Cantor: NCNA 'thrilled to have Gov. Palin on board'

House Minority Whip Eric Cantor officially stated today that Gov. Sarah Palin is part of the National Council for a New America's panel of experts who will contribute ideas to the group:

"I am pleased to announce that Governor Palin has joined the panel of experts," Cantor said. "When NCNA was announced last week, we spoke about a dynamic organization that worked to constantly bring in new people and innovative ideas. The launch of the National Council was just the first step in a growing effort to engage the American people in a candid discussion as we work to overcome our shared challenges with common-sense ideas, building a stronger nation along the way."

Cantor appeared on Fox News today and insisted that NCNA was not a "rebranding" move, but rather an effort to "reorient" the Republican Party "back to the people." The Congressman from Virginia also discussed the inclusion of the GOP's 2008 vice presidential candidate in the group and said, "We are thrilled to have Gov. Palin on board":



In related news, the National Council for a New America is finally on the internet. Cantor has added web pages for NCNA on his Republican Whip website.

- JP

Rush: 'The Left is Afraid of us, Folks'

Excerpts from ElRushbo's show today:

It's like I had some things yesterday to say about this listening touring and how they left out Sarah Palin. The Drive-Bys are all over this today. Wait 'til you hear these sound bites. I didn't even know this was happening last night because I was of course making a speech at the Heritage Foundation, but I'm getting notes, "It looks like you forced the Republicans to include Palin in their listening tour."

-snip-

The left is still out there trying to destroy Sarah Palin. She's up in Alaska.

They're filing ethics complaints against her every week forcing her to have to have a legal defense fund! They're trying to break her; they're trying to make her go broke so she won't be able to have a political future. They're scared to death of her. If they weren't, they'd leave her alone. They'd let her go moose hunting, and that would be it. Why...? Do you see how easy the conventional wisdom is? The conventional wisdom is that Palin's a dork, that Palin's an idiot, that Palin is unsophisticated, that Palin is this or that. She doesn't know the lingo. She has a bad wardrobe. It's all of this irrelevant stuff to try to destroy her, to destroy her credibility with people, to impugn her. I just listened to what she said, and I liked what she said and I liked the way she said it. It's no more complicated than that.

-snip-

Sarah Palin could build the party, and all these moderates and independents think that she's going to be a drag on building the party. Why? Because, true, she will not attract liberals. She won't attract moderates. Thank God! We don't want 'em in our party -- and this business about polling data, 38% are independents? I ask you to remember -- and Koko, I want you to go to our archives. We drag this poll out every now and then, the Battleground poll, which shows that 60% of the American people, since, what, 2000, identify themselves as conservatives. The telling part is that 30 to 34%, 30% call themselves Republicans; but 60% call themselves conservatives. And if you look at the individual polls on individual Obama policies, you'll find that they're nowhere near as highly approved of as he is personally. There is a gold mine waiting to be tapped.

There's much more. The transcript and MP3s are here.

- JP

Gov. Palin will work with NCNA

Politico is reporting that it has word that Alaska Governor Sarah Palin has responded to an invitation to join the NCNA:

Palin "looks forward to doing all she can to bring about positive change many desire and deserve, across Alaska and our great nation, through this National Council for a New America and others," Meghan Stapleton, a spokeswoman for SarahPAC, said in an e-mail.

Stapleton said Palin's primary focus, though, is her home state. Palin "is focused on moving Alaska forward and pushing for her goals which include providing energy independence and security for Alaskans and Americans," she said.

The drive-by media has tried to light another fire, speculating wildly about why Gov. Palin had not responded to the group's invitation. When will the drive-bys learn that the governor doesn't just rush into decisions lightly, preferring instead the more prudent path of giving things due consideration? Yes, I know, it was a rhetorical question.

Update 1: Rush weighs in on the NCNA and Gov. Palin at Motor City Times.

Update 2: Congressman David Dreier (R-CA), on Greta Susteren's FNC show last night, mentioned that Senator John Ensign (R-NV) will be also be working with NCNA.

- JP

Gov. Palin has been asked to join NCNA

Governor Sarah Palin has been invited to join the National Council for a New America (NCNA) a newly-formed organization described in the launch letter as "a caucus of Congressional leaders gathering the expertise of national leaders and doers."

Here's how Roll Call describes the endeavor:

"In an effort to shed the 'party of no' label, Congressional Republican leaders will launch a new initiative on Thursday outlining solutions the GOP hopes will convince Americans that they have tenable solutions to the issues gripping the country."

"The program, dubbed the National Council for a New America, which will involve town-hall-style meetings, will include not only House and Senate Republicans but also a panel of former and current state lawmakers whose roster reads like a who’s who of potential 2012 presidential contenders, including former Govs. Jeb Bush (Fla.) and Mitt Romney (Mass.). A pair of current governors, Louisiana’s Bobby Jindal and Haley Barbour of Mississippi, will also join the group, according to a letter obtained by Roll Call. Sen. John McCain (Ariz.), the party’s 2008 presidential hopeful, will fill out the panel of 'experts.'"

In a conference call this morning with reporters and bloggers, Rep. Eric Cantor and Sen. Johm McCain denied that the effort is a "rebranding" of the Republican Party:

Cantor told reporters that "what we're aiming to do is to join together in a conversation with the American people" on major looming issues such as healthcare, energy, and national security.

McCain called it an effort to include Americans across ideological spectrum -- Republicans, independents, and like-minded Democrats -- to come up with solutions to issues such as healthcare. "We're going to spread a wide tent," he said.

"This is not a Contract with America," McCain added, referring to the campaign promises that Newt Gingrich and Republicans used to win a House majority in 1994. "This is a conversation with America."

McCain also addressed reports that Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, his vice presidential pick last year, was not invited, saying that she could be involved.

"We've reached out to her," he said.

Warner Todd Huston's report on the conference call is here.

- JP