Cornyn: Pitch big tent to win back Senate

Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) struck a positive tone for
Republicans’ chances in 2010, while acknowledging that moderate candidates must
be embraced in order to win regions that don’t run as red as his home state.

“I think everybody agrees that one thing the Republican
Party needs is a fresh face and new blood, and we’ve got, I think, some really
promising candidates who’ve stepped up,” Cornyn, chairman of the National
Republican Senatorial Committee, said on C-SPAN’s “Newsmakers” broadcast Sunday.

{mosads}Cornyn argued that recent appointments had left openings for
the GOP, including the controversy surrounding Roland Burris (D-Ill.), whom
Democratic senators initially refused to seat in the wake of charges that Gov.
Rod Blagojevich had tried to sell President Obama’s Senate seat, and the
surprise Colorado appointment of Denver Public Schools superintendent and
campaign novice Michael Bennet to fill Interior Secretary Ken Salazar’s seat.
Cornyn speculated that David Paterson’s appointment process to fill Secretary
of State Hillary Rodham Clinton’s Senate seat – in which Rep. Kirsten Gillibrand was appointed
after Caroline Kennedy’s initial interest in the seat raised eyebrows – could result
in a “nasty Democratic primary” in New York, potentially leaving openings for
Republican Rep. Peter King or former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani.

“We’ve got Joe Biden’s seat in Delaware, for example, for a
guy like Mike Castle,” Cornyn said of the Republican congressman and former
two-term governor. He also stressed the strength of potential Senate candidates such as Gov. Charlie Crist in Florida.

But to bounce back against the “headwind in 2006 and 2008,”
Cornyn stressed that one important factor going forward for the Republican
Party was making sure the big tent is pitched.

“We cannot be a regional party and expect to get back in the
majority,” the senator said. Touting the appeal of Sen. Susan Collins in a blue
state like Maine, Cornyn added, “We need to find the candidates that fit those
states. We can’t decide here in Washington, sort of have an ideological litmus
test and say, ‘Well, we don’t want people who disagree with us about issues X,
Y and Z.’ We need to find Republicans who can win in those states.

“…I’m going to be looking to broaden the appeal of the
Republican Party, not to narrow it just to conservatives.”

Cornyn also said the GOP has “never had a national
fundraising committee and effort,” something he plans to fix starting with
strong bases in Republican-majority states such as Texas.

The senator was also optimistic that the Democratic Party’s
use of associations with unpopular President George W. Bush wouldn’t work next
time around to influence voters.

“Obviously, President Bush, there are some Democrats who’d
still like to sort of kick him around even after he’s gone,” Cornyn said. “And
I just don’t think it will work. Obviously, people know we have a new
president, there’s been a vote for Democratic majorities in the House and
Senate, and they’re pretty much in charge and running the place. And I think
the next election will be based on their record.

“…So I think there’s going to be a lot of opportunity for us
there. I don’t think it’s going to be about the 43^rd president; I
think it’s going to be about the 44^th president and the Democratic
Congress.”