Gillespie Strategies

As President Obama decides on a Supreme Court nominee to replace Justice David Souter, Senate Republicans must decide whether they will abide by the standard they used in confirming Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen Breyer during Bill Clinton's first term, or the standard set by Democrats in the confirmations of Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito during George W. Bush's second term. This is one instance where changing their previous position can be a principled approach.

Conservative Republicans are putting on a brave face about Arlen Specter’s departure, and correctly pointing out that the only difference will be that he’ll now be stabbing them in the front, not the back.

KING: And here's what's still to come on our STATE OF THE UNION report for this Sunday, May 31st.

Judge Sonia Sotomayor has been praised and attacked all morning. Is there any doubt she'll be confirmed for the Supreme Court?

Democratic strategist Donna Brazile and Republican Ed Gillespie are here to look at all the angles.

This week, President Obama will leave for a trip to the Middle East. What can he really expect to accomplish in this war-torn region? We'll ask three members of the best political team on television about the prospects and challenges in the Middle East.

And finally, with bankruptcy looming for General Motors, an inside look at how their engineers are designing the cars of the future.

That's all ahead on this hour of STATE OF THE UNION.

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After leaving the White House as counselor to President George W. Bush at the end of his term this past January, many were surprised I didn't return to lobbying, but instead opened a new strategic planning and communications firm. Given the rapid changes in public affairs, they shouldn't have been.

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Ed Gillespie, Former Counselor to Pres. George W. Bush, discusses the next 100 days for Republicans under the Obama Administration, as well as the future of the Republican Party.

Washington, DC

Meet the Press round table with Ed Gillespie as a guest.

"As a matter of fact you first spotted this trend [Independents breaking from Obama] in the Resurgent Republic which you founded as sort of an answer to Democracy Corps so you saw this a little earlier than others." Sean Hannity to Ed Gillespie on the Hannity Show (July 9, 2009)

Ed Gillespie has worn a lot of hats throughout his career: chairman of the Republican National Committee, counselor to President George W. Bush and co-founder of the lobbying firm Quinn Gillespie & Associates. A longtime Washingtonian — he graduated from Catholic University — his bosses have included Dick Armey, Haley Barbour, John Kasich, Elizabeth Dole, George Allen and Bob McDonnell.

Roundtable Voters Summit in Mid-Term Elections with George Will, Donna Brazile, Peggy Noonan, Robert Rech, and Ed Gillespie

After losing Virginia's governorship for the first time in eight years, some Democrats are trying to console themselves that Virginia is at its core a "red" state. This ignores not only that they won back-to-back governorships but also that Democrats defeated a sitting senator in 2006, took control of the state Senate in 2007 and won an open Republican Senate seat and three House seats in 2008 while carrying Virginia's electoral college votes for the first time since 1964.

Brown's victory also has Republicans and their allies thinking they can win control of state legislative bodies in 2010 -- which, in turn, can help the GOP control the redistricting process and lead to more congressional victories in the future. "Targeting 35 to 40 state legislative races this cycle could translate into 25 to 32 U.S. House seats over the next five cycles," says former Republican National Committee chairman Ed Gillespie.

Shortly after the Associated Press called the race, Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chairman Chris Van Hollen revealed the fruits of his introspection: Blame George W. Bush. “This year’s Midterms will be a choice between continuing the economic progress and independent leadership that House Democrats are delivering for their districts versus Republicans who are eager to turn back the clock to the same failed Bush-Cheney policies,” Van Hollen said.

The political world is fixated on whether this year's elections will deliver an epic rebuke of President Barack Obama and his party. If that happens, it could end up costing Democrats congressional seats for a decade to come.