BeltwayBlips - Latest Republican National Committee News Articles

Glenn Beck has big plans

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 08:00:00 +0000

The conservative TV and radio host wants to hold conventions to move his followers to political action and 'change America's course.' Some say his activism could widen the split within the GOP. > Glenn Beck wants to become . . . a community organizer.

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Right and Left Join to Take on U.S. Over Criminal Justice

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 03:37:12 +0000

Conservatives and libertarians are joining civil liberties groups in saying that the criminal justice system is an aspect of big government that must be contained.

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RNC brings in veteran strategist

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 23:16:42 +0000

The Republican National Committee will announce Monday that veteran political strategist Alex Castellanos will assume a senior communications role at the committee. Washington (CNN) - The Republican National Committee will announce Monday that veteran political strategist Alex Castellanos will assume a senior communications role at the committee, an RNC official tells CNN. Earlier in the day, RNC Chairman Michael Steele revealed that communications director Trevor Francis was leaving his post. Castellanos is a CNN contributor, but the network learned independently of his new role at the RNC. "Now the RNC has a new focus and direction - the 2010 elections," Castellanos said when reached by telephone. "And I am happy to help." In 2008, Castellanos was a key member of former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney's campaign team. He will work with the committee through the 2010 elections.

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Santorum adds South Carolina to 2012 itinerary

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 22:54:59 +0000

Washington (CNN) – Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum doesn't appear to be shy about his 2012 intentions. The Republican, who was thumped by 18 points in his 2006 re-election bid, has met with conservative activists in Iowa, delivered a speech to a Right to Life dinner in Michigan and has stepped up his public criticism of President Obama. Now he's headed to another early primary state: South Carolina. Santorum will campaign for Republican gubernatorial candidate Gresham Barrett in Bluffton, Spartanburg and Greenville on December 8 and 9. Barrett, currently a member of Congress, is one of five candidates seeking the GOP nomination for governor. "I'm also looking forward to visiting with South Carolina families to discuss the issues that matter to them and the future of this country," Santorum said in a statement announcing the trip. "Too much is at stake to sit back and not participate in the critical discussion of how to address these issues." ...

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Credit crunch: RNC flack sacked

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 22:54:47 +0000

RNC communications director abruptly resigns Monday.

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Steele talks Palin

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 22:25:00 +0000

From NBC's Domenico Montanaro and Kelly Paice NBC's Andrea Mitchell interviewed Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele on MSNBC's Andrea Mitchell reports. Here is some of what Steele had to say about Sarah Palin. A clip is below with text after the jump. HERE'S THE FULL VIDEO . Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News , World News , and News about the Economy ...( read more )

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RNC official resigns

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 21:28:20 +0000

Washington (CNN) – A senior aide to Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele has resigned his post less than one month after the GOP scored major victories by winning the governorships of New Jersey and Virginia, CNN has learned. RNC Communications Director Trevor Francis is leaving his job, Steele confirmed in statement to CNN, but offered no reason for the departure. Francis joined the RNC after Steele was elected chairman at the beginning of the year. "Trevor took a hiatus from a very successful private sector career to give service to the Republican Party this year," Steele said in the statement. "Trevor's talents will be missed at the RNC. We have accomplished a great deal in the year he was here. He worked tirelessly, as did the whole team, on the victories in Virginia and his home state of New Jersey." Steele's short time as chairman has been marked by highs and lows, marked by both fundraising success and his own headline-grabbing statements. –CNN's Mark ...

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RNC 'socialist' resolution returns

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 20:00:52 +0000

Washington (CNN) - Conservative members of the Republican National Committee are circulating a new resolution that calls on party members to stand up to President Obama's "socialist" agenda and would prohibit RNC funds from going to GOP candidates who disagree with elements of a proposed ten plank ideological platform. The language of the proposal is still being tweaked ahead of January's RNC Winter Meeting in Hawaii, where it could be submitted for a vote before the full committee. Jim Bopp, Jr., an RNC committee member from Indiana and the chief sponsor of the resolution, said the goal of the resolution is to "re-establish the party's conservative bona fides." "This would establish standards for candidates and hold them accountable to RNC's conservative platform," he told CNN. Bopp said such standards would insulate RNC chairman Michael Steele from the kind of conservative criticism he faced last month for supporting a moderate Republican, Dede Scozzafava, in the special election in New ...

