That's Saul, Folks

Michigan GOP chair Saul Anuzis was chosen by organizers here to speak following John McCain in part because they wanted to remind McCain and his supporters of the energy of the conservative movement., Anuzis is gracious, but note the implicit warning in his remarks:

I think that when historians look back on this election campaign, they may pinpoint one week last September as a turning point. That was the week John McCain visited Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina on his “No Surrender Tour.” What a great message. No backing down. No matter the odds. No matter the viciousness of the enemy. No matter the efforts of some in Washington to legislate defeat.

And I give Senator McCain credit – this is a man who risked his life for our country in Vietnam and put his political life on the line over Iraq and the War on Terror. This is a man who says what he believes and believes what he says and will not back down.

For him, surrender is not an option.

This fall, that’s the message we need to take to the American people.

No surrender to our enemies!
No surrender to defending the dignity of every human life!
No surrender on securing the border!
No surrender on conservative judges!
No surrender on slashing pork-barrel spending!
And no surrender on cutting taxes.

To the candidates who run with this message and this philosophy, I make this promise from the conservative grass roots of the Republican Party: “We’ve got your back.”

Let me cut right to the chase. Electing the next Republican president won’t be simply about moving moderates into the Republican column. It will be about moving conservatives of every stripe – or no stripe at all – to vote for our nominee.

Comments

These people are frightening! Here's what they're really saying:

No surrender to 100 years of killing in Iraq!
No surrender to preventing individual choice!
No surrender to ignoring those children in poverty who lack healthcare and decent education!
No surrender to providing tax cuts to the middle class - keep those tax cuts for the wealthy!
No surrender to nominating judges who will try to overturn Roe and civil rights!
No surrender to the maintaining the last 8 years of the current administration!
No surrender to fixing a trillion dollar debt!
No surrender to bipartisanship, collaboration, and moderation!

Posted by SN | February 7, 2008 4:52 PM

Or said another way:

Finish the job in Iraq so we come home winners!
No surrender in the fight to honor all life!
No surrender to defending the Constitution against socialism!
No surrender to defending the Constitution against those who would define it any way they want!
No surrender to the fight for shrinking the size of government!

What frightens me are the "progressives" who say,

No surrender to the government taking over everything!

Posted by Joel | February 7, 2008 5:25 PM

I also think it's kind of funny to hear Anuzis giving out advice on how to win in November when in his only election as MI's GOP Chair, they lost the gubernatorial election by 14 points, lost control of the State House, and almost lost control of the State Senate.

Posted by Zack | February 7, 2008 5:48 PM

This fall, that McCain message is going to sound like this to the American people:

(No surrender to our enemies!)
-> Wasn't the mission in Iraq accomplished on May 1, 2003? WTF?
Oh, and that guy who planned the successful attack on America on Sept. 11, 2001? He's still laughing his ass off at Bush, right?

(No surrender to defending the dignity of every human life!)
-> We know Rightwing Religious Republicans want to bestow citizenship on embryos from conception until birth. But, how come they don't give a damn about poor babies AFTER they are born? WWJD?

(No surrender on securing the border!)
-> Oh, unless our current bunch of Republican Robber Barons needs to hire those coming over the border to pick peanuts for peanuts...

(No surrender on conservative judges!)
-> The truth finally comes out!
Republicans have no agenda in terms of Supreme Court appts, unless the Senate doesn't want a conservative. LOL!

(No surrender on slashing pork-barrel spending!)
-> What a joke!
Bridges to Nowhere were signed off by Bush and his Bush Republicans.
Now, new bridges to replace old bridges over rivers in Minnesota are "pork-barrel spending" for Bush and his Bush Republicans. LMFAO, if it wasn't so tragic.

(And no surrender on cutting taxes.)
-> Blah, blah, blah, blah.

Too bad Republicans surrendered on Smart Government for the last decade.
Otherwise, they could run on Smart Governing for the last decade, huh?

70% of America doesn't drink the kool-aid, kids.

Posted by Jan | February 8, 2008 9:31 AM

Jan, an interesting take. Wrong, but interesting:

"Wasn't the mission in Iraq accomplished on May 1, 2003?" -- no one believed that at the time or anytime since. That is not what the "American people" think. They may think he is calling for being there permanently.

"how come they don't give a damn about poor babies AFTER they are born?" -- I assume you are talking about S-CHIP. I think most people understand that this was a political game and had nothing to do with "poor babies". The program already covered the poor and was being pushed to cover the middle class.

"Oh, unless our current bunch of Republican Robber Barons needs to hire those coming over the border to pick peanuts for peanuts..." Valid point--except that the base is forcing a change in the Party's tactic to crack down on businesses.

"Too bad Republicans surrendered on Smart Government for the last decade.
Otherwise, they could run on Smart Governing for the last decade, huh?" You are exactly right here. BUT, the Dems are not showing themselves any better. They never pretended except in some elections. That works for the Republicans because they can at least say "Hey, we learned our lesson. Give us another try."

Posted by Joel | February 8, 2008 10:44 AM

Jan said:"(No surrender on securing the border!)
-> Oh, unless our current bunch of Republican Robber Barons needs to hire those coming over the border to pick peanuts for peanuts..."

This is a Republicrat (or should that be Demican) problem. Nancy Pelosi employs dozens of illegals in her vineyard business. The same can be said of other Democrats especially those in or near the Aztlan occupied zone of the southwestern US. The 2006-2007 US Senate amnesty debacle didn't happen in a single party venue but was aided and abetted by a majority of Democrat senators (39 of 'em) as opposed to 23 RINOs of the then majority party.

Posted by James | February 9, 2008 11:20 AM