May 2003

TeamGOP Home Daily News via Email Get TeamGOP.com news every day. Enter your email address in the field below. News Archive July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 March 2006 February 2006 January 2006 December 2005 November 2005 October 2005 September 2005 August 2005 July 2005 June 2005 May 2005 April 2005 March 2005 February 2005 January 2005 December 2004 November 2004 October 2004 September 2004 August 2004 July 2004 June 2004 May 2004 April 2004 March 2004 February 2004 January 2004 December 2003 November 2003 October 2003 September 2003 August 2003 July 2003 June 2003 May 2003 April 2003 March 2003 February 2003 January 2003 December 2002 November 2002 October 2002 September 2002 August 2002 July 2002 June 2002 May 2002 April 2002 March 2002 February 2002 January 2002 December 2001 November 2001 October 2001 September 2001 August 2001 July 2001 June 2001 May 2001 April 2001 March 2001 February 2001 January 2001 December 2000 November 2000 October 2000 September 2000 August 2000 July 2000 June 2000 May 2000 April 2000 March 2000 February 2000 January 2000 December 1999 November 1999 October 1999 September 1999 August 1999 Questions? Feel free to email us with your questions, comments, and concerns.

Bush Fills Key Slots With Young Loyalists 5/29/2003 2:32 PM President Bush is quietly retooling the White House staff for his reelection campaign by promoting a group of young loyalists to key positions, further concentrating power with the handful of veteran advisers closest to him. Bush's inner circle, many with ties going back to his Texas days, has stayed largely in place. But there has been substantial turnover in the past few months in the next tier, including the nomination last week of deputy chief of staff Joshua B. Bolten as budget director. Bolten is trusted by Bush but is largely unknown outside the White House. Similar changes have been made in the legislative affairs, personnel and vice president's offices, and will be made soon in the press office. Bush's reelection campaign will be staffed by young aides who take their cues from officials in the West Wing, according to people planning the campaign. Read the article Tycoon Joins Race for U.S. Senate in Georiga 5/29/2003 2:29 PM A famed black restaurateur from Atlanta is joining Georgia's crowded race for U.S. Senate. Herman Cain, who once ran the Nebraska-based Godfather's Pizza chain, wants Zell Miller's Senate seat. But he has never run for office before, and he must beat two sitting congressmen and another black businessman to get the Republican nomination in 2004. "He's a very qualified, winnable candidate," said Alex St. James, director of the African American Republican Leadership Council in Washington. The race is the first statewide election in post-Reconstruction Georgia to pit two black Republicans against each other. Cain will face fellow Atlanta businessman Al Bartell, who ran unsuccessfully for lieutenant governor last year. Read the article Bush Jumpstarts 2004 Fundraising 5/26/2003 10:48 PM President Bush is asking more than a million potential donors to give money now for his 2004 re-election bid so he can focus on fighting terrorism and running the country. "I'll be depending on friends and supporters like you to get my campaign organized and operating across our country," Mr. Bush wrote in a letter dated May 16, the day he began his re-election campaign. "We have no more urgent and important duty than to wage and win the War on Terrorism," he said. "We must make use of the moment history has given us to extend liberty to others around the world, because in the long term, freedom and hope are the best weapons against terror." The letter was mailed to more than 1 million people, and was sent to others by e-mail. It is part of a far-reaching effort aimed at collecting as much cash as early in the race as possible. Read the article Schwarzenegger Mulls California Governor's Race 5/26/2003 10:29 PM Arnold Schwarzenegger says he may think about running for California governor after the summer release of his new movie, "Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines," - but his family will have a say in the matter. "When I get to that point that I say, 'I want to run,' I will have that conversation with my family and with my close friends," Schwarzenegger told TV Guide for its May 31 issue. He said the advice of his wife, NBC correspondent Maria Shriver, a Kennedy cousin and a Democrat, will be especially significant. "She has to give the green light and feel comfortable with it because she moved away from Washington to get away from all that kind of stuff," Schwarzenegger said. Read the article States Rush to Early Position in 2004 Primaries 5/26/2003 10:25 PM Fed up with Iowa and New Hampshire getting all of the attention, other states are rushing to move up their presidential primaries, resulting in what election analysts are calling a worrisome front-loading phenomenon. "Remember Super Tuesday? Well, it's in February now," noted Kay Albowicz, a spokeswoman for the National Association of Secretaries of State. Albowicz said the trend for earlier primaries has been building for nearly 20 years. In 1984, only eight states held their primaries and caucuses by the end of March. The front-loading trend led to states scheduling more primaries by the second week of March, traditionally known as Super Tuesday. Now that target is moving into early February. Read the article Bush Has Good Shot to Grab Democratic States in 2004 5/19/2003 5:07 PM President Bush has a good shot at winning over those states he lost in the controversial 2000 presidential election. Pollsters say the country's close political balance has shifted at the top of the ticket and Bush is showing surprising strength in many states that will be crucial for Democrats in 2004. Bush lost some of these states to former Vice President Al Gore, when he made a presidential run in 2000 with Democratic Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut as his running mate. Not only has Bush been dominating national polls, but he's also eating up critical Democratic support ground in states normally a shoe-in for the left side of the political aisle. Read the article Cheney's Life Filled with Lessons 5/19/2003 4:30 PM America is still a nation of second chances, Vice President Dick Cheney told University of Missouri graduates Sunday. And that's a very good thing, Cheney said. Most people need one, including the vice president himself. Cheney sparked waves of laughter by telling 250 graduates of the College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources