Day: November 30, 2012

(Knee) Jerks: Republicans Want the Head of Reince Priebus

Trish

Far be it from us to defend Republican Party Chair Reince Priebus. But the way some of his fellow travelers on the road to obstruction are talking about him after the GOP’s sound defeat in 2012, we have to speak up. Listen to what they’re saying.

A postelection civil war is brewing among Republicans, with some conservative activists angry over the party’s poor performance this cycle gunning for party Chairman Reince Priebus and planning demonstrations at the Republican National Committee’s annual winter meeting in Charlotte, N.C…

What’s wrong with the GOP is clearly not all the fault of Reince Priebus but he might be taking the fall

“Republicans want a change. They have had it with Priebus,” said Mike Karem, a Kentucky GOP strategist who has been involved in Republican presidential campaigns since Richard Nixon’s 1972 re-election victory. “We lost the presidency; we lost House seats, Senate seats; we picked up only one governor; and we had 3 million fewer Republicans turn out for Romney and other Republican candidates than turned out in 2008.”

“If [Mr. Priebus] worked for you, would you keep him based on his record?” Mr. Karem added. “The answer is, ‘Hell, no!’”

[…]

Cruz Advises GOP to Adopt Banner of ‘Opportunity Conservatism’

Buck Banks

Why did we lose? It wasn’t as the media would tell you: because the American people embraced big government, Barack Obama’s spending and debt and taxes… That wasn’t what happened. I’m going to suggest to you a very simple reason why we lost the election: We didn’t win the argument. We didn’t even make the argument.

— Texas Sen.-elect Ted Cruz (R-TX), advising the Republican Party to rebrand itself under a banner of “Opportunity Conservatism” during a sweeping speech that stoked speculation about a 2016 presidential run, Politico reports.