Senate GOP Wounded, Talks of Rebranding
Roll Call Staff
Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), who is angling to become the next head of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, said that while “56 is not 60,” he and other leaders are hopeful they can maintain party discipline on big-ticket items. “We’re hopeful we’ll be able to get” Republicans in line, Cornyn said, though he conceded it will be difficult.
“It will be harder. I think it depends on the issue. You will always have a group that votes for their states’ interest,” Cornyn said. “Clearly, we’re going to have a tougher time.”
McConnell will be faced with a slightly more conservative Conference, given the retirements of dealmakers such as Sen. John Warner (Va.) and Sen. Pete Domenici (N.M.).
Despite crushing losses and expected upheaval among House Republican leaders, Senate Republicans have repeatedly insisted that McConnell should not be blamed for the diminished minority and would likely be returned to the leader position during internal elections the week of Nov. 17. Other top Senate GOP leaders are likely to keep their positions as well.
Still, Republicans were in the process Tuesday night of taking stock and talking about the need to return to Republican roots.
NRSC Chairman John Ensign (Nev.) argued that Senate Republicans need to “re-establish what the Republican Party is all about ... [and] get back to this big-tent Republican Party” that is united on fiscal conservatism. Although Ensign was not ready to call for a break from socially conservative ideologies, he said issues such as abortion or gay rights should not be at the party’s core.
“I think we lost our way on our fundamentals,” Ensign said, adding that cultural issues “are the issues that we can disagree on as a party.”
The tensions within the Conference will be on display in a number of policy issues, but perhaps nowhere more prominently than when Obama begins the process of nominating judges.
DeMint, noting that Democrats successfully used the chamber to block several of President Bush’s nominees to circuit courts, warned that Obama and Senate Democrats will look to pack the lower courts with liberal judges, which he contends could be disastrous for Republicans.
“They’re going to come back and try to fill those seats. ... If Republicans don’t make up their mind to stop this, we’re going to lose ground we can’t make up for generations. I think its going to be a key issue,” DeMint said.
But Specter, who as chairman of the Judiciary Committee helped shepherd Justice Samuel Alito and Chief Justice John Roberts through the nomination process, argued such an approach is dangerous and urged his colleagues to take a more measured approach.
“I wouldn’t want to anticipate any special difficulties in the future,” Specter said, arguing that Republicans should allow the process to play itself out before the GOP decides to block a particular nominee. “Anybody who makes a decision up front to block them is being precipitous. I think we ought to give the new president a chance and see what he does,” Specter said.
Meanwhile, with Sen. Norm Coleman’s (R-Minn.) re-election bid going into a recount and as two other Republicans facing protracted recounts, Cornyn has decided to hold off on resuming his campaign to replace Ensign as the head of the NRSC, a source close to Cornyn said. Coleman also is considering the race. Cornyn’s camp decided early Wednesday to hold off from a full-on campaign for the NRSC chairmanship until the political map is clearer.
Schumer Advocates for Many on Panel
Nov. 16, 12 a.m.
As Senate Majority Leader, Lyndon Johnson once said of the Joint Economic Committee, “It’s as useless as tits on a bull.” But as that panel’s chairman during the 110th Congress, Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) seized the opportunity to elevate the traditionally low-profile post to the forefront of shaping policy. Read Full Article
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