WASHINGTON – Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairman Reince Priebus and Co-Chairman Sharon Day released the following statement commemorating Black History Month: “As we mark the beginning of Black History Month, Americans of all backgrounds join in celebrating the countless contributions African Americans have made to our nation’s history and culture,” said RNC Chairman Reince Priebus. “Through art, politics, technological innovation and more, the African American community has uniquely shaped our country. “This month, we also recall the important influence of African Americans on the Republican Party. Our party was founded in 1854 by a group of abolitionists, and, since that time, we have remained dedicated to the principles of equal opportunity and individual liberty. We also remember and honor the many African American leaders and candidates that have strengthened the GOP over the years.” “While this month is an important opportunity to reflect on black history, our appreciation for the successes and sacrifices of the black community should not be limited to a single month,” said RNC Co-Chairman Sharon Day. “In today’s difficult economy, the African-American community has had to endure harder times than most. Recognizing that, the Republican Party will continue to advocate for policies that will rebuild our economy and create jobs for all Americans—especially those who have struggled the most.”    ###

Excerpts from Townhall By Reince Priebus February 1, 2012   “Zoo animals and art exhibits are “interesting.” Chronic unemployment is not—unless you’re President Obama. “In a Google+ video conference…Obama told a Texas woman that it was ‘interesting’ that her husband couldn’t find a job…Jennifer Weddel…wanted to know why it was so difficult for her husband, an engineer, to find a job… “Obama proceeded to lecture her that it should actually be quite easy for her husband. ‘As a basic matter…there’s a huge demand for engineers.’ “When Jennifer said that just wasn’t true, he responded with the coolness of a detached professor, intrigued by a complex case study: ‘It’s interesting to me…’… “The American people have been suffering under the Obama economy. Jennifer’s husband is hardly alone. 13 million people are out of work… “The president…has made things worse. His stimulus failed, and his regulations, mandates, and threats of tax increases have made it more difficult for job creators to hire workers. When someone dares to speak out, he wants them to ‘hush about it.’ Americans need jobs, but Obama is just out to save his… “Instead of taking responsibility for the failing economy…Obama casts blame elsewhere…If someone is out of work, Obama insists it’s not his fault. He assumes there’s something wrong with the unemployed.” Click Here To Read The Op-Ed: http://bit.ly/zEhdja   ###

Excerpts from The Hill By Amie Parnes and Jeremy Herb January 31, 2012   “The White House’s weeks-long effort to counterprogram against the GOP presidential primary fight has veered off course over the past two days… “A day before the Florida primary, the president stumbled twice in an online chat on Google+, first when he got into an awkward discussion with a woman about her unemployed husband and said it was ‘interesting’ that he hadn’t found work in the engineering field. “Almost instantly, Republicans and reporters pounced on Obama’s off-the-cuff remarks. “Kirsten Kukowski, a press secretary at the Republican National Committee (RNC), immediately fired off an email to reporters: ‘Maybe there’s a difference in how the president sees our economy and how Americans see our economy,’ she said. And in a matter of hours, the RNC created a Web ad, hammering Obama as out of touch. “Obama also earned unwanted media attention by for the first time acknowledging the classified drone program and defending the use of drone strikes to kill members of al Qaeda in countries such as Pakistan. “Newspapers overseas said Obama was ‘confirming’ and ‘admitting’ that the United States is flying drones over Pakistan, and a spokesman for Pakistan’s foreign ministry called the drone strikes ‘unlawful, counterproductive and hence unacceptable.’ “White House press secretary Jay Carney was left to field questions about Obama’s comments in Tuesday’s press briefing from reporters who asked if Obama had slipped up, revealing a little more than he might have intended.  “‘He’s the commander in chief of the armed forces of the United States,’ Carney replied. ‘I would point you to his comments. I’m not going to discuss broadly or specifically covert programs. I would just point you to what he said.’… “‘It’s hard to see what the geopolitical reason would be for doing that at this point,’ said Frederick Kagan…‘At a time when you’re trying to re-establish some kind of normalcy…it’s a little incomprehensible about how that fits into a strategy that makes any sense.’… “Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), the chairwoman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, appeared to wade into the debate at a hearing with top intelligence officials on Tuesday. “‘Once again, this committee has been put in a difficult position of trying to avoid any mention of classified matters when various parts of the executive branch may be doing somewhat the opposite,’ Feinstein said…‘I ask members to be careful in their questions and statements and to remember that public discussion of some intelligence programs and assets can lead to them being compromised.’…” Click Here To Read The Full Article: http://bit.ly/yRxC8J   ###

