Eric Cantor’s National Council for a New America is the latest catalyst for side-taking in the GOP. The group’s first event, held Saturday at a pizza joint in Alexandria, was “protested” by conservatives, and bloggers are calling the group “Democrats Lite.” And now Rush Limbaugh, recently named a leader of the party, is calling the proposed “listening tour” unneccessary—and suggesting that the involved leaders helped bring about the party’s defeat in November. Another conservative fav, though, has joined up: Sarah Palin. Cillizza speculates that her 2012 ambitions are requiring her to stay involved nationally.
Yesterday I reported on the feedback generated by another new GOP initiative. Resurgent Republican, polling project started by Ed Gillespie and Whit Ayres, earned criticism from Stan Greenberg, who created the group’s left-leaning model, suggesting bias. Nate Silver weighs in on the debate, suggesting RR’s poll may not be such an outlier.
The parties are still sorting out just what Specter’s GOP defection will mean. Top Democrats, including Howard Dean and James Carville, are warning of a primary if he doesn’t start to shift on certain issues, particularly EFCA. And the top contender, Rep. Joe Sestak, is playing the part well: “If he doesn’t demonstrate that he has shifted h is position on a number of issues, I would not hesitate [to run in a primary] at all,” he said yesterday.
Odds & Ends:
CMAG takes a look at the massive spending on issue ads in Obama’s first 100 days (for another look at this kind of consultanting, see my story in May’s issue).
John Edwards’ campaign finances are being investigated.
Now that Specter has switched, the GOP is all-in on the Coleman legal fight, the last obstacle to a Democratic supermajority.