Chuck Grassley

Bob Dole Goes After Czars, ACORN In Letter For Grassley

Christina Bellantoni | November 23, 2009, 3:43PM

Former Sen. Bob Dole (R-KS) Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA)

Bob Dole may like the health care bill, but Bob Dole has plenty to criticize in the Obama administration.

Dole has signed on to be Sen. Chuck Grassley's national finance chairman for his reelection campaign. In a letter to Grassley supporters, Dole blasted Obama has hiring "30 of his cronies as 'czars' over massive new bureaucracies with billions of dollars in budgets and thousands of employees."

Dole also said MoveOn and ACORN are trying to unseat Grassley (R-IA), who he believes has been instrumental in standing up to Obama. Grassley, Dole argued, is "good for America."

Grassley has been one of Obama's loudest detractors, and especially opposes the health care plan. Dole has argued for the plan's passage, though last month sparred with Democrats over use of his support in a political ad.

Dole takes aim at health care in this letter, saying Grassley is trying to block "an attempt to allow government to take over health care and for Washington bureaucrats to decide which patients sees which doctor and what limits and access there will be on their treatments, drugs and therapies."

That's a far cry from Dole's statement last month:

The American people have waited decades and if this moment passes us by, it may be decades more before there is another opportunity. The current approaches suggested by the Congress are far from perfect, but they do provide some basis on which Congress can move forward and we urge the joint leadership to get together for America's sake.

Oh yeah, and Dole says liberals are trying to please Castro and Chavez.

Read Dole's full letter to Grassley fans after the jump.

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Capitol Hill Tea Party

Busting Rhymes In The Name Of Tea Parties

Christina Bellantoni | November 20, 2009, 5:07PM

Rapper Hi Caliber

Don't call Hi Caliber a Republican rapper.

He prefers conservative hip hop artist, and has lent his rhyme to the tea party movement.

Cal, who wouldn't give his full name because he says he's been threatened by "liberals," starred in a FreedomWorks-produced video called "Patriotic People."

He rhymes: "Politicians need the truth, it will set you free, and I hope you paid attention to the march on D.C. ...Liberalism is like a cancerous tumor, just look at Harry Reid, Pelosi and Chuck Schumer."

TPMDC caught up with Cal, 34, a resident of the Jersey Shore.

"I am not a fan of Bush, and I'm not a rank and file Republican. I'm a conservative," he said.

Cal said he meets Democrats and Libertarians at the tea parties, and said it's unfair for liberals to call the group racist or redneck.

"I support the tea party movement because I feel they are the only people in the America who are not following lock-step, rank-and-file one of the political parties," he said.

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Fundraising

RNC Touts Grassroots Cash: Raised $8.7M, Spent $7.9M In October

Christina Bellantoni | November 19, 2009, 8:58AM

RNC Chair Michael Steele

The Republican National Committee announced this morning they raised $8.79 million in October, an off-election year record.

The haul comes after the party captured two governorships and as they are attempting to make gains in 2010.

The RNC said they had $11.2 million cash on hand and no debt. Last month they reported $18.9 million cash on hand, so doing the math, they spent $7.9 million in October.

The party says they "averaged 2,543 new donors per day in October and had an average contribution of $32," with more than 1 million active donors by the end of the month.

"As of November 11th, the RNC has already broken its own record of new donors in an off year, with 305,000 new donors so far in 2009," the party said in a release.

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2010 elections

Rep. Mark Kirk Taking Local Heat For Gitmo Stance

Christina Bellantoni | November 17, 2009, 6:40PM

Rep. Mark Kirk (R-IL)

Rep. Mark Kirk (R-IL) has been one of the most prominent critics of a possible plan to transfer Guantanamo Bay detainees to a prison in Thomson, Illinois.

As we wrote yesterday, some conservatives favor it, and the local community sees it as an economic boon. (The Senate defeated a Republican measure to block funding for the detainee transfer today.)

But Kirk, seeking the GOP nomination for the U.S. Senate, said today on Fox News he thinks it should be up to the voters. He said it's a "decision bigger than any one senator" and said the "risk is unnecessary."