Excerpts from The Hill By Amie Parnes and Jeremy Herb January 31, 2012   “The White House’s weeks-long effort to counterprogram against the GOP presidential primary fight has veered off course over the past two days… “A day before the Florida primary, the president stumbled twice in an online chat on Google+, first when he got into an awkward discussion with a woman about her unemployed husband and said it was ‘interesting’ that he hadn’t found work in the engineering field. “Almost instantly, Republicans and reporters pounced on Obama’s off-the-cuff remarks. “Kirsten Kukowski, a press secretary at the Republican National Committee (RNC), immediately fired off an email to reporters: ‘Maybe there’s a difference in how the president sees our economy and how Americans see our economy,’ she said. And in a matter of hours, the RNC created a Web ad, hammering Obama as out of touch. “Obama also earned unwanted media attention by for the first time acknowledging the classified drone program and defending the use of drone strikes to kill members of al Qaeda in countries such as Pakistan. “Newspapers overseas said Obama was ‘confirming’ and ‘admitting’ that the United States is flying drones over Pakistan, and a spokesman for Pakistan’s foreign ministry called the drone strikes ‘unlawful, counterproductive and hence unacceptable.’ “White House press secretary Jay Carney was left to field questions about Obama’s comments in Tuesday’s press briefing from reporters who asked if Obama had slipped up, revealing a little more than he might have intended.  “‘He’s the commander in chief of the armed forces of the United States,’ Carney replied. ‘I would point you to his comments. I’m not going to discuss broadly or specifically covert programs. I would just point you to what he said.’… “‘It’s hard to see what the geopolitical reason would be for doing that at this point,’ said Frederick Kagan…‘At a time when you’re trying to re-establish some kind of normalcy…it’s a little incomprehensible about how that fits into a strategy that makes any sense.’… “Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), the chairwoman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, appeared to wade into the debate at a hearing with top intelligence officials on Tuesday. “‘Once again, this committee has been put in a difficult position of trying to avoid any mention of classified matters when various parts of the executive branch may be doing somewhat the opposite,’ Feinstein said…‘I ask members to be careful in their questions and statements and to remember that public discussion of some intelligence programs and assets can lead to them being compromised.’…” Click Here To Read The Full Article: http://bit.ly/yRxC8J   ###

WASHINGTON – The Republican National Committee (RNC) launched a new website “NotBetterOff.com” to highlight President Obama’s latest demonstration that he is out of touch with jobless Americans. When confronted Monday by a woman whose husband has been out of work for three years, President Obama was “surprised” to hear that jobs in his field were not readily available. It’s clear that President Obama has no idea the negative impact that his job-crushing policies have had on everyday Americans looking for work. Check out www.NotBetterOff.com and submit your own resume to President Obama so that he can see the true impact of Obamanomics. Send a message to this White House that this president truly doesn’t understand how jobs are created.  "President Obama’s exchange with a concerned woman whose husband is out of work shows exactly how out of touch this president really is when it comes to the dismal economic climate he created,” said RNC Chairman Reince Priebus.                                                                                     “His ivory tower view of ‘economic recovery’ is in stark contrast with the harsh reality of millions of Americans who are struggling to find jobs because of Barack Obama’s failed economic policies.”  ###

