RNC Chair: I’m ‘Very Satisfied’ With GOP 2012 Field
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That’s what the Chairman of the Republican National Committee told me this morning when I asked if there’s still time for other candidates – namely Chris Christie or Sarah Palin – to jump in the race.
“I think that there is time for a lot of people to get in. I mean Bill Clinton joined the race I think in October of the year before the election,” Reince Priebus said.
“But I’m also very satisfied with where the field is at in the Republican side of the aisle. And I think that it’s time to start to debate about how to get American back on the rails and save ourselves economically and make Barack Obama a one-term president,” he said.
The Republican candidates taking shots at each other doesn’t bother Priebus – he said it makes the Party stronger. But he refused to weigh in when I asked if Sarah Palin was right when she called the mandatory HPV vaccination in Texas “crony capitalism” because Gov. Perry took campaign donations from the drug maker and his former chief-of-staff went on to lobby for Merck.
“You know, I’m not going to debate that. I’m not going to referee that issue. I’m the Chairman of the Republican National Committee, I can’t take sides,” he said.
Throughout the interview Priebus questioned President Obama’s leadership, telling me it’s time to put an “authentic” person in the White House. But he wasn’t concerned when I brought up a possible re-election game plan – using President Truman’s 1948 strategy and running against a do-nothing Congress.
“You know I’m not worried about it. Because I think that at the end of the day the fish rots at the head,” Priebus said.
The president is rotting?
“Well I tell you what, I don’t think this president has led, I think that he’s frustrated even his own base. You saw that in New York just two nights ago when even Democrats are saying ‘Look, we don’t like the direction that even Barack Obama is taking this country.’ And he’s going to have to answer to that,” he said.
Watch the interview here:
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Satisfied with the 2012 field???? Because ……… mediocrity is what the right loves best as long as it has some NUT saying idiotic things while praying at the same time. YUK!
Posted by: demnme | September 15, 2011, 10:18 am 10:18 am
Morning after morning I am dismayed by George’s lack of impartiality when it comes to politics. I would think that your job as a REPORTER is to REPORT the news without partiality. But that is never the case. In this particular interview you interrupted constantly and continually added your own biases in your questioning. You so very rarely bring the republican perspective to the table and when you do, you are hard hitting & negative. Never so in the opposite situation. When a member of the democratic party is being interviewed, you appear all too eager to agree with their point of view, rarely are you hard-hitting and often appear as “in the pocket” of these individuals. I have come to the sad realization that I cannot expect impartiality when it comes to network reporting. George, you obviously are a big Obama fan, I wish you both all the luck in your campaign efforts in 2012. I’m sure your President is happy for your free assistance in his re-election campaign. I wonder if you’d be as accommodating to Sarah Palin should she decide to throw her hat in the ring. I highly doubt it, as she is one of your favorite “punch lines” on the show. Sad that ABC hired a politician instead of a true reporter.
Posted by: Sandy | September 15, 2011, 10:58 am 10:58 am
Almost all the Republican candidates are Creationists. That alone makes them totally unsuitable to be the President. Rick Perry, Michele Bachmann, Rick Santorum, Ron Paul, Gary Johnson, Tim Pawlenty, Thaddeus McCotter, and Sarah Palin when she announces. Only Mitt Romney and Jon Huntsman reject Creationism. Newt Gingrich seems to believe in both evolution and Creationism simultaneously, quite a trick, and I suspect that even Herman Cain has no idea what Herman Cain believes, I certainly don’t. How can the President of the most powerful nation this planet has ever known be someone who believes the Earth is 6,000 years old and was created in six days?
Posted by: JOEHILL | September 15, 2011, 11:06 am 11:06 am
The republicans are in a civil war between the moderates and the tea party. I wouldn’t be surprized to see a third party candidate supported by the tea party only
Posted by: tferretti | September 15, 2011, 3:46 pm 3:46 pm
It’s dogmatic ideology (Republicans) vs. science-based policy (Democrats). Which side are you on?
Posted by: AR | September 15, 2011, 10:48 pm 10:48 pm
Bachmann says the hurricane and earthquake are God’s warning, Perry says Social Security is a scam, Romney says health care for everyone is un-American, Ron Paul says FEMA shouldn’t exist… there has never been a bigger bunch of purely “Crazy” candidates running for president than the current GOP!
Posted by: achillies | September 16, 2011, 8:51 am 8:51 am
George, why won’t you tell the public that Obama’s new stimulus bill has not yet
been brought to the floor in congress and submitted as a bill. Let us not fail to mention that a member of Congress has to submit the bill, this is the procedure.
Texas Representative Louie Gohmert did bring the American Jobs act to the floor and filed it,as his own, it is full of tax cuts.
Posted by: deadwrestler | September 16, 2011, 11:11 am 11:11 am