CNN

FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:

Congressman Joe Wilson has raised over $2 million since he called President Obama a liar. It hasn't even been two weeks since the Republican from South Carolina carried on like a child on the floor of the House during the president's health care speech before a joint session of Congress.

In fact, Wilson's outburst has been a money-maker for both parties. Wilson and his Democratic opponent in next year's election, Rob Miller, each raised more than $1.5 million in the week following Wilson's stunt.

Initially, Wilson was quick to apologize to the president for his behavior; but since then he's become more defiant. In videos on his campaign web site, Wilson says he's "under attack by liberals" and vows not to be "muzzled."

The House voted last week to formally reprimand Wilson, but that hasn't stopped the congressman from raking in the big bucks from all around the country. In fact, he's become somewhat of a hero to conservative activists - being invited to speak in other states.

But there's a darker side to all this... Some people, including former President Jimmy Carter, say Wilson's actions were racially motivated. Wilson insists that's not the case, although critics point to his past actions - like a 1999 vote against removing the confederate flag from South Carolina's Capitol dome.

Here’s my question to you: What does it say when the congressman who called the president a liar before a joint session of Congress has since raised $2 million?

Interested to know which ones made it on air?

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FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:

As the debate over health care rages on... the American people are increasingly souring on President Obama and the Democrats. A new poll shows the president's approval rating at 51-percent - the lowest of his presidency and down from 61-percent two-months ago.

The Pew poll shows the Democratic Party now has a favorable rating of 49-percent... also down from 59-percent in April and 62-percent in January.

When it comes to the Republican Party - public opinion has remained steady all year at about 40-percent.

Meanwhile it looks like the American people aren't buying into calls for bipartisanship. The poll shows 63-percent of those surveyed say the president and Republicans are not working together on important issues... that's up from 50-percent who felt that way in June.

Although more people blame the Republicans than President Obama for this lack of co-operation, the poll shows a growing number are now faulting the president. 17-percent of Americans say Mr. Obama is to blame... that's up from seven-percent who felt that way in February.

Meanwhile a separate Gallup poll shows the Democratic-led Congress' approval at 31-percent... the lowest reading since February.

With health care eclipsing all else in Washington this summer - it seems as though the president and the Democrats are losing favor with the American people. It will be interesting to see what happens to these numbers if the Democrats decide to "go it alone" like we've been hearing.

Here’s my question to you: Why are the Democrats' and President Obama's approval ratings falling?

Interested to know which ones made it on air?

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FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:

The arrogance of South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford knows no bounds apparently. And the hypocrisy of the South Carolina Republican Party doesn't either. In the wake of his admission that he's been cheating on his wife, the state GOP voted to censure Sanford. Which amounts to looking the other way.

The reason for the censure was his secret travels to Argentina to visit his mistress, which officially translates into what the GOP is calling "Repeated failures to act in accordance with the party's core principles and beliefs."

One of those core principles is family values, except when it's inconvenient. Sanford also refuses to resign on his own, thus joining the soiled ranks of Larry Craig of Idaho and John Ensign of Nevada. Proud Republicans all.

Sanford also gets a slap on the wrist for falling below the standards expected of Republican elected officials. Deliberations reportedly went on for nearly four hours on a conference call and there were multiple rounds of balloting. This patty cake gesture on the part of the Party of family values is meaningless.

Just to be clear, Sanford's own party is saying they don't trust him and don't think he can effectively perform his duties as Governor; but it's okay with them if he continues in South Carolina's highest office. Pathetic.

Here’s my question to you: What does it say about the Republican Party in South Carolina that they won't call for Gov. Sanford's resignation?

Interested to know which ones made it on air?

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FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:

Here's something that probably keeps the leadership of the Republican Party up at night: A new Gallup poll shows 89 percent of the party's rank-and-file members are white.

Cafferty: GOP will not gain favorable support if Cheney, Limbaugh, and Gingrich continue to spew "negative, hateful rhetoric."

This leaves only 11 percent of Republicans who are Hispanics, African-Americans or members of other races. These numbers are staggering and hardly in keeping with the radically changing face of the U.S.

That's not all - by more than two-to-one, whites who call themselves Republicans claim a conservative ideology, and about half of them say they're strongly religious.

