The national party leadership RNC has neither denounced nor rejected the Hobbs/Smith press release, however they are quietly leaking their displeasure. To wit: Jonathan Martin @ Politico quotes an RNC source who claims the TN GOP will be pimp slapped if they keep it up. But for now:
This source said the national committee did not ask the Tennessee party to retract their statement, but effectively put them on notice for the future.
They’re hoping this will go away. I say it’s only the beginning. The RNC has no control over the Cunninghams and Limbaughs of the world, however, they do have means of training their own attack dogs. Lamar’s saying, “No! Bad chairperson!” wasn’t enough. Get out the rolled up newspaper.
However, if you read the comments in the post I linked to, you begin to understand why a finger wag is all you’re likely to see from this. There is an element in the Republican base who thinks these kinds of attacks are above board, dullards who respond with “Well it is his middle name, isn’t it?” either willingly blind or completely daft. Whichever it is, they would see any stronger responses from the party or McCain as “caving in” to the PC police/libs/moonbats and may rumble and grumble. Were I doing their job, I wouldn’t be too worried about those folks. The battle is going to be at the center, over independents and undecided voters. Each one of these attacks will cost McCain those votes, slowly but surely bleeding him out until the tenuous balance goes from a statistical dead heat to a 8-10% lead for Obama (should he win the nomination).
Also, Hobbs, this thing is a total non-seq.
Attempts to put the Tennessee Republican Party at odds with Sen. John McCain regarding our Monday press release and his Tuesday comments are ineffective and vacant given Sen. McCain’s consistently strong record as a defender of Israel.
How does McCain’s record as a “defender of Israel” protect you from criticism for your ill-conceived play? You put yourself at odds with McCain, that is if we take what the RNC says at face value. Also, how can an attempt be “vacant?” Fruitless, okay. futile, of course.
Well no I should keep out of it. They seem to be intent on burning their own candidate, fine, let it go.
Filed under: National, Politics, Presidential Election, Tennessee
