Gillespie Strategies

Republican political strategist and former White House counselor Ed Gillespie tells Newsmax that it would be a mistake to discount a Florida surprise in Tuesday’s primary battle and that the race is still too fluid to call.

“The polls are fluid and I don’t discount anyone’s chance to come out on top until voter’s vote,” Gillespie said in an exclusive interview with Newsmax on Monday. “You know that’s one of the things I think that people need to respect the process and respect the voters. And there have been surprises all along the way, and we’ll just see what happens in Florida, but I wouldn’t right now say anybody’s out of the question.”

The liberal Center for American Progress and the conservative Hispanic Leadership Network each published a list of 10 things you need to know about Latino voters in Florida, one day before the state’s GOP presidential primary.

The Center for American Progress’ mission is to “develop new policy ideas, critique the policy that stems from conservative values, challenge the media to cover the issues that truly matter, and shape the national debate.” The group’s leader, John Podesta, has served several Democratic party leaders and founded the organization in 2003 ”to provide long-term leadership and support to the progressive movement.”

Three GOP presidential candidates will speak at the “Inspiring Action” conference just days ahead of Florida’s Republican presidential primary, the Hispanic Leadership Network announced Tuesday.

The Leadership Network said in a release today “that former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, and former Senator Rick Santorum will address” the Hispanic conference in Miami.

A Great Loss By Ed Gillespie January 9, 2012 12:32 P.M. Comments1 The conservative community lost a sage and distinct voice Saturday evening with Tony Blankley’s passing, and I lost a dear friend who’d been a mentor to me. I came to know Tony when I handled press for then–House Republican Conference chairman Dick Armey and he did the same for then–Minority Whip Newt Gingrich. In the culture of Capitol Hill, press secretaries tend to be competitive (as opposed to legislative staffers, who tend to be collaborative.) Especially in the ’90s, when the old traditional media were dominant, the mentality of most flacks was a zero-sum one. Every inch of coverage another member of Congress got was an inch your boss didn’t. A bad story about someone else was good for you, and if you needed to go “on background” to help foster that, well, so be it.

Esteemed GOP strategist and former George W. Bush adviser Ed Gillespie told The Daily Caller that Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain needs to put everything on the table if he is going to stand a chance of surviving the sexual harassment allegations against him.

“I think that he is at a point, you know, he has to get facts on the table,” Gillespie said. “If there is anything out there — anything more — he needs to get it out now. If these [allegations] are untrue, refute them in a way that’s convincing.”

Esteemed GOP strategist and former George W. Bush adviser Ed Gillespie told The Daily Caller that Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain needs to put everything on the table if he is going to stand a chance of surviving the sexual harassment allegations against him.

“I think that he is at a point, you know, he has to get facts on the table,” Gillespie said. “If there is anything out there — anything more — he needs to get it out now. If these [allegations] are untrue, refute them in a way that’s convincing.”

In a final push before voters go to the polls on Tuesday, the state's top leaders in both parties will embark on aggressive get-out-the-vote trips reaching into far corners of the state.

Fly-arounds are pretty typical in the closing days of elections, but this tour is another reminder of the stakes.

The 140 General Assembly seats are up on Tuesday , but all eyes are on key contests in the Senate, where Republicans are trying to win the majority from Democrats to add to their control of the House of Delegates and governor's mansion.

Priorities USA Action, the pro-Obama super PAC, is marking the start of the yearlong countdown to Election Day 2012 by releasing a video entirely devoted to attacking former Gov. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts, painting him as a cold-hearted businessman disconnected from the pain of ordinary Americans.

The video is clearly intended to rile up the deflated Democratic base of liberal voters and activists, waving the equivalent of a red cape before their eyes: the Republican strategist Karl Rove, the Fox News Channel and Tea Party protesters all make appearances. But it specifically rips Mr. Romney, including video from his statement that “corporations are people,’’ that the government should not “try and stop the foreclosure process – let it hit the bottom’’ and that it should “let Detroit go bankrupt.”

Republican leaders will take part in a series of rallies across Virginia this weekend as they try to get out the vote for Tuesday’s legislative elections.

Those attending are: Gov. Robert F. McDonnell, Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling, Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, House Speaker Bill Howell, Senate Republican Leader Tommy Norment, House Republican caucus Chairman Tim Hugo, former Republican National Committee chairman Ed Gillespie (who now leads the Republican State Leadership Committee) and state party chairman Pat Mullins.