any punches tonight. Sen. Sam Brownback of Kansas at tonight's GOP debate (AP) After knocking around former President Bill Clinton, Brownback has now moved on to Rudy Giuliani. Asked what the key moral issue of the time is, Browback said "life." He expounded considerably: "That's why I don't think we can nominate someone who is not pro-life. It is at our core. It is a party of principles, not a party of personalities. We lose when we walk away from our principles." To his credit, anchor Wolf Blitzer followed up asking Brownback whether he could support Giuliani if he was the party's nominee in 2008. Brownback clearly was uncomfortable, saying he did not believe Giuliani would win the nomination. Giuliani was not given a chance to respond. http://blog.washingtonpost.com/thefix/2007/06/brownback_prochoice_giuliani_w.html http://blog.washingtonpost.com/thefix/2007/06/brownback_prochoice_giuliani_w.html Republican Party Tue, 05 Jun 2007 20:45:29 -0400 Giuliani continues to use the questions directed at him to attack Democrats while avoiding any attacks on his Republican allies. Tommy Thompson, former Wisconsin governor and secretary of Health and Human Services for President Bush, answers a question at the GOP debate. (AFP/Getty Images) On health care, Giuliani said the plans to reform the system proposed by Democrats amount to "socialized medicine." He advocated a free market with all Americans making different decisions. "Socialized medicine will ruin medicine in the United States," he said to a sustained applause. Romney attacked both Washington -- "where everything becomes a mess" -- and the Democratic party for promoting "socialized medicine." He used the health care question to highlight his resume as a doer during his gubernatorial term in Massachusetts; "I'm the guy who actually tackled this issue," he said. Tommy Thompson, who is widely credited as an innovator on health care policy, was http://blog.washingtonpost.com/thefix/2007/06/giuliani_romney_and_thompson_o.html http://blog.washingtonpost.com/thefix/2007/06/giuliani_romney_and_thompson_o.html Republican Party Tue, 05 Jun 2007 20:41:10 -0400 The second hour starts as the first did -- with the war in Iraq. Rudy Giuliani, John McCain and Mike Huckabee participate in the GOP presidential debate. (Getty Images) The sister of a soldier killed in Iraq got the first question. (The soldier, Lt. Micheal Cleary, is featured in "Faces of the Fallen".) In response to the question about Lt. Cleary and his sacrifice, the candidates honored the troops, told their own stories about family members serving, and, for the most part, defended the war. Giuliani scored major points with the crowd -- receiving the loudest (and longest) applause we have heard all night by, what else, attacking the media. After again casting Iraq as a critical front in the war on terror and tracing that conflict all the way back in the 1970s, Giuliani posed the question of whether the media would report the story as vigorously if the http://blog.washingtonpost.com/thefix/2007/06/iraq_personalized.html http://blog.washingtonpost.com/thefix/2007/06/iraq_personalized.html Republican Party Tue, 05 Jun 2007 20:30:00 -0400 Sen. Sam Brownback and Rep. Tom Tancredo would pardon former vice presidential chief of staff Scooter Libby. Giuliani seemed to be leaning that way, calling the 30-month sentence handed down today "excessive punishment." Romney mentioned that he had not pardoned anyone as governor, but that prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald "clearly abused prosecutorial discretion" to carry out a "political vendetta" against Libby and the White House. http://blog.washingtonpost.com/thefix/2007/06/stickin_up_for_scooter.html http://blog.washingtonpost.com/thefix/2007/06/stickin_up_for_scooter.html Republican Party Tue, 05 Jun 2007 20:16:01 -0400 Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kans.) used a question about what role President George W. Bush would play in his administration to take a pot shot at former President Bill Clinton. "President Clinton has not assumed the right role of a former president," said Brownback, adding that Bill Clinton has wrongly injected himself in policy issues and should "defer" more to the current president. Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-Colo.) jumped at the question, insisting George W. Bush would never darken the door of a Tancredo Administration. HEYOOO! Former Gov. Tommy Thompson (Wisc.) had a ready humorous jab of his own on the question; "I certainly would not send him to the United Nations," he said. http://blog.washingtonpost.com/thefix/2007/06/what_to_do_with_dubya.html http://blog.washingtonpost.com/thefix/2007/06/what_to_do_with_dubya.html Republican Party Tue, 05 Jun 2007 20:11:51 -0400 What a great first hour! The Fix fashions himself as a fast typer, but even I wasn't able to cover everything of interest in the first 60 minutes of the GOP debate. One highlight we didn't mention previously -- Mike Huckabee's response about his religious faith and creationism. Huckabee evinced real emotion (almost always a good thing in debates) on the issue; "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. Either someone believes God created the process, or that it's an accident and it just happened," Huckabee said to loud applause. McCain chimed in to praise Huckabee, saying: "I can't say it more eloquently than Pastor Huckabee just did. I hold that view." Sen. Sam Brownback added that science and religion need not conflict. Both he and Huckabee seemed to leave the door open for an acceptance of evolution -- albeit evolution designed and controlled by God. http://blog.washingtonpost.com/thefix/2007/06/first_hour_over_evolution_v_cr.html http://blog.washingtonpost.com/thefix/2007/06/first_hour_over_evolution_v_cr.html Republican Party Tue, 05 Jun 2007 20:01:43 -0400 Mitt Romney continues to perform well, this time deftly handling a question about voters' doubts about his Mormonism. Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney answers a question Tuesday night during the Republican presidential primary debate hosted by Saint Anselm College in Manchester, N.H. (AP) He called it a "fair question to ask" and highlighted the similarities he shares with Christians rather than the differences that exist. "The values that I have are the same values you will find in faiths across this country," Romney said. Romney also pledged not to apologize for his faith despite what he said were the urgings of some political pundits. It was a strong answer (and one that sounded VERY well rehearsed). It doesn't mean Romney is out of the woods when it comes to answering doubts and questions about his Mormonism, but he handled it expertly tonight. http://blog.washingtonpost.com/thefix/2007/06/surprise_romney_gets_a_mormon.html http://blog.washingtonpost.com/thefix/2007/06/surprise_romney_gets_a_mormon.html Republican Party Tue, 05 Jun 2007 19:55:23 -0400