Is Gov. Palin GOP's best fundraiser?
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
Alaska Governor Sarah Palin may step back into the national spotlight in June when she's been invited to headline a major Republican fund-raising dinner. The 2008 vice presidential nominee has kept a pretty low profile since John McCain lost the election last November.
Is Palin the best choice for GOP fundraiser?
She's made a handful of trips outside of Alaska, but has skipped big gatherings, like the Conservative Political Action Conference last month. But the upcoming spring gala is the main fund-raising event of the year for congressional Republicans, and the committee chairmen are confident Palin will bring the necessary star power to raise the big bucks.
They call her "one of the brightest rising stars" and "one of the most popular and recognizable faces" in the GOP. She's certainly recognizable, but for many of the wrong reasons. Of course it will probably be a challenge for anyone to raise money in this climate for the Republican Party, which is at all time low approval ratings.
So far, Governor Palin hasn't officially accepted the invitation. Polls suggest Palin remains a favorite of social conservatives; a February survey showed she is the candidate that Republicans said they will most likely support in 2012 - beating out both Mike Huckabee and Mitt Romney.
However, Palin remains pretty controversial among the national electorate. A Newsweek poll taken early this month found she had a 44 percent favorable rating - and 42 percent unfavorable. And if she runs in 2012, count on the Democrats to make a whole series of commercials out of those disastrous interviews she did with Katie Couric.
Here’s my question to you: When it comes to fundraising, is Gov. Sarah Palin the best the Republicans can do?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
GOP becoming a cartoon
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.
GOP’s chances if Palin is 2012 presidential nominee?
Click the play button to see what Jack and our viewers had to say. (PHOTO CREDIT: GETTY IMAGES)
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
It may feel like a long ways away, but Republicans are already looking ahead to the 2012 presidential election.
According to a new Gallup Poll, Republicans and Republican-leaning Independents most would like to see Sarah Palin run for president in 2012. That's right…Sarah "I read all the newspapers," Palin. Former mayor of Wasilla, first-term governor of Alaska and hockey mom. Her interviews with Katie Couric are the stuff of legend. After she and McCain got their clocks cleaned, Governor Palin couldn't get enough of the TV cameras. They were in her kitchen, her office, virtually every corner of her life. She is now reportedly being wooed to write a book-that would be interesting-or maybe do a TV show.
Watch: Cafferty: Palin in 2012?
Republicans also like Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee as possible candidates for 2012. Palin, Romney and Huckabee- in that order– got the highest scores among 10 possible Republican candidates for president.
Other possibilities like Rudy Giuliani, Newt Gingrich, Bobby Jindal and Charlie Crist didn't even get the support of half the Republicans polled.
Here’s my question to you: What are the Republicans’ chances in 2012 if Sarah Palin is their first choice for president?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
Just 34% have favorable view of GOP: Why?
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2008/images/11/20/art.repub.pop.gallup.jpg caption="Only 34 percent of Americans have a favorable view of the Republican Party."]
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
It's no secret the Republican Party has an image problem. The last eight years of the Bush Administration have been enough to take the shine off just about anything.
But a new Gallup Poll shows just how bad things have gotten. Only 34 percent of Americans have a favorable view of the Republican Party. At the same time, 61 percent have an unfavorable view. That's the highest number since Gallup started tracking this back in 1992. What's more: Only 78 percent of registered Republicans like what they see from the GOP. In other words, almost a quarter of Republicans aren't happy with their own party.
And no one seems quite sure what to do about it. About 37 percent of Americans want the Republican party to become more conservative, but another 37 percent think the party should be less conservative. About 20 percent say it should stay the same.
Here’s my question to you: What does it mean that only 34% of Americans have a favorable view of the Republican Party?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
How can the GOP get back in the game?
Click the play button to see what Jack and our viewers had to say. (PHOTO CREDIT: CNN)
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
After getting the wind knocked out of them in 2006 and 2008, Republicans are a party in disarray...
From putting a woman on the presidential ticket who reportedly can't name the members of the North American Free Trade Agreement and thinks Africa is a country rather than a continent, to a presidential candidate who declared: "the fundamentals of our economy are strong" at the same moment the worst financial crisis in almost a century was descending on the U.S. economy, they appear to have lost their touch. And if they're pinning their presidential hopes on Sarah Palin for 2012, well, good luck with that.
Watch: Cafferty: GOP popularity?
Bush damaged the brand but John McCain and Sarah Palin didn't do much to restore it.
Republicans also enter the new year with declining minorities in both houses of Congress.
Here’s my question to you: What does the Republican Party have to do to get back in the game?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
GOP voter registration declining since 2005?
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FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
There may be hope for the survival of our country. The rise in the number of independent voters in several states has been so sharp that they now virtually constitute a third party. That's not good news for the Democrats and Republicans, and it's really not good news for the Republicans.
The New York Times reports that for more than 3 years now, there has been a decline in the number of voters registering as Republicans and an increase in the number registering as Democrats.
These shifts could affect local, state and national politics for several election cycles to come. Already, Republicans have lost control in many state houses and governors' mansions, and they took a beating in the midterm elections of 2006.
It's important to note that swings in party registration aren't uncommon from year to year, and party registration often has no impact on how people end up voting. But experts say what is remarkable is that this shift away from the Republican Party is now in its 4th year. One analyst says it suggests a "fundamental change going on in the electorate."
Former House Majority Leader Republican Dick Armey says these are "not good numbers" for the GOP, but cautions they don't give a clear indication about what will happen in the presidential race. Armey suggests the key is who all these new independent voters will support.