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Steele: 'No hypocrisy' on abortion

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 17:30:15 +0000

He says Monday that there is “no hypocrisy” in RNC staffers getting abortion coverage from their insurer.

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Democrat to retire

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 15:46:37 +0000

Washington (CNN) – Rep. Dennis Moore, D-Kansas, will not run for re-election next year, a senior Democratic aide confirms to CNN. Moore was first elected in 1998 and easily won a sixth term in 2008 after being targeted for defeat early in his career by the Republican Party. The Kansas City Star was the first to report Monday the congressman's decision not to seek a seventh term. CNN has left a message with Moore's office seeking comment.

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RNC targets centrist Democrats

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 12:46:36 +0000

WASHINGTON (CNN) - The Republican National Committee will target a handful of centrist Democrats on Monday with a new Web video and series of conference calls criticizing the Democrats for voting to allow debate to begin on health care reform. The 60-second video, which will be e-mailed to more than 5 million people, singles out Sens. Evan Bayh of Indiana, Byron Dorgan of North Dakota, Mary Landrieu of Louisiana, Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas and Ben Nelson of Nebraska, as well as Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada, according to an advance copy of the video provided to CNN. "Rolled by pressure from Barack Obama and Harry Reid, they voted to move forward a government-run health care bill our nation does not want and can't afford," an announcer says before ticking off criticism of each lawmaker. Reid persuaded all 58 Democrats and the two independent senators who align themselves with the Democrats to vote Saturday evening in favor of allowing debate on the Democratic health care bill ...

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Health Fight Is First of Many for GOP

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 05:26:50 +0000

The health-care vote was the first skirmish in a long battle aimed at frustrating White House ambitions and ensuring that Democrats bear responsibility for legislation the GOP sees as increasingly unpopular with Americans.

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RNC targets centrist Democrats

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 04:38:16 +0000

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Reaction to Senate healthcare vote offers a preview of 2010 campaigns

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 16:21:00 +0000

Next year's congressional elections weigh heavily in partisan comments. Republicans say healthcare vote shows Democrats' devotion to big government; Democrats say the GOP is merely the 'party of no.' > With the Senate's 60-39 vote to proceed to debate, after Thanksgiving, on a healthcare bill that the president is seeking by year's end, the debate of the 2010 midterm elections has been joined.

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Senate healthcare vote clears the way for formal debate to begin

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 08:00:00 +0000

Democrats overcome a GOP filibuster with a 60-39 vote in a key procedural move on the $848-billion healthcare legislation. Debate is likely to run through the end of the year. > Without a vote to spare, Democrats pushed their healthcare legislation over its first obstacle on the Senate floor Saturday, as the chamber voted to begin formal debate on a sweeping measure to guarantee medical coverage for nearly all Americans.

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Republicans Eye the Tiger of Populism

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 22:48:26 +0000

Sarah Palin brings a big question into focus for Republican leaders: Should they hitch themselves to the powerful but volatile strain of populism she embodies?

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Iowa3 (CQPolitics.com)

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 15:12:47 +0000

CQPolitics.com - Iowa Legislator to Join GOP Race Against Boswell

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Nebraska Senator Will Vote to Start Health Debate

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 04:38:11 +0000

Senator Ben Nelson of Nebraska, one of three wavering Democrats, said Friday that he would vote to start debate on a giant health care bill.

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Fri, 20 Nov 2009 19:53:12 +0000

Washington (CNN) – Call it the New York-23 effect: Both the Democratic and Republican congressional re-election committees spent more money than they took in last month. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee reported Thursday that it raised $3.76 million in October, but spent $3.98 million. A similar story from the National Republican Congressional Committee, which said it brought in $3.4 million last month, but spent $3.6 million. So where did the money go? Both committees infused campaign cash into the special election in New York's 23rd congressional district. The race, to fill the seat left vacant when Republican congressman John McHugh stepped down to become Secretary of the Army, turned into a three-way contest between official GOP candidate Dede Scozzafava, Conservative Party candidate Dough Hoffman, and Democrat Bill Owens. Scozzafava dropped out of contest three days before the election, after conservatives in the GOP backed Hoffman's bid. Owens ended up ...

