GOP cautiously confident of big gains this fall

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) - The head of the Republican Party on Friday urged members to step up their efforts for the fall elections amid cautious confidence about the GOP winning several governorships and perhaps seizing control of Congress from President Barack Obama's party.

"We can't rest now," GOP chairman Michael Steele told the Republican National Committee. "Everything we've been doing, and all that we must do, needs to be ramped up and maxed out in the next three months."

"Sleep? What's that? We can't sleep until November 3rd," he added.

Three months before the elections, it was all business and little celebration as the 168-member committee met this week to finalize Tampa, Fla., as the 2012 GOP convention city and set the presidential primary calendar that will begin in February of that year.

Unlike in years past, no White House hopefuls showed up. And Republicans attending the meeting were sober about the GOP's prospects in November; a single sign said: "Playing to win in 2010."

Steele did, however, try to rile up the committee and got a standing ovation with calls to fire House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Wearing a red "Fire Pelosi" cap, he announced that the RNC would sponsor a "Fire Pelosi" bus tour this fall.

"Get on the bus," he yelled as a cardboard bus was pushed out onto the stage from which he spoke. It said: "Need a job? Fire Pelosi."

The mostly serious tone of the meeting reflected the challenge Republicans have ahead of them as they seek to take advantage of conditions that at first blush seem ripe for a power shift in Democratic-controlled Washington.

"We've got to start talking about issues," said Pat Brady, the state party chairman in Illinois. "By mid-September, we can't just be the party of 'We aren't the Democrats because people are really fed up."

No one doubts the GOP will win some Democratic-held congressional seats. The president's party nearly always loses seats during the first midterm elections of the presidency. The GOP rank and file also is energized and independent voters are leaning toward Republicans.

The question is whether Republicans have it together enough to gain 40 seats in the House and 10 in the Senate to take control of Capitol Hill - with less money than the Democrats, without the White House bully pulpit and as tea party activists expose a fissure between conservatives and moderates in the GOP.

Although less confident of emerging with control of Congress, committee members almost uniformly said they expected Republicans to have a huge year in this year's 37 gubernatorial races, with many suggesting the GOP will emerge from the elections in control of a comfortable majority of states.

The RNC's internal politics hovered over the meeting.

Steele's 18-month tenure has been rocky, and some committee members privately groused about him. There also was a recent flare-up over spending practices, with the RNC's treasurer accusing Steele of hiding more than $7 million in debt to inflate the party's finances and mislead donors.

After some debate, the committee approved a plan to make the nomination process start in February 2012 despite concerns among some Republicans that it would put their nominee at a disadvantage against President Barack Obama if he seeks re-election.

Under the plan, Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina will be permitted to hold their contests in February, states that divide up delegates proportionally will vote in March and winner-take-all states will go in April.

Two-thirds of the committee needed to approve the plan. Of the 144 votes cast, 103 voted in favor of the plan - enough for adoption. Critics had worried about extending the GOP's process when Obama likely won't face a primary; advocates said the plan would add order to a chaotic process and prevent a national primary.

Afterward, Steele told reporters that the change was necessary because "2008 was just a monster of a primary process."

"You had so many states leapfrogging over each other," Steele said. "We needed to bring some order to the process."

In other business, the RNC's rules committee is recommending that the 2012 convention attendees adopt a requirement that GOP primary candidates sign a pledge promising not to oppose the party's eventual nominee. Anyone who violates the pledge would have to return any money provided by the RNC.

The proposal follows Florida Gov. Charlie Crist's defection in the state's GOP Senate primary; he's now running as an independent against Republican Marco Rubio.