Compare that to Democrats - whose party is 64% white and 36 percent non-white. By a ratio of more than four-to-one, white Democrats call themselves moderate or liberal, and only 20 percent of them say they're highly religious.

Independents land somewhere between the two camps - with 27 percent non-whites.

These numbers pretty much say it all about the GOP's troubles; and leave little question why Democrats are in control of the White House and both houses of Congress.

The big question: Will the support of white, conservative, religious Americans be enough of a base for Republicans to start winning elections again? Probably not. The alternative is for Republicans to find a way to broaden their appeal among non-whites and whites who are more moderate.

And here's a hint: The way to accomplish that is probably not with the likes of Dick Cheney, Rush Limbaugh and Newt Gingrich slinging around negative and hateful rhetoric.

Here’s my question to you: Why does the Republican Party have such a narrow appeal?

Interested to know which ones made it on air?

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FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:

And now for today's installment of 'The Republican Party is in deep trouble'... Among their many issues - turns out the GOP is really hurting when it comes to women voters. A new Gallup poll shows that among women, Democrats have a solid double-digit advantage in party identification over Republicans - 41 percent to 27 percent.

Compare that to men, who are pretty evenly divided - 30 percent identify as Democrats and 28 percent as Republicans.

The news is even worse for the GOP when you take into account independent women who lean Democratic... in that case the advantage is 57 percent to 35 percent for the Democrats.

Meanwhile the Republicans may want to take some advice from Colin Powell, who says they are in big trouble and need to find a way to move back to the center. The former Secretary of State says the party is "getting smaller and smaller," which isn't good for the country.

He says Republicans need to realize the country has changed, that Americans want to pay taxes for services and are looking for more government in their life.

Also, Powell is criticizing some party leaders for bowing too much to the right; and says right wing commentators like Rush Limbaugh and Ann Coulter don't serve their party well. He says he doesn't want Republicans to turn into Democrats, but instead to build a vibrant party.

Hint: that may be one way to get more women to support them.

Here’s my question to you: What should the Republican Party do to attract more women voters?

Interested to know which ones made it on air?

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A girl wears an elephant hat at the Republican National Convention.(PHOTO CREDIT: GETTY IMAGES)

FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:

In an effort to counter President Obama's 100th day in office, Republicans are making a push to re-brand themselves as something other than "the party of no."

Some top party members are announcing a series of town hall-style meetings about their ideas for shaping the country. The group will operate outside of the Republican National Committee and will contrast their policy ideas with the Democrats'. So far - that's something that's been lacking.

Members of this "National Council for a New America" include Florida Governor Jeb Bush, Senator John McCain, Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal and Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, among others - not exactly a crop of fresh faces.

The group says it's not a Republican-only forum and will seek to include more than just their ideas; they're calling on all Americans to participate in their policy debate. The Democratic National Committee is dismissing all this, calling it "more beltway PR gimmicks."

Meanwhile it's clear that Republicans need to do something to stop the bleeding. With only about one in four voters identifying themselves as Republicans these days, and a favorable rating of 39 percent, the Republican party is in serious trouble.

Some have even questioned the relevance of the Republican party - should the Democrats get the 60 vote filibuster proof majority in the Senate, while also controlling the House of Representatives and the White House?

Here’s my question to you: What does the Republican Party have to do to improve its image with voters?

Interested to know which ones made it on air?

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FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:

Senator Arlen Specter's defection to the Democratic Party is just the latest bad news for the Republican Party. Politico suggests the GOP's meltdown is the worst of any party's in decades and has left the Republican party on the brink of irrelevance with few obvious paths back to power.

Sen. Arlen Specter announced yesterday that he would switch from the Republican Party to the Democratic Party.

Specter's abandonment comes in the same month as a traditionally Republican leaning district in upstate New York tipped for the Democrats. This means in the nine Northeastern states - there are only 15 GOP House members out of 83 seats - and only three Republican senators out of 18.

On a national level, the GOP is near record levels for unpopularity. Only about one person in four identifies himself as a Republican; and a new CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll shows only 39 percent of those surveyed have a favorable view of the Republican party. Even a lot of Republicans no longer like the party much.

