Haley Barbour

Haley Barbour's Son Slams Bill Kristol: You're 'Assassinating' My Father's Character

Jillian Rayfield | March 18, 2011, 10:33AM

William Kristol

Haley Barbour's son Sterling Barbour has written an e-mail to Bill Kristol, attacking him for a highly critical column Kristol wrote about the elder Barbour's chances for the Republican nomination. "In these most desperate of times, you go around assassinating the character of a great conservative," Sterling Barbour wrote.

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Gabrielle Giffords

Kristol: Palin Critics Practicing McCarthyism

Brian Beutler | January 10, 2011, 9:41AM

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin

Conservatives are circling their wagons around Sarah Palin and other incendiary figures on the right in the wake of Saturday's shooting spree in Arizona. The latest is Weekly Standard editor, and Palinisto Bill Kristol, who said that Palin's critics are practicing "McCarthyism."

On C-SPAN's "Washington Journal" Monday morning, Kristol claimed there's no evidence to suggest that shooting suspect Jared Lee Loughner is an acolyte of Palin's. "The attempt to exploit this tragedy is distasteful," Kristol said.

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Michael Steele

Top Republicans Pile On Steele, Call For His Ouster

Brian Beutler | July 2, 2010, 12:38PM

RNC Chairman Michael Steele

Republicans are furious with RNC Chairman Michael Steele, who was caught on camera saying that the war in Afghanistan is a doomed effort launched by President Obama. Steele has no shortage of enemies in the GOP and many of them sense an opportunity here. In fact, several, both privately and publicly, are saying this is the last straw: Steele should resign.

"Needless to say, the war in Afghanistan was not 'a war of Obama's choosing,'" reads an open letter to Steele from Weekly Standard editor and influential GOP voice Bill Kristol.

It has been prosecuted by the United States under Presidents Bush and Obama. Republicans have consistently supported the effort. Indeed, as the DNC Communications Director (of all people) has said, your statement "puts [you] at odds with about 100 percent of the Republican Party."

....There are, of course, those who think we should pull out of Afghanistan, and they're certainly entitled to make their case. But one of them shouldn't be the chairman of the Republican party.

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Dan Senor

Report: Senor To Announce Senate Run This Week

Zachary Roth | March 22, 2010, 10:58AM

Dan Senor, former chief spokesperson for the Coalition Provisional Authority

It looks like it's really happening...

Dan Senor, the Bush administration's top spokesman in Iraq, will announce his candidacy for the GOP nomination for the U.S. Senate from New York "before the week is out," reports the Daily News, based on "multiple sources familiar with his plans."

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NY-23

NY-23 GOP Campaign And Weekly Standard Feud: Read The E-mails

Eric Kleefeld | October 20, 2009, 2:50PM

NY-23 Candidate Dede Scozzafava (R)

The feud is heating up between the Weekly Standard and the Dede Scozzafava campaign -- the moderate Republican running in the three-way NY-23 special election -- with Scozzafava spokesman Matt Burns now forwarding to TPM e-mails between himself and the Standard, in a challenge to the magazine's journalistic objectivity.

The latest battle between the two camps involved the Scozzafava campaign calling the police against Standard reporter John McCormack, for following around their candidate and repeatedly asking her questions in a manner that they said showed "a complete lack of decency." Bill Kristol then characterized Scozzafava spokesman Matt Burns as the malevolent character, for having called their offices on Friday and yelled at them over a story. Now, Burns has sent us e-mails connected with that dust-up from last week.

"Last week, John wrote a story that falsely asserted Dede was something other than a life-long Republican," Burns wrote me. "He took that leap based upon the exchange below. How any objective reporter would take such a leap, I'll let you report and readers decide."

McCormack confirmed the authenticity of the e-mails to me. "I have no problem posting that e-mail exchange," McCormack said. "But it's a sign of a truly desperate campaign when they're forwarding e-mails to left-wing blogs, instead of talking about their own agenda, and unwilling to answer questions about where she stands on the issues."

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NY-23

Weekly Standard Hits Back At NY-23 GOPer Campaign's Accusations, Call To The Police

Eric Kleefeld | October 20, 2009, 12:34PM

NY-23 Candidate Dede Scozzafava (R) and William Kristol

The campaign of Dede Scozzafava, the moderate Republican candidate in a three-way race with a Democrat and a Conservative Party candidate in the NY-23 special election, is now in a public shouting match with the Weekly Standard -- which is blasting the campaign for what it calls an abuse of the press by a desperate politician.

This comes after the Scozzafava camp called the police on their reporter John McCormack, for asking a lot of pointed questions of Scozzafava and following her into the parking lot of an event.

Scozzafava spokesman Matt Burns told the Politico that McCormack's behavior "shows a complete lack of decency," and seemed to be saying that McCormack was stalking his candidate: "This self-described reporter repeatedly screamed questions (in-your-face-style) while our candidate was doing what she is supposed to be doing: speaking with voters (remember, those who will decide this election?). And then he followed the candidate to her car, continuing to carry on in a manner that would make the National Enquirer blush. I have no doubt he intended to follow her home, too. His actions were reprehensible. Those are the facts."

Bill Kristol has fired back, standing up for his reporter -- and calling Burns the abusive one.

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