Republican National Committee Candidates Unfamiliar With Books

Good Morning FishbowlDC Readers
On The Daily Show with Jon Stewart Tuesday night, the host, notoriously at odds with Daily Caller Editor in Chief Tucker Carlson after calling him a ” big d-ck” on CNN’s Crossfire in 2004, complimented him (we think) on his reactions at the recent RNC Candidates Debate in which RNC Chairman Michael Steele made his “best of times, worst of times” War and Peace flub. “How badly does he [Carlson] want to turn to [Americans for Tax Reform Prez] Grover Norquist and...

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...

GOP votes down rule thatd prioritize budget over social issues
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...

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...

THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN PEOPLE THINK THEIR MONEY IS WASTED: Fundraising worries dominate the race
THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN PEOPLE THINK THEIR MONEY IS WASTED: Fundraising worries dominate the race for chairman of the RNC. Since Ed Morrissey started the “not one dime” campaign back in 2005, there have been a lot of angry Republicans who won’t donate to the RNC. Michael Steele only exacerbated this problem. Will they find someone else who can reverse the tren...

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...

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

Abbreviated Pundit Round-up
Bob Herbert: You just can’t close the door on this crowd. The party that brought us the worst economy since the Great Depression, that led us into Iraq and the worst Foreign Policy disaster in American history, that would like to take a hammer to Social Security and a chisel to Medicare, is back in control of the House of Representatives with the expressed mission of undermining all things Obama. ... In any event, the G.O.P. has taken its place once again as the House majority and is vowi...

Jon Stewart Lampoons The RNC Chair Debate (VIDEO)
Jon Stewart last night lampooned Monday's Republican National Committee chair debate, highlighting some of the Candidates' better gaffes. Stewart began by critiquing Ann Wagner's wardrobe. "Wagner, what are you doing?" Stewart asked. "The lady Dole train left the station in 2008. These are Palin days!" He then performed an impromptu makeover, adding some bangs, a flag Lapel Pin and a leather jacket, among other things. "You just got grizzlied!" he added. [TPM SLIDESHOW: Sanest Of The Sane? Top...

Stewart Takes On The RNC Chairman Debate (VIDEO)
Before "The Daily Show" went on break, Jon Stewart did one of his most entertaining interviews ever with none other than Michael Steele -- in puppet form -- on his seeking re-election. Tuesday night, Stewart continued to rip on the current Republican National Committee Chairman, but also turned his attention to the other RNC Chair Candidates and their behavior in the debate held Monday. The person who took the most heat was Missouri's Ann Wagner, whose look Stewart said needed to be "grizzlied...

Cheney may seek heart transplant
Cheney received a heart pump in July in a move doctors said saved his life, The New York Times reported Wednesday. The mechanical pump, a partial artificial heart, leaves patients without a pulse because it pushes blood continuously instead of mimicking a heart beat. The device poses significant risk of infection, doctors told The Times. They are implanted it as a last resort either for permanent use or as a bridge until a Donor heart can be found. Cheney appeared noticeably thinner a few days b...

Tea Party activists uninspired by race to lead GOP
Despite attempts by some Candidates to court the movement, Tea Party Activists are largely ignoring the race for the chairmanship of the Republican National Committee.  "We're hearing very little chatter about this race," Jenny Beth Martin, co-founder of Tea Party Patriots, an umbrella group with some 3,000 chapters, told The Ballot Box. "The Debt ceiling, people are talking about that loud and clear." The RNC race is "important to people here in DC and party people, but Tea Party Patriots ar...

Inside the Beltway
SAFETY FIRST A big, juicy debate with f-bombs and finger-pointing? Uh, no. The five hopefuls who gathered Monday to make their case for Republican National Committee chairmanship at the National Press Club were perfectly on message, delivering flawlessly timed talking points in dulcet tones. Their handlers must have been delighted. The Candidates oozed civility, and repeatedly thanked their hosts from Americans for Tax Reform, the Daily Caller and the Susan B. Anthony List, as if each group ha...

Group of top GOP money men urge Steele's defeat
A group of former Republican National Committee finance chairmen has issued an unprecedented public condemnation of RNC Chairman Michael S. Steele on Tuesday and urged his defeat in the upcoming election for a new party chair. The top party Fundraising......

