As Nation Shifts Toward Gay Rights, RNC Candidates Promise To Stay Put

McLarty Endorses Wagner for RNC Chair
RNC Chair Candidate Ann Wagner (a former Missouri GOP chair, US Ambassador, and RNC Co-Chair) picked up an Endorsement by the Oklahoma GOP's third RNC vote - National Committeewoman Carolyn McLarty on Sunday. OKGOP Chairman Matt Pinnell and National Committeeman James Dunn, the other two votes Oklahoma has, both endorsed Reince Priebus last week. McLarty issued the following letter to RNC members, announcing her intent to support Wagner. After thoughtful consideration, I have decided to commit m...

RNCs Steele Says Favorite Book is War and Peace -- It's the Best of Times and the Worst of Times
Tuesday, January 04, 2011 By Michael W. Chapman (CNSNews.com) - In a debate with Candidates for the chairmanship of the Republican National Committee (RNC), current Chairman Michael Steele said his favorite book was War and Peace, adding, “It’s the best of times and the worst of times.” However, the latter phrase is a slight variation of the opening sentence from Charles Dickens’ novel A Tale of Two Cities, and War and Peace was written by Leo Tolstoy. During the debate at

Is Bachmanns slot on Intelligence Committee part of GOP plan to stifle her?
WASHINGTON — The debate held Monday among the Candidates for the chairmanship of the Republican National Committee was like an egg cream — the literal meaning isn’t the same as its contents. With one exception, current RNC Chairman Michael Steele and his challengers — former Michigan GOP Chair Saul Anuzis, former Bush Administration official Maria Cino, Wisconsin Republican Party Chair Reince Priebus, and former Missouri Republican Party Chairwoman Ann Wagner — avoi...

Docile debate disappoints some, heartens others
There wasn't much blood drawn during today's debate between Candidates for RNC chairman, much to the chagrin of some Candidates for the position, and the surprise of some committee members. "Isn't that a shame?" asked former Missouri GOP chairwoman Ann Wagner when a reporter remarked on the debate's polite tone. Wagner said she would have preferred "some more honest discussion" about how much money Chairman Michael Steele raised during the 2010 election versus how much made its way back to indi...

RNC Candidates Push for Credibility, Conservatism in GOP
Few major differences emerged Monday in a debate between the five remaining Candidates vying to chair the Republican National Committee, but the four Candidates hoping to oust current chair Michael Steele pushed the need to restore "credibility" to the committee. That message was an indirect jab at the criticisms that have arisen over Steele's leadership of the committee. But Steele revealed himself to have learned some lessons that may have been lost of the others, including the boundaries of...

Jon Stewart Lampoons Absurdly Oversimplified RNC Chair Debate
On Monday of this week, C-Span broadcast a debate for RNC Chair Candidates that featured much maligned current chair Michael Steele alongside four other contenders collectively fielding absurdly simplistic questions from moderators Tucker Carlson and Grover Norquist . Its a ridiculous tradition that felt at times like its chief function was to provide fodder for The Daily Show. Ladies and Gentlemen, Jon Stewart! There are a number of funny highlights, but perhaps my personal favorite is the sudd...

Wayne Besen: The Tough Battle Ahead in 2011 for LGBT Equality
The trend lines point toward full LGBT equality. This was surprisingly evident last week on the Fox News Channel show Red Eye, which lampooned leading anti-gay organizations for vowing to skip this year's Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) because a gay conservative group was invited. The show's host ruthlessly mocked The Family Research Council, Concerned Women for America and jokingly claimed that Peter Labarbera's Americans For Truth About Homosexuality held Shirtless meetings....

Michael Steele Pleads for Another Term As RNC Chairman, but Challengers Say No Way
Tuesday, January 04, 2011 Michael Steele speaks at the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minn., on Sept. 3, 2008. He later became chairman of the Republican Party. (AP File Photo/Ron Edmonds) Washington (AP) - GOP Chairman Michael Steele defended his rocky two-year tenure anew Monday and asked for another term, boiling his re-election pitch down to this: "My record stands for itself. We won." The embattled Republican National Committee chief was referring to coast-to-coast GOP victo...

