DOWNLOADS: (124)

PLAYS: (1042)

Embed

As our friends over at Media Matters took note of this Thursday, the Republican propaganda channel has decided to yet again make another political attack ad for the Republicans. The Five's Eric Bolling offered up the clip shown above for Republicans (or Joe Biden) should they wish to use it against a Hillary Clinton presidential bid for 2016.

As one of the commenters pointed out in their post, this ad offered up by Bolling looks almost identical to one that the RNC had planned to run during the last presidential campaign and decided not to due to a request by Mitt Romney: Exclusive: The RNC Benghazi Attack Ad that Never Ran:

It was the Benghazi attack ad the Republican National Committee created but never aired.

ABC News has obtained an ad the RNC made last fall and approved to air in the final weeks of the presidential campaign. The ad begins with a replay of Hillary Clinton’s famous “3 a.m. phone call” commercial from the 2008 campaign and then cuts to video of the burning U.S. consulate in Benghazi Libya. [...]

Continue reading »

DOWNLOADS: (200)

PLAYS: (1700)

Embed

The Daily Show's Jon Stewart took another shot this Wednesday at the RNC and their recent effort at "rebranding" the Republican Party. As Stewart noted, not two weeks after Reince Priebus made his big announcement, we were treated to Rep. Don Young and his "50-60 wetbacks" comment.

And after Ben Carson and Rep. Louie Gohmert's remarks this week, Stewart was asking what the hell is up with conservatives and their obsession with "animal f*cking":

He observed that prominent conservative figures such as Dr. Ben Carson and Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX) had recently compared same sex marriage to bestiality, causing him to wonder, “what it is with you people and the animal f*cking?”

“I don’t understand how your minds always go there,” Stewart continued. “Like, ‘then they’ll just remove the law of f*cking animals.’ Is that the only thing that has been holding you back? ‘Oh, wow, look at that goat, if only I wouldn’t get in trouble.’”

Stewart concluded his segment by pointing out that Gov. Bobby Jindal's suggestion that Republicans should stop being the "stupid party" isn't winning him any popularity contests in Louisiana.

So how's that rebranding effort working out for you, Reince? Maybe instead of hoping this guy will resign from the RNC, someone could fire him instead.

Michigan Republican Refuses To Resign, Stands By Anti-Gay Facebook Post:

The Republican official in Michigan embroiled in controversy over an anti-gay Facebook post said Friday that he won't be heeding the calls to step down and he stands by the content of the inflammatory article.

Dave Agema, a Republican National Committeeman and former Michigan state representative, told Newschannel 3 that he has no intention of resigning, despite calls from members of his own party to do so. On Wednesday, Agema posted an article on his Facebook page in which homosexuals were described as "filthy." The article contained "some statistics about the homosexual lifestyle," such as: "50% of suicides can be attributed to homosexuals (10)" and "Homosexuals account for 3-4% of all gonorrhea cases, 60% of all syphilis cases, and 17% of all hospital admissions (other than for STDs) in the United States (5)." A screen grab from the Facebook post can be viewed here.

While Agema distanced himself from the "filthy" characterization, he was quick to highlight the statistics on the gay "lifestyle and what it causes."

"They quoted as what somebody else said and attributed it to me; I didn't say that," Agema told the news station. "So, do I agreewith everything that that guy and the way he said it in the article, no. But he gives a lot of statistics on the results of the health and mental and physical health of the lifestyle and what it causes."

Cenk Uygur did a really nice job of pointing out in the clip above that if Agema didn't want what was in the article attributed to him, then maybe he should have thought twice about posting it and endorsing what was in it, and that he still agreed with the better part of the article, which is frankly, just bullshit made up statistics.

Pam's House Blend has more on why it's important to be paying attention to the lies being pushed by the religious right and then parroted by anti-gay bigots like Agema here: Gay community wasting good opportunity in Dave Agema controversy:

Continue reading »

DOWNLOADS: (97)

PLAYS: (577)

Embed

The former chairman of the Republican National Committee (RNC) says that the Republican Party has been "cast in the negative" by the media for opposing marriage equality, but the focus should be on how the party is compassionate for allowing LGBT people hospital visitation rights.

During a Sunday panel discussion on Fox News, host Chris Wallace asked former RNC Chairman Ed Gillespie, who was also a senior advisor to former nominee Mitt Romney and former President George W. Bush, how the Republican Party would deal with the public opinion quickly trending toward equal rights for LGBT people.