Cheney Gets Heart Pump
The New York Times reports: A few days before Christmas, former Vice President Dick Cheney ended a self-imposed sabbatical from partisan politics to headline a fund-raiser 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 fund-raiser for Ms. Cino, held at the Alexandria, Va., home of Mr. Cheney’s former aide Mary Matalin, was his first major foray into partisan Washington political the...

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...

Open Thread
Oooooooh. Will the Michael Steele catfight finally expose the Republicans' ugly racial underbelly? Cenk Uygur: Why isn't Tucker Carlson calling for Palin's execution too? Rep. Louie Gohmert Melts Down on AC360 Defending His 'Terror Babies' Conspiracy Theory...

Cliff May tells Hannity that US is in a 'religious war'
Anderson Cooper Brings on 'Left Behind' Actor Cameron to Discuss Bird and Fish Deaths in Arkansas -- Seriously? Oooooooh. Will the Michael Steele catfight finally expose the Republicans' ugly racial underbelly? Anderson Cooper Brings on 'Left Behind' Actor Cameron to Discuss Bird and Fish Deaths in Arkansas -- Seriously? Cenk Uygur: Why isn't Tucker Carlson calling for Palin's execution too? Anderson Cooper Brings on 'Left Behind' Actor Cameron to Discuss Bird and Fish Deaths in Arkansas -- Seri...

Michael Steele On His Record As RNC Chairman: We Won
He’s right in that Republicans did make big gains in the 2010 midterms, but I think most people realize it had little to do with Michael Steele’s leadership. In fact, I’d suggest the GOP gains in 2010 had everything to do with Americans being angry at the governing style, and the policies, of Barack Obama and the Democrats and not much at all to do with Republicans other than they were the default alternative on the ballot. Even if we didn’t hold the fact that Republicans...

The quarterback conundrum
Feelin' solstitial again! The Redskins have to figure out their Quarterback situation, and so do the Republicans. Not knowing who your Quarterback is is a major problem, whether you're in the business of throwing footballs or tossing brickbats. First, a little football: Our local professional football team just concluded another season in which most of the drama, the real highlight-reel stuff, happened during Press Conferences and on Talk Radio. This was a banner year for talking about the tea...

Happy Hour Roundup
* It's official: The House GOP will move to Repeal the Affordable Care Act next week week, holding a vote on July 12th. * And: The GOP Legislation repealing health reform will be available on line later tonight right here. * Also: While the Repeal bill will fail in the Senate, House GOP sources say they will keep the issue on the front burner by holding hearings on health reform's alleged failings and on what should replace it. * But GOP Rep. Steve King, a gung-ho Repeal advocate, is already try...

Steele Faces GOP Rivals in Debate For RNC Chair FULL DEBATE
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Poll: Americans already skeptical of new Congress and its ability to slash spending (Daily Caller)
The fresh class of Republicans in Congress face an uphill battle to win over the hearts and minds of Americans who are already expressing doubt that the new members will be much different from their predecessors. Of those polled, 67 percent said it was “at least somewhat likely” that voters will be disappointed by the 112th Congress by 2012, including 37 percent who predict it is “very likely,” according to a new survey from Rasmussen Reports. The new Congress kicks of...

End-of-Life Care: On Again, Now Off Again
I’m getting whiplash. First ObamaCare advocates wanted to compensate doctors for end-of-life counseling as a means of cost cutting. That provision was subjected to a congressional Death Panel and didn’t make it into the final law. Then, out of the blue, Dr. Donald “Let’s Ration Care Like the NHS” Berwick, the temporary head of Medicare (until his Recess Appointment ends at the end of the year), promulgated a more restricted rule permitting physicians to be compensat...

Get Progressively Trained
As someone who has been involved somewhat in the punditry circuit (for lack of a better term), I have been asked by progressive friends what I think is needed for the Left to compete with the Right, not so much in the war of ideas, as idea distribution. To begin with, we need people who can confidently promote progressive values on television and radio. While the last decade has seen the creation and expansion of progressive Think Tanks, Air America Radio (an incubator of such talent as Rache...