Cheney, Limbaugh, Gingrich not hurting GOP, Boehner says
WASHINGTON (CNN) – As the Republican Party struggles to right itself after being caught up in rough political seas, House Minority Leader John Boehner said Sunday a slew of recent and sometimes controversial comments and media appearances by a trio of high-profile Republicans is helping his struggling party.
“Having these voices out there, it doesn’t hurt us, it helps us,” Boehner told CNN’s John King on State of the Union when asked about former Vice President Dick Cheney, former Republican House Speaker Newt Gingrich, and conservative radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh.
“If we’re going to show the American people that we’ve got a better way forward, having a chorus of voices out there, I think is helpful to our effort,” added the Ohio Republican.
The GOP congressional leader had no illusions about how much work his party has to do.
“We’ve got a long way to come back. We’ve had two disastrous election cycles.”
And Boehner praised the National Council for a New America, a recent GOP effort spearheaded by House Minority Whip Eric Cantor that is intended to rebrand the GOP and help it reconnect with voters.
“All the wisdom in America isn’t found here in Washington, DC,” Boehner said of the new GOP group. “There’s nothing wrong with going out and listening to the American people, sharing our principles, trying to find ways to address the concerns of the American people. But address those concerns with solutions, solutions that are built on Republican principles. So, I think this dialogue is important.”
Boehner left open the possibility that in the run-up to the 2010 midterm elections, the GOP might use something like Gingrich’s 1994 “Contract with America” to brand its message to voters.
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Cheney and Limbaugh are rallying the Republican base, not the moderates who are needed to actually win an election. They are looking for anything and everything they can find to make a negative point against President Obama and the Democrats, hoping that something will eventually stick. The Republications need new leadership, period.
What else is Boehmer going to say? He can't go against Rush Limbaugh, or he'll get viciously attacked and end up having to apologize. He can't admit that Cheney is sucking the oxygen out of the Republican Party without inviting a similar response from all the people who obviously support Cheney. What it boils down to is that Boehmer is a political coward.
Let them keep talking. I'm more than happy to have them out their making fools of themselves and dragging the GOP deeper into the pit they dug for themselves.
Newt lost all credibility with that "Contract on America" thing. Boehner is just, well, actually I'm not sure there's a word that goes beyond "delusional". Steele needs to keep talking as much as possible – he's got his foot so deep in his mouth it has begun to digest. The only one I would REALLY like to have shut up is Eric "I want to be a scumbag like Santorum when I grow up" Cantor – I just can't stand his whining.
All I can say is I am happy the Republicans have these people as their mouthpiece and I am happy they believe it helps them. As long as they travel down this path we dont have to worry about them being in charge of anything.
Cheney and Limbaugh, with Palin, define what the Republican Party has become: bankrupt of rational thinking, alienated, incompetent, dedicated to secret deals and ignorance and the idea that the US public is slave to the whims of the unaccountable and thieving GOP leadership witch doctors.
Cnn I just wanted to thank you for posting this:
gobama May 17th, 2009 12:39 pm ET
As a democrat i hope u ane those other idiots never shut up. u r making this too easy 4 obama and 4 that the rest of da world thaks u.
The GOP are dilusional! tells you a lot about their character to think in sunch a way. The GOP is like the confederate flag, that should be their logo in the open. dilusional, fanatics.
Cheney and Limbaugh are getting under the Democrats' skin. They just wish they would go away. They won't and this bothers the Dems.
Rush and Cheney need to keep speaking out. They along with Gingrich and Boehner will assure the GOP will not see substantial power for decades to come. The rather considerable number of messes the country is in right now, economic and political are traced straight back to the failed polcies of the GWB White House and President Cheney, opps, I mean President Bush. the GOP has nothing new to offer, just more of the failed policies of the last eight years and creation of controversy when there is none.
Let's see, the man who pulled the strings in the most discredited administration in modern times, a junkie loudmouth who would say anything for attention, and an old, out of date right wing fanatic are THE spokespeople for the Republicans??
The Democrats have nothing to worry about for a very long time.