"I don't see the Republican Party or most Republicans changing in terms of marriage is between one man and one woman," Gillespie explained. "I do think that in the context of this debate, as in so many other debates, Republicans have been cast in the negative -- you know in the negative, saying we're opposing something as opposed to talking about what most Republicans are for."

"Most Republicans are also for the benefits of marriage in the legal system that are afforded protections like, for example, hospital visitation rights or survivorship benefits," he added. "And I think you'll hear more Republicans making that point, that we can do those things without having the government sanction same sex marriage."

Wallace wondered if Gillespie would have any problem with the 2016 Republican Party platform saying that "marriage is between a man and a woman."

"I wouldn't have any problem with that," the former RNC chairman insisted. "I believe the platform right now calls for a federal constitutional amendment to ban it. There may be a debate about that. I don't think you would ever see the Republican Party platform say we're in favor of same sex marriage."

(h/t: @igorvolsky)

DOWNLOADS: (508)

PLAYS: (5916)

Embed

Reince Priebus and the RNC's recent efforts to work on the GOP's messaging and their ridiculous minority outreach program were mocked roundly on this Tuesday evening's The Daily Show by host Jon Stewart, who was, to put it mildly, not impressed with their post-election plan:

“Holy shit, let me break this strategy down, if I may,” Stewart said after running a clip of RNC Chair Reince Priebus discussing the report. “Let me break this strategy down. After pretending minorities didn’t exist proved a loser, the Republican Party has decided to physically go into these areas and engage, person to person, or, as that is known on the streets, talking. But of course, as the saying goes talk is not cheap.”

That’s where the additional paid staff come in.

“So there you go,” Stewart said. “You’re going to go into minority neighborhoods, do a little market research, then send paid spokespeople back into the minority communities with a new retargeted message. Hey, it worked for Kool cigarettes, why not, why not for another organization that has seemed indifferent to the overall health of minorities?”

Stewart followed up with some highlights from this year's CPAC 2013 and after showing the audience some of The Donald, the Wasilla Snowbilly and their new "rising star" and Fox favorite Ben Carson's speeches, wished the Republicans "good luck in 2020."

DOWNLOADS: (102)

PLAYS: (752)

Embed

The chairman of the Republican Party on Sunday explained that he had a plan to turn around his party's recent losing streak by having less debates, earlier conventions, "hackathons" and more "marketing" -- cosmetic changes that give candidates fewer chances to damage themselves without any serious policy changes.

In an interview with RNC Chairman Reince Priebus on Face the Nation, CBS host Bob Schieffer noted that the GOP had recently completed a study after conducting focus groups and polling thousands of people about Republican losses in 2012.

"What did the focus groups -- what did they tell you about what people think about the Republican Party?" the CBS host wondered.

"They told us what you would think that they would think," Priebus sighed. "Number one, we're a little too math focused and not focused on people's hearts, so that we don't relate to average Americans more than we should -- stuffy old guys too much."

Continue reading »

DOWNLOADS: (242)

PLAYS: (3059)

Embed

CNN host Soledad O'Brien on Friday advised former Republican National Committee Chairman Mel Martinez that Republicans would need to do more that just encourage African-Americans and Hispanics to get to know them better because "they know you and they decided they don't like you."

Speaking with Martinez before the the Republican Party's winter meeting continued in North Carolina on Friday, she noted that the party had launched a website asking for suggestions but wondered how it would be turned into "real change."

"Well, I think first of all, it's a great reassessment taking place within the party and I think it's very, very healthy," Martinez explained. "I'm really quite encouraged, not only by the website and the fact we're reaching out to people to input because I think we've lost the ability to communicate well and I think that's a beginning."

O'Brien pointed out that South Carolina committeeman Glenn McCall, who is part of a task force charge with moving the party forward, had suggested to The Wall Street Journal that the problem was that minorities "simply don't know us."

"In many ways, we're at square one," McCall said. "There are large portions of the population -- African-Americans, Hispanics, Asians, young voters -- who simply don't know us. We have to change that."

"Is it that they don't know you? Meaning you as the GOP," O'Brien asked Martinez. "Or is that they know you and they decided they don't like you?"

"Look, I think there's a communication gap and I think that our party has done a poor job reaching out to these particular groups," the former U.S. senator insisted. "And I think this is about communicating our message."

"But on some other things you might say are core to the GOP message, I think you're going to have a challenge," the CNN host explained, pointing to the Republican Party's policy of keeping taxes low for wealthy Americans while cutting government programs that help the poor.

"Does that mean that you take the assessment and then you change policy potentially?" she wondered.

