'Message to the National Republican Establishment: Stay Out of Our Primary'

Ever since John Cornyn and the NRSC backed Charlie Crist in Florida last May, that's been the basic message of Not One Red Cent. But if you thought Florida Republicans were outraged at national GOP meddling in their primary, just wait until you see the 'Bama buzzsaw that hits John Boehner when he gets to Huntsville on Monday:

Not long after invitations were sent out for a Rep. Parker Griffith fundraising event, headlined by House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH), several local organizations from both sides of the political spectrum announced plans to protest the event. Planned for March 8, 2010 at the Space & Rocket Center, starting at 5:00 pm, the the protest will include members of the Huntsville Tea Party, Left In Alabama, Athens-Limestone Tea Party Patriots, AAMU Democrats Student Club, The Dale Jackson Show, North Alabama Healthcare for All, Madison County Republican Executive Committee, and the Limestone County Republican Executive Committee. AFL-CIO will be holding a press conference at the Marriott Hotel near the Space & Rocket Center in protestation, before the protest event and the fundraiser. Organizers invite the public to attend.
"We are sending a message to the national Republican establishment: stay out of our primary. . . . We're pushing back against the political machine," said Christie Carden, founder of the Huntsville Tea Party. . . .

Read all of that. Just as with Cornyn's support for Crist against Marco Rubio, Boehner's backing of Griffith puts the national GOP establishment in the position of campaigning against the exact kind of dynamic young leaders they need to be supporting. Republican candidate Les Phillip:

"Congressman Boehner coming to Huntsville to raise money for Parker Griffith goes to show exactly how out of touch Washington D.C. is with the rest of America and their refusal to listen to "We the People"," remarked Phillip.
"Two of our local Republican executive committees specifically asked the National Republican Congressional Committee to stay out of this race and let the people of North Alabama decide who our best candidate is, but they refuse to listen because they think they know better than we do what is best for the fifth district." . . .
"John Boehner and the NRCC are supporting Griffith with the notion that he will lure more Democrats to switch parties. This approach does not take into consideration the conservative nature of Republicans in Alabama's 5th district, or Griffith's record of voting with Nancy Pelosi nearly 85% of the time, more than many of his former Democrat colleagues."

The liberal blog Left in Alabama has announced support for Monday's protest:

Griffith is everybody's problem. Sure, I won't agree with everyone at this protest on every single thing -- maybe not on most things. But we all agree that Griffith has got to go, and for now that one common purpose will let us stand on the same sidewalk in near perfect harmony.

Wingnuts and Moonbats unite! You have nothing to lose but those clueless morons at the national GOP!

(Cross-posted at The Other McCain.)

Richard Viguerie rejects GOP 'litmus test' proposal and slams . . . Karl Rove?

Few men alive have done more to build the American conservative movement than direct-mail fundraising pioneer Richard Viguerie. In recent years, Viguerie has applied his Old School savvy to New Media, with major online and e-mail operations. Obviously, he's not afraid to be controversial in the blogosphere:

While well intentioned, the litmus test proposal would do little to solve the two fundamental problems within the Republican Party: bad leadership and conservative acquiescence to bad leadership.
RINOs such as Dede Scozzafava and Florida Governor Charlie Crist aren’t the real issue. Scozzafava, Crist, and others who rightly deserve the “RINO” tag are merely an annoyance. Besides irritating their fellow Republicans with their liberalism, RINOs haven’t really had a great deal of impact on the direction of Republican party policies over the past decade.
The current Republican leadership has consistently supported our national slide to socialism. I’m talking about Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, House Minority Leader John Boehner, and the leading architect of Republican endorsed socialist-statism, former Bush White House political advisor Karl Rove. . . .
National conservatives who want to fix the Republican Party shouldn't waste their time forcing symbolic litmus test votes on the Republican National Committee. Instead, they should consider focusing their considerable energies on solving the real problem. Now is the time to put new leaders at the helm of the House, the Senate, the RNC, the NRCC, and the NRSC.
A litmus test is only as good as the character of the person who endorses it. It's easy for professional politicians to say they support something in order to pass a test that gives them access to campaign cash. The more important test is true devotion to the limited government principles embodied in our Constitution. . . .

Read the whole thing. Whether you agree or disagree, Viguerie is not a man whose opinions can be taken lightly.