Republican Governors Association

Mitt Romney is blaming his loss in the presidential election on "Obamacare" and other "gifts" he says President Obama handed out to African Americans, Hispanics and other core supporters, according to news reports Wednesday. The defeated Republican candidate told donors in a conference call that Obama targeted those demographics, along with young voters and women, through programs such as health-care reform and "amnesty" for children of illegal immigrants, according to articles posted online by the New York Times and Los Angeles...

RICHMOND — Gov. Robert F. McDonnell said he's "afraid people will ignore Virginia" if the commonwealth switches to an electoral college system that picks winners by congressional district. The Republican governor bucked the proposal now moving through the General Assembly, telling MSNBC's Chuck Todd that the winner-take-all system most states currently use is the way to go and that splitting up electoral votes by congressional districts is a "bad idea. " "It's not going to...

RICHMOND — After a contentious legislative session that drew large protests and national ridicule to the state Capitol, Virginians are less supportive of Gov. Robert F. McDonnell and less optimistic about the direction of the state, according to a poll by The Washington Post. The approval rating for McDonnell (R) dropped six points over the past year, from 62 percent to 56 percent. Thirty-five percent disapprove of the job he is doing — a nine-point increase from a year ago. The...

The new year has begun with an avalanche of Republican retrospectives: What went wrong? What must the GOP do? In attempting to navigate my own thoughts, I keep bumping into advice my father gave me a long time ago: "Learn Spanish. You will need it to survive in the world you will inherit. " For those living in Florida then, the trends were becoming obvious. They were literally in our neighborhood, where in 1960 a recently arrived Cuban family had moved in a few doors down. Having just escaped Castro's Cuba with only a few coins sewn into...

Virginia's unemployment rate jumped to 7 percent in February, the highest since 1992, but what's the Republican Governors Association doing as they pump $1.2 million into their man Bob McDonnell's campaign for governor? They're busy yukking it up over the sleaziness of Bill Clinton and Terry McAuliffe, his longtime fundraiser turned Democratic candidate for governor. The Republican governors group's latest tactic is billandterry.org, a Web site that depicts the former president as an Obama-bashing, money- hungry, ethical slime who has come to...

The new year has begun with an avalanche of Republican retrospectives: What went wrong? What must the GOP do? In attempting to navigate my own thoughts, I keep bumping into advice my father gave me a long time ago: "Learn Spanish. You will need it to survive in the world you will inherit. " For those living in Florida then, the trends were becoming obvious. They were literally in our neighborhood, where in 1960 a recently arrived Cuban family had moved in a few doors down. Having just escaped Castro's Cuba with only a few...

LAS VEGAS — Republican leaders have begun reckoning with the fact that their party has grown increasingly out of step with a broad majority of American voters. While party leaders remain confident in their beliefs, they have identified a litany of problems and a steep set of challenges: flawed candidates, a problematic message, the alienation of nonwhite Americans who account for a growing share of the population, outdated technology and a political operation that is not up to that of the Democrats.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry acknowledged Friday that he will consider a bid for president, reversing his past opposition to the race and setting up a period of intense speculation about whether he will run and whether he can win. "I'm gonna think about it," Perry said when asked about the presidential race. Perry chief of staff Ray Sullivan said earlier this week that the praise the governor has won from the likes of conservative talk radio host Rush Limbaugh — among others — has made...

RICHMOND, Va. -- Republican Bob McDonnell holds a lead of 9 percentage points over his Democratic rival in Virginia's governor's race 27 days before the election, according to a Washington Post poll published Thursday. The results suggest McDonnell is pulling away from Democrat R. Creigh Deeds in one of the only two gubernatorial contests in the nation this year. Both are being closely watched as early voter verdicts on President Barack Obama and a Democratic Congress. In New Jersey, Democratic Gov. Jon...

