During last weekend's CPAC gathering here in Washington, I had the chance to interview three influential members of the Beltway Republican establishment: Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus, and National Republican Senatorial Committee Chairman, Sen. John Cornyn. In my discussion with Sen. McConnell, I politely challenged him over whether his caucus remains actively committed to the full repeal of Obamacare, and asked how he intends to retaliate against recent unprecedented Democratic power-grabs, if at all. The full video of that conversation is available HERE. Up next was Chairman Priebus, assumed the helm at a faltering RNC last year, and is beginning to right the ship. I asked him why grassroots conservatives should trust, let alone donate to, his organization, and whether or not they'd be pulling punches against the president, as several press reports indicated in late 2011. Here's our interaction:
Finally, I sat down with Sen. Cornyn, who is heading up the NRSC's effort to elect a Republican Senate in 2012. We ran through fundraising and polling in a slew of key races (I wrote about the big picture HERE), and also previewed the Senator's CPAC address, which offered an unsparing and devastating review of Attorney General Eric Holder's tenure in office. Beyond that, I also raised the issue of the NRSC's imflammatory decision to back Charlie Crist over Marco Rubio in 2010's GOP Senate primary in Florida. Have Cornyn & Co actually learned their lesson?
Both of these gentlemen said they'd be happy to field questions and constructive challenges from conservatives. On Twitter, Priebus is @ReincePriebus, and Sen. Cornyn is @JohnCornyn.