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Huckabee, Giuliani, Romney camps weigh in on 2012 primary calendar

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 14:03:14 +0000

WASHINGTON (CNN) – Representatives from some of the top 2008 GOP presidential campaigns gathered in Washington, D.C. Thursday to urge the Republican National Committee to lock in a 2012 primary calendar as early as possible to avoid the confusion that dogged the early stages of last year's nomination contest. One campaign manager took his recommendations a step further and suggested ending the traditional first-in-the-nation statuses of Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina. An RNC panel headed by party chairman Michael Steele invited the campaigns to share their views as it considers numerous possible changes to the process the party will use to nominate a candidate to challenge President Barack Obama in 2012. Mike DuHaime, the 2008 campaign manager for former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, told the panel that the three early states of Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina should continue to be held early in the process, but not necessarily as the first three contests. "I believe ...

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CNN Poll: Blame for recession shifting from GOP to Democrats

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 11:00:25 +0000

Washington (CNN) - Nearly two years into the recession, opinion about which political party is responsible for the severe economic downturn is shifting, according to a new national poll. A CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey released Friday morning indicates that 38 percent of the public blames Republicans for the country's current economic problems. That's down 15 points from May, when 53 percent blamed the GOP. According to the poll 27 percent now blame the Democrats for the recession, up 6 points from May. Twenty-seven percent now say both parties are responsible for the economic mess. "The bad news for the Democrats is that the number of Americans who hold the GOP exclusively responsible for the recession has been steadily falling by about two to three points per month," says CNN Polling Director Keating Holland. "At that rate, only a handful of voters will blame the economy on the Republicans by the time next year's midterm elections roll around." Thirty-six percent of people ...

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Republicans criticize dismissal of AmeriCorps watchdog

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 08:00:00 +0000

A GOP report contends that the Obama White House was politically motivated when it fired inspector general Gerald Walpin after his 2008 investigation of Kevin Johnson, now Sacramento's mayor. > When Kevin Johnson, the former NBA star who is now mayor of Sacramento, was under investigation last year for alleged financial misdeeds and inappropriate behavior with female students, he had an important ally behind the scenes.

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Political Memo: A Tilt Away From Social Issues

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 04:05:27 +0000

Republican governors gathered to assess their political future and saw their road back to power and unity through pocketbook issues.

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To survive, the GOP needs a good in-house fight

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 01:55:44 +0000

She has a strong point -- GOP primaries are the best way to test leaders and ideas.

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GOP Warns Against Attacking Obama

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 22:33:07 +0000

Republican governors urged 2010 GOP candidates to not harshly attack Obama, citing polls that show his personal popularity remaining strong despite unease over his policies.

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Poll: Most GOP voters think ACORN stole election

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 22:31:45 +0000

Newsweek: Public Policy Polling has found that 52 percent of GOP voters nationally think that ACORN stole the presidential election for Barack Obama last year, with only 27 percent granting that he won it legitimately.

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Barbour hopes Hutchison stays in Senate

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 21:03:26 +0000

Barbour hopes Hutchison stays in Senate. Cedar Creek, Texas (CNN)– Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour said Thursday that he hopes Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison remains in the Senate and acknowledged that he has spoken with her about challenging Gov. Rick Perry in the GOP primary. Barbour, head of the Republican Governors Association (RGA), would not elaborate on his conversation with Hutchison, but did say he personally hopes Perry wins another term. "I would just hate to lose Kay Bailey in the Senate," Barbour said at a news conference during the RGA's annual meeting. "She has been a great senator. I would just hate to lose a great senator like that when we have a fine governor." Barbour did note that the RGA, which is the campaign arm for GOP governors, would not be taking a side in the primary. Still, this week's conference is being held in Perry's home state and he has played a prominent role as host of the event.

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Senate confirms controversial judge

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 20:57:58 +0000

Democrats overcome GOP filibuster on David Hamilton.

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DNC brings in $11.5 million in October

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 20:55:07 +0000

Washington (CNN) – It appears the Democratic National Committee outraised its Republican counterpart last month. The DNC raked in $11.5 million in October, a party source told CNN Thursday. Earlier in the day, the Republican National Committee reported that they brought in $8.79 million last month, with $11.2 million cash on hand and no debt. According to the Democratic party source, the DNC has $12.3 million in the bank, with debt of $4.4 million. The $11.5 million the DNC says it raised in October would be a monthly record for a non-presidential election year since the implementation of campaign finance reform measures earlier this decade. The RNC says the $8.79 million they raised in October was their highest monthly total in an off-election year. The RNC's $11.2 million in the bank is down nearly $8 million from the start of October, which reflects the large amounts of money the party committee spent last month to help GOP candidates in this November's contests. Republican ...

