The emphasis Saturday once again focused on rebuilding the brand and taking on 2010. Here are the top ten quotes from the final day of the Southern Republican Leadership Conference (SRLC), here in New Orleans:
Sen. David Vitter, (Louisiana)
1. "Just look to the left. They know what's coming and they're concerned. They're not maligning the tea party for nothing."
Sen. Rick Santorum, (Pennsylvania)
2. "As the tea partiers have now recognized.... Washington only listens in November."
And...
3. "Please don't question my intention to do what is right for those little babies."
Rep. Mike Pence, (Indiana)
4. "I am a Christian, a conservative, and a Republican, in that order."
Gov. Haley Barbour (Mississippi)
5. "The election we've got to be focused on is in 2010. We don't need to wait until 2012 to take our country back."
And...
6. "How do we win in 2010? We stick together. We work, we organize, we give, we campaign... conservative unity has to be part of that conservative energy. We cannot let ourselves be torn apart by the ideas of purity."
Dr. Bill Cassidy, (Congressman from Louisiana)
7. "When you underfund, the only way that government can manage that underfunding is to lower the quality and increase the lines."
Dr. Ron Paul, (Congressman from Texas)
8. "We talk a good game, but when we get the chance to do something, we haven't done what we should have."
And..
9. "In the technical sense, in the economic definition, [Obama] is not a socialist. What he is is a corporatist. And we have coporatists in the Republican party."
Rep. Thaddeus McCotter (Michigan)
10. "Our liberty is from God, not the government."
And, one extra, for the record:
RNC Chairman Michael Steele:
"I'm the first to admit I've made the mistakes... and move on. We've all had to do that from time to time."