From the diaries by Erick
John Cornyn, chair of the NRSC, is quietly backing away from the Christ campaign, but not waivering on his premature endorsement of Charlie Christ over new darling of the right, Marco Rubio. Cornyn stated:
“I looked around to see who was the most popular Republican in the state and somebody who was a good fundraiser, and that was Charlie Crist. And selfishly, given the limited resources we have and the national scope of our responsibilities here, I didn’t want to spend any money in Florida if we didn’t have to to help. So Charlie Crist seemed like the ideal candidate. This had nothing to do with Marco Rubio, who I subsequently met and have a lot of respect for,” Cornyn told reporters this morning.
“So I think our posture here is I endorsed Gov. Crist early on, really before this became a real contest. I’m not going to do anything to change that. I think I’m honor-bound to leave it as it is, but it doesn’t mean that we’re going to be spending any money in the primary,” Cornyn added. “It doesn’t mean we’re going to be saying anything bad about Marco Rubio. To the contrary, I think Marco Rubio, if he wins the nomination, will beat Kendrick Meek (D).”
Rather than wait, take the temperature of the voters, and endorse the candidate that best fits the mood of the electorate, Cornyn jumped the gun and went for the “show me the money” candidate. What he got was a backlash. The DC establishment must realize that this is not a popularity contest anymore. The upcoming elections are about freedom, the Constitution, and getting back to the path of the what the Founders intended this country to be.
Until the DC establishment realizes that, they will continue to endorse the wrong candidates, cause the GOP to remain fragmented, and give voters the craving for a third party. Remember NY-23?
The inside the beltway Republicans must “Unite or Die” because right now Americans who are usually the freedom fighters are now fighting for their freedom.
Moe Lane
Steve Maley
KnightsofMalta
Dan Spencer
Dan McLaughlin
Axis of RINO's
hickorystick (Diary) Monday, March 8th at 6:33PM EST (link)Fiorina, Bennett, McCain, Cornyn, Crist. Notice a geographical pattern here. Does this have something to do with Illegal Immigration and Housing?
RINOs
edintexas Friday, March 12th at 9:36AM EST (link)You forgot (Show Me Your Papers!) Graham.
Well done SusanAnne
fpete13527 (Diary) Monday, March 8th at 10:10PM EST (link)Thanks for writing this.
In a very WEAK way Cornyn finally gives a NON-apology for the problems he has caused endorsing those like Crist and Fiorina. He still doesn’t get the depth enough to make a complete reversal. The core mode of the GOP, especially the Senate, is still stuck in a “Huffington/McCain” beltway sheep mode.
Many of us are fighting very hard for conservative principles and candidates. However, since the RINO’s in the GOP leadership are unwilling to EMPOWER conservatism (not just tolerate it) then my vote is that they be voted out. They are causing us to waste TOO much time and energy.
The GOP is NOT the enemy…however the RINO core of the GOP core..which is still WAY too prevalent…absolutely IS a detriment….and becoming part of the enemy to taking this country back.
I just saw Crist on Greta van Susteren's "On the Record."
Flagstaff (Diary) Monday, March 8th at 10:41PM EST (link)What a slimeball. No wonder Rubio is wiping the floor with him.
Even though I’m not familiar with Florida politics, even from Arizona I could tell that everything out of his mouth were half-truths and veiled innuendo.
I wouldn’t buy a vacuum cleaner from him.
“The press is so powerful in its image-making role that it can make a criminal look like he’s the victim and make the victim look like he’s the criminal. If you aren’t careful, the newspapers will have you hating the people who are being oppressed and loving the people who are doing the oppressing.”– Malcolm X, Audubon Ballroom, December 13, 1964
Nit picking
Cowboy (Diary) Monday, March 8th at 10:58PM EST (link)but it is Crist not Christ.
SpellChecker is relentless!
wannabeanncoulter Tuesday, March 9th at 8:38AM EST (link)I swear — there are just some names and nouns that SpellChecker changes when you’re not looking. For me, the worst one was “freelancer,” which SpellChecker changed to “freeloader.”
I do think anyone named B. Hussein Obama should avoid using “hijack” and “religion” in the same sentence. — Ann Coulter
Maybe it is, but...
buzzyboop Tuesday, March 9th at 8:50AM EST (link)Maybe it isn’t, in the candidate’s own mind that is. Perhaps his middle initial is J.?
Maybe this Messiah syndrome is contagious from all the hugging Charlie did with Øbama.
Cheers.
twas a worthwhile nit to pick
KathW (Diary) Tuesday, March 9th at 9:50AM EST (link)“John Cornyn, chair of the NRSC, is quietly backing away from the Christ campaign.”
