MI Morning Update: MIGOP Up with New Site - Max M. Fisher Dinner this Week - Gingrich: 3 Ways to Lower Gas Prices
By saul anuzis Posted in Gas Prices | Max M. Fisher | Michigan Republican Party | Newt Gingrich | Republicans | Saul Anuzis — Comments (0) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »
134 Days until Election Day
June 23, 2008
MORNING UPDATE:
NEW GOP WEBSITE...we switched to a new, cleaner and more user friendly website that will help Republicans statewide get involved and be part of our effort. Check it out.
FUNDRAISER...2008 Max M. Fisher National Republican Leadership Award Dinner...Please join President George W. Bush and the Michigan Republicans as we honor the life of Max M. Fisher at the Max M. Fisher National Republican Leadership Dinner this Wednesday, June 25, 2008, at Laurel Manor in Livonia. Click here to reserve your tickets now!
GINGRICH...3 WAYS TO LOWER GAS PRICES...a practical, realistic approach to lowering the price of gas...NOW!
ALREADY A MILLION STRONG...DRILL HERE...DRILL NOW...PAY LESS...sign the petition to force Congress to act. We have huge reserves all over America and can do this responsibly. Please sign the petition and forward it to 5 friends.
UNIONS...KNOW THE FACTS....check the web site call UnionFacts.com...learn about what's happening around the country.
SLATECARD...AN EASY WAY TO CONTRIBUTE TO OUR FRIENDS...Slatecard was designed to allow easy, online way to contribute and support our candidates for federal office. Please take a minute to check it out...and hopefully help.
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FOR THE LATEST NEWS, COMMENTARY & INFORMATION:
Check...out...our...online Articles of Interest.........News...you...can...use.........
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THE REST OF THE STORY:
FUNDRAISER...MAX FISHER DINNER...The dinner is one of two major events MRP will host this election year to fund our Victory programs. We will pay special tribute to the life of Max M. Fisher and honor his legacy. Mr. Fisher's commitment to the Republican Party - and to Michigan - is an inspiration to everyone he touched. His lifetime of hard work, and dedicated service, has earned him the great respect of people throughout our state, country, and world. Tickets are $1,000 per person for dinner and $5,000 per person for the VIP photoreception. If you have any questions regarding the event please contact Michelle Rudoni, Event Coordinator, at 517-487-5413 or michelle@migop.org. Click here to reserve your tickets now.
TODAY'S TOP STORIES
The following stories and more are available at my Articles of Interest online.
McCain, Obama campaigns chart their Michigan paths
Sens. McCain, Obama employ different strategies in pursuit of same goal: state's 17 electoral votes.
Gordon Trowbridge / Detroit News Washington Bureau
Barack Obama and John McCain are pursuing very different strategies in Michigan as the campaign for president heads into the summer.
Democrat Obama, who had boycotted the state for nearly a year, visited three times in May and June in an attempt to make up for lost time, and get his ground game going here.
Michigan is considered a swing state -- one that Obama needs -- and he is building his fleet of volunteers and donors through big rallies that became standard in other states during the primary season.
Few issues to make it on ballot
Medical marijuana is in, with stem cell research and government reform questions likely.
Mark Hornbeck / Detroit News Lansing Bureau
Michigan voters, who once faced a daunting list of potential ballot questions this November, may decide only a handful of issues after all.
The deadline for turning in 380,000-plus petition signatures is only a couple of weeks away and, of the 10 ballot committees that launched campaigns, only a few remain active. Ballot watchers say just two or three are likely to make it to the finish line.
A massive government reform proposal -- which would slash pay for elected officials, reorganize the Legislature and the judiciary and enact election law changes -- stands a chance of going before voters.
Could this be the long-awaited start of a real debate on energy security in the United States?
Sunday, June 22, 2008; Page B06
IF THERE IS a silver lining in the price of gasoline shooting past $4 a gallon, it's that it has sparked an intense debate in the United States about its energy security -- or lack thereof. President Bush and Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) have given the impression that relief for drivers lies in off-shore drilling and the construction of nuclear power plants. In fact, those solutions wouldn't produce results for years. But if this level of passion and debate continues through the fall election and is followed up by action, the nation will be better off.
Mr. McCain, the presumptive Republican Party nominee for president, kicked things off last Tuesday when he reversed himself in a speech to a Houston audience and announced that the moratorium on drilling on the Outer Continental Shelf that has been in effect since 1981 should be lifted. He got a Rose Garden assist the next day from Mr. Bush, who called on Congress to allow states the option of drilling off their coasts to tap the estimated 18 billion barrels of oil underneath. On Wednesday, Mr. McCain said that if elected president he wanted 45 nuclear reactors built by 2030 "with the ultimate goal of 100 new plants to power the homes and factories and cities of America."
