Possible Split In GOP Leadership Over How To Handle MS-01
It is no secret that the First District favorite in the GOP primary among the party leadership is State Sen. Alan Nunnelee (R-Tupelo). Nunnelee has received donations from the likes of Gov. Haley Barbour, House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH), NRCC Chairman Pete Sessions (R-TX) and House Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-VA). They certainly have not been going around campaigning for Nunnelee but their implied support is there.
The NRCC considered Nunnelee’s entrance into the race last summer a major win for the party’s recruitment efforts. However, we know today that Nunnelee will not exactly have smooth sailing into the general election against Rep. Travis Childers, and that is causing some in the NRCC to take a second look at how they handle this, and how involved they should be until the primary is over.
Rep. Geoff Davis (R-KY) said that the NRCC should proceed with caution as FoxNews analyst Angela McGlowan enters the race. He said they should “give some time to see how the situation develops.” Davis is helping the NRCC’s recruiting efforts and met with McGlowan when she was recently making the rounds on Capitol Hill.
A couple of other GOP insiders, however, did not take kindly to Davis’ suggestion. One source said, “I don’t see the logic of Geoff Davis going out there and being supportive of anybody other than the guy who has already gone out there and outraised and outworked the incumbent.” Another source also said Davis’ comments could affect Nunnelee’s ability to raise money for the time being from certain sources.
Davis said he is neutral in the primary, and his statements were not made because he has something against Nunnelee.
From my perspective, right now the GOP is walking a tight rope with Nunnelee. We know he’s their candidate, but they can not just come out and say it. The truth is no one knows for sure what will happen on June 1. They don’t want to go all out for Nunnelee only to have him lose, but at the same time he needs to be building up that campaign war chest to win a very competitive general election.
Let’s set the record straight. Some of the donations from party leaders to Nunnelee were not what they seem to be. I heard that Barbour donated $1000.00. Not much support there. The GOP leadership in many of the counties outside of Desoto and Lee, have been against the support of a candidate in the primary. The GOP should be raising money but not for a specific candidate and that is what gets them into trouble and puts the leadership in a position to look stupid. Primaries are for the people. Lots of funds could be and should be raised for the party but not for a specific candidate by the party.
So you are setting the record straight by saying that candidates should run the primary campains out of their own pocket. Right! Then after the primary the nominee should then be allowed GOP funds? Talk about allowing only the elite to run for office. Also am sure a one thousand dollar private contribution is still considered a sizable contrubution in most campains. Gov. Barbour can donate to any campain he wants as long as its within the confines of the law. Furthermore if you have chosen a candidate how much have you given to that candidates campain? I will bet its not more than a 1000 bucks! What is really at stake here is that we all know ,as much as we hate to admit it, when big names support a candidate it adds ligitimacy to said candidate.
No, that is not what I am saying. Party Leaders on either side should not be throwing fundraisers for a specific candidate before the primary. It is a violation of ethics for this to happen. Candidates can have fundraisers but they should not be sponsored by the GOP or the Democratic Party until after the primary. You are right that big names do add entertainment to the events and bring more people in, but you are wrong if you think they add legitimacy to the candidate. As to my contributions, you have no idea. Haley Barbour can donate to whomever he wants to on a personal level but $1000.00 from the governor does not show great support.
I have googled “political ethics” and not only is there not a manual on political ethics my computer almost crashed from writting the words political and ethics in the same search box. I am thinking that this may not be so much a violation of ethics as it is a violation of your personal support for another candidate. I garnered this from reading some of your post on this blog. Sorry in advance if I am wrong.
By the way this is a great site I am only sorry I did not discover it sooner. So thanks.
You are right it is a great site. I am not for a particular candidate as much as I am against the political machines that are controlling our country. Alan Nunnelee is the epitome of that. I have studied him and his record. He pretty much does what he is told. He signed the no tax pact and then voted for and pushed a cigarette tax, a gasoline tax, and a tax on hospital
beds. I don’t think he gets it and I think he will be no better than Childers. He just wants
to be part of the good ol boys. I am sick to death of this stuff in both parties.
As a conservative woman that leaves McGlowan and Ross. McGlowan is totally out
for me for many reasons. Ross however is a rogue candidate, not indebted to anyone and
not part of the big political machine. His record shows that he has stood by his beliefs
many times in spite of what it cost him personally. That is certainly refreashing.