about his own life's journey, which included a brief stay at Yale University. Brief because, the Republican acknowledged, he "dropped out." "Actually `dropped out' isn't quite accurate," he admitted. "Asked to leave is more like it -- twice. Read the article GOP Fundraisers Hype Hillary '04 Threat 5/8/2003 9:34 AM Democratic Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton repeatedly insists she isn't running for president, but a new nationwide Republican effort aims to raise funds for the 2004 election by suggesting the GOP has to stop her. "Are you ready for a new Clinton era in Washington?" the letter from the Republican Presidential Task Force begins. "It could happen. But only if you let it." The appeal being sent this week continues: "If Republicans don't take immediate steps to counter her, Senator Hillary Clinton will continue to rise unimpeded to the very pinnacle of power in Washington and we will see the dawning of a new, more liberal Clinton era." Read the article Colorado GOP Redraws Congressional Map 5/8/2003 9:32 AM Republicans redrew Colorado's congressional districts just two years after the once-per-decade redistricting, in a rare move that would solidify the GOP's tenuous hold on a new U.S. House seat and bolster the party's majority in Congress. The Legislature approved the plan late Wednesday before adjourning for the year. The maps will be sent to GOP Gov. Bill Owens for a promised signature. The current map was drawn two years ago by a judge after the Republican-dominated House and Democrat-controlled Senate deadlocked. Republicans now hold majorities in both houses of the Legislature. Read the article In New Hampshire, the Spotlight Is on Rove 5/8/2003 9:31 AM He is a magazine cover boy, the subject of two recent books and has earned a reputation as one of the most powerful and controversial advisers in this or any White House, and so when Karl Rove came to New Hampshire today, he did not come quietly. His schedule had all the trappings of a candidate rather than a mere political strategist -- two public speeches, several media interviews, a private meeting with Republican contributors, a pep rally with party activists and a quiet session with the publisher of the conservative Manchester Union Leader. Read the article Cheney Says He'll Be Bush's Running Mate 5/7/2003 9:26 AM Vice President Dick Cheney has agreed to be President Bush's running mate in 2004, saying past health problems won't prevent him from being on the next presidential ticket. "The president has asked me if I would serve again as his running mate. I've agreed to do that," he said Tuesday in an interview with The Dallas Morning News. Cheney's position on the 2004 ticket has been the subject of heightened speculation because of his heart condition. He has had four heart attacks, though none as vice president. "I've got a doc with me 24 hours a day who watches me very carefully," said Cheney. "If I ran into problems where I felt I couldn't serve, I'd be the first to say so and step down." Read the article OMB Chief Resigns; Gubernatorial Bid Likely 5/7/2003 9:25 AM President Bush's sharp-tongued budget director, Mitchell E. Daniels Jr., announced his resignation yesterday to prepare for what administration officials called a likely run for Indiana governor in 2004. The widely anticipated departure of Daniels, who will step down in 30 days, will deprive the White House -- and Washington -- of a diminutive but feisty political warrior who appeared to delight in sending barbs to Capitol Hill and who joked he should be called "the Piņata" because of criticism that came in the other direction. Read the article No Challenger Yet for California Senator Boxer 5/5/2003 6:23 PM California Republicans say they can't wait to take on two-term Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer in next year's election, but 18 months before Election Day - and 10 months before the GOP primary - all they've done is talk. Republicans mentioned as potential candidates: at least 10. Declared Republican challengers: zero. New names get added to the mix on a regular basis, a sign that GOP leaders are still searching for a candidate they believe can win a statewide election. Recently, actor Arnold Schwarzenegger, reported to be considering a run for governor in 2006, fueled speculation that he might seek the Senate seat when he met with Sen. George Allen of Virginia, chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee. Read the article RNC's Racicot Seen Heading Bush Campaign 5/5/2003 6:03 PM Republican National Committee chairman Marc Racicot is expected to become chairman of President Bush's re-election campaign and the leading candidate to replace him as party leader is Washington lobbyist Ed Gillespie. Racicot, the former Montana governor who was one of Bush's more forceful advocates during the 2000 Florida recount, could assume the campaign post as early as July when the Republican National Committee meets for its midyear meeting, said several Republican sources who spoke on condition of anonymity. Commerce Secretary Don Evans had been a candidate for the campaign post, but officials said he would prefer to remain in Bush's Cabinet and informally advise the president from inside the administration. Read the article Poll: Bush Widens Lead Against Opponents 5/4/2003 1:15 PM President Bush is far ahead of the three most popular Democrats in head-to-head matchups, even though the public has concerns about his economic leadership and his empathy for ordinary people, according to a new poll. Bush leads Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry, Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman and Missouri Rep. Dick Gephardt by almost identical margins in the three matchups. The president gets the support of six in 10 while the Democratic candidate gets the support of just over a third, according to an ABC News-Washington Post national poll, released Saturday. Read the article Novak Inside Report: No Democratic Senate 5/4/2003 1:11 PM Democratic insiders, acknowledging little chance of recapturing the House in 2004, have all but given up hope of winning a Senate majority, unless there is such a transcendent development as an economic collapse. The early calculation in Democratic circles is for a net loss of four additional Senate seats, extending the present 51-49 Republican majority to 55-45. Democratic seats are in real jeopardy in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, South Dakota and Nevada. In contrast, Alaska is the only Republican Senate seat up next year that clearly tilts to the Democrats. Read the article