November 28, 2006
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Tony Blankley, Editorial Page Editor of the Washington Times, helps attract millions to the Sunday morning political television program McLaughlin Group, every week.
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On November 15, the former press secretary for Newt Gingrich and speechwriter for Ronald Reagan helped attract over 260 RBA members and their guests as the Keynote Speaker for the Association's Annual Celebrity Dinner at the Pearl River Hilton. The event was sponsored by Provident Bank; Good Samaritan Hospital, AllBright Electric and The Journal News.
"If it's Sunday morning, don't ask me to attend a function, I am glued to the television set watching the McLaughlin Group," RBA CEO and President Al Samuels said as he introduced Blankley to the audience.
Blankley had been invited to offer enlightened reflection regarding the November elections and also a window into life in Washington. The timing couldn't have been better, as the long-time conservative had, like everyone else in the country, seen his side get a real "thumping," as President Bush put it.
"I don't pretend to know the implications of this incredible election," Blankley said.
He went on to reflect upon the last time a major shift occurred in Congress, when Republicans had snatched the House from Democrats in 1994. Blankley had helped the Republicans cause that year, as press secretary for Newt Gingrich. He wanted to believe that the Contract with America had been a major factor in that win, but others said it was simply a backlash against the Democratic majority and Clinton-era scandals and incompetence.
He noted that every single faction within winning and losing parties in an election, try to spin the results in a manner that boosts their side. An evangelical Republican would say the Republicans lost because they were not true to their conservative values, while a centrist Democrat would claim they won because they appeared to be the party of the middle. An anti-war Democrat might claim the party represented the growing anti-war sentiment in the nation.
Blankley focused his attention on the need for both sides to somehow get along better, noting that partisanship has been on the rise ever since he arrived in Washington in 1982.
"It's become almost a Sicilian culture of revenge," he said, asking that any Italians in the audience not be offended. Partisanship is causing it to take far too long for important legislation to get accomplished, he said, noting that during World War II America was able to build an atom bomb in only three years, but now simple legislation critical to the nation's defense can take years.
For example the government had done nothing to increase the number of translators in the intelligence community, even though they were desperately needed. He worried that a sense of urgency had been and could be further lost in regard to the War on Terror.
"One thing Bush has done a pretty good job of is in maintaining some sense of urgency... There is no doubt that this vote will be seen as a sign of weakness abroad," he said.
Blankley said he had great respect for the Democrats ability to govern and manage power. He saw the party as potentially having a "huge fight," however, over what to do in Iraq, which could be used to the Republicans advantage. Blankley had already taken to writing a polemic on how the Republicans could regain a majority in Congress.
Many had retorted by attacking him as being a RINO, an acronym for Republican In Name Only. Blankley noted that in 12 years Democrats had only regained 9 seats they lost in 1994. It was going to be more difficult than they might realize for Republicans to regain the seats they lost, Blankley opined.
Samuels had made light of a little known fact about Tony Blankley in introducing him; he was a childhood acting star who appeared in a film with Humphrey Bogart. A longtime Washington insider, Samuels called Blankley, "a man who can unlock the door to [the mysteries of DC]."
"DC is a great place for those with no qualifications," Blankley quipped, analyzing his own resume in which he'd gone from being a Presidential speech writer who had never been a writer before, to a press secretary who had no experience dealing with the press, to a TV regular who'd never been on television before, to a newspaper editor with no real journalism experience.
"Washington is a magical town, we don't do so well running the country, but we do pretty well for ourselves," Blankley joked again.
He took some time to quip at DC insiders such as James Carvile, of whom he said, "Even when he's being nice, he sounds aggressive."
He hinted that Mississippi Senator Trent Lott would "be fun watching" as he maneuvered trying "to get revenge," now that he had regained a position of power as Minority whip of the Senate. He said Lott was "the bitterest guy in DC" because so many friends had abandoned him after a racially insensitive remark he'd made in 2003 at a birthday party for South Carolina Senator Strom Thurmond.
Prior to Blankley's address, outgoing board chairman Howard Hellman and incoming board chairman Hector May, presented Al Samuels with a gift for five years of service to the RBA as CEO and President. Under Samuels' leadership the RBA had about doubled its membership and added many events and membership councils. Samuels was quick to credit Vice Presidents Joan Neumann and Roger Scheiber for the organization's success.
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