Ed Rollins
CNN Contributor

To most Democrats and many Americans, the Bush/Cheney nightmare is over!

With the start of the new Congress, and President Barack Obama’s inauguration two weeks away, there is a new hope that both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue can work together on some of the most serious problems facing this country in recent history.

The answers to solving those problems may not be apparent to ordinary Americans, but what they do know is the old way didn’t work. And the voter’s patience will be short, because they need help — and they are scared.

Keep Reading…

Anderson and panel discuss the Christmas CD sent out to the RNC that included the song “Barack the Magic Negro.”

Editor’s Note: The leading voice of the American conservative movement, Paul Weyrich, died this morning. Weyrich was the first leader of the Heritage Foundation. His commentary below.

Conservative activist Paul Weyrich helped found the Heritage Foundation.

Paul M. Weyrich
Free Congress Foundation Commentary

It was the best of times. It was the worst of times. It is the worst of times because millions of Americans are unemployed this Christmas. It is the worst of years because we have mortgaged the future of our children and grandchildren for decades to come. It is the worst of years because many good friends have left us. It is the best of times because we still live in the greatest nation on earth. It is the best of years because we have the freedom to speak our minds. It is the best of years because we can organize as we see fit to support the political candidates of our choice.

Read More…

Colin Powell talks bluntly with Fareed Zakaria about conflicts he saw within the Bush cabinet.

Program Note: His full interview will air this Sunday at 1 pm ET on “Fareed Zakaria GPS.”

Colin Powell talks with Fareed Zakaria about the Republican campaign and Gov. Sarah Palin’s influence on the ticket.

Program Note: Don’t miss  “Fareed Zakaria GPS” this Sunday at 1pm ET, for an exclusive interview with Fmr. Secretary of State Colin Powell.

A Dec. 1 rally for Republican incumbent Sen. Saxby Chambliss, (R-GA) in Perry, Georgia.

Karl Rove
For The Wall Street Journal

What a difference a month makes. Since November’s election, the GOP is three wins, no losses.

The first win came in Georgia, where Sen. Saxby Chambliss crushed his Democratic opponent by 15 points in a run-off election on Dec. 2. The other wins came in Louisiana congressional races on Saturday. One was in a Republican-leaning district in the state’s northwest corner. Democrats outspent the GOP three to two and still lost. In the other, Republican Anh “Joseph” Cao defeated nine-term Democrat William Jefferson in a district where John McCain received 24% of the vote.

These victories have boosted Republican spirits. So has Sen. Norm Coleman maintaining a narrow lead in the Minnesota recount, leadership elections that injected new blood into the GOP congressional hierarchies, and a positive race (so far) for Republican National Committee chairman. Republican governors emerged from meeting in Miami energized, optimistic and eager for the 38 gubernatorial races in the next two years.

But many challenges lie ahead. Much of the GOP’s work is away from Capitol Hill, governor’s offices and party committees. In recent years, Democrats have done a much better job of tending the networks, initiatives and institutions important to political success. There are at least seven important functions, communications channels or institutions the GOP must launch or strengthen.

Read More…

Rachel Campos-Duffy
Blogger, TV host, mother

So the question is where do we Republicans go from here? At this point it’s cliché to say that we’re being punished for George Bush’s sins and for economic crises that happened on our watch, and unfortunately, in the final months of a close election.

There’s no point in reminding the voters about Chris Dodd and Barney Frank who pushed mortgages for the poor but no regulations to prevent fraud, and the Democratic Congress, which took control in 2006 but did little while the mortgage and credit derivatives markets spun out of control.

The voters wanted change, even if they didn’t exactly know what Obama’s nebulous definition of change looked like. This was not the year for old white guys (or women – hello, Hillary), who had spent a lot of time in Washington.

Now, the Democrats celebrate. On the Republican side, a quieter transition is also occurring. The future of the Republican Party will be passed to a new generation of young, smart, conservative, and principled leaders like Wisconsin’s Rep. Paul Ryan who will help the Party shed its tired image and restore its core principles. Keep reading

Hesham A. Hassaballa
Beliefnet.com contributor
 
I have voted ever since I came of age at 18. I still remember voting for Ross Perot while I was away at college at Marquette University.

But ever since then, I have been a Republican. I have even been a committeeman and assistant committeeman in my local Republican Party organization. And in 2000, my wife and I both well remember when I left her in labor at the hospital long enough to go and enthusiastically cast my vote for George W. Bush.

I have always been attracted to the GOP and have felt most at home in the party of Abraham Lincoln. After all, I do live in the Land of Lincoln. More importantly, I like the Republican Party’s traditional ideals: Government should not dictate to people what they do in their own personal lives; government should not intrude on people’s privacy; taxes are the people’s money and should be handled with the utmost care. Moreover, my socially conservative views are welcome in the Republican Party, and I do not feel ridiculed as I sometimes do when I engage Democrats in conversation.

But in the past seven years, I have had a tremendous identity crisis as a American Muslim Republican. And after much gut-wrenching contemplation, I have decided to leave the Party.

Read more…

Delegation members in prayer at the Republican National Convention 2008 in St. Paul, Minnesota, Monday. The political jamboree's opening day turned into a Hurricane Gustav fundraising effort.

Katie Glueck
CosmoGirl Election Correspondent

On Friday, I left the world of media and politics with a sense of anticipation. People were energized about Senator McCain’s VP pick and the Republican National Convention promised to be just as exciting as its Democratic counterpart in Denver.

But things in this business sure change fast. The atmosphere in Minnesota yesterday was, for the most part, anxious and pessimistic.

Hurricane Gustav has folks up here wondering if there’s even going to be a convention. The younger crowd is still out partying, but with a sort of “be-merry-now-because-who-knows-what-tomorrow-will-bring” attitude. As one delegate told me, “We want to have fun now because if people are dying, the celebration is obviously over.”
Keep reading

Protestors vandalize police cars in the streets outside the Republican National Convention at the Xcel Energy Center, Monday.

Joe Johns
CNN Correspondent | Bio

At Fifth and Jackson streets in St. Paul, anarchists threw newspaper stands and bus benches into the streets, broke windows and otherwise created minor bedlam to accompany the abbreviated first day of the Republican Convention.

As civil unrest goes–and I’ve witnessed my share–it was. . . well. . . uncivil, but hardly shocking.

The police got worked up, especially when the protestors broke the windows of one of their cruisers.

The officers, dressed in riot gear, and some on motorcycles, chased the troublemakers around blocks of downtown St. Paul, almost to the mild amusement of nonplussed Midwesterners. They’re not quite accustomed to this kind of thing but find it curious.

“Lord no!” one man in a baseball cap answered when I asked if they’d ever had this type of excitement around these parts.

When I looked up one of the anarchists was lobbing a bottle of Dasani water at a police car. Call it a Molotov Cocktail, minus the Molotov, and minus the Cocktail.

A woman, who didn’t see the water bottle fly, but noticed me writing this, pointed out that “texting and walking is a danergous thing.”

Some other random items:

- Noticed I was walking in a small crowd of people following the anarchists.

- Asked one couple: Are you just following them around to see what they do? The wife answered Yes; it was either that or go to the mall.

Labor day I guess.