Steele Battles Opponents in Fight to Maintain RNC Chairmanship
Tuesday, January 04, 2011 By Fred Lucas In this Nov. 2, 2010 file photo, Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele speaks during an election night gathering hosted by the National Republican Congressional Committee, in Washington. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen) Washington (CNSNews.com) - Michael Steele spent Monday afternoon doing what he has done for much of the past two years: fending off criticism about his job as chairman of the Republican National Committee. “My record stands fo...

Latest from RNC Watch
Charlie Webster and Carol Mumford reveal they’re sticking with Michael Steele, while Reince Priebus’s tangled history with the Tea Party and Saul Anuzis’s soft spot for the Big Three get stricter scrutiny. Read more at RNC Watch. New Hampshire GOP chairman John Sununu supports the “anybody-but-Steele concept,” the former Governor tells NH Journal. “I have narrowed it . . . Go Could Press Secretary Robert Gibbs leave the White House soon? The Washington Post r...

For Steele, RNC Chair Race Gets Personal
Incumbent RNC chairman Michael Steele and Wisconsin state chair Reince Priebus used to be close allies, but as they sat beside one another on stage at the RNC chair Candidates meeting on Monday, it was clear that that time was over. On the other hand, Saul Anuzis’ enduring closeness with Michael Steele may have a major impact on the outcome of the RNC race. “No, I don’t talk [with him], haven’t talked to him since he’s been running,” Steele told FrumForum about Priebus

Looking for Hate in All the Wrong Places: Is Hollywood Homophobic?
By now it goes without saying that Middle America is hopelessly homophobic, at least according to leftist dogma, the Average American’s opposition to “marriage equality” sufficiently proving their ignorant prejudice. But the scourge of Homophobia is apparently even more far-reaching than any of us could have guessed—according to Ramin Setoodeh at the Daily Beast, even Hollywood is caught in its grasp, as demonstrated by Tinseltown’s refusal to let gay actors play gay roles. O

Report: Boehner making calls for Cino in RNC race
Maria Cino continues to get help from big GOP names in her bid for the Republican National Committee chairmanship. Cino's campaign was helped off the ground by her former colleagues in the Bush Administration, including Vice President Dick Cheney and GOP Strategist Mary Matalin who hosted a Fundraiser for her. More recently, she's been getting help from incoming House Speaker John Boehner. The Ohio Republican has made phone calls to some of the 168 committee members on Cino's behalf, two membe...

RNC Chair Hopefuls Defend "Traditional Marriage"
It's painful to watch politicians shamelessly pandering to their base — but it's even more painful to watch Candidates, who know on some level that the issues their base defends are going the way of the Dinosaurs, try to couch their pandering by talking about "dignity" and "love." That's why watching the four candidates for chairman of the Republican National Committee answer a red meat question on marriage equality was so painful. The two favorites for the job, current chairman Michael St...

Navy firing over videos raises questions of timing...
While many sailors aboard the ship at the time have defended Honors on Facebook postings - contending he was simply providing a much-needed morale boost during long deployments at sea - senior Military officials interviewed by The Associated Press said the videos were extreme and showed a disturbing lack of judgment. No leaders in senior posts at the Pentagon and in the Navy could explain why, if Honors' conduct was so questionable, he was promoted after the videos aired. Last week, the Navy sai...

The Unintended Consequences of Repealing Dont Ask, Dont Tell
Unintended consequences.  That’s a brief phrase that’s getting worn out in a hurry.  It seems that everything has it’s ‘Unintended Consequences’ these days and I’m going to make that monkey pile just a little higher. In the final hours of the 111th disaster commonly known as Congress, our elected representatives and senators put their stamp of approval on ending Don’t Ask-Don’t Tell, the federal law that prevented gay and Lesbian Military...

Some thoughts on the Daily Caller, ATR RNC Chair debate
The five Candidates vying to chair the Republican National Committee faced off Monday at the National Press Club in a debate was sponsored by Tucker Carlson’s Daily Caller website, Grover Norquist’s American Tax Reform and the Susan B. Anthony List, the previously non-partisan pro-life outfit that famously turned against some of its previous allies, pro-life Democrats in the U.S. House who voted for President Obama’s Health Care overhaul. Here are a few thoughts and observation...

