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WASHINGTON -- For Republicans dreaming of a knight in shining armor to save the GOP day, Gov. Mitch Daniels ain't budging.
Asked by a reporter if a loss for Mitt Romney in Tuesday's Michigan primary would prompt him to reconsider his decision not to enter the Republican race, the Indiana governor offered a flat "no."
Daniels said he's confident that the eventual Republican nominee will provide a strong contrast to President Barack Obama, and he dismissed the notion that a long and bruising primary is cause for concern from Republicans who have suggested a new entrant like himself would be their best hope should Romney falter.
"I'm in the camp that believes that these folks are being refined and improved by this very difficult process," he said.
"After a while here, by and by, this is going to be a binary choice," Daniels added. "This president, this administration, this record, versus an alternative. And if that alternative is positive and reasonably specific about a better way forward, we got a great chance to win."
Romney backer Gov. Bob McDonnell conceded that a loss for Romney in his home state "wouldn't be good" but said that momentum there appears to be moving in the onetime Massachusetts governor's favor.
And McDonnell echoed Daniels' belief that Republicans will coalesce around the nominee and charge forward to a competitive general election.
"We're always looking for that knight in shining armor to come in that's going to slay Obama with one blow. That's not the kind of campaign it's going to be. That's why we've had 5 different frontrunners over the last 6 months or so," he said.
"But I will say this: Whenever that nominee is decided and I think it will be Mitt Romney there will be a galvanization of the Republican and conservative and libertarian and independent base in a significant way within 30 days that all our focus at combating these incredible big government one size fits all statist policies that Obama has promoted over these last four years."
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Oh NO!
A certain long time poster who suffers from ODS & resides in NJ will be bawling in her beer at this news! lol
There is NO white knight riding in to save her bacon!
Daniels isn't stupid enough toss his hat into today's GNOP freak show!
POLITICO – Playbook:
New York magazine, "THE LOST PARTY: The strangest primary season in memory reveals a GOP that's tearing itself apart," by John Heilemann: "That Mitt Romney finds himself so imperiled by Rick Santorum -- Rick Santorum! -- is just the latest in a series of jaw-dropping developments in what has been the most volatile, unpredictable, and just plain wackadoodle Republican-nomination contest ever. Part of the explanation lies in Romney's lameness as a candidate, in Santorum's strength, and in the sudden efflorescence of social issues in what was supposed to be an all-economy-all-the-time affair. …
"Many Republicans are already looking past 2012. If either Romney or Santorum gains the nomination and then falls before Obama, flubbing an election that just months ago seemed eminently winnable, it will unleash a GOP apocalypse on November 7 -- followed by an epic struggle between the regulars and red-hots to refashion the party. And make no mistake: A loss is what the GOP's political class now expects. 'Six months before this thing got going, every Republican I know was saying, "We're gonna win, we're gonna beat Obama,"' says former Reagan strategist Ed Rollins. 'Now even those who've endorsed Romney say, "My God, what [an effing] mess."'"
http://www.politico.com/playbook/
Feisty, if NoJoy can cry there may be hope for her.
Feisty & Dennis---I wonder if any Republican who was closely associated with the fiasco that was the Bush administration can be elected? Mitch's strength is his work as Bush's budget director? Really? No to mention that his unusual family life would not be what the base expects of their candidates.
@Dennis - this was the very same conclusion that my dinner group with mixed politics concluded. Republicans have basically given this election up, the focus will be to reclaim the GOP from the TP, and start early grooming their candidate for 2016.
Steeler Fan,
They still think his brother Jeb is a viable alternative if they have a brokered convention.
I think the hardcore Republicans believe that the Bush name is honored not tarnished.
Look, when Mark Murray of First Read has to write an article entitled Virginia Governor Reverses Course on Transvaginal Ultrasounds in the middle of a primary season, something has gone very very wrong. We find that a lot of time has been wasted because the nuts are attempting to run the asylum, what with Pope candidate Little Ricky only I can speak on behalf of God Santorum, Newt let's stomp on the world to show everybody how Christian and moral we are Gingrich and then Mitt, whose only positive attribute seems to be that with a little bit of dough, he can carpet bomb his opponents with ads.
I mean it's not like we don't have issues, real issues that have nothing to do with a woman's sex life. Or trees for that matter.