RCP Staff
June 22, 2008
James Oliphant writes a profile of Jim Webb that includes this not so flattering comparison:
Like Obama, Webb is his own sort of political phenomenon, a Reagan Democrat who switched sides. But unlike the first-term Illinois senator, Webb has the reputation of a maverick who heeds no counsel but his own, who in the past has frustrated Democrats and Republicans alike with his outspokenness. [empasis added]
A tough as nails military veteran with a reputation as a maverick? Hmm. Sounds familiar. Obviously, one of Obama's challenges is trying to find a running mate who can help shore up his vulnerabilities on national security without making him look small in the process. The last thing Obama wants is to create a gravitas gap on his own ticket, though given the history of the lack of influence generated by VP selections I suspect it may not matter much in the end.
Sen. McCain offers $300 million prize for new auto battery
GLEN JOHNSON
Originally published 01:36 a.m., June 23, 2008, updated 01:36 a.m., June 23, 2008
John McCain hopes to solve the country's energy crisis with cold hard cash.
The Republican presidential nominee-in-waiting is proposing a $300 million government prize to whomever can develop an automobile battery that far surpasses existing technology.
The bounty would equate to $1 for every man, woman and child in the country, "a small price to pay for helping to break the back of our oil dependency," McCain said in remarks prepared for delivery Monday at Fresno State University in California.
Traditionally Democratic bloc targeted
S.A. Miller (Contact)
Monday, June 23, 2008
The Republican Party is going after blue-collar voters and other key blocs that traditionally support Democrats but did not back Sen. Barack Obama in primary contests, a top party official said.
The party also is aggressively pursuing female, Catholic and Hispanic voters - groups that lean Democrat but which Republicans think could defect this year to likely Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain of Arizona, said Frank Donatelli, deputy chairman of the Republican National Committee.
"We have to go beyond [the conservative base] in this election, and we are doing that," Mr. Donatelli told The Washington Times.
First Obama attack book in the works
By JONATHAN MARTIN | 6/23/08 12:25 AM EST
The same publisher that distributed the 2004 best-seller that took aim at John Kerry's Vietnam service is planning a summer release of what's scheduled to be the first critical book on Barack Obama.
Conservative journalist David Freddoso's "The Case Against Barack Obama" will offer "a comprehensive, factual look at Obama," according to Regnery Publishing President and Publisher Marjory Ross.
But the book's subtitle makes clear its perspective: "The Unlikely Rise and Unexamined Agenda of the Media's Favorite Candidate."
Flip-Flops Are Looking Like a Hot Summer Trend
By John Harwood
This presidential election year may prove better than most at allowing a candidate to survive charges of flip-flopping. And Senators Barack Obama and John McCain seem to have set out to test their luck.
What makes the political environment of 2008 more forgiving is the style of the incumbent. On Iraq, tax cuts and the role of government, President Bush has represented a model of steadfastness. His approval ratings of less than 30 percent have created the market for something new.
Mr. McCain's embrace of the tax cuts he had opposed in the Senate, as he sought support from anti-tax conservatives in Republican primaries, first tested the limits of that market. Last week Mr. Obama made his own bold about-face when he scrapped the commitment he had recently reiterated to negotiate an agreement with Mr. McCain to remain within the public financing system for the fall campaign.
GOP fears possible spoiler in Libertarian candidate
Experts say Bob Barr might attract die-hard conservatives in presidential election.
Shannon McCaffrey / Associated Press
ATLANTA -- A fiery former GOP congressman who gained national prominence for doggedly pursuing the impeachment of President Clinton has some Republicans worried he'll play spoiler in a tight presidential contest.
Bob Barr's Libertarian Party bid for the White House is the longest of long shots, but political experts say he may be able to exploit the unease some die-hard conservatives still feel about Sen. John McCain, the Republican nominee-in-waiting. Combined with the surge in turnout among Democrats during the primaries and a difficult political climate for Republicans, they see what could be a recipe for trouble for the GOP.
"Bob could be the Ralph Nader of 2008," said Dan Schnur, a GOP consultant in California who worked on McCain's 2000 campaign but is not involved in this year's contest. Consumer advocate Nader is the third-party candidate many Democrats accuse of helping George W. Bush win in 2000.
The case for keeping the Bush tax cuts
By DR. MARTIN REGALIA | 6/23/08 4:37 AM EST
We can't predict who will be the 44th president of the United States, but we do know the challenges the winner of the 2008 elections will face. That's why the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Center for American Progress Action Fund have asked Politico to host an informative series of debates on the issues central to our nation's future prosperity. And that's why Politico is inviting you to join this debate. The more we debate, the better the ideas that are likely to emerge. That's where you come in. Help us help our next president prepare for the toughest job on earth.
The Bush tax relief that played such an integral role in our emergence from the last recession and in our admirable growth for over six years will expire at the end of 2010. That event, if allowed to occur, will represent the largest tax increase in American history - as much as $2 trillion over 10 years by some estimates. This compares with the Clinton tax increase that was scored at $240 billion over five years.