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Barbour wants KBH to remain in Senate

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 20:17:00 +0000

From NBC's Mark MurrayCEDAR CREEK, Tex. -- Given that this year's Republican Governors Association meeting is taking place here in Texas, reporters today asked RGA Chairman Haley Barbour, the governor of Mississippi, to weigh in on the Rick Perry-vs.-Kay Bailey Hutchison GOP primary for Texas governor. Barbour said that the RGA doesn't take sides in primaries, but that he was personally backing Perry. "I personally think Gov. Perry should be re-elected," he said. And then he added this: "I hope...( read more )

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Rudy: Will he or won't he?

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 19:40:00 +0000

From NBC's Domenico Montanaro and Mark Murray The New York Times reported that former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani "has decided not to run for governor of New York next year after months of mulling a candidacy," citing "people who have been told of the decision." The official word out of Giuliani world is non-committal. "Rudy has a history of making up his own mind and has no problem speaking it. When Mayor Giuliani makes a decision about serving in public office, he will inform New Yorkers on his own," Giuliani spokeswoman Maria Comella said in a statement. And that's all she would say. That is not the kind of statement that will end speculation, particularly in the New York media market. Sources say the state Republican Party has not been told of any decision by Giuliani. Nick Ayers, the executive director of the Republican Governors Association, tells First Read that he's not surprised that Giuliani would decide not to run for governor. Giuliani's candidacy was always a ...

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Republicans Draw Battle Lines for Senate Floor Action on Health Bill (CQPolitics.com)

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 18:46:17 +0000

CQPolitics.com - Republicans are vigorously attacking the health care overhaul package unveiled by Democrat Harry Reid, and the GOP is preparing to throw procedural roadblocks in front of the Senate majority leader's effort to call up the proposal on the floor before Thanksgiving.

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GOP governors assail health care plans (AP)

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 18:23:01 +0000

AP - GOP governors are blistering Democratic health care plans in Congress. They say the legislation will result in crippling costs to states already grappling with huge budget deficits in a recession.

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RNC reports nearly $9 million cash haul last month

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 14:02:12 +0000

The Republican National Committee says they've raised what they call an off-election year record of money last month. Washington (CNN) - With less than a year to go until crucial mid-term contests, the Republican National Committee says they've raised what they call an off-election year record of money last month. The RNC reports Thursday morning that they raked in $8.79 million in October, with $11.2 million cash on hand and no debt. The RNC says it has now topped one million active donors and that as of November 11, it has registered a record 305,000 new contributors this year. The $8.79 million is up slightly from the $8.74 million the RNC says they raised in September. The $11.2 million in the bank is down nearly $8 million from the start of October, which reflects the large amounts of money the RNC spent last month to help Republican candidates in this November's contests. Republican gubernatorial candidates in New Jersey and Virginia both won, grabbing back two ...

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RNC reports $9 million cash haul last month

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 14:02:12 +0000

Washington (CNN) - With less than a year to go until crucial mid-term contests, the Republican National Committee says they've raised what they call an off-election year record of money last month. The RNC reports Thursday morning that they raked in $8.79 million in October, with $11.2 million cash on hand and no debt. The RNC says it has now topped one million active donors and that as of November 11, it has registered a record 305,000 new contributors this year. The $8.79 million is up slightly from the $8.74 million the RNC says they raised in September. The $11.2 million in the bank is down nearly $8 million from the start of October, which reflects the large amounts of money the RNC spent last month to help Republican candidates in this November's contests. Republican gubernatorial candidates in New Jersey and Virginia both won, grabbing back two seats held by Democrats. "I am extremely pleased that the Republican National Committee continues to show solid fundraising numbers, and we ...

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Palin book tour kicks off where she started 'going rogue'

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 08:00:00 +0000

An enthusiastic crowd braves hours in the cold and dark in Grand Rapids, Mich., to get their political heroine's autograph on her memoir. 'It's a conservative revolution,' one fan says. > Sarah Palin has been called the rock star of the Republican Party, and on Wednesday her supporters treated her like one.

