Mehlman’s right, it has been ‘an incredible fall’

October 26, 2005

Top GOP officials held a soiree last night in DC for that special group known as “Republican Eagles” — party fat-cats who’ve contributed $15,000 or more to the RNC — who were celebrating their 30th birthday with a swanky dinner. Their reward: a pep-rally speech from the president.

Oddly enough, though, the former cheerleader seemed to have a little trouble the with pep part.

The donors greeted Bush warmly, but they struggled to rouse themselves to honor the applause lines. Bush earned only a smattering of applause for his usually reliable call to end “frivolous lawsuits.” His boast that his economic plan “is working” garnered no applause. And his mention that “I’ve been talking about Social Security” was greeted with dead silence.

Bush didn’t literally tap on the microphone and ask, “Is this thing on?” but it seems safe to conclude that the party faithful are not in an enthusiastic mood right now. Maybe it was 2,000th American casualty in Iraq, or the pending White House indictments, or the plummeting GOP poll numbers, or the decline in consumer confidence, or the intra-party fight over Harriet Miers. Or maybe some combination therein.

Whatever the cause, last night’s gathering apparently had a bit of a downer feel to it.

RNC Chairman Ken Mehlman, who, like Bush, had the political judgment not to dress in formal attire, took an innovative view of recent days. “This has been an incredible fall!” […]

“Yaaaaay,” a lone woman in the audience yelled.

Do you suppose Mehlman was referring to autumn or the incredible decline of Bush’s faltering presidency? It’s so hard to tell these days.

$15k to get a pep-speech from W? How much do you have to pay, to avoid the pep-speech, I wonder?

  • Funny thing about those “frivolous lawsuits” and “trial lawyers” down here in New Orleans–a large part of the city badly whacked by Katrina was the Lakeview area–predominantly white, predominantly GOP and predominantly in favor of that talking point. However, now that their houses are pretty much ready to be bulldozed, the calls for attorneys, threats of suits against everyone under the sun, and even “class action suits” are growing louder and louder each day. Funny how being on the shit end of the stick changes one’s outlook on life.

  • Do you suppose Mehlman was referring to autumn or the incredible decline of Bush’s faltering presidency?

    Great line! If this whole blogging thing doesn’t work out you would have a great future as a comedy writer.

  • “Yaaaaay,” a lone woman in the audience yelled.

    Do you suppose that was about the incredible autumn colors or the incredible decline of Bush’s faltering presidency?

  • This would be a fantastic time for Democrats to start pointing out that they have an agenda that ISN’T diametrically opposed to what the American people want. In fact, they could start by basing their policies on Bush’s, just take the opposite.

    Bush wants to privatize SS. Make it your agenda to keep SS strong and public. Bush wants to “stay the course” in Iraq. Make it your agenda to start providing Iraq with the ability to secure it’s own country, so Americans can come home. Republicans are criminally corrupt cronies, Democrats can point out they actually believe in the law and care about effective government, and not exploiting it to enrich themselves and their friends. Harriet Miers? Democrats can nominate someone to the court who isn’t automatically anti-abortion and more in line with the beliefs of most of the country without angering their base.

    Anytime now. Anyone?

    Bueller?

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