“Rumors and Rumblings” is a weekly feature that runs each Wednesday. It includes short nuggets of information that we glean from conversations throughout the week. Have a tip? Send it here.
1. Fundraising central:
House District 34 candidate David Standridge is holding a fundraiser this evening. Insiders expect him to pull in a solid haul. “He’s clearly the favorite and the financial backing is gravitating his way,” one GOP donor told Yellowhammer.
Thursday night features 2 notable fundraisers. House District 30 candidate Mack Butler is holding an event in Montgomery and Republican nominee for PSC President Twinkle Cavanaugh is following up string of successful fundraisers with another event in Birmingham. Joe and Vickie Fuller are hosting the Cavanaugh event.
Kate Anderson is the fundraiser behind all three of these events, continuing a strong year of pulling in the dollars for conservative candidates.
2. The Yellowhammer hotline and email account began blowing up last week after the Montgomery Advertiser posted an article quoting ALGOP Chairman Bill Armistead as saying, “For Romney to win, I think there needs to be a change in his campaign,” and that Romney needs “to be tougher to win.” Obviously Romney activists were upset, but several long-time Armistead supporters portrayed the article as a “straw-that-broke-the-camel’s-back” moment. “With no knowledge of the Romney campaign strategy, he claims Romney needs to have a change in his campaign,” one major donor told Yellowhammer. “The only change needed is a change in the leadership of the ALGOP which is why many of us donors and members of the executive committee are actively searching for a candidate for chairman.”
3. Last night’s BCA Chairman’s dinner featuring Karl Rove and James Carville was a rousing success. Rove’s recommendation for the Romney campaign was to continue hammering on the failures of Obama and to start rolling out Romney’s vision for the country. Among other things, he also noted that newspapers and television are declining quickly and that the web will ultimately supplant talk radio as the go-to source of conservative political news and commentary.
Rove’s Super PAC, American Crossroads, has used the web extensively this campaign cycle. They just dropped the devastating YouTube video below on the Obama campaign. TV is still the driving force though as Rove-affiliated organizations just launched a massive $16 million one-week ad buy in the swing states of Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio and Virginia.
Rove and Alabama House Speaker Mike Hubbard also purportedly spent a good deal of one-on-one time together prior to the event. Rove earlier this year wrote a glowing endorsement of Hubbard’s book “Storming the State House.” [UPDATE: Speaker Hubbard posted the below on Twitter regarding his meeting with Rove]
Enjoyed spending time with @karlrove last night discussing strategy to get our GOP supermajority reelected in 2014 twitpic.com/b0oj4d
— Mike Hubbard (@SpeakerHubbard) October 3, 2012
4. Word has been circulating in GOP-circles for several months that Adam Thompson, a GOP State Executive Committee member & long-time senior aide to Secretary of State Beth Chapman, may be preparing a run for State Auditor in 2014. Thompson has been lining up support among state and county GOP leaders over the last few months and it appears that an announcement of his candidacy may be eminent. “Adam is smart, likable, and has good working relationships with GOP leaders around the state and in the State House,” said one high-ranking Republican. He’s worked in the State Auditor’s Office before and would clearly be a favorite to win the primary. Chapman would no-doubt use her influence to help him.”
5. The Speaker’s Commission on Alabama Values & States’ Rights will on Thursday continue our mission to gather feedback from folks around the state on what issues the legislature should address during the 2013 session. Thursday’s Commission meeting will be with conservative grassroots leaders from around the Birmingham area. Speaker Hubbard has also been encouraging everyone to submit ideas through the Commission’s Website.
The chairman has sacrificed much for the party for most of his life. But there is a faction that clearly despises him, and when I read these seeds of discord, they bury themselves deep in my heart – and I find myself wasting time in anger – and then fighting to repent and clean my heart so that my prayers will be heard and effectual. Our nation is racing for the cliff – and this could very well be our last opportunity to turn things around. So while you fight to control the Alabama GOP, I’m going to bow out from this website until after the election so that I can focus on praying for our nation. Until age 30, I was one of those liberal democrats who did much damage, but after embracing Christ and reading the Bible, I recognize that His written/revealed warnings for us are chillingly clear. Too much is at stake, and I’m desperate for the sake of my children and grandchildren. Division diseases the heart, a family, community, state, PARTY and nation.
And so I leave you with Decree #3 (of 7) over Alabama which Justice Tom Parker helped draft: Let the veil of the Bride be lifted off in Alabama resulting in a face-to-face confrontation with that which has created a wall of separation in our state. Let the deep root of division that has kept God’s people from seeing what He is attempting to do be lifted off from this region…
In obedience to Romans 12, my love to you all…
Connie
Please add a new ALGOP chairman to your prayer list. Many thanks in advance.