Why don't they give us a strong analytical view of when they think it's a good time to leave Afghanistan. Or perhaps they can talk about Iran and how they feel we should go about keeping the peace with their dictator?
These Republican guys are so middle ages. From listening to them I bet they would love nothing better than to take away our right to vote. Since they can't do that, they're gonna stick to women/religious issues.
That's cuz they're the real Christians who want to bring back the male dominated society.
Little Ricky is on MTP tomorrow. Bring your Bibles.
belief net.com
Pope Benedict XVI and other church leaders said it was the moral responsibility of nations to guarantee access to health care for all of their citizens, regardless of social and economic status or their ability to pay.
The only way this happens, Put Dr Paul at the head of the ticket, anyone else, Obama Wins hands down.
I, and everyone else I know who supports Dr Paul will either write him in, or not vote at all.
For Republicans dreaming of a knight in shining armor to save the GOP day, Gov. Mitch Daniels ain't budging
Who, in their right mind, would like to be associated with these lunatics? All that they are doing is creating enemies every time that they open their mouths. It's not a race for "nomination"; It is a race to see who says more stupidities. Santorum has the lead big time!
Why hope for a religious, neocon 'white knight' to come to their rescue, when it looks like they're going to be voted out of power, anyway?
Some of the regressive right-wing in this country have taken pride in marginalizing, forcing-out, alienating or banning from their rank and file, most of the Chinese, African-American and Hispanic minorities, college women and women that use contraceptives, scientists, academicians, environmentalists, moderates in their own party, etc.
The Republican Party is a party of exclusion, not inclusion, and that is not how elections are won.
I believe that Huntsman will be running in 2016. Just my opinion.
Mitch Daniels is an idiot and so are the rest of the Republican Party. I would be surprised if Daniels suddenly said yes he is running. But what gets me are all these idiot journalists who report on this over and over again. Let it go. Aren't there enough idiots to talk about in the GOP? Why not focus on the good that our President has done, instead of the mess that Bush left for him to clean up. It took Bush 8 damn years to try and screw this country up, it is going to take longer than a one term President to fix everything.
rradiko while I agree with you, I would like to actually have a choice at the ballot box in November. In 2008 there was not a choice. It looks like there will be a repeat in 2012. I would voted for fiscal conservative over President Obama, but I just have not found one. Rennes11, I hope Huntsman does run in 2016. I wanted to vote for him this year 2012.
takingmiddleground - I too like Huntsman until I read and heard him sign onto Paul Ryan's budget
Great - slash SS# - voucher Medicare - and by the way give Ryan's family business an extra $160,000
The Republicans are all in it for themselves
I've said it before, and this backs me up. Nobody who was associated with Bush dares run this time around. The GOP will hold their nose, let Romney have his moment, and get rid of him. They'll let Obama keep at it, let the economy slowly improve, and trot out all their "stars" when the memory of the Bush years has faded - Daniels, Christie, Ryan, Rubio, even Jeb for 2016 when they don't have to run against a well-liked incumbent. Pawlenty will try again, Huntsman might try again. They're letting all the kooks get it out of their system - Newt and Paul will be too old to try again (but his son will carry the torch next time), Palin/Bachman will be reduced to sideline shills, Mitt and Santorum will be a two-time losers. Obama 2012 and Dems keep the Senate with a decent shot at the House. Let the good times roll.
@ Madison Phillips-Nagy
As far as the "mess" he inherited, why would you continue to dig to find the bottom of a hole. This kid is not just digging--he is using a excavator to dig a bigger economic mess. Business will not even attempt to make growth in the uncertainty that exists in the country now.
We can not afford four more years of on-the-job training.
@Rennes:
I think Huntsman is the next Secretary of State.
I think that's entirely true!
GOP nominee= flip-flopping panderer to right wing zealots, corporate interests and Koch brothers
President Obama= decides issues through calm deliberation of expert advice on all sides
Whether I like it or not there have only been 2 plans proposed that actually bring the budget under control. One of those plans is Paul Ryan's and the other is Simpson Bowles. I prefer the Simpson Bowles plan because it is a bipartisan plan. If we do not get the budget under control by 2030 there will not be a SS and Medicare left to defend. It is not my opinion just math. I know it is hard to win elections on cutting spending and/or raising taxes, so my guess is the US will keep pushing the can down the road until there is no way to course correct. I hope someone can come up with a solution though that changes the math. I appreciate Newt's attempt to divert the fiscal discussion to mining in space.