RICHMOND — Virginia Gov. Robert F. McDonnell will begin airing TV ads Wednesday as he looks to remind viewers about the state's successes following a spate of negative publicity . "There is a lot to celebrate in our commonwealth," the Republican said in a statement Tuesday. "This ad highlights some of the men and women driving this recovery, while noting all that has been accomplished over the past two years. " McDonnell's political action committee, Opportunity Virginia , will pay for the...

LAS VEGAS — Republican leaders have begun reckoning with the fact that their party has grown increasingly out of step with a broad majority of American voters. While party leaders remain confident in their beliefs, they have identified a litany of problems and a steep set of challenges: flawed candidates, a problematic message, the alienation of nonwhite Americans who account for a growing share of the population, outdated technology and a political operation that is not up to that of the Democrats.

One day before states were required to tell the federal government whether they would build their own health insurance exchanges, the Obama administration on Thursday extended the deadline for one month at the request of Republican governors. The decision came in response to a Wednesday letter from Virginia Gov. Robert F. McDonnell and Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal asking President Obama to push back the impending deadline. The two governors made the request on behalf of the...

Mitt Romney is blaming his loss in the presidential election on "Obamacare" and other "gifts" he says President Obama handed out to African Americans, Hispanics and other core supporters, according to news reports Wednesday. The defeated Republican candidate told donors in a conference call that Obama targeted those demographics, along with young voters and women, through programs such as health-care reform and "amnesty" for children of illegal immigrants, according to articles posted online by the New York Times and...

If I were Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell, I would feel more than a little resentful at getting a mere 10 minutes of cable-only television exposure at the Republican convention in Tampa. I mean, McDonnell can boast of a stronger record of conservative accomplishments than the evening's big star, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, the keynote speaker. McDonnell was workmanlike in the second-biggest speech of his career, after his 2010 response to President Obama's State of the Union.

TAMPA — Gov. Robert F. McDonnell of Virginia addressed the Republican National Convention on Tuesday not once but twice, first as chairman of the platform committee and then in prime time as leader of a must-win state . That morning, when he could have been practicing one speech or the other, he schlepped 25 miles from Tampa to a Holiday Inn in Clearwater to speak to a joint breakfast of the Montana and Washington state delegations....

WILLIAMSBURG — Arriving in shiny, black sport-utility vehicles and packed with wired-in entourages, the nation's governors descended on this tiny historic city where Colonial reenactors and candlemakers still dot the streets. The National Governors Association on Friday kicked off the first of a two-day summer meeting in one of the nation's oldest communities with more than 1,000 people — governors, staff members, reporters and sponsors — milling around the Colonial capital.

One day before states were required to tell the federal government whether they would build their own health insurance exchanges, the Obama administration on Thursday extended the deadline for one month at the request of Republican governors. The decision came in response to a Wednesday letter from Virginia Gov. Robert F. McDonnell and Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal asking President Obama to push back the impending deadline. The two governors made the request on behalf of the Republican Governors Association;...

MIAMI, Oct. 13 -- Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's star-turn news conference here at the Republican Governors Association meeting quickly got very crowded, as 12 of her colleagues joined her onstage. It sent an unmistakable message: that if the nation's GOP governors are going to take the lead in their dispirited party, there is going to be more than one voice at the head of the pack. Palin seemed unperturbed about sharing the wealth, although what had been billed as roughly 20 minutes of questions for the 2008 vice...

While the resistance of Republican governors has dominated the debate over the health-care law following last month's Supreme Court decision to uphold it, a number of Democratic governors are also quietly voicing concerns about a key provision to expand coverage. At least seven Democratic governors have been noncommittal about their willingness to go along with expanding their states' Medicaid programs, the chief means by which the law would extend coverage to millions of Americans with incomes below or near the...

RICHMOND — After a contentious legislative session that drew large protests and national ridicule to the state Capitol, Virginians are less supportive of Gov. Robert F. McDonnell and less optimistic about the direction of the state, according to a poll by The Washington Post. The approval rating for McDonnell (R) dropped six points over the past year, from 62 percent to 56 percent. Thirty-five percent disapprove of the job he is doing — a nine-point...