Some Republicans say conservatives have left the GOP with an exclusionary message. Senator Olympia Snowe says, "you certainly haven't heard warm encouraging words of how they view moderates. Either you are with us or against us."

Meanwhile Specter's switch to the Democrats is less than genuine. As recently as March 17, the Pennsylvania senator insisted he would never switch parties. But once the polls indicated he would lose his bid for re-election, he jumped on the Democrats' bandwagon like a bird on a worm. This is called hypocrisy.

Here’s my question to you: Is the Republican Party on the brink of irrelevance?

Interested to know which ones made it on air?

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The Republican Party is becoming a cartoon.

Where to start?

Cafferty: Republicans are missing a golden opportunity to redeem themselves.

Bobby Jindal: "I'm certainly not nearly as good of a speaker as Obama." Good OF a speaker? How about not as good at eighth-grade grammar either. It's embarrassing.

Sarah Palin? Billing the taxpayers for her kids to travel to official events the children weren't even invited to? She finally agreed to pay back the state for that money she took.

Her per diem charges to the state in the amount of $17,000 while she was living at home instead of in the governor's mansion? She has now agreed to pay the taxes owed on that money. Another tawdry grab at a few dollars that didn't belong to her.

Michael Steele, the newly elected chairman of the Republican National Committee, down on his knees apologizing to the helium-filled poster boy of the conservative right? Pathetic.

If the Republicans are ever to emerge from the long dark night they have created for themselves it will have to be without pandering to the right wing nuts that comprise Rush Limbaugh's radio audience. Didn't they learn anything in the last election?

Click here for the full CNN.com column.

From CNN's Jack Cafferty:

Rush Limbaugh is the face of the Republican Party - at least that's how some Democrats want it.

Does Rush Limbaugh run the GOP?

White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel calls Limbaugh the "voice and intellectual force and energy" behind the GOP and Press Secretary Robert Gibbs says he's "a national spokesperson for conservative views." This after the radio host recently repeated his claim that he wants President Obama to fail.

It also comes at the same time as a dust-up within conservative ranks between Limbaugh and Michael Steele, chairman of the Republican National Committee. Over the weekend, Steele called Limbaugh an "entertainer" whose comments are "ugly."

Needless to say, Limbaugh has had a field day with all the finger-pointing, going after both the Democrats and Steele on his radio show. Limbaugh insists he's not in charge of the GOP and doesn't want to be. He says considering the sad state of the Republican Party, he would quit if he were chairman.

As for Steele, the radio host also suggests he appears to be supporting President Obama and Nancy Pelosi and that he is being used by the "liberal media."

Well, after Rush's millions of listeners heard that one, it took Steele about 3 minutes to backpedal, reaching out to the right-wing radio host to say he was sorry... that his words came out wrong, that he has enormous respect for Limbaugh... and that what he actually meant was that a lot of people want to make Limbaugh the "bogeyman" when he's not. Steele said today he has spoken with Limbaugh and quote "we are all good."

Here’s my question to you: Who's running the Republican Party, the RNC or Rush Limbaugh?

Interested to know which ones made it on air?

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From CNN's Jack Cafferty:

President Obama's hopes for broad bipartisan support for his $825-billion emergency stimulus package have been dashed.

US House Minority Leader John Boehner (L)R-OH and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) make remarks to the press outside the West Wing after their meeting with President Barack Obama today at the White House.

The President wants the emergency bill on his desk by President's Day. But there's an obstacle in the way: Opposition from Republicans that seems to be growing by the day. Now they are complaining they've been shut out of the process of writing the bill. They are pointing a finger at the Democrats for ignoring the President's call for bipartisanship.

We're in the middle of the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. Voters made it clear they're sick and tired of partisan warfare in Washington. Is anybody listening?

Today President Obama met with GOP leaders to hear their concerns. House Republican leader John Boehner said he and his colleagues feel the package is too expensive and too slow. Republicans want tax relief in the hands of Americans right away.

The President said he would take the Republican concerns under consideration. White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said President Obama will go to Capitol Hill next week to meet with lawmakers and try to get this thing done.

My question to you is: Are Republicans making a mistake by opposing President Obama's stimulus plan?

Here’s my question to you: Are Republicans making a mistake by opposing President Obama's stimulus plan?

Interested to know which ones made it on air?

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