You need a repub president first dip@!$%#s...Not gonna happen...
Big Rog in Michigan - Did you have a point?
While all of the points about the Republicans "tearing themselves apart" and being an utterly bizarre freak show may very well be true, don't get too comfortable. $5/gasoline is going to be a much bigger problem for the economy than people may think at the moment, and Obama is extremely vulnerable among people who are actually going to vote. Moreover, he's pretty well alienated his own base, few of whom are going to turn out in November.
The Republicans are virtually certain to win the Senate, will without question retain the House, and have a far, FAR better shot to win the White House than most folks are giving them right now. If you are an Obama supporter, you'd be wise not to be complacent.
J M I doubt that we Dems .will be complacent again.The cost of being so last time has been disastrous for this country, with this disfunctioning house and the only thing on the so called mind of the Reps/T.P. has been the destruction of the functions of Government.They have shown that the statement ,our one and only agenda this two years, is to do whatever it takes to defeat this black President. Shame on them. They should all return their wages and benifits that we have payed them.They have taken it under false pretenses.
@Mad Phillips-Nag who wrote:
Finally something Obama is absolutely better at than Bush, he screwed up the country worse (than Bush) in only 3 years!
Barrack Obama is an idiot. His handlers are complete idiots. Obama continues to spew things that make no sense. Mandating contraception for churches who are against contraception! Come on! How stupid are these clowns.
Anyone who can't see that is also a one delta ten tango (1 D 10 T).
Have a great day in the flock, sheeple.
Mandating contraception for churches who are against contraception! Come on!
Maybe that's the price for the privilege of tax exemption.
MacDeezy,
Really? Separation of church and state mean anything to you? What you are saying is, if you want a tax exemption you have to submit to the government's will? Is that your plan? Really? Maybe you are really for taxing our churches, synagogues, temples and mosques - but for what purpose? To drive people away from religion? Toward what? A Godless state like the former Soviet Union? Since the liberal agenda looks like a socialist (almost communist) model, I'd have to say that makes sense.
I see our school systems have truly let you down.
Not trying to drive people away from religion, although that would be a very good step towards a better society. You bible/torah/koran thumping fundamentalists have so much historical blood on your hands that I wouldn't be too proud of the legacy of monotheism. And the school system you say let me down was K-8 christian schools, and catholic high school. Yep it failed to brainwash me.
I believe in separation of church and state. It is what keeps the Protestants, Catholics, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, Christian Science folk, Mormons, Atheists, ...(I am sure there are more just can't think of them all) living peacefully together in this county.
I just wish that the candidates also respected the separation of church and state. Per Rick Santorum's word Sunday:
If separation of church and state is not in place then the tax structure dictated by separation of church and state comes into question. Either you want the Separation of Church and State or you don't. Which is it? Last I checked the churches that do not believe in contraception are exempted from the requirement. All churches are exempted from paying tax. All churches have clergy which are exempted from paying social security, ...
And the school system you say let me down was K-8 christian schools, and catholic high school. Yep it failed to brainwash me.
And it failed to teach you that without separation of church and state we have a dangerous situation where religions will tug the laws of the land into their favor and violence breaks out along religious and ethnic lines. Middleground has it right, well stated.
Take Iraq for an example MacD, Shias battling with Kurds, battling with.... and so on.
Democrats have no concept of the dynamic world of socio-politics and treat every situation as a static one where a simple change will bring about a perfect world. When in fact, the world is a giant bag of jello where a push in over here results in a push out over there, but never where you want to be.
Just remember the economic truism, if you want less of something, tax it. If you want less religion, then tax it. If you want less fancy cars to be built, tax them. If you want less imports, tax them.
MacD, you may think I am deeply religious, but that is where you are wrong. I am a learned old man who happens to understand the complexities of our world are made up of history, society, economics, science, humanity, evolution and everything under the sun. Your glib quips only show the limits by which you consider the weight of your decisions and for that the schools system failed you and you it, as I am sure you did not realize the value of the education being provided at the time.
