Cong. Tom Tancredo is still excluded from the Southern Republican Leadership Conference (SRLC) being held in March 2006. The "News" webpage (copied below and located at http://www.srlc.org/news.html) on the SRLC's website (www.srlc.org), lists sixteen "potential presidential candidates" as having been invited to speak. Cong. Tancredo has not been invited to speak.

Please contact those involved in planning the SRLC and ask that Cong. Tancredo be invited to speak. The home page of the SRLC's website features a welcome from Tennessee GOP (www.tngop.org) Chairman Bob Davis whose e-mail address is davis@tngop.org. His phone number is (615) 269-4260 (extension 19). His fax number is (615) 269-4261. The SRLC's website lists Republican National Committee member John Ryder as a contact for the SRLC. Here is a link to the SRLC webpage listing him as a contact: http://www.srlc.org/factsheet.html. His phone number is (901) 525-1455. His fax number is (901) 526-4084. Here is a link to his law firm's website: http://www.harrisshelton.com/.

A free fax concerning the SRLC can be sent to Chairman Davis through the use of the NumbersUSA website by using the following link: http://www.numbersusa.com/faxes?ID=4316. If one has not previously faxed via NumbersUSA, one must register with NumbersUSA to begin faxing. Here is a link to the NumbersUSA home page: http://www.numbersusa.com/index.

"The Hotline", a publication associated with the "National Journal" (http://nationaljournal.com/), will conduct a presidential preference straw poll at the SRLC. Please request that Cong. Tancredo's name be included in the straw poll. Here is a link to a "National Journal" webpage permitting feedback: http://nationaljournal.com/help/feedback.htm. Apparently, an e-mail address for "The Hotline" is hotmail@nationaljournal.com.

Thank you.





FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Chris Devaney
November 30, 2005 (615) 269-4260

Hotline to Conduct SRLC Presidential Straw Poll
First Major GOP Gathering Looks Ahead to 2008 Race

(Nashville) – The Tennessee Republican Party is pleased to announce the Hotline, the National Journal’s daily political briefing, will conduct the presidential preference straw poll for the Southern Republican Leadership Conference to be held in Memphis, Tennessee, early next year.

The SRLC, a biennial conference of Republicans from the South, is 100 days away and will be the first major political gathering in the country next year. An added excitement to the 2006 conference is that participants from the Midwest will be attending as well, bringing a total of 26 states represented.

“We are excited about the Hotline playing a part in the SRLC. Our 2008 presidential candidates will have an opportunity to gain exposure to representatives from half of the country. In March, all eyes will be on Tennessee and this straw poll,� said Bob Davis, chairman of the Tennessee Republican Party.

The SRLC is scheduled in Memphis for March 9th-12th and has traditionally featured the country’s top Republican candidates for president. It is attended by key Republicans from each state including state and county party chairs, grassroots leaders, governors, members of Congress, and other elected officials.

The 1998 SRLC straw poll, held in Biloxi, Mississippi, was won by current President George W. Bush. All of the major prospective Republican presidential candidates have been invited to speak at the 2006 SRLC.


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FROM TODAY'S HOTLINE:



The Next Big '08 Thing
In 100 days, The Hotline will conduct a WH '08 straw poll at the Southern Republican Leadership Conference in Memphis, TN. The SRLC (hosted by the TN GOP this year) is a biennial event that attracts hundreds of key party activists, including state and county chairs, grassroots leaders, governors, members of Congress and other elected officials.
-- This year, 26 states, including many in the Midwest, will send delegations. And all major WH '08 GOP candidates have been invited to speak.
-- Since the GOP tends to be a royalist party when choosing WH nominees, straw polls indicate early strengths and weaknesses, more so than on the Dem side. Then TX Gov. Bush's SRLC straw poll victory in '98 was a signal that party elites were warming to him. The dynamics are different with a departing incumbent and such a wide open field. Will Allen's insider 'frontrunner' status be replicated? Will Barbour's southern supporters boost his showing? Does McCain finally show Southern strength? What about Frist or Thompson? We'll find out...
-- As we head into the new year, The Hotline is your exclusive source for news about the conference, including agenda, confirmed speakers and special events.

HOTLINE/SRLC STRAW POLL: First In The Nation

The Hotline in conjunction with the TN GOP today announced it will conduct the authorized presidential preference straw poll at this year's Southern Republican Leadership Conference in Memphis, TN from 3/9-12 in '06. More than 1,000 GOP activists, donors, state party chairs, county chairs, members of Congress, GOP candidates and elected officials are expected to attend. Many Republicans say the SRLCs are primo party confabs, second only to the national conventions during presidential years. Invited potential presidential candidates include:

Sen. George Allen (R-VA)
Gov. Haley Barbour (R-MS)(
Sen. Sam Brownback (R-KS)
Gov. Jeb Bush (R-FL)
Sen. Bill Frist (R-TN)
Ex-Rep. Newt Gingrich (R-GA)
Ex-NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani (R-NY)
Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-NE)
Gov. Mike Huckabee (R-AR)
Sen. John McCain (R-AZ)
Gov. George Pataki (R-NY)
Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R-MN)
Gov. Mitt Romney (R-MA)
Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA)
Gov. Mark Sanford (R-SC)
Ex-Sen. Fred Thompson (R-TN)
Notable other invited guests: WH CoS Andy Card, WH Dep. CoS Karl Rove, RNC Chair Ken Mehlman, CA Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, SD Sen. John Thune and Ex-Rep. J.C. Watts.
States sending delegations: AR, FL, GA, KY, LA, MA, NC, OK, SC, TN, TX, VA, IL, IA, KS, MI, MN, MO, NE, ND, OH, SD, WI, WV
The SRLC rose to prominence in the 1980s as GOPers began to consolidate congressional districts across the South. As Ronald Reagan told the gathering in '84 in GA: "It wasn't that long ago, yes, when the South was a stronghold for the Democratic Party. But from the spirit I sense here, those days are long gone. Today it's the Republican Party that reflects the progress and the vibrance of the new South."
At the '98 straw poll in Biloxi, MS, candidate/speakers included Lamar Alexander, John Aschroft, Dan Quayle and Steve Forbes. All were well-received, but the one man who didn't show -- then TX Gov. George W. Bush -- won the poll, a testament to his early strength among GOP elites. (Bush was busy campaigning in his GOV primary which was the very next week.) Forbes came in second, a reflection of the popularity of his tax message (which Bush later adopted) and his surprising strength among social conservatives. There were many 'Bush-Quayle' signs in the audience; Quayle placed third. Then-Sen. Fred Thompson got 10 percent. The SRLC can also break candidacies: Jack Kemp's speech was so poorly received that it portended the beginning of the end of his candidacy.
The '04 SRLC was held amid the presidential campaign in Miami, FL. NY Gov. George Pataki earned chits for his speech on terrorism, which the AP called the "best received" of all conference speakers. In '02 in Charlotte, NC, VP Cheney was the keynote speaker.
The conference chair this year is TN GOP nat'l committeman John Ryder. TN GOP chair Bob Davis, Jr. and his staff, including exec. dir. Chris Devaney and spec. proj. dir. Anne Locke, are organizing the event, which will be held at the historic Peabody Hotel (Hotline reporting, 11/30).