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Dinner (CQPolitics.com)

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 05:37:12 +0000

CQPolitics.com - Another Good Month for Senate GOP Fundraising

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Rudy's shift on terrorism trial

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 15:58:00 +0000

From NBC's Domenico Montanaro, Kelly Paice and Ali WeinbergWith Attorney General Eric Holder testifying on Capitol Hill today, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani will take his shots on a conference call sponsored by the Republican National Committee (as we mentioned in First Thoughts today.) But Rudy's hot rhetoric today is a far cry from his stance in 1994 after the verdict in the World Trade Center bombing trial. The New York Times wrote on March 5, 1994: "Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani declared...( read more )

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Previewing today's RGA meeting

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 15:17:00 +0000

From NBC's Mark MurrayAUSTIN, Tex. -- When GOP governors huddled at the annual Republican Governors Association meeting a year ago in Miami, the party had just suffered another thumping at the polls, Sarah Palin was the unquestioned star attraction, Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty was urging his party to be more positive and inclusive, and Florida Gov. Charlie Crist was seen as a new hope for the GOP. But as this year's RGA meeting begins in earnest here deep in the heart of Texas, things have...( read more )

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GOP watch: Deep in the heart of Texas

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 14:14:00 +0000

In a conference call yesterday previewing this week's two-day Republican Governors Association meeting in Austin, RGA Chairman Haley Barbour (also the governor of Mississippi) said the purpose of the meeting was "to celebrate and build on the successes in New Jersey and Virginia this month," but more importantly "to work through the ways we can make sure these are effective springboards for victories in 2010." Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R), also on the call, added that the victories in New Jersey and Virginia -- where GOP candidates focused more on their fiscal records than social ones -- reflected the need for Republican governors to "implement effective conservative policies that are going to regain the trust in our party's ability to govern." Perry faces a tough primary battle next year against Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R), who gained the endorsement of former Vice President Dick Cheney on Tuesday. When asked about the endorsement, Perry said, he's "got a whole pile of them" and looks forward ...

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Republicans Seek Inquiry on Fort Hood

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 04:20:31 +0000

Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee called for a Congressional investigation of what they called systemic intelligence failures before the shootings at Fort Hood.

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Senate Democrats break GOP judicial filibuster

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 22:10:24 +0000

Washington (CNN) - Senate Democrats broke a GOP filibuster Tuesday against a district judge first nominated eight months ago by President Barack Obama for a seat on the federal appeals court. The Senate voted 70-29 to end debate over the nomination of Indiana Judge David Hamilton, who was tapped by Obama in March to fill a vacancy on the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Hamilton was Obama's first judicial nominee. The full Senate is now expected to move forward quickly on a final vote on the nomination. Hamilton's nomination cleared the Senate Judiciary Committee in June. Leading Republicans, however, then spent weeks preventing a final vote, arguing that Hamilton is too liberal. Congressional Democrats have expressed growing unease over what they argue is a slow pace of both judicial nominations and confirmations since Obama took office. –CNN's Dana Bash contributed to this report

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Giuliani to reiterate criticism of Obama's terror trial decision

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 21:55:34 +0000

(CNN) – Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani will headline a conference call Wednesday with national reporters to criticize the Obama administration's decision to hold Khalid Sheikh Mohammed's trial in New York. The call is being organized by the Republican National Committee. Giuliani has been very vocal, including in an interview Sunday on CNN's State of the Union with John King, about his opposition to having the trial take place in New York. Follow Mark Preston on Twitter: @prestoncnn

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CNN Poll: Does the GOP want ideologically pure candidates?

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 21:13:55 +0000

Washington (CNN) - A new national poll suggests that the Democrats may be the party of pragmatism and Republicans may be the party of ideological purity. The CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey's release on Tuesday comes just two weeks after internal party divisions led to the GOP loss of a seat in the House of Representatives that it had held since the 19th century. The poll indicates that a slight majority, 51 percent, of Republicans would prefer to see the GOP in their area nominate candidates who agree with them on all the major the issues even if they have a poor chance of beating the Democratic candidate. Forty-three percent of Republicans say they would rather have candidates with whom they don't agree on all the important issues but who can beat the Democrats. Democrats polled seemed to place a slightly higher priority on electoral victory: 58 percent say that they would like their party to nominate candidates who can beat Republicans, even if they don't agree with those ...

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What Dick Cheney's endorsement means for Kay Bailey Hutchison

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 21:13:03 +0000

(CNN) – Dick Cheney's decision to weigh in on the Republican intra-party battle in Texas - a rare primary season endorsement by the former vice president - is an attempt to help challenger Kay Bailey Hutchison shore up her conservative credentials and attract undecided GOP voters, according to two knowledgeable GOP sources. The former vice president teamed up with Hutchinson in Houston Tuesday to officially endorse her gubernatorial bid. The Texas senator is taking on two-term incumbent Gov. Rick Perry in next year's Republican primary. One source notes that Cheney and Hutchison have a longstanding relationship that goes back to the days when they were both in Dallas, a time when Cheney served as Halliburton CEO. The political calculation behind Tuesday's move is the hope that Cheney can help the senator win over undecided Republican voters in a state where the Bush administration's seal of approval may hold more sway than anywhere else. "The two most popular people in Texas are ...