The Chicago Sun-Times called it a political move, editorializing today: "Kirk's scare talk might do him wonders with the GOP base, but it won't convince a single terrorist that this nation has a backbone."

The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee accused Kirk of being a flip-flopper, since he supported a bill last month on the House floor authorizing Obama to transfer detainees. They also said he's using "Karl Rove style fear mongering."

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Capitol Hill Tea Party

Tea Partiers Came With 2010 Warnings

Christina Bellantoni | November 5, 2009, 6:52PM

The scene today at the Capitol Hill Tea Party probably worried incumbents of both parties.

TPMDC was there, following every "Kill the bill" refrain and impromptu "USA! USA!" chant from the many thousands gathered on the West Front Lawn of the Capitol.

Evan captured the mood on the ground (with extra fun video of women singing their own anti-health care version of "Yankee Doodle") and as we reported earlier, I stumbled upon tea partiers heckling police who had arrested protesters.

My takeaway after several hours interviewing people who had taken time off work, sacrificed sleep and hopped on buses to make the trip from across the country is that there is a real spark to the movement.

The group is angry, and in many cases ill-informed about the 1,900-page health care bill that they delighted in shredding across the Capitol today. But they vote, and each person told me they are angry with incumbents and government spending.

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2010 elections

DGA Hunkers Down For '10 Battle As Leaders Warn Democrats To Keep Races Local

Christina Bellantoni | November 4, 2009, 6:18PM

Democratic candidates for governor in 2010 need to avoided being baited by Republicans on national issues such as health care or climate change, Democratic officials said today in the wake of two big losses in New Jersey and Virginia.

Nathan Daschle, executive director of the Democratic Governors Association, told reporters the 37 races they have on the map next year will be tough. He advised that candidates talk about jobs, the party's ability to govern and local issues.

"Republicans are going to try to use federal issues to box in Democrats and we can't fall for that," he said. "We need to demonstrate our capacity to govern and our capacity to get results."

Daschle said candidates "cannot fall for the trap" of federal issues, saying that if GOP rivals are pushing on health care or climate change they probably don't know about state issues.

TPMDC asked Daschle about candidates getting pushed on health care, especially whether they would "opt-out" of the public option in its current form. It's an issue that hurt Creigh Deeds (D) in Virginia as liberals felt like he was moving too far to the right by saying he would likely opt-out.

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2010 elections

Conservatives Emboldened: DeMint Says 'Army Of Americans' Will Fight For Freedom In '10

Christina Bellantoni | November 4, 2009, 4:05PM

Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC)

Sen. Jim DeMint says Republicans must be "rock solid" conservatives to win in 2010, and predicted a national "army" will rise up next year.

TPMDC listened in last night on a call run by DeMint's Senate Conservatives Fund as they ticked off the races they are watching and detailed the conservative direction they think Republicans need to head toward.

DeMint said he wanted to "harness the energy" he saw during the tea parties.

He said he wants to show that "anywhere in the country," a "principled Republican with conservative principles" can win.

"That is going to change politics in America," he said. "You're going to see an army of Americans fighting for freedom in this next election."

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CA-SEN

Senate Conservatives Fund Picks Sides In Ca. As DeMint Backs DeVore

Christina Bellantoni | November 4, 2009, 12:53PM

CA-SEN Republican candidates Chuck DeVore and Carly Fiorina

A California Republican aiming to unseat Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) next year has gotten a boost from conservative Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC).

DeMint announced last night his Senate Conservatives Fund was endorsing state Assemblyman Chuck DeVore over former Hewlett Packard chief Carly Fiorina. The group supports only "rock solid" conservatives, organizers told supporters on a conference call last night as election results came in.

DeVore "will work with me to shake things up," DeMint said, and "vote the right way ...
stand up in our conference meetings and say, 'Folks this is wrong let's turn this thing around.'"

DeMint's fund already has endorsed Republican senate candidates Marco Rubio in Florida and Pat Toomey in Pennsylvania.

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