I don’t often use irony correctly, but is it not ironic for someone who has been duped to be accusing someone else of being duped?
Legislative leadership failed to produce an acceptable budget to a vast number of those who elected them, failed to produce pro-life legislation, and more… So now, we’re upset about a comment by Chairman Armistead reported in the Montgomery Advertiser – the bastion of truth… Did you ask HIM what he said? I did. Sad day for Republicans when they rely on the Advertiser as their resource instead of one of their own. You were duped.
This is exciting . . . so, what did Armistead tell you he actually said? And why has he not publicly said he was misquoted and demanded a correction?
I notice you made no reference to my remark about the failure of the legislature to accomplish what they were elected to do…
The bigger question is why any Republican would run to Yellow Hammer with a complaint about one of their own that appeared in the Advertiser… and why Yellow Hammer would fail to check resources to which it has good access, thus reducing itself to the standards of the Advertiser – gossip. Anyone involved in government/politics knows that it’s impossible to get a fair shake with press that do not like you. It’s a waste of time, which I’ve probably done here – but I am passionate about Truth, Inside Goat. Which is why I remain
TRULY yours,
Connie
The article is called Rumors & Rumblings! By its very definition is it gossip! If you are looking for hard facts I suggest you look elsewhere.
I can’t speak for anyone else but I read this post every week because it’s interesting stuff I don’t see anywhere else and to my knowledge has never been questioned regarding it’s accuracy. Well except for by Connie who it has grown very apparent feels intense loyalty toward the ALGOP chairman in the face of overwhelming evidence that he’s simply not very good at his job.
If I remember correctly Yellowhammer also pointed out the legislature’s failing on the budget that led to the Sept. 18 amendment. But I don’t really see the relance of that in this particular story because to be frank, it has nothing to do with how well Bill Armistead runs the ALGOP.
The failure of Legislature to do its job is neither a rumor nor a rumbling. This is where people come to hear rumors such as “Adam Thompson is being encouraged to run for State Auditor” or “Kate Anderson is knocking it out of the park in fundraising” and things like that. The Chairman keeps coming up in this because he keeps doing things that get people rumbling. The Legislature has been out of session for a few months, so there is not much to rumble about regarding their inaction. That would simply be long term complaining/whining.
Mrs. Connie, I respect your defense of the Chairman. Obviously there is a connection there and I have felt that way regarding candidates I supported in the past, but your comments are getting to be ridiculous. You have yet to say what the Chairman supposedly truly said or meant. You are shooting the messenger, not the message.
Bless your heart…
I asked him for comment, gave him the opportunity to say he was misquoted, and he declined to comment.
Wow. Ok now this is inconvenient for Connie’s ill-advised defense of the defenseless.
armistead had a flub?
SHOCKED
Romney needs “to be tougher to win.” ? that’s more ridiculous than the over the mountain Dems doing a call me maybe video.
Adams a great guy! Hope he runs.
Hubbard and Rove. I would have liked to be a fly on the wall for that meeting. I’d like to hear Rove’s take on Hubbard’s potential future plans.
The guy from Legal Schnauzer would pay 6 figures to be in that room if you added Canary to the list.
AL is an asset to the Republican Party because of its ability to deliver itself as a solid Republican state. In this race the ALGOP Chairman’s worth is in the ability to deliver support for Republicans in swing states. Anything else is a liability to the national party and the Romney campaign. Armistead should steer clear of making assertions based on his limited knowledge of the RNC/RFP messaging and leadership.
On another note, I’ve known Adam Thompson for a couple years now. He should be successful in his run for State Auditor and will continue to serve the ALGOP well.
Who else is running for auditor or interested in running? And where can I get the number for the “Yellowhammer hotline.” Heh! Will there be a Speaker’s Commission meeting in the Montgomery area?
Working today on getting a Speaker’s Commission meeting lined up in Montgomery.
Adam spoke to our Republican club a few Saturdays ago. I had never met him, but I walked away impressed. I firmly count myself in the Adam Thompson camp and will do what I can to help in Northeast Alabama.
I hope Adam decides to run. He is a great guy and I have said for years that politics needs more people like Adam Thompson. He is a man of character and I have no doubt that would do what is best for the state, not what is best for himself.
That was my exact sentiments about Chairman Armistead. He’s been a good friend and a party loyalist but it’s simply time for some new leadership. I’ve grown tired of defending him.