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Sen. 2010: local headlines

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 21:08:00 +0000

From NBC's Ali Weinberg A few weeks ago, First Read rated our top ten Senate races, in terms of the likelihood of switching parties. Here's our breakdown, again, starting with #1: CT, NV, CO, MO, NH, OH, IL, LA, PA, and KY. Below, a look at the headlines from some of those battleground states' local papers. CONNECTICUT: "In another measure of just how important U.S. Sen. Chris Dodd's fate is to the Democratic party, the embattled Connecticut senator is getting his third high-profile visit of the fall. Vice President Joseph Biden will come to Hartford on Dec. 11 for a lunchtime fundraiser for Dodd...Dodd, who is up for reelection in Nov. 2010, has been struggling in the polls. A Quinnipiac University poll released last week found that more than half of the state's voters disapprove of his job performance. And 53 percent said the 30-year incumbent doesn't deserve a another term in Washington." The Hartford Courant writes that despite his low name recognition, Stamford ...

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DCCC slams Shadegg for suggesting Bloomberg's daughter will be kidnapped

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 21:03:58 +0000

DCCC slams Shadegg for suggesting Bloomberg's daughter will be kidnapped' Washington(CNN) - A spokesman for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee criticized a Republican congressman Tuesday for suggesting that Mayor Michael Bloomberg's daughter will be kidnapped by terrorists, calling it evidence that the GOP has been taken over by "Right Wing extremists." "In case there's any doubt of the Republican Party being taken over by the likes of Sarah Palin, Glenn Beck, Michele Bachmann and other Right Wing extremists, last night Republican Rep. John Shadegg actually suggested that Mayor Bloomberg's daughter will be kidnapped by a terrorist," DCCC spokesman Ryan Rudominer said in a statement. "This is what happens when you have a Republican Party undeterred by their embarrassing loss in the NY-23 Special Election and desperate to win over the Right Wing fringe," he added. On the House floor on Monday night, Shadegg criticized Bloomberg for supporting the Obama ...

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CNN/Opinion Research Poll – November 13-15, 2009 – Political Parties

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 21:00:59 +0000

TOPICS: Republican and Democratic parties Full results (pdf)

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Senate Democrats to attempt break of GOP judicial filibuster

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 19:20:37 +0000

Washington (CNN) - Senate Democrats are set to hold a vote Tuesday on breaking a GOP filibuster against a district judge first nominated by President Barack Obama for a seat on the federal appeals court eight months ago. Indiana Judge David Hamilton - Obama's first judicial nominee - was tapped to fill a vacancy on the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in March. His nomination cleared the Senate Judiciary Committee in June, but leading Republicans have since prevented a final vote, arguing that Hamilton is too liberal. Congressional Democrats have expressed growing unease over what they argue is a slow pace of both judicial nominations and confirmations since Obama took office. Obama's high profile nomination of Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor was successful, but only six of the president's nominees have been approved so far for the federal bench. Former President George W. Bush, in contrast, filled 28 vacancies on the bench during his first year in office. Twenty-seven ...

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GOP Reps bash Dem security, health care

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 17:01:00 +0000

From NBC's Wendy Jones Four members of the House GOP Conference, engaged in a little Democrat-bashing this morning, criticizing President Obama's antiterrorism strategy and "Speaker Pelosi's" health care plan. Minority Leader John Boehner (OH) criticized the Obama administration for not detailing an over-arching strategy to "fight terrorists and keep America safe." Said Boehner, "I spent last week travelling...and if there's one thing I heard out there it's that the Democrats in Washington are totally out of step" with America. He went on to criticize the Administration for its plan to bring Kahlid Sheik Mohammed to New York: "To come to the US is one issue...to be given the rights of US citizens is just awful." He urged collegues to bring Rep. Pete Hoekstra (R-MI)'s "Keep Terrorists out of America" legislation to the floor. The bill urges Congress to oppose transferring or releasing prisoners at the Guantanamo Bay detention facility to the United States. ...( read ...

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