"No, I don't think you change principles, but I think you change the conversation," Martinez declared. "We shouldn't be talking about protecting the wealthy from raising taxes. We should be talking about a tax code that promotes economic growth, and that lifts all boats."

"So, the bottom line is that it's about taxes, it's about an overbearing government but it's really about how we communicate it. Are we really protecting a certain segment of taxpayers or are we looking to have a tax code that really promotes economic growth?"

DOWNLOADS: (144)

PLAYS: (743)

Embed

Rachel Maddow took her viewers through the list of failures that we've seen from RNC Chair, Reince Priebus and asks the question, "What does it take to get fired at the RNC, other than winning elections, of course?"

Here's more Steve Benen at The Maddow Blog -- Priebus won't be punished for failure:

In the 2010 midterms, Republicans made enormous gains, winning back the U.S. House, shrinking the Democratic majority in the U.S. Senate, winning a majority of the nation's gubernatorial offices, and adding hundreds of state legislative seats. In response, the party promptly fired its Republican National Committee chairman, Michael Steele.

If Republicans dismiss the RNC chief after a successful year, it stands to reason that Reince Priebus is in big trouble after an awful year, right? Wrong.

Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus said Friday that he will seek another two-year term for his current job and says he has far more support than he needs to keep it.

In an e-mail to supporters, Priebus said he has commitments from 130 of 168 members. He only needs the support of a majority of members -- 85.

In a message to RNC members, Priebus not only said he's "running to continue on as your Chairman," he added that he's already secured the support of "over 130 RNC Members," which should discourage any potential rivals.

I for one would just be happy to never see either Michael Steele or Reince Priebus on my television set again, but unfortunately, I don't think there's much chance of that happening with either of them any time soon.

DOWNLOADS: (319)

PLAYS: (2437)

Embed

From this Friday's The Young Turks -- It’s no accident that Republicans hired firm being investigated for voter fraud :

Cenk has been covering the issue of voter fraud all year, and we’ve shown one example after another about how rare it actually is. Except, it turns out, for a company hired by the Republican National Committee to work in seven swing states.

“It’s not like this is a one-time accident, like, oops, golly gee, we just happened to hire a guy who happened to do something wrong,” Cenk says. “No, they hire him to do something wrong.”

Karoli already broke down a good deal of this story for C&L here, much of which Cenk touched on in the segment above -- Stupid GOP Voter Registration Tricks Continue in Swing States.

Thankfully this story is making its way into the national news, as we saw with some of Michael Isikoff's reporting, which he discussed with Chuck Todd this Friday -- RNC Cuts Off Firm in Wake of Voter Registration Fraud Allegations.

And for anyone trying to follow this story, the most comprehensive reporting has been from Brad Friedman, who you can follow on Twitter here. And you can read all of his reporting at his blog here -- The Brad Blog.

Here are his latest on this scandal:

VIDEO: My Appearance Breaking the News About the Nationwide GOP Voter Registration Fraud Scandal on Thom Hartmann TV Thursday Night

NC GOP Joins FL in Firing RNC's Romney-Tied Voter Registration Firm Accused of Fraud

KPFK 'BradCast': Palm Beach Election Supervisor Says FL Sec. of State Yet to Return Call About GOP Voter Registration Fraud Scandal

FL GOP FIRES ROMNEY CONSULTANT'S VOTER REGISTRATION FIRM AFTER FRAUDULENT FORMS REPORTED IN PALM BEACH COUNTY

DOWNLOADS: (139)

PLAYS: (372)

Embed

Republicans love to complain about voter fraud, but it seems when there are real problems with rigged elections, actual voter fraud or voter suppression, it's almost always their side that's doing it -- RNC Cuts Off Firm Over Voter Registration Fraud Allegations:

The Republican National Committee has ended its relationship with Strategic Allied Consulting, a firm it paid at least $2.9 million to register voters in several states this year, after investigators launched a probe into potentially fraudulent registration forms submitted by the company.

NBC reported on Thursday that the RNC dropped the firm after a Florida elections official referred more than 100 questionable voter registration forms to investigators.

“We’ve made it clear we’re not doing business with these guys anymore,” RNC spokesman Sean Spicer told NBC’s Michael Isikoff. “We’ve come out pretty strong against this kind of stuff — and we have zero tolerance for this.”

The firm, NBC reports, is run by GOP consultant Nathan Sproul, who has not responded to TPM’s requests for comment. Sproul’s other firm, Lincoln Strategy Group, has been paid by Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign.

And here's more from Isikoff's report at NBC -- RNC cuts ties with firm over voter fraud allegations:

Continue reading »