George Bush, Fight for RNC Chair

The last few days of a Presidency can make a man wax nostalgic and grow introspective, a by-product of sitting around with nothing much else to do. In an interview after a Veteran's Day ceremony, President Bush, looking fit from having spent a record number of days at his Crawford, Texas ranch chopping wood instead of working in Washington, admitted that he wished he had not said a few blunt statements over the years. Using the "Mission Accomplished" banner was also a mistake, and he should have listened more to his wife Laura.

He also admitted that he called Bill Clinton for advice on his meeting at the White House with Barack Obama: "I remember the conversation I had with my predecessor Bill Clinton," Bush said. As a matter of fact [I] called him yesterday and said, 'Bill, I'm getting ready to meet with the new president and I remember how gracious you were to me. I hope I can be as gracious to President-elect Obama as you were to me." Next thing you know, Mr Bush, Bill Clinton, and HW Bush will start taking tee times together...

Now that RNC Chair Michael Duncan has been blamed for losing two straight Republicans election cycles, and the GOP has finished with its soul searching, there is an internal battle over who will lead the Party forward. Newt Gingrich and some other guy are trying to exert their influence, though Newt is being coy and denying his interest.

"A number of people have asked me to consider running for Republican National Committee chair. They have been very flattering, and I am very honored by their support," he said.

"However, my job as an American first is to develop a tri-partisan approach to developing solutions for the challenges we face. I use the word tri-partisan to designate the concept of attracting Democrats, Republicans, and independents to solutions that unify most Americans." 

He is wisely trying to reach out to those who left the GOP in the millions and now consider themselves Independents. We'll see if Newt or Sarah can whip these folks into a cohesive, viable political base, or if it will take someone with a fresher world view to miraculously come along.