Boy, social conservatives get no respect from national Republicans. Heh.
We've forgotten how bleak things looked in early 2009
smagar (Diary) Monday, March 8th at 11:05PM EST (link)And selfishly, given the limited resources we have and the national scope of our responsibilities here, I didn’t want to spend any money in Florida if we didn’t have to to help.
A little perspective is due here.
John Cornyn was tasked, first and foremost, with ending the GOP bleeding in the Senate. Does anyone remember that early 2009 forecasts of the 2010 election showed the GOP losing even more seats? I recall Jim Bunning saying that figures he’d seen left the GOP with as few as 36 seats after the 2010 election.
Imagine that—Harry Reid could afford to let FOUR of his Senators defect on tough votes, and still have enough votes to invoke cloture!
So soon we forget…
I’ve said before that Cornyn’s hair-trigger support of Crist might have been an economy-of-force operation, an attempt to save precious GOP resources for other fights. Desperate times lead to desperate measures.
Now that things have turned 180 degrees, it’s easy to criticize Cornyn. “What was he thinking,” we ask ourselves.
Let’s be fair. Let’s remember the tough spot John Cornyn was in. I agree that it was a mistake for him to hair-trigger-endorse Crist…but let’s also take into account the bleak situation the GOP Senate campaigners faced in early 2009. Let’s look at the whole picture.
“Who will stand/On either hand/And guard this bridge with me?” (Macaulay)
You know what smagar the "bleak" situation
Michael Dugas (Diary) Monday, March 8th at 11:46PM EST (link)that the GOP senate campaigners found themselves in is of their OWN making. Don’t for a minute sit there and feel sorry for them.
They had the Presidency and both Houses of Congress and all they did was fracture and bicker amongst themselves. And all of that was for the same reasons that Cornyn finds himself where he’s at now, control. John Cornyn does NOT want a conservative ascendancy to lead the GOP back to a majority. If that happens then the Big Government “Establishment” Republicans will not be in leadership or will be so weak that they will have to actually work with conservatives.
They bear the brunt of the responsibility for what happened to the GOP, they have no respect for the base outside of donations and getting reelected. This current grass roots activism on the right is as much a result of the GOP’s behavior as it is the Left’s actions and politicians like Cornyn refuse to accept that or just don’t want to acknowledge it.
Intro to Federalist Papers; section 5;
paragraph 4.
“…dangerous ambition more often lurks behind the specious mask of zeal for the rights of the people than under the zeal for a firm and efficient government.”
Remember: A Citizen on the dole is a Liberal Vote at the Polls.
END ENTITLEMENTS!
Si Vis Pacem, Para Bellum !
Michael Dugas, if neither you nor I felt the impact of a Dem-DOMINATED Senate...
smagar (Diary) Tuesday, March 9th at 9:01AM EST (link)then it would be OK to sit back and indulge in a bit of schadenfreude over the problems that overspending and constituent-ignoring GOP Senators created for themselves.
Unfortunately, a Dem-DOMINATED Senate creates lasting problems for every American. We all live with the after-effects of its actions.
For the purposes of discussion, I’ll stipulate that Cornyn is a RINO who only wants RINOs elected to the Senate.
Neverthless, those constraints I laid out were very real.
Cornyn—or anyone who was in his shoes (as GOP Senate campaign poobah) in early 2009—had to deal with the following constraints:
- A drastically-depleted GOP Senate contingent. The GOP was struggling just to maintain a shade of relevancy in the 110th Congress. Try recruiting people to run for a seat in a GOP minority that looked very much like it would slide into irrelevancy. Would YOU want to join the Senate under those conditions?
- The likelihood that big corporate and interest group donors would gravitate to the Dems over the next few election cycles, because the Dems would have all the power.
- An Obama machine that had just shown itself to be the biggest money-making force in American politics EVER.
- A MSM that was literally swooning over The One.
Given the bad spot Cornyn found himself in, I can see why he’d look to economize his forces.
“Who will stand/On either hand/And guard this bridge with me?” (Macaulay)
The problem is the primaries
Adjoran (Diary) Tuesday, March 9th at 3:26AM EST (link)I don’t object to the RSCC assuring Crist privately of their full support IF he wins the primary. I object to them endorsing ANY candidate before the primary – it should be up to the people to be represented to chose the nominee, not some outsider in DC.
So long as party organizations, be they RNC, RSCC, or RCCC, interfere in primaries, they will get not a brass farthing from me.
Precisely
edintexas Friday, March 12th at 9:48AM EST (link)It is considered naive, I’m sure, but that is the way it is supposed to work. If I donate to a Republican Campaign Committee, I expect my money to be used to campaign against Democrats and not Republicans.