I think he knows better. Is it worth it to air all your dirty laundry. I sure he wants to keep his secrets in the closet. Who knows he could be a closet liberal for all we know.
Daniels doesn't want to explain how he walked away from IPL with millions and the employees lost everything. He doesn't want to explain how he was willing to strip education in Indiana to the bone causing extreme financial distress in many school districts. He doesn't want to explain how he has striped funding from Indiana cities causing many financial distress. Yes he kept the state budget balanced or nearly so but did it by just passing the budget problems to our cities and school districts. In other words he cooked the books. He didn't raise my taxes he just forced my local politicians to raise my taxes. He doesn't want to explain how his hand picked GOP Secretary of State was convicted of 7 counts of voter fraud. He doesn't want to explain the wholesale selling off of state assets like the Tollroad. He doesn't want to explain how a state road bridge in a heavily Democratic area can be torn down because it was at risk of collapsing and doesn't get rebuilt. Making the road almost totally useless. He does't want to explain how the young adults of Indiana finish college and flee the state making it one of the fastest greying states in the union. He doesn't want to explain his strange wife/marriage. What is up with that bad comb over?
Mitch did raise taxes, he raised the sales tax. he is not good for Indiana, let alone the whole country.
Shiela - Wasn't this the same Mitch Daniels who was Bush Jr's Budget Director? Yah that really worked out well!
One time budget director for G W B ... going to save the republican party ... LOL
Devil's Son: All very true. You must be a fellow Hoosier.
But here's another problem for Mitch: He knows taxes have to be raised.
Awww, c'mon Mitch! The GOPathetics need a candidate that looks and talks like a funeral director. We already got the strange old uncle, richy Rich, raving theocrat and adulterer intellectual. It would make a complete set!
Common Mitch, take one for team. Someone's gotta bend over and pick up the soap bar.
A lot funnier than anything Feisty has come up with in months.
This is what Sarah Palin has done to the republican party because of her hurt feelings because the republican party rejected her how is it working out now i know all her bills are paid and she is the 1% now couldn't have made it there without you. watch out jan brewer, here comes Gov sarah of AZ.
What's up with Arizona? Even the rocks there know that they are more than 6000 years old.
I used to think being dumber than a rock was the starting point of the IQ scale. Then along came Palin and Brewer setting a new low standard.
@Head Priest of temple of Syrinx
What is it with all of you trolls who just joined in the last two months. Do your handlers think we wouldn't notice? All you do is post garbage. You don't even try to hide it. They should demand their money back. Begone troll and take your hateful spewing with you.
Stands & Applauds! Poor Head Priest who is a re-reg will be gone shortly! ;o)
@Feisty
I've been seeing quite a bit of this crap lately. Every time I do I bust them on it and they disappear. Who are these trolls and why have they started showing up in such large numbers? Is the right starting to panic? They should. We need to keep the heat on them and their destructive ways.
Gov Mc TVU is a moron. That last sentence didn't even make sense. All I kept thinking of was that scene in Monty Python's Holy Grail, where the young prince gets "rescued" by John Cleese's Lancelot.....
I believe what is happening here is the republicans keep telling themselves, and others that they can beat Obama, and they hope if they say it enough others will believe them. But, as with the emperor with no clothes, they believe that they are dressed just fine, when actually they are not.
And if that alternative is positive and reasonably specific about a better way forward, we got a great chance to win."
With all due respect for Daniel's opinion, a positive and specific campaign from the GOP would require a completely different playbook from the one we have seen so far. The only hint of a positive campaign was Newter's short lived pledge to play clean in Iowa.
you should see what he has done to Indiana. The man that said, "The oil will pay for the war iBush administration.
Maybe he will say yes to Dancing with the Stars.
Chucky Stuart
... another reason why not to watch.
I believe its reason #1273.
Probably would, and too arrogant to know keeps tripping all over himself.
Daniels couldn`t win here in his own state now He`s the UNION BUSTER !!!!
Hopefully he will be on his way out next election.
Head Priest NO SH**. That is not what Rhys Jones is saying. Mitch won't win Indiana after what he did with sh*t bill on the unions. We are going to make sure his career in politics is DONE for GOOD. Mitch is the worst Governor Indiana has ever had.
@Sheila Mitch can not run again. This is his second term as Governor.
