John Cornyn embraces declining President Obama polls… As He Helps Recruit GOP Candidates – Rand Paul Throws Hat in Ring

John Cornyn (R-Texas), the Senate GOP campaign chief, says Barack Obama's declining popularity is helping Republican recruiting and boosting the party's prospects for 2010.

“I don’t have to tell you about the general environment,” said Cornyn, chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee. “President Obama is now looking like a mere mortal, as opposed to someone who previously exceeded gravity.”

“I think there will be a significant number of voters who, leading up to 2010, will wonder if they voted for someone they didn’t get.”

Cornyn didn’t hesitate to jab Obama, saying that the president had achieved little in his first months in office. And the Texas Republican called Obama’s economic stimulus package “ill fated.”

Cornyn also touted recruiting successes in a handful of states, including Florida (Gov. CharlieCrist) and Illinois (Rep. Mark Kirk), and said it was evidence of the party’s success in the first part of the 2010 election cycle.

As NRSC chairman this cycle, Cornyn has history on his side — the party in power historically loses seats in the midterms — so he is more confident than his predecessors in the last two election cycles.

“While we’ve had some good successes in candidate recruitment, Democrats have had some notable failures,” Cornyn said, noting Democrats’ inability to woo Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan into a Senate bid. “I am optimistic.”

But with Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor headed for a vote later this week, Cornyn was also peppered with questions from reporters about whether his party’s strident opposition toward her candidacy would hurt Republican prospects among Hispanic voters.

Cornyn responded that, her ethnicity aside, Republicans had focused on Sotomayor’s record as a federal judge.

“One thing I do think is important is that we treated her with respect,” Cornyn said.

Cornyn — who has faced criticism in his heavily Hispanic state for coming out in opposition to Sotomayor — also said the GOP’s failure to win Hispanic support in 2008 was not necessarily a harbinger of things to come.

“I think it’s myopic to read too much into 2008 and Republican appeal among Hispanic voters,” Cornyn said, arguing that Hispanic voters would be more interested in Democratic policies headed toward 2010.

Cornyn was also asked whether he would support Sen. John Ensign should the embattled Nevada senator seek reelection in 2012.

“I’m really not going to comment on 2012 right now,” Cornyn said.

Cornyn defended protesters who were speaking up at Democratic town hall events across the country, saying it was wrong for the Democratic Party to “demonize” them.

“It’s part of our political process for people to express ... whatever they feel,” Cornyn said.

Republican Rand Paul, the son of 2008 presidential candidate Ron Paul, is ramping up to run for the Kentucky Senate seat currently held by Jim Bunning.

Paul announced his formation of an exploratory committee last night on MSNBC’s "Rachel Maddow Show," where he declared that the Republican party has “lost its mojo" on fiscal issues. He said that he supports Bunning, but is skeptical that the senator is planning to run for re-election.

“I’m happy tonight to announce on 'The Rachel Maddow Show' that I’m forming an exploratory committee to run for the U.S. Senate,” Paul said.

“I’ve gone around the state saying good things about [Bunning]. I think the problem is every time a reporter asks Jim Bunning are you running, their follow-up question is, ‘Jim are you really running?'”
Bunning has said he still plans on running for a third term, but Kentucky Secretary of State Trey Grayson has formed a Senate exploratory committee in case he changes his mind.

On MSNBC, Paul raised the possibility that Grayson and Bunning struck a private deal to ensure that Grayson would not face any Republican opposition on the primary ballot — and speculated that Bunning may announce his retirement right before the state’s filing deadline.

“What I hate to see is a politician who might go all the way up to the deadline and pull their papers out an hour before, and then you have one candidate and there’s no real primary,” Paul said.

By Josh Kraushaar

Source: Politico

Huckabee Slams GOP Elites for Crist Endorsement

Signaling wider dissensions in the Republican ranks, former Arkansas governor and presidential candidate Mike Huckabee is slamming the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) for endorsing Gov. Charlie Crist over another, more conservative Republican in Florida’s open Senate race.

Huckabee announced his official support for former state House Speaker Marco Rubio (R) in a video Tuesday. He follows Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., in support of Rubio, a popular Cuban-American conservative from South Florida.

“I’m disgusted that they would take a position in a hotly contested race when you have a quality candidate like Marco Rubio, who was the youngest Speaker in the Florida House,” Huckabee told The Hill. “This is not just some nameless, faceless guy that decided to throw his name in, who had no chance and no credibility.”

He continued: “I thought that their endorsement not only was premature, but was outrageous. And they ought to get behind the guy who would do a whole lot more, in my mind, to unite and fire up Republicans, and that’s Marco Rubio.”