Sarah Palin fails to lead on gay equality
Will the GOP House attack science, after all? Sarah Palin is getting some mileage out of retweeting a pro-don't ask, don't tell Repeal message from Tammy Bruce. "I'm focused on economic issues, and you may have noticed I was being quiet about DADT because that's not our most pressing issue," the Openly Gay radio host tweeted Monday. "...But this hypocrisy is just truly too much. [Enough] already -- the more someone complains about the homos the more we should look under their bed." So, I guess w...

Navy firing over videos raises questions of timing
WASHINGTON—The Navy brusquely fired the captain of the USS Enterprise on Tuesday, more than three years after he made lewd videos to boost morale for his crew, timing that put the Military under pressure to explain why it acted only after the videos became public. Senior Military officials said they were trying to determine who among Navy leaders knew about the videos when they were shown repeatedly in 2006 and 2007 to thousands of crew members aboard the nuclear-powered Aircraft Carrier....

Conservatives4Palin Throw Cold Water on Sarah Palins Supposed Twitter Support for Gay Rights
Earlier today, former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin caused a stir with a retweet that many read as a cryptic indicator that the Mama Grizzly was poised to come out in favor of some Gay Rights. Prominent Palin fansite Conservatives4Palin.com, however, has swooped in to defend her honor, noting that Palin’s retweet of Tammy Bruce ’s sentiment, “But this hypocrisy is just truly too much. Enuf already–the more someone complains about the homos the more we s

UGANDA: Court Bans Media From Outings
A Ugandan court has ruled that local media may not name "suspected Homosexuals" and has awarded damages to those named by Rolling Stone, a newspaper unrelated to the U.S.-based music title. The request for the ban was filed by three people from Gay Rights group, Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG), whose pictures and towns of residence were published in a previous issue of Rolling Stone. High Court judge, Vincent Musoke-Kibuuke also ruled that the petitioners' lives were threatened since the story...

TRENDING: Palin re-tweet raises questions
(CNN) - Normally, it’s what Sarah Palin tweets that makes news. This time though it’s what she has re-tweeted. The former Alaska Governor Monday relayed a comment from gay conservative pundit Tammy Bruce, who was expressing her criticism over continued Republican opposition to the Don’t Ask Don’t Tell Military policy that won congressional Repeal late last month. "But this hypocrisy is just truly too much. Enuf already-the more someone complains about the homo...

DADT Repeal Could Foreshadow GOP Generational Split
President Obama created a stir last week when he reiterated that while he doesn't support Gay Marriage, he still struggles with the issue. He said his views are "constantly evolving." In the Republican Party, the fracture over issues concerning Homosexual individuals revealed itself more clearly in the vote for Repeal of the 17-year-old "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy that prevented gays from serving openly in the Military. Of the eight Republican senators who voted for repeal, five are among t...

With new heart pump, Cheney slowly resumes old life
WASHINGTON -- A few days before Christmas, former Vice President Dick Cheney ended a self-imposed sabbatical from partisan politics to headline a Fundraiser for Maria Cino, a party operative and Bush administration official who is running to replace Michael Steele as head of the Republican National Committee. The Fundraiser for Cino, held at the Alexandria, Va., home of Cheney's former aide Mary Matalin, was his first major foray into partisan Washington political theater since receiving a mech...

Michael Steele says his favorite book is War and Peace and he quotes the first line as: It was the best of times, it was the wor
D'oh! Bad times for Michael Steele. The 5 Candidates for RNC were asked, in their debate, what's their favorite book? It's not like anybody else said anything good. ("To Kill a Mockingbird" — give me a break!) The actual opening lines of "War and Peace": "Well, Prince, so Genoa and Lucca are now just family estates of the Buonapartes. But I warn you, if you don't tell me that this means war, if you still try to defend the infamies and horrors perpetrated by that Antichrist — I reall...