NRCC chair Pete Sessions, fresh off saying on Meet The Press that Republicans promise to “go back to the exact same agenda” that characterized the Bush years, told reporters today that voters don’t want to talk about Bush on the campaign trail this year. Which is good, he said, because Bush doesn’t want to talk to them either.
At a cheerleading session for the NRCC’s 2nd quarter fundraising successes this afternoon, Sessions was repeatedly asked by reporters about the role that the Bush administration would play in the election. He was also asked if Bush — like Bill Clinton did before him in 2002 — would head out to support his party’s House nominees on the trail in the first election since he left the White House. Sessions sputtered around the question, before finally suggesting that even if the Republicans wanted Bush on the trail (which he didn’t say they did) Bush would probably be unavailable.
“He has not done anything up to now. He didn’t even do anything his first week out of office,” Sessions said. “He has not been involved, he does not do fundraisers.”
“He’s not interested,” Sessions added.
Sessions said that despite his public yearnings for the Republican-run policies of the Bush years — and his pledge to take the country back in that direction should the Republicans regain control of the Congress this fall — the public is not interested in discussing the past beyond Jan. 19, 2009.
“This is a referendum on Obama and Pelosi,” he said.
Evan McMorris-Santoro
Evan McMorris-Santoro has covered politics for TPM since 2009. Before that, he was a reporter at National Journal’s Hotline covering election 2008. He started his career covering local politics at newspapers in TN and his native NC.
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