‘Joe the Plumber’ on Dobson, ‘queers’ and GOP rebranding

Conservative movement pitchman Samuel Wurzelbacher, better known as Joe the Plumber, continues his rather controversial revisionist American history tour with free-wheeling remarks invoking states rights and the Biblical origins of the U.S. Constitution.

In an interview published in Christianity Today, Joe the Plumber opines on politics and GOP rebranding efforts while professing his love for James Dobson and slurring “queers” whom he won’t let near his children.

RNC boss to Colorado GOP: ‘We lost our minds,’ strayed from roots

Hard on the heels of the Republican Party’s third straight pasting at the hands of Colorado voters, GOP leaders agree on one thing: It’s time to dig in those heels. The reason Republicans keep losing elections, party members agreed at this weekend’s state GOP gathering, isn’t that voters reject the party’s approach; it’s that Republicans have strayed from their roots.

TCI Street Poll: Wither ye moderate Republicans?

Commemorating Abraham Lincoln’s Feb. 12 birthday, Michael Lind of the New America Foundation writes:

Nobody with Lincoln’s religious and political beliefs could be a conservative Republican on the bicentennial of Lincoln’s birthday. Until a generation ago, someone who thought the way Lincoln did could still find a home among the moderate Republicans of the Northeast and Midwest. But today Lincoln Republicans have been driven out of the Republican Party by an alliance of the religious right and free-market fundamentalists.

Add your thoughts in the comments below.

RNC candidates backed by Wadhams, Hillman trail on first ballots

The two candidates for Republican National Committee chairman endorsed by Colorado RNC members are vying for last place after three rounds of balloting, Dave Weigel reports on our sister site The Washington Independent. Colorado GOP chairman Dick Wadhams has publicly backed Michigan GOP chairman Saul Anuzis and RNC committeeman Mark Hillman threw in with former Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell, but the rest of the RNC seem to be favoring the other three candidates for the top party post.

Wadhams backs Anuzis for RNC chairman in contest for future of GOP

The battle for the future of the Republican Party is underway in Washington, D.C., where the Republican National Committee is gathering this weekend to elect a chairman (all the candidates are men). Follow the action with David Weigel’s live coverage at our sister site The Washington Independent.

Colorado GOP chairman Dick Wadhams this week endorsed Michigan GOP chairman Saul Anuzis, who was nominated moments ago for the national top spot. Here’s the case Wadhams makes:

TCI Street Poll: Why are there so few black Republican leaders?

The Colorado General Assembly begins its 2009 legislative session today on a historical note. Democrats Senate President Peter Groff and Speaker of the House Terrance Carroll are the nation’s first African Americans to lead tandem chambers of a state legislature during the same session.

With President-elect Barack Obama winning 95 percent of the black vote on Nov. 4 what are the Republican Party’s prospects of wooing African American candidates, activists and voters to the highest echelons of the GOP.

Add your thoughts in the comments below the fold.

RNC hopefuls try to outgun each other

Hotline notes a bizarre exchange on personal firepower at the Americans for Tax Reform debate featuring the six candidates who hope to lead the Republican National Committee out of the political wilderness over the next four years.

DNC, RNC leadership free-for-all marks post-election frenzy

Local politicos are whispering about whether Dick Wadhams will bring a bazooka to the expected knife fight he’ll have to retain leadership of the Colorado GOP after stunning losses Tuesday by John McCain, Bob Schaffer and Marilyn Musgrave.

In the meantime, another battle is taking place on the national stage to see who will arrive victorious from an expected battered and bloodied climb to the top spots at the Democratic and Republican National Committees.

Cisneros, Schultheis Trade Barbs Over GOP Bid

Gil Cisneros, a leader among local Hispanic Republicans, called State Sen. David Schultheis “an enemy of our community” when the tough-talking immigration hardliner from Colorado Springs sought his endorsement. Schultheis responded by blasting Cisneros for claiming to speak for all…