WASHINGTON – Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairman Reince Priebus and Co-Chairman Sharon Day released the following statement regarding the results of the Florida primary: “Tonight, Florida voters showed America once again that the electoral momentum is firmly on the Republican side,” said Chairman Reince Priebus. “The impressive turnout in the Florida primary demonstrates how energized our party is and how eager voters are for a change in direction. I congratulate Mitt Romney on his win tonight, and I commend all of our candidates for their tireless work to replace Barack Obama and put an end to his failed policies. “Americans cannot afford four more years of President Obama’s reckless spending and broken promises. Three years after taking office, he has yet to fulfill his promise to fix our failing economy. Instead of solutions, he offers slogans and recycled rhetoric. Voters have had enough, and judging by tonight’s results, they are ready to send a Republican president to the White House.”  “As a Floridian, I’ve seen firsthand the toll the Obama economy has taken on my home state,” said Co-Chairman Sharon Day. “Families are suffering through high unemployment and high foreclosure rates. Our large Hispanic community has been even harder hit, and 60 percent of Hispanic voters in the state say that Obama’s campaign promises remain unfulfilled, according to a recent poll. They feel betrayed and ignored by an increasingly out-of-touch administration.  “After tonight’s primary, I know Floridians will lead the charge in making Barack Obama a one-term president.”   ###

RNC Political Director Rick Wiley: “As Floridians go to the polls for the presidential primary, we’re excited at the RNC. It’s the next contest to retire Barack Obama. And you look at Florida, it’s hard to imagine it’s not going to be one of the most contested prizes in our path to 270, 29 electoral votes is a big haul for a battleground state… “It’s a prototypical swing state. The president only garnered 51% of the vote in 2008 over John McCain so he leaves himself very little wiggle room as he’s trying to plot his reelection campaign… “Some of the challenges that the president faces in Florida, it’s ranked number 1 in the nation in terms of the percentage of the electorate over the age of 65, 27% of registered voters are over the age of 65, it has the second largest Jewish population…, the third largest Hispanic population, those key constituencies that elected Barack Obama in 2008, he’s faltering in all of those… “You look at the Obama campaign and they are out there right now making telephone calls because they have to shore up the base whereas Republicans, when we start our voter identification program, we’re able to go straight to Independents and lay out the groundwork as to why this president shouldn’t be reelected… “A couple other key points in Florida, the Democratic Party’s advantage in party registration is shrinking…it has declined in each of the last 26 months…it’s dropped 30% from 700,000 to 500,000 today, so we’re closing that gap… “Voter participation rate amongst all age groups, the over 65 population is right now one of the weakest demographics for Obama. A new Quinnipiac poll just out last week showed he is only garnering 38% job approval rating from voters over 65, so he’s going to have a strong uphill battle…when we get into Florida. “You look at what happened in NY-9 with the election last year of Bob Turner, you have a high Jewish population in Florida, and Barack Obama it seems he has numerous embarrassing statements and a bumbling foreign policy doctrine towards Israel. And I think he’s going to have to do a lot of explaining when he gets to Florida about his policies there... “Hispanic voters have been unimpressed by this president, mainly because of his failed economic policies and broken promises when it comes to the economy. Resurgent Republic was just in the field recently, and they surveyed Florida Hispanic voters that showed he’s polling 11 points behind his 2008 performance…56% of Florida’s Hispanic voters said Obama has been weaker than expected as a leader…60% has said his campaign promises have remained unfulfilled, and two-thirds or 63% of Cuban voters have said it is time to give someone else a chance…as we get through this primary process in Florida today, you get a sense from the Republicans on the ground that there’s a lot of enthusiasm around our candidates in Florida…they’ve been criss-crossing the state talking about this president’s failed record… “Close elections are about momentum. And momentum in Florida is moving in the direction of the Republican Party right now and in spite of its nickname the Sunshine State looks awful cloudy for Obama. And I think we’re in a great place where it’s going to rain on his parade in November.” Click Here To Listen To The Full Audio: http://www.gop.com/audio/1.31.2012_Florida.mp3     ###