Roger, thanks for the info. I feel pretty stupid, but I guess that is why he decided to go ahead and trash the unions in Indiana. No political fallout for him, at least not at that level.
Dont wait, recall him now...It's working in Wisconsin...We've been trying in Michigan as well...
The GOP offers nothing for our country. The GOP policies are corporate centrists and they have abandoned the American people. The extremist political and religious philosphies are destructive to the American Republic. The GOP serves the global-borderless agenda! Totally tragic that their followers are so indoctrinated to a mess of lies equal to those of WMDs and mushroom clouds.
Gingrich is all for "family values" but is a "serial adulterer" and the GOP has no problem with that...
Santorum is against abortion in all instances - yet his wife had one...
Seems like if the GOP faithful finds out Daniels wife left him for another man but came back - this may actually help him....
b dune
Have you no shame or scruples? Accusing Karen Santorum of having an abortion with no evidence or credible source relegates your posts to meaningless rants.
Loyal is correct. What caused them to lose the baby was really sad. The baby had a problem that the best option was to correct the problem in the womb with surgery. One week after the surgery, Mrs Santorum developed a serious infections. The only way to sure way save her life was a powerful antibiotic known to involve the probable delivery of their child within 48 hours. That is exactly what happened. Once contractions started, there was no safe way to stop them according to the attending physician.
There are no white knights that can save the GOP from self-destructing. They are stuck with a gaggle of crooks, crazies, and losers as wannabe candidates and they are saddled with a small, disorganized horde of right wing christian extremists as party members. It's not a good formula for success, is it?
The Republican Party is a party of exclusion, not inclusion, and that is not a strategy for winning elections. President Obama's reelection is inevitable.
After his SotU response, I have to ask: what's so great about this guy? It was an aweful speech and he delivered it poorly. He's more yawn inducing than Al Gore and Tim Pawlenty combined. I get that he was the architect of the Bush tax cuts and that he was a proponent of the war in Iraq, and those two things make conservatives all tingly, but he's just another guy who would appeal to the Republican establishment and struggle to win over anybody else.
I believe he was seriously thinking about doing it....
...then he pushed that "right to work" anti- Union thingy, met unanticipated opposition, and then he dreamed he saw Joe Hill last night!
Thus, he has opted to stay out of it for now.
There is 2016 to think about, and after all...
"...tomorrow is another day!"
for him to pin his hopes upon the private sector.
WHY ? is the republican party resorting to be peeping tom's. Is it for the fact they want to watch porno free?
to make women give up their private areas to them is insane. Go rent a porno movie, and leave good weman alone. stay out of peoples rights to live a private life. All of your reasons to block birthcontrol. showes me that this party is now soooooooo far out in left field, that thay are not evenin the ball park anymore. This party wants to bring back hitlers ideas and impose it on americans. Hitler is dead and hell welcomed him. why don/t you join him?
When even *BUSH* (aka- "He who shall not be named") is considered too moderate by todays GOP standards, You HAVE to know the party is WAY too far to the RIGHT -- AND in DEEP DO-DO !
As for HOW far TO the RIGHT the G- O L D- Party has gone. RE: ALL the crap about womens reproductive rights being tossed about -- Its not hard to read between the lines of WHAT they REALLY want.
Its to keep women -- ALL women -- *RIGHT* where they feel she should be:
*A. B. P.* AT home, BAREFOOT, and PREGNANT
I do not know enough about Daniels to comment. Off to find more info. Have fun.
And so...the establishment GOP (what's left of it) must settle for current crop of misfits!
Mitch Daniels= Bush budget director and whose wife who ran off (well, she left him and the kids) then returned.
Jeb Bush = too much negative stuff even though he seems better than we all know who...imagine the uproar since he handed Florida to you know who in 2000.
Both of these guys seem to realize that their own history and family is not something that they want scrutinized on the national stage at this time.
Times are different for the GOP!
Daniels has always had the air of a funeral director trying to sell the most expensive casket possible. His time as Dubya's Director of OMB and president of Eli Lilly are the sorts of things that would cause spasms of smiles in the the re-election campaign offices.
Recently, there was a cable retrospective of Clint Eastwood's work. Maybe Daniels saw it, or maybe he just remembered one of more famous lines from Dirty Harry: "A man's got to know his limitations."
