Republicans
March 19, 2013 — Paul Mirengoff
The RNC has said that Republicans “must embrace and champion comprehensive immigration reform” in order to gain appeal among Hispanic voters. But RNC Chairman Reince Priebus now insists that he and his Committee are not taking a position on immigration. Priebus’ claim insults our intelligence. Yes, in theory “comprehensive immigration reform” could mean almost anything. A bill that ended all legal immigration, sent the U.S. Army en masse to the
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March 19, 2013 — John Hinderaker
Yesterday the Republican National Committee released a report on the “Growth and Opportunity Project.” The chairmen of the group who authored the report explain: As the co-chairs of the project, we were charged with making recommendations and assisting in putting together a plan to grow the Party and improve Republican campaigns. We were asked to dig deep to provide an honest review of the 2012 election cycle and a path
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March 19, 2013 — Paul Mirengoff
Yesterday, the Republican National Committee issued its plan for improving the Party’s electoral performance. Portions of the report deal with purely technical issues (e.g., digital transformation), while others pertain to technical matters with policy implications (e.g., fewer caucuses, more primaries, and fewer debates). But the report also calls for the Republican Party, in the words of the Washington Post, “to transform itself into a modern, welcoming home for a rapidly
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March 17, 2013 — Paul Mirengoff
What are Rand Paul’s biggest assets as he attempts to convert the GOP into an isolationist party? He has several, and one of them is John McCain. McCain surely is among the names Paul “didn’t need to mention” when he declared before CPAC that “the GOP of old has grown stale and moss-covered.” Paul also didn’t perceive a need to name the GOP policies he believes are stale. Instead, he
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March 16, 2013 — Paul Mirengoff
I think of CPAC as the event in which endless speakers (that’s the bad part) serve up red meat to a conservative audience (that’s the good part). But this year, there seemed to be a ban on red meat conservatism as it pertains to the immigration issue. And with various Republican legislators lining up behind, or softening their opposition to, amnesty/a path to citizenship for illegal aliens, the vegetarianism was
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March 16, 2013 — Scott Johnson
Surely some portmanteau word — here is a good list — can capture the appropriate reaction to Senator Rob Portman’s Columbia Dispatch column “coming out” in favor of gay marriage. Smog? Turducken? Senator Portman is in my view a serious man and a model Senator. He has a great contribution to make to our public life. In a body full of blowhards, Senator Portman stands out as someone who distinguishes
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March 15, 2013 — Paul Mirengoff
In all likelihood, Rand Paul cannot be nominated for president by the Republican Party unless he distances himself to a considerable degree from the views of his father. The younger Paul seems to understand this. For example, he has recently showed far more sympathy for Israel (which he visited) than Ron Paul ever displayed. But Rand Paul’s filibuster against (non-existent) drone attacks on American citizens minding their own business in
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March 15, 2013 — Paul Mirengoff
Anyone who doubts that Rand Paul is a force to be reckoned with in the Republican Party should watch his CPAC speech and then think again. But anyone who believes that Paul can lead the Republican Party to victory should engage in similar reflection. Since the days of Reagan, the Party has stood, famously, on the three-legged stool of free-market conservatism, strong national defense conservatism, and social conservatism. Lately, to
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March 14, 2013 — Paul Mirengoff
That was the question debated last night by two of conservatism’s smartest and most thoughtful public intellectuals — Tevi Troy and Peter Wehner — at the American Enterprise Institute. The event proved to be as much a discussion as a debate, and was no worse for that. The moderator, the estimable Ramesh Ponnuru, fairly summed up the two postions as follows: Troy was arguing more for a recalibration of conservatism;
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March 12, 2013 — Paul Mirengoff
Quick, what was the last speech by a Republican that energized the base as much as Rand Paul’s filibuster? Some may cite Paul Ryan’s dynamic acceptance speech at the 2012 Republican Convention. But the better answer, I think, is Sarah Palin’s acceptance speech in 2008. Palin’s speech was brought to us by John McCain, the same guy who now attacks Rand Paul for engaging in a stunt. In fairness to
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March 12, 2013 — Paul Mirengoff
In the aftermath of Rand Paul’s filibuster Rick Wilson at Ricochet suggests that “disruption” is the Republican’s “path back to power.” Rand Paul has shown that disruption is a path to trending on twitter. But is it really a path to power? Yes and no. Yes, Republicans would be well-served by disrupting the liberal/MSM narrative. Dynamic young candidates from humble or middle class origins can dent the narrative that Republicans
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March 11, 2013 — Paul Mirengoff
By now, I think it’s clear to everyone who follows politics that President Obama’s domestic policies are fixed around one objective. That objective is gaining control of the House of Representatives in the 2014 election so that his final two years at the White House will bring a bang, not a whimper. Flush with his success in November, Obama initially believed he could achieve this goal via the same means
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March 11, 2013 — Steven Hayward
So last Friday I took in Jeb Bush at the Reagan Library, giving a broad-gauged speech about how to revive economic growth through three principal areas: domestic energy production, education reform, and immigration reform, the topic of his new book Immigration Wars co-authored with my old pal Clint Bolick. I didn’t realize that Bush was on a blitz that would place him on most of the weekend talk shows. His
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March 9, 2013 — Paul Mirengoff
Heading into this session of Congress, any list of young, rising Republican Senators would have included not just Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, and Rand Paul, but also Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire. However, that was before she joined the McCain-Graham-Ayotte trio. The formation of that trio seemed like a good idea at the time. It offered McCain and Graham a fresh, diverse face. And since Susan Rice and Hillary Clinton
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March 8, 2013 — Paul Mirengoff
Remember when we were told that the Republican Party, cowed by the Tea Party and other “extremists,” was marching in lockstep towards its doom to the tune of a single drummer? If that seems to you like only yesterday, you aren’t far off. But check out the Senate. The Democrats are in lockstep on virtually every vote. Even in response to President Obama’s controversial, seemingly illiberal drone policy, the only
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March 7, 2013 — Steven Hayward
Looking back to the Republican rout of Bill Clinton and the Democrats in 1994, Clinton looked like he was a goner in 1996, plaintively remarking at a press conference in early 1995 that “I’m still relevant.” It is clear that Bill Clinton’s comeback began with the Oklahoma City bombing on April 19, 1995, which enabled him to deploy his best “I feel your pain” schtick, and to demagogue conservative talk
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March 7, 2013 — Paul Mirengoff
John McCain and Lindsey Graham have blasted Rand Paul over his filibuster of the Brennan nomination. Quoting a Wall Street Journal editorial, McCain said: “If Mr. Paul wants to be taken seriously, he needs to do more than pull political stunts that fire up impressionable libertarian kids in college dorms.” Graham wondered why Republican Senators had not been riled up over President Bush’s use of drones. He also said that
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