Just so I understand You are not for any particular candidate but I read elsewhere on this blog that you went to every one of the kickoff rallys that Ross put on. If memory serves he did one in Hernando, Corinth, Tupelo, and Columbus that is over two hundred miles in one day not counting the fact that you would have to get back home and if that is in Hernando that would be another one hundred miles and if you lived in Columbus that means you would have started the day with a hundred mile drive. Either his speeches are extremly motivating or you are in his camp trying to sound like you are a mere spectator. Which is it?
Judging by the fact that what you write about Ross sounds alot like a commercial I am going to say that its the latter not the former.
I believe I said that he was the best candidate. I have also attended three of Nunnelee’s speeches, two of McGlowan’s preparatory meetings, and will be at two of her events this coming week. What is your point. You don’t like Ross or who is your candidate of choice.
I have been very clear on what I am objecting to – you seem to more interested in who I am
or what I say rather than the issues.
Is McGlowan generally seen as having the support of the tea party/conservative grassroots/liberty movement folks? Do these folks tend to have problems with Nunnelee? I don’t know, am just asking. I am wondering if you have the potential for the same dynamic that you see in some other GOP primaries (such as Crist v. Rubio in Florida) where you have the establishment candidate favored by the party insiders in DC vs. the more outsider/conservative upstart who’s also viewed as more authentically conservative than the establishment candidate.
Because McGlowan has spoken at so many Tea Parties and is a dynamic speaker she tends to have a big following from that group. Her speeches are a novelty because she is a black woman who says she is a conservative and dislikes almost everything about Obama and his administration. If you read about her you will see that she was very liberal until working for Jack Kemp. She says she found truth there and became a conservative. I am skeptical to say the least. Because the leaders of the grassroots organizations are not permitted to say that she is a Tea Party Candidate, if you hear it, it ain’t so. Many of the Tea Party chairmen do like her very much and will individually support her.
I’ll have to learn more about her as well as the other candidates in the race. All that I know about her is what I’ve seen on FOX News. I’ve not seen her speak at a tea party yet, but since the videos are on YouTube I’ll probably watch one or two.
Personally, if she once was a liberal but then went through a genuine conversion after really studying the issues and then became a conservative Republican, then that would only make her more appealing to me. You seem skeptical about this…but since I don’t know a whole lot about her, I can’t say whether I’d be skeptical myself or not. But I can’t believe that she’d be living a masquerade for the past 20 or so years as a conservative politico.
I’ll agree that her race and gender do provide another interesting layer to the politics of this race. As a conservative, I don’t believe in supporting a candidate based on their race, or their gender, or their ethnicity. I would compare her positions to those of Nunnelee and Ross and decide which candidate would best represent my values and be a true pro-growth conservative. If she winds up campaigning as a DeMint/Coburn Republican and, for the sake of argument, Nunnelee campaigns as a Cochran/Shelby Republican, then I’ll be more likely to vote for her.
But if she does get the nomination–it would be a real slap in the face of the naysayers and skeptics of the tea party movement who say that we’re some sort of racists. It would be a truly powerful political statement if a black conservative female from the Deep South is elected to Congress thanks to the tea party and conservative movements. None of this is reason enough to vote for her in my opinion but it’s like a nice unintended consequence.
Matt I know what you are saying. I kept hearing about Mcglowan from Tea Party people and looked her up, paid more attention when she was on Fox News, and I also found a copy of her book for free(glad I did not pay for it). One thing I kept hearing was about the Paul Gallo show and an appearance she made on that show. My mom and I went back and researched the show and guest spot. She said she was in favor of listing guns owned on your income tax return. Mr. Gallo gave her a chance to clarify her statement and she would not. I am no gun lover but I have a problem with that. I also have a problem with her not living here, i.e. Hillary Clinton New York. If you can read about her on the internet and look closely at her back ground. I was excited at first but after a great deal of thought, research, and examination she would not be good for MS-01. I am okay with Nunnelee or Ross but if she is the nominee for the Republican side I told my husband Hell froze over I will vote for Childers and yeas that would be the first time I ever cast a ballot for a Dem since I started voting in 1994. I miss Roger Wicker. This is all Trent Lotts fault.
Amber,
I am in total agreement with you on this. McGlowen made her statement about gun control more than once and then comes back and changes it by saying she didn’t understand the question. I would vote the same as you.
Amber, its between Ross and Nunnelee. Good points.