I don't believe even the GOP is that stupid. We all remember Mitch Daniels, don't we?
In January 2001, Daniels accepted President George W. Bush's invitation to serve as director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). He served as Director from January 2001 through June 2003. During Daniels' 29-month tenure in the position, the projected federal budget surplus of $236 billion declined to a $400 billion deficit.
But.... but.... we NEED the man who was Dubya's Budget Director, who told us that the Bush tax cuts would help the economy, and that the Iraq war would cost ONLY $50 billion AT MOST!! This is the kind of genius and vision that will result in American greatness again!!!
I believe that the senior Republican leaders have already given up on this race and are looking to save their own jobs and try to keep the House from going back into the hands of the Democrats. In the mean time I truly believe they are working on a plan to purge the tea party from their ranks and call it a bad idea that went very, very wrong.
Mitch Daniels is about the only one out there that could possibly actually be worse then Santorum. Now THAT is scary. I can't say that I'll miss any of them.
""But we're always looking for that [white] knight in shining armor to come in that's
going to slay Obama with one blow."
Good God. Did the governor of Virginia actually say that out loud? If the hood fits, wear it.
MD: Good one, LOL funny. Funny but sadly true.
well, the fat lady appears to have sung. If Mitch said NO and continues to say NO, it is OVER. He obviously feels BO would beat anyone running against him; just like the last election. America was in love with a black man who looked young, had a lovely family; albeit no history and no political background save 2 years, going against an aging war hero with ample political history and a sense of America's future. No Republican was going to win and it appears Mitch is painfully aware of it. If there is an America in 4 years and IF we have elections in 4 years, maybe Mitch will re-assess. I for one am sorry for this country now; and hopeful we can rebuild a democracy that is both structurally and financially sound once BO is gone.
Oh, this is soo wrong on soo many levels!
I think Obama will win against any Republican running against him. But I don't think it has anything to do with his color, his apparent age or anything except that he is not of the party that lied to the American people to get us into a stupid useless war, spent money like drunken sailors and then trashed the economy.
If there is an America in 4 years and IF we have elections in 4 years, maybe Mitch will re-assess.
And, if he does, there are a whole lot of voters out here who remember the role he played in the last Republican administration. Go ahead, I dare the Republican party to be stupid enough to run Mitch Daniels. As for there being elections in 4 years; I think there was a helluva lot more danger that there wouldn't be any elections under Bush/Cheney and the idiots that put them up for the job in the first place.
IF? If it is what you fear, there is no new sealand either, or china. In that case the earth has won and another species will roam the earth in a few million years. We wont be there to judge anymore, so not really something to be feared. If you believe in a god, you still re-incarnate, but just not as an american. Maybe you would be proud as a dingo. And then the snow is your greatest part of the world god has ever given you on the face of this earth. You might even fear the language of humans. And fear lightning once more.
Funny joke from the past: I am so happy I wasnt born in France. I dont speak a single word of French!
The joke of course is that if you were to be born in France, the people there would have learned you to speak French. It would be an insane remark, because you were after all born in France and learn the tips and trick like a Frechman. You would never speak a word of English and would be proud of France all the way like you now are as an American for the US of A. It really doesnt matter where you are born is what I am saying. The fear with some kind of people even among French about politics and or religion is universal whatever the angle you look at it.
The fear for something that doesnt represent your political or religious views is present in a human brain. But it does not neccessarily be true. Its psychology most of the time.
In this case you express your fear about Mitchell not being in the race and the downfall of the US of A. That fear is present in your brain, as you cannot fathom it otherwise. If nobody in your environment is confirming nor debunk it, it might start a life of its own. What if Mitchell dies in say 40 years from now. Is the US of A still lost? Or is your fear transgressed to another GOP-politician that feeds you your fear of people with other political views than you?
The GOP politician that quotes your political fears and or religious fears the best is getting your vote. Its all about fear of destruction for you.
Nothing at all in your remark is based on development or building a future. Its about fear alone. Ergo: you live your entire life in fear for other people. A psychological trap for yourself. Re-inforced by politicians.
It appears that if he holds the NO RUNNING POSITION there may be a little common sense in his head [OR] there is something in his past or presence that will turn out to be another embarrassment for the GOP.They may have to change the LOGO letters to something new. There are too many wierd ones attached to the letters GOP.