WASHINGTON – The Republican National Committee (RNC) launched a new web video titled “Interesting” after President Obama’s awkward interaction with a woman who was asking why it was so hard for her husband to find work in this economy. After hemming and hawing about the condition he thought the economy was in, it was revealed that Barack Obama’s view of the economy is in direct contrast to what everyday Americans are dealing with. The web video can be viewed here.       “President Obama’s exchange yesterday with a concerned woman whose husband is out of work shows exactly how out of touch this president is when it comes to the dismal economic climate he has created,” said RNC Chairman Reince Priebus.                                                                                      “His ivory tower view of ‘economic recovery’ is in stark contrast with the harsh reality of millions of Americans who are struggling to find jobs because of Barack Obama’s failed economic policies.”   ###  

Excerpts from POLITICO By Kenneth P. Vogel and Alexander Burns January 28, 2012   “Democrats have seized on Republicans as the party of unlimited secret money. “The only problem: so are Democrats. “In recent days, Obama released an ad blasting ‘secretive oil billionaires’ for attacks on him, Nancy Pelosi unveiled a campaign slogan, calling for ‘a new politics free of special interest influence’… “Maybe that would have sounded better in 2008, when Obama put the kibosh on the Democratic outside money infrastructure—or even in 2010, when Obama led a chorus of Democrats assailing Republicans’ outside spending. “But this year, Democrats are playing the same game. Obama’s team has blessed a network of super PACs trying to raise the same seven-figure checks… “In fact, top Democrats are so ardent about the need to raise unlimited—and sometimes secret—cash this year that some operatives aren’t pleased about the recent attacks, grumbling that it makes it a whole lot tougher to get wealthy liberals to fork over mega-checks when the politicians who’d benefit are ripping Republicans for taking the same types of contributions. “Then there are doubts about the effectiveness of such attacks, considering how they went the last time Democrats tried them in 2010. Obama and his allies spent the final weeks before Election Day complaining bitterly about GOP-allied spending groups, hinting they could be awash in illegal foreign money, only to watch Republicans notch historic gains in the House. “And, beyond that, the Obama campaign’s juggernaut fundraising makes the president an especially poor messenger for the attacks, reasoned one Democratic operative familiar with the party’s outside money operation. “‘When you’ve been talking about raising $1 billion, you really shouldn’t be talking about money in the political process,’ the operative said. Democrats ‘should talk about issues that people really care about like whether their taxes are going to get raised, whether their kid is going to get sent to Afghanistan, or whether they’re going to get blown up on a plane,’ the operative said, adding ‘campaign finance isn’t a particularly resonate issue other than for those who are talking about it.’ “But party leaders suggest the secret money attacks forecast in Obama’s ad—his first of the cycle—are part of a broader messaging strategy that seeks to cast Republicans as secretive and unethical pawns of big business who couldn’t care less about the plight of regular Americans... “The special interest money theme could play a recurring role in the president’s reelection campaign, Obama allies suggest… “At a POLITICO Playbook breakfast last week, Pelosi predicted such reforms could staunch the flow of outside money into elections, but she also acknowledged that ‘most people don’t know that (the super PACs are) there and how they operate. They just see the result of it.’ Yet, the Democratic leader—who has herself raised money for super PACs—said that, as she traveled lately ‘what I get the biggest response to is…when you talk about disclose and reform, people are very ready for it.’ “In fact, Democrats believe that Republicans set the stage for a campaign debate over outside group spending because their presidential candidates repeatedly attacked one another during debates and on the trail over ads aired by rival super PACs… “Obama and his Democratic allies during the 2010 midterm elections assailed GOP-allied super PACs and other outside spending groups like Americans for Prosperity as corrupting the democratic process. But after the groups helped power Republicans to landslide victories, the White House backed away from its opposition and tacitly blessed a network of super PACs and nondisclosing 501(c)4 nonprofits run by close allies to solicit big checks from wealthy liberals to try to level the playing field. Completing the reversal: the Obama campaign recently cleared its bundlers to raise money for pro-Obama outside groups… “The attacks elevate the arguments being leveled by the GOP-allied outside groups, asserted Americans for Prosperity President Tim Phillips, whose group noted with pride that Obama’s ad was ‘in direct response’ to its Solyndra ads. “And Phillips pointed out that Democrats have long had outside groups and labor unions working on their behalf — even before Obama began targeting Americans for Prosperity during the 2010 campaign. “‘It was hypocritical two or three years ago to make that assault,’ Phillips argued. ‘It’s just times two now with all the new groups they’ve formed on their side.’” Click Here To Read The Full Article: http://politi.co/wRoYjr   ###

