TNGOP Communications Director Defends Closing The Statesman’s Dinner
Posted on July 24, 2008 at 10:07 am“I am paying for this microphone, Mr. Green!”
Bill Hobbs chastises the media and blogger coverage of the news that, in a historical departure, the TNGOP will close this weekend’s Karl Rove-keynoted Statesman’s Dinner to the press:
[T]he suggestion that it should be open to the public because it is being held in a city convention center built with public funds is, frankly, silly. The Tennessee GOP rented the building - taxpayers aren’t paying for the building that night, the TN GOP is. That gives us the right to control access. And there are countless events held every month at city-owned convention centers across the state that aren’t open to the press. Weddings and business conventions, for example.
The Tennessee Republican Party from time to time holds events that are open to the media. In fact, we even invite the media to them.
PREVIOUSLY: No Tickee, No Rovee
SEE ALSO: Democrats accuse Hobbs of wearing pants that are less than fire-retardant.
No Tickee, No Rovee: TNGOP Statesman’s Dinner Closed To Press
Posted on at 7:22 amUnlike the Tennessee Democratic Party’s annual fundraiser, Jackson Day, the Tennessee GOP confirms that their annual money-raking event known as the Statesman’s Dinner will be closed to the press. TNGOP Communications Director Bill Hobbs:
Like most political fundraisers, the Statesmen’s Dinner is a private ticketed event. No one without a ticket gets in. It’s standard operating procedure for most every political fundraiser.
The keynote speaker this year is “The Architect” Karl Rove. At last year’s event at the Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center, then Presidential candidate Mitt Romney spoke to the assembled Tennessee Republicans in the wake of speculation of Fred Thompson’s presidential bid. This year, the event will be held at the Nashville Convention Center downtown.
UPDATE 8:19AM: The Associated Press reports on the historical departure.
SEE ALSO:
Silence
The Donkey’s Mouth
Brainstem
KAG
R. Neal
Is Romney The Pick?
Posted on July 22, 2008 at 3:30 pmJason Bonham says yes. Lindsay Graham refuses to discount the possibility and the National Review runs down the financial benefits to McCain if Romney is on the ticket.
Furthermore, a Boston Globe analysis asserts that Romney’s decision to absorb $45 million with of campaign debt means the man is readying himself for the job.
Is this all circumstantial or does the preponderance of evidence lead you to conviction?
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I Don’t Appreciate Your Ruse, Sir
Posted on at 6:50 amSharon Cobb is not buying that John McCain will be choosing his runningmate this week. Her reasoning is simple:
To wit, yesterday afternoon, someone high up in the McCain campaign leaked to Robert Novak that McCain would make his choice for VEEP known this week.
Will that happen? No.
The ONLY reason to do it this week is to take the focus off of Obama’s foreign affairs victories, because McCain thought that was Obama’s weakest issue.
That said, there is no advantage other than the above, and that’s not enough.
McCain has the advantage going into the Veepstakes, because his convention is a week after Obama’s, and McCain will have the advantage of knowing who the Democratic VEEP is, therefore knowing whether to put a woman on the ticket instead of Romney.
CONCURRING OPINIONS:
Daniel Larison
Real Clear Politics
FiveThirtyEight
LA Times
Wall Street Journal
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Corker For Veep?
Posted on May 16, 2008 at 8:04 amTommy Oliver, a conservative critic of the Senator during the 2006 Republican primary, says why not:
I doubt that McCain will be calling Senator Corker to be his running mate anytime soon, since Corker has been extremely critical of the Senator from AZ from time to time, but if things don’t work out in 2008 for Republicans, Corker is a man that they should give a long look towards in 2012 as a possible candidate. He has business credentials that are almost as strong as Mitt Romney’s, as he was a self made multi million dollar CEO of the largest construction company in Tennessee, which he expanded into a successful real estate business. He has executive experience in running a government, and was successful. While mayor of Chattanooga from 2001 to 2005, he cleaned up the city. He also served as the Commissioner of Finance and Administration for Tennessee from 1995-2001. By 2012, He will have spent six years as a Senator, and is establishing the conservative voting record to brag about. He will have had experience in both the legislative and executive branch to match, and since he was elected, he’s been talking so much sense conservatively that Fred Thompson would be proud. Lastly, he’s still only fifty-three, and could be around for a while.
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Anti-McCain GOP Primary Vote Not Unprecedented
Posted on May 7, 2008 at 12:53 pmThe Ground Game argues that the substantial vote against John McCain in the recent primary contests in PA, IN and NC are not demonstrably different from George W. Bush’s performance after he had clinched the nomination in 2000:
[A]re his primary results really that different compared to what George W. Bush received after effectively wrapping up the nomination against McCain in 2000? Bush was considered extremely well-liked by the party’s base, and was the frontrunner going back at least till 1999, up through when McCain officially withdrew on March 9, 2000.
So, what happened in the primaries after that? Results from the Associated Press show that Bush’s numbers in 2000 are largely comparable to McCain’s in 2008. For example, even in the June 6th South Dakota primary, Bush fails to cross the 80 percent threshold. In fact, Bush rarely crossed the 80 percent threshold despite having effectively wrapped up the nomination after Super Tuesday.
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