GOP Infighting! Frustrated Boehner Battles For Control Of NRCC
GOP House leader John Boehner -- last seen saying that the loss of American lives in Iraq is a "small price" to pay for realizing Bush's vision in Iraq -- is upset with the "mismanagement" of the NRCC and is locked in a struggle for control over it with NRCC chief Tom Cole, according to a new report.
The Politico's John Bresnahan and Patrick O'Connor have the story. It's a good yarn, complete with shouting matches and hissy fits. The story is a reminder of just how bleak the 2008 electoral landscape looks for the GOP -- and the depth of denial about this that's reigning at the NRCC right now:
Inside-the-Beltway Republicans have grown frustrated with the NRCC for its unrealistically rosy assessments of an ever-eroding landscape for congressional Republicans.Lawmakers are frustrated with Cole and his top aides for casting their net too wide by targeting Democratic-controlled seats that Republicans have little chance of picking up next year.
Some also gripe that Cole fails to manage expectations on the Hill when he refuses to acknowledge that the GOP’s chances for regaining the majority fade with every retirement or negative news story about President Bush or other scandal-plagued Republican lawmaker.
The whole thing is worth a read.
Comments (14)
Daniel wrote on September 21, 2007 6:33 PM:The House GOP is going down in flames. They have too many seats to defend to have any hope of getting anywhere in 2008.
RonK, Seattle wrote on September 21, 2007 7:03 PM:Where is Paul Hackett when (and where) we really need him?
arch stanton wrote on September 21, 2007 7:21 PM:Hey Dick Versace is in the race in Illinois. Wasn't he the czar of the telestrator?
rpg wrote on September 21, 2007 7:28 PM:The sooner the GOP goes down in flames and returns to the garbage dump of history, the sooner the United States can reclaim its greatness in the 21st century world.
2008 will be the new 1932.
EH wrote on September 21, 2007 8:55 PM:I wouldn't count the GOP out yet, they're going to have a lot of new blood for all of the seats up in the air which will provide them an opportunity to establish a new narrative for themselves. Don't count on next years election to follow the same lines as last year's.
Largo wrote on September 22, 2007 12:35 AM:Agree with EH. Remember: Just when you think you are catching up with the rat race, they invent faster rats. Expect the Republic Party to come up with DeLay, Santorum, and Ney 2.0. A whole new generation of lying scumbags to contend with.
Goon wrote on September 22, 2007 3:12 AM:I wouldn't count on the GOP going down in flames, the DNC Congress is doing well and they have a horrible approval rating of 11%...
Hector wrote on September 22, 2007 3:55 AM:I would care a lot more whether the GOP loses seats in 2008 if I had any confidence that the Democrats, in Congress or the White House, would accomplish anything of value.
Carer wrote on September 22, 2007 4:20 AM:Its obvious that the reason we got into Iraq, and the reason we can't get out, is becuase of Republicans.
Couple that with terrible economic policy, huge deficits, corruption and crime among elected Republicans, and, of course, the terrible lack of sensible leadership in the White House, and what choice do people have but to vote Democratic?
"...what choice do people have but to vote Democratic?"
Well, that's true. But it's a mighty poor choice. I have been terribly disillusioned by the Democrats throughout the six plus years of this maladministration. There has been no evidence of courage, leadership, or planning among any of the Democrats, and God knows, they are the worst communicators on the face of the earth. Again and again they have submitted to the megalomanical assaults on democracy perpetrated by the Bush and Cheney thugs and psychopaths, raising scarecely a demur. These craven hacks are as much responsible for the state of this country and the world as are the Bushbots.
brendancalling wrote on September 22, 2007 10:40 AM:"what choice do people have but to vote Democratic?"
Ahh, the genius of the two party system, in which even when you win you lose. Every election boils down to the lesser of two evils or the evil of two lessers.
And as for third parties? I'm reminded of that Simpsons episode when Kang and Kodos disguise themselves as Clinton and Dole. "Third Parties? Go ahead, throw your vote away!"
And now you know how habeas corpus goes down, how telecoms that participated in illegale wiretapping get immunity, why the Iraq war won't end anytime soon, why we don't put money into alternative energy, why we don't have national health care, and why in their place we get resolutions saying MoveOn is mean.
moron wrote on September 22, 2007 4:54 PM:The question is... with all the color-based discrimination in the GOP...
... is the NRCC really ready for an orange chairman?
gonzone wrote on September 24, 2007 9:09 AM:They eat their own, you know. All GOP meetings of any size require the sacrifice of a small Republican before the really dirty business can begin.
jamey wrote on September 25, 2007 3:48 PM:That was Mike Fratello, Arch.
