Guardian UK: 'Rock-bottom' Republicans begin inquest [View All]

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'Rock-bottom' Republicans begin inquest
Ewen MacAskill in Washington

The Guardian, Friday November 7 2008


Senior Republicans were gathered in a secluded location in the Virginia countryside yesterday for an inquest into Tuesday night's devastating elections losses and discussion of how to rebrand the party.

The meeting in Shenandoah Valley is the first of scores of inquests into the election defeats to be held over the coming months, some in public and others in the privacy of homes or committee rooms in Congress.

The immediate battle between right-wing and moderate Republicans is over who should become the public face of the party, heading the Republican National Committee. The 168-member RNC will elect its new chairman after Barack Obama's presidential inauguration on January 20. They gather on January 21 for a three-day discussion.

Republicans at the Shenandoah meeting, representing organisations primarily on the party's conservative wing, have a lengthy agenda stretching from new leaders through to the ideological battle over which direction the party should go in.

In a sign of how far the party has fallen, the Republicans set up a hotline and website yesterday appealing for suggestions from the public on how to rebuild. ......(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/nov/07/us-elections-2008-republicans