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Monitor Breakfast
Selected quotations from a Monitor breakfast with Marc Racicot
Marc Racicot, the former governor of Montana, is the chairman of the Republican National Committee.
On what surprised him about the Republican win in the election:
"I believed that it was possible. I couldn't have been inspired as I was, I don't think anyone of us could have been as inspired as we were or work as hard as we did, if we didn't believe it was possible.
"I thought it was more possible to hold onto a majority in the House than it was to regain the Senate. I thought that was going to be very difficult. But I still thought it was possible. The governors' [races] surprised me. I thought we were going to face many more challenges than we faced and there might be a larger realignment because we had had so many, so long and having been one of them I know you have a shelf life and it just expires some times."
On the largest risk the Republican party faces as a result of its midterm election win:
"I think that the American people gave us an opportunity to serve. Because we asked for it and we indicated we wanted to get things done. I think the largest risk that we would take is to become engaged in inaction.
"I think one of the central differences in how the parties approached this election was the psychological dynamic that seemed to dominate, it seemed to me, the different approaches. We set about to be successful. We didn't set about to avoid defeat ...
"The explanation for why [President Bush] did what he did was very simple. And, that is, he knows he has a certain amount of time that the American people have given him to serve, he wants to get things done. So he set about to ask the American people to enable us to be able to do that.
"I think the largest risk we face is inaction, not continuing to work in bipartisan way. Because I think no matter what the issue the American people will understand if you are trying hard, if you are acting in good faith, if you are proceeding with good sense, when you admit your mistakes, you don't have to be right every time. You just have to be operating in a way that makes sense to them ...
"So there are probably some issues that have incendiary quality to them, as you mentioned, frankly I have not contemplated that there is any singular issue that poses a significant risk. I think the most significant thing we have to be concerned about is inaction or lack of bipartisanship."
On whether the election results constitute a mandate for Republicans:
"I know the traditional discussion here about mandates. I have always thought that was rather fanciful to be honest with you and a bit presumptuous to somehow suggest that you have received something beyond your constitutional mandate. And I think it is dangerous to talk in those terms because it steals away the opportunity to work with others, and to do so in a bipartisan way.
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