The Washington Times
  • Subscribe
  • Times News Services
  • RSS
  • Mobile Headlines
  • e-edition
  • E-MAIL ALERTS
  • REGISTER
  • LOG IN
  • E-MAIL ALERTS
  • WELCOME
  • Your Profile
  • Log Out
  • Front Page Image
  • Classifieds
  • Autos
  • Real Estate
  • Jobs
  • Special Sections
  • Customer Service
  • Home
  • News
  • Opinion
  • Sports
    • NFL
    • NBA/WNBA
    • MLB
    • NHL
    • Tennis
    • Golf
    • Motorsports
    • Soccer
    • NCAA
    • Olympics
    • Outdoors
    • Other
  • Culture
    • Home & Living
    • Family & Kids
    • Fashion
    • Food
    • Travel
    • Health
    • Washington Visitors
    • Books
    • Military History
    • Life
    • Auto
    • TV Listings
    • Movie Listings
    • Death Notices
    • Entertainment
  • Themes
  • Communities
  • Shopping
    • Stores
    • Coupons
    • Daily Double
    • Promotion
    • How It Works
  • Videos
    • Two Guys
    • Birnbaum on Washington
    • Liz Glover
    • Amanda Carpenter
    • Morning Briefing
    • Documentaries
    • Joe Giganti
    • Video Game Minute
  • Podcasts
    • About Headlines
    • Audio and Radio
    • America's Morning News
  • National

    VAN CLEAVE: A Thanksgiving message from Russia's spy agency

  • National

    HOLMES: Behind Obama's overseas allure

  • World

    Thailand seeks U.S. help battling insurgents

  • Politics

    Obama taking emissions goal to summit

  • Business

    Retailers bank on post-holiday Black Friday

  • World

    Corruption stain puts Pakistan leader at risk

  • Politics

    Courage the turkey escapes Obama's plate

Monday, August 30, 2004

GOP dissent to be kept quiet

Rate this story

Average 0.00
after 0 votes
Login or register to rate this story

  • Font Size -+
  • Print
  • Email
  • Comment
  • Tweet this!
  • Share
  • Article
  • Comments ()
  • Click-2-Listen
  • Videos

More Stories

  • IAEA: Iran investigation at 'dead end'
  • Swiss court grants Polanski bail
  • Couple skirts security to crash state dinner
  • Courage the turkey escapes Obama's plate

By

NEW YORK -- Delegates to the Republican National Convention who are inclined to express displeasure with President Bush's performance have not been given much room to talk.

Political discipline imposed from the top of the Bush campaign on down stifled debate in the platform and any public dissent about a lineup of keynote speakers who hardly reflect the conservatism of the delegates.

"The fact is that this president has unified our party in a way I haven't seen in 20 years," said Ed Gillespie, chairman of the Republican National Committee. "You'd have to go back to Ronald Reagan to see this kind of unity and support for a president. The Republican Party today is George W. Bush's party."

The delegates, according to a New York Times/CBS News poll released yesterday, are more conservative and religious and are less likely to believe the president made any mistakes in his execution of the war on terror and in Iraq than Republicans voters as a whole.

They are more stridently against homosexual "marriage" than Republican voters on the whole, 17 percent less likely to think that the environment should be protected "even if it means a loss of jobs" and, by a count of 86 percent to 70 percent, are more inclined to think that the war in Iraq was worth the costs in lives and money.

The delegates also overwhelmingly agree that Mr. Bush should talk about the role of religion in his life on the campaign trail -- 80 percent -- while only 68 percent of the overall party agreed.

The makeup of the delegation reflects chief Bush political strategist Karl Rove's recognition that the White House needed to pre-empt any platform fights before the majority of delegates arrived in New York, party operatives and well-connected delegates told The Washington Times.

The White House and the Bush campaign did that by ensuring that only loyalists willing to accept discipline from the top became convention delegates.

The names of delegates to platform subcommittees were kept secret until the full committee began meeting last week.

"It's the most tightly controlled convention I've ever seen," said Phyllis Schlafly, a conservative icon for Republicans whose efforts to strengthen platform language on stem-cell research and immigration laws ran into a wall erected, she says, by the White House.

12Next »

Post a comment

There are comments on this article, submit your opinion!

Commenting is disabled for this entry.
If you feel there is still something worth mentioning about this entry please contact the author or the site admin.

Ask a Question

You Report

Do you have another point of view, photos, audio, video or more information about a story?

Top Stories

Most Read

  1. EDITORIAL: Hiding evidence of global cooling
  2. Top Republican lawmakers not attending State Dinner
  3. Fenty trails Gray in D.C. poll
  4. Conservatives seek test for RNC funds
  5. Food snobs fork over $225 for taste of heritage turkey
More Top Stories »
  1. Climate 'czar' says hacked e-mails don't change anything
  2. D.C. sports icon, Wizards owner Pollin dies
  3. List of W.H. state dinner guests
  4. PRUDEN: Obama's due process doctrine
  5. EDITORIAL: Obama's sacked inspector general

Most Shared

  1. EDITORIAL: Hiding evidence of global cooling
  2. Climate 'czar' says hacked e-mails don't change anything
  3. EDITORIAL: The duty of a nation to obey God
  4. Grade-schooler unearths fossil at dinosaur park
  5. The global-cooling cover-up
More Top Stories »
  1. Climate czar rejects doctored data claims
  2. EDITORIAL: Kennedy vs. Catholicism
  3. The United Socialist States of America
  4. VAN CLEAVE: A Thanksgiving message from Russia's spy agency
  5. EDITORIAL: A call to prayer and repentance

Most Commented

  1. EDITORIAL: Hiding evidence of global cooling
  2. Climate 'czar' says hacked e-mails don't change anything
  3. Climate czar rejects doctored data claims
  4. EDITORIAL: Obama's sacked inspector general
  5. Ky. hanging, ruled a suicide, leaves bloggers at loss for words
More Top Stories »
  1. Obama to attend Denmark climate summit
  2. A-listers, fundraisers at W.H. state dinner
  3. PRUDEN: Obama's due process doctrine
  4. EDITORIAL: Kennedy vs. Catholicism
  5. Conservatives seek test for RNC funds

Listen to Washington Times Radio

  • America's Morning News

    with John McCaslin and Melanie Morgan

Blogs & Columns

  • Hot Button Blog

    RNC: Breast cancer recommendations may lead to 'rationing'

  • Belief Blog

    Evangelicals OK civil disobedience

  • Out of Context

    Foods that might kill libido

  • On the Fly

    United lifts some 'award' blocking

  • Technology

    Facebook wins round against phishing spammer

  • Redskins 360

    Blades downgraded

  • SNOBlog

    Beyond 'Woody'

Videos

Advertising Links
TWT Store
  • e-edition
  • Print Edition
  • Weekly Washington Times
TWT Affiliates
  • Middle East Times
  • Golf
  • UPI
  • Arbor Ballroom
  • Washington Times Global
  • About TWT
  • Press Room
  • F.A.Q.
  • Work for TWT
  • Advertise
  • Sponsors
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Site Map

All site contents © Copyright 2009 The Washington Times, LLC.