“The establishment Republicans have made this endorsement for the same reason that they’re in so much trouble,” Huckabee said. “They go out there and support stuff like TARP bills and stimulus packages, pork-barrel spending and huge debt, and they wring their hands and act like, 'This is not good, but we don’t have a choice.' "

Marco Rubio For Senate – Billed as Florida’s Future

Source: Newsmax

Posted: Knowledge Creates Power

Romney picked as 2012 GOP front-runner at CPAC

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Conservative activists on Saturday named former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney the winner of a poll for best 2012 GOP presidential candidate.

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney won 20 percent of the vote in straw poll for presidential favorites.  

The poll marked the third consecutive year Romney came out on top.

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal placed second in the annual poll, conducted at the Conservative Political Action Conference.

Romney received 20 percent of the vote and Jindal got 14 percent.

Close behind were Texas Rep. Ron Paul and Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, who each received 13 percent of the vote.

The results were culled over two days from 1,757 of the party activists who came to Washington for the annual conference and filled out ballots on Thursday and Friday. Nearly 60 percent of the straw poll participants were between the ages of 18 and 25. More than half of the conference attendees this year were college students.

The choices in the poll were: Florida Gov. Charlie Crist; former House speaker Newt Gingrich; former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani; former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee; Jindal; Paul; Palin; Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty; Romney; South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford, and "Undecided." There was also space on the ballot for a write-in candidate.

The results could go a long way in shoring up a presidential hopeful's conservative resume, as was the case with Romney when he won the straw poll in 2007 for 2008.

The eventual Republican nominee, Sen. John McCain, finished fifth in the 2007 vote, and lost to Romney in 2008 as conservatives at the conference expressed frustration that the Senate maverick was close to cinching up the nomination.

On Friday, Romney and Gingrich packed the ballroom.

Texas Rep. Ron Paul also drew a big crowd and lots of applause. Paul said the conservative movement has struggled to define what it means to be a conservative.

In criticizing Obama and House Democrats in a speech Friday, Romney -- often interrupted by standing ovations -- made clear that he intends to remain a player in Republican politics as he eyes a potential presidential bid in 2012.

CPAC attendees also were able to vote on their approval of President Obama and Republicans in Congress.

Only 4 percent said they approve of the job Obama is doing.

CPAC ended Saturday with radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh delivering the keynote address.

Limbaugh called on conservatives to take the country back.

"I want to tell you who conservatives are. We conservatives have not done a good enough job of just laying out basically who we are because we make the mistake of assuming that people know," he said.

"We love people. When we look out over the United States of America, when we're anywhere, when we see a group of people such as this or anywhere, we see Americans."

In order to take the country back, Limbaugh said, "All we need is to nominate the right candidate. It's no more complicated than that."

Limbaugh praised Obama as one of the most gifted politicans he has seen, but said, "It just breaks my heart that he does not use these extraordinary talents and gifts to motivate and inspire the American people to be the best they can be. He's doing just the opposite."

Limbaugh accused Obama of wanting people to be in fear instead of motivating the country.

In the absence of a clear GOP leader, a political ad airing Friday put out by supporters of Obama implies the conservative radio host has himself become the de facto head of the Republican Party.

The ad argues that the Republican leadership in Congress is following Limbaugh's lead in opposing the Obama administration's $787 billion stimulus package.

"So who are Republican leaders listening to?," the announcer asks before the 30-second ad cuts abruptly to footage of Limbaugh saying, "I want him [Obama] to fail."

It was paid for by Americans United for Change and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) union, two groups that supported Obama during the election and are advocating for his agenda.

In response to the ad, the Republican National Committee said, "The Democrats are running a permanent campaign rather than doing the bipartisan work of governing."

"These ads are part of the Democrats' larger strategy to do something, anything, to try to take the focus off their massive spending binge," RNC spokesman Alex Conant said.

Meanwhile, throughout the conference, other Republican leaders and rising stars took turns at the podium.

Pawlenty told the conference audience Saturday that Republicans must do a better job of reaching out to working-class voters, a group he said agrees with the GOP on most issues, from gun rights to health care to education.

The problem, Pawlenty said, is that lower and middle income voters -- a group he terms "Sam's Club voters" -- don't believe Republicans "are for the working person."

He said the party must stress its commitment to job creation and market itself "with a feel and concern and tone and an understanding of the importance and the challenges of the working class of this country.

"And it doesn't mean we have to sacrifice our principles to do it," Pawlenty said.

Like most of the Republicans who have addressed the annual gathering of conservatives this week, Pawlenty characterized the White House economy recovery package as a "sprawling spending buffet."

The governor bemoaned the president's budget plan, unveiled earlier this week, which predicted a $1.75 trillion deficit for the upcoming fiscal year.

"A day or two later the Democrats convened a fiscal responsibility summit," he said. "What's next? Are they going to have Rod Blagojevich convene an ethics summit?"

Pawlenty and his wife Mary also spoke Friday night to a closed-door reception for "Rebuild the Party," a Web-based grassroots initiative to modernize the party.