Excerpts from POLITICO By Kenneth P. Vogel and Alexander Burns January 28, 2012   “Democrats have seized on Republicans as the party of unlimited secret money. “The only problem: so are Democrats. “In recent days, Obama released an ad blasting ‘secretive oil billionaires’ for attacks on him, Nancy Pelosi unveiled a campaign slogan, calling for ‘a new politics free of special interest influence’… “Maybe that would have sounded better in 2008, when Obama put the kibosh on the Democratic outside money infrastructure—or even in 2010, when Obama led a chorus of Democrats assailing Republicans’ outside spending. “But this year, Democrats are playing the same game. Obama’s team has blessed a network of super PACs trying to raise the same seven-figure checks… “In fact, top Democrats are so ardent about the need to raise unlimited—and sometimes secret—cash this year that some operatives aren’t pleased about the recent attacks, grumbling that it makes it a whole lot tougher to get wealthy liberals to fork over mega-checks when the politicians who’d benefit are ripping Republicans for taking the same types of contributions. “Then there are doubts about the effectiveness of such attacks, considering how they went the last time Democrats tried them in 2010. Obama and his allies spent the final weeks before Election Day complaining bitterly about GOP-allied spending groups, hinting they could be awash in illegal foreign money, only to watch Republicans notch historic gains in the House. “And, beyond that, the Obama campaign’s juggernaut fundraising makes the president an especially poor messenger for the attacks, reasoned one Democratic operative familiar with the party’s outside money operation. “‘When you’ve been talking about raising $1 billion, you really shouldn’t be talking about money in the political process,’ the operative said. Democrats ‘should talk about issues that people really care about like whether their taxes are going to get raised, whether their kid is going to get sent to Afghanistan, or whether they’re going to get blown up on a plane,’ the operative said, adding ‘campaign finance isn’t a particularly resonate issue other than for those who are talking about it.’ “But party leaders suggest the secret money attacks forecast in Obama’s ad—his first of the cycle—are part of a broader messaging strategy that seeks to cast Republicans as secretive and unethical pawns of big business who couldn’t care less about the plight of regular Americans... “The special interest money theme could play a recurring role in the president’s reelection campaign, Obama allies suggest… “At a POLITICO Playbook breakfast last week, Pelosi predicted such reforms could staunch the flow of outside money into elections, but she also acknowledged that ‘most people don’t know that (the super PACs are) there and how they operate. They just see the result of it.’ Yet, the Democratic leader—who has herself raised money for super PACs—said that, as she traveled lately ‘what I get the biggest response to is…when you talk about disclose and reform, people are very ready for it.’ “In fact, Democrats believe that Republicans set the stage for a campaign debate over outside group spending because their presidential candidates repeatedly attacked one another during debates and on the trail over ads aired by rival super PACs… “Obama and his Democratic allies during the 2010 midterm elections assailed GOP-allied super PACs and other outside spending groups like Americans for Prosperity as corrupting the democratic process. But after the groups helped power Republicans to landslide victories, the White House backed away from its opposition and tacitly blessed a network of super PACs and nondisclosing 501(c)4 nonprofits run by close allies to solicit big checks from wealthy liberals to try to level the playing field. Completing the reversal: the Obama campaign recently cleared its bundlers to raise money for pro-Obama outside groups… “The attacks elevate the arguments being leveled by the GOP-allied outside groups, asserted Americans for Prosperity President Tim Phillips, whose group noted with pride that Obama’s ad was ‘in direct response’ to its Solyndra ads. “And Phillips pointed out that Democrats have long had outside groups and labor unions working on their behalf — even before Obama began targeting Americans for Prosperity during the 2010 campaign. “‘It was hypocritical two or three years ago to make that assault,’ Phillips argued. ‘It’s just times two now with all the new groups they’ve formed on their side.’” Click Here To Read The Full Article: http://politi.co/wRoYjr   ###