Democrats point to President Bush as the main reason for the shift, but they're also benefiting from demographic changes – things like the rise in the number of younger voters and the urbanization of the suburbs.
Here’s my question to you: Republican voter registrations have been declining since 2005. Why?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
Will Stevens’ indictment hurt GOP?
Click the play button to see what Jack and our viewers had to say.
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
Senator Ted Stevens was the guy behind Alaska's "bridge to nowhere". He might soon be able to use that bridge to cross from the Senate to a federal prison.
The Alaska Republican was indicted on charges of lying about accepting gifts from an oil company, somewhere to the tune of $250,000. That included work on his home like a new first floor, garage, wraparound deck, plumbing and electrical wiring, along with a gas grill, furniture, tools and a sweetheart deal on a Land Rover.
Stevens insists he's innocent and his office says he'll move "full steam ahead" toward re-election. Nice.
Watch: Cafferty: Stevens hurt GOP?
The six-term Senator will likely face his toughest general-election challenge so far against the mayor of Anchorage, who was already leading in the polls. What is it about politicians who think they can simply continue in office after running afoul of the law. Remember the weasel Larry Craig?
The news probably couldn't come at a worse time for the Republicans. This kind of stuff could help the Democrats reach a 60-seat majority in the Senate, which would let them break Republican filibusters.
Stevens' legal problems could even affect the presidential race. Alaska is a state that hasn't voted for a Democrat since Lyndon Johnson in 1964, but Barack Obama has sent staffers there – which likely means he's ready to compete.
Some of Stevens' Republican colleagues are already distancing themselves, donating campaign contributions from Stevens to charity and refusing to comment on whether they support his decision to stay in the Senate.
Here’s my question to you: How will Ted Stevens' indictment affect an already-wounded GOP?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
How can the GOP excite young voters?
(PHOTO CREDIT: GETTY IMAGES)
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
The next generation of Republicans is not optimistic and is fretting over its inability to connect with younger voters.
The head of the Young Republicans tells the Washington Post his party is "staring down a very long, dark, quiet night." He's probably right. A recent poll shows voters under 30 are more than twice as likely to identify themselves as Democrats. A lot has changed. In 1984, Ronald Reagan won 59 percent of the young vote. In 1992, they were split about evenly between the two parties. But since then, Democrats have gained ground in every election.
Usually the parties don't pay all that much attention to young voters, since they notoriously don't show up to vote. But this election could be different. Record numbers of young people voted in the primaries.
The up-and-coming Republicans also have mixed feelings about John McCain. Some worry he isn't conservative enough on issues like taxes and immigration reform. The head of the Young Republicans talks about how Obama has inspired a whole generation of voters, while McCain hasn't done a good job communicating about issues like the war and economy – causing younger Americans to turn away from the Republican Party.
The head of the Young Republicans thinks the Arizona Senator can still attract young voters by reaching out to them through social networking web sites and by showing his sense of humor through more appearances on late night talk shows.
Here’s my question to you: How can the Republican Party excite young voters?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
GOP targeting Michelle Obama?
Click the Play Button to see what Jack and our viewers had to say. (PHOTO CREDIT: GETTY IMAGES)
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
The Tennessee Republican Party has set its sights on Michelle Obama – the wife of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama.
A new web video highlights her controversial comment earlier this year, saying she was proud of America "for the first time in my adult life." Obama later clarified the remark saying she meant she was proud of how Americans were engaging in the political process, and that she was always proud of her country.
Nonetheless, the GOP video replays her remark six times and mixes in commentary by people who live in Tennessee on why they're proud of America. The party says it's always been proud of this country, and it requested that state radio stations play patriotic music in honor of Michelle Obama's visit there yesterday.
The Obama campaign calls the attack "shameful”. It says that the Republican Party's "pathetic" attempts to use similar smear tactics have already failed in elections in Mississippi and Louisiana, and will fail again in November. The campaign calls on the Tennessee Republican Party to address Senator Obama directly next time, instead of going after his family.
Meanwhile, it's not the first time the GOP in Tennessee has made waves. Earlier this year, in a truly low-rent stunt, it used Barack Obama's middle name "Hussein" in a news release questioning his support of Israel and showing a photo of him wearing what it called "Muslim attire." The Republican National Committee denounced that piece of garbage.
Here’s my question to you: Is it a good strategy for Republicans to go after Michelle Obama?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
Slogan for Republican Party?
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
The Republicans are "busy dying” while the Democrats are "busy being born."
That's a stark assessment coming from Peggy Noonan in a column called "Pity Party" in today's Wall Street Journal.
Noonan paints a pretty bleak picture for the Republicans come November describing them as "frozen, not like a deer in the headlights but a deer in the darkness, his ears stiff" at the approaching sound of a hunting party.
In light of the string of GOP losses in special elections this spring, Noonan points to many party leaders in Washington she says are stupid and detached. She suggests that Republicans goofed big-time by not breaking on principle with the Bush administration on issues ranging from the Iraq war to immigration to government spending.
If the GOP had pushed back against President Bush in the last few years, Noonan says they could have separated the party's fortunes from the president's. She says it would have left the party broken, but not with a ruined "brand."
Speaking of branding, House Republicans say they have no plans to alter their new campaign slogan "Change you Deserve”. You know, the same one that's used to market the anti-depressant drug Effexor.
Minority Leader John Boehner says the slogan is "working out just fine." Really? For the Democrats, maybe. They're having a field day, saying that, "Democrats, not drugs, is what with American people need."
Here’s my question to you: What slogan would you pick for the Republican Party?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
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