Kemp Changed GOP Forever

(AP) - Jack Kemp, the former football star, congressman, one-time vice-presidential nominee, and self-described "bleeding-heart conservative" died today of cancer at age 73. Kemp, a former quarterback for the Buffalo Bills, represented western New York for nine terms in Congress, leaving the House for an unsuccessful presidential bid in 1988. Eight years later, after serving a term as George H.W. Bush's housing secretary, he made it onto the national ticket as Bob Dole's running mate. More»

Voting districts morph as minority power grows

(NEWSER) - A sea change in American politics looms as white majorities are fading in a burgeoning number of voting districts across America. Nearly half of House members represent districts with at least 30% minority populations, double the rate in the 90s, and a fraction of what's bound to occur in the future. America's minority population is both increasing and dispersing beyond traditional metropolitan areas into rural areas. More»

Party has wealth of female and minority candidates on deck

(NEWSER) - The ongoing shake-up in the Republican Party may see a much more diverse set of GOP candidates up for election in 2010, Politico reports. Viable female and ethnic minority Republicans candidates will be seeking governor's jobs or Senate seats in states across the country, including California and Texas. The candidates, party insiders hope, will give the GOP a much-needed boost in the many areas it lost last year. More»

Attack focuses on Bill Maher comments, White House 'boys' club'

(NEWSER) - Democrats often slam the GOP's "war on women," but now it's the Republicans who are hitting back at "Obama's war on women" in a new attack ad, Mediaite reports. The Republican National Committee ad focuses on controversial remarks Bill Maher—who is also a bigtime Obama donor—has made about women, and prominently features CNN's Erin Burnett interrogating an uncomfortable-looking David Axelrod over the remarks. It then moves on to Ron Suskind's Confidence Men, the book that painted a picture of the White House as a "hostile workplace" for women. More»

GOP as useless as 7 vowels in Scrabble, needs new letters

(NEWSER) - Just like you get to throw in your tiles when Scrabble gives you seven useless vowels, so too do Republican voters keep picking again—and coming up with the same useless tiles, says Thomas Friedman in the New York Times . That's because the GOP is an out-of-date "captive of conflicting ideological bases," including anti-abortion forces, anti-taxes, anti-immigration, libertarians, and more. What America really needs is a second party in its two-party system—ie, "a coherent Republican opposition" that is able to respond realistically to the true problems facing the United States. "We need a 'Different Kind of Republican' the way Bill Clinton gave us a 'Different Kind of Democrat,'" writes Friedman. And maybe that means a crushing defeat in this election to force a hard reboot. More»