Just another idiot remark by another idiot Repuke. What did you expect?
Boehner's viewpoint is markedly biased. The denial of the GOP is persistent and malignant.
How sad that some people believe that promoting divisiveness will resolve the problems of the country. It always has to be "us" vs "them". There is no room for "we".
From Gingrich With his contract against "America". To Rush Limbaugh, pill popper with know hearing in one ear! a.k.a. "RACIST. John Boehner alittle to much time getting one tan to many! Dick {5 deferments to many} Cheney. Talk your comments about toture our as stupid as your principles!! Perhaps you as the rest of your followers, should remove your "American Flags" from your clothes??? And try alittle waterboarding!!!! Just little that "snake in the grass" Sean handity, who said on live Fixx News, that he do for it for the "THROOPS" or charity the people our still weighting!! So it this the g.o.p. Perhaps they should releash the insane people, because you 're making them look smart..
That's called "whistling through the graveyard" - and it's not an effective "strategy." Of course what ban Boehner say? He's another of the Party's weak links. In fact, that's the Party's problem: very few persuasive, intelligent voices, and the ones they have are cut off at the knees by the right-wing crazies who still rule the party.
I would like to send a huge "Thank You" to Rush, Dick, and now John.
Signed,
A Democrat
Gee,
Why all the hateful responses from you folks? It's pretty obvious that you're virtually all Democrats and you won the race. Remember? As one of your brethren said, "Why can't we all just get along?"
I've never seen such hostile winners. Usually, they just laugh and say something like, "There, I guess that shows you who the people really wanted."
There are 28 comments about the Boehner article. Not ONE is positive. The Republican party is one of double standards and hypocrisy. I agree with Dexter – if I was a Republican I couldn't jump off the ship fast enough. A new Moderate Party may be the only way to break from the Carnival Freaks of the Republican Past (they kind of remind me of evil characters in the cartoon Courage the Cowardly Dog). A new party would gain a ton of media attention.
How does the term Libertarian sound? As in Ron Paul. Our two party system is ruining our country as there is nothing close to bipartisanship. Does race have something to do with it I don't know but right now our country sucks!!! We have a President who has been in office barely more then 100 days and between Cheney, Limbaugh, Pelosi and Reid has totally destroyed our unity. Oh by the way I forgot Gingrich. Cheney really needs to shut up as Haliberton has made him a very wealthy man. I am a Vietnam vet and we did KP and polished our own boots. Now the military has people cook for thwem, and clean their clothes. No wonder our military has become so soft. Thank you VP Cheney
That's right, John. People everywhere are as racist, thick skulled and misogynistic as the Republican Party. Guess what, O'Rielly, Hannity, Coulter, Rush and Beck? Minorities, women and the middle class tend to avoid voting for candidates and ideology that despises them. The only other groups as regimented and radical in their thinking are the Taliban. Now THAT'S an irony!
Yes I agree the GOP is turning in to a Southern Regional Party! Instaed of listening to the American people in the last two elections they contunue the this right wing agenda.
Sorry GOP the American public has been there done that and we are done!
Really? Everybody I know thinks that Cheney is a war criminal, that Newt is a pompous philanderer [ugh] and that Limbaugh is a hatemonger. So, the RNC is being helped by a war criminal, a cheater and a hatemonger? WOW!
If Boehner thinks that Cheney and Limbaugh are helping the Republican party, maybe he doesn't deserve to be counted as one of its leaders.
I find it amazing that those who advocate the loudest for tolerance and acceptance exhibit such a minute amount of it. Your failure to understand that Mr.Limbaugh and "his ilk" annoy you is proof enough. You speak of conservatives with all the contempt and disdain that I had been led to believe did not have a seat at the table of the good liberal or moderate.
If the GOP wants to swarm around Limbaugh, then, hey, go ahead and do so, but just remember you're being very hypocritical in that you supposedly champion "family values" yet he's thrice-divorced; you supposedly value military service yet he never served; and you supposedly want law-abiding citizens yet he's a drug offender. And what's that spell?
H-Y-P-O-C-R-I-C-Y!