Steele to Republicans Who Support Obama: ‘We’ll Come After You’

ABC News’ Rick Klein reports: RNC Chairman Michael Steelehas beenendorsing a “big tent” approach to recruiting candidates for 2010, emphasizing the need to find candidates who fit the needs of individual districts.

But on ABCNews.com’s “Top Line” today, Steele made clear there are limits to how far candidates can push the party’s limits.

Asked if he’d be comfortable with Republican candidates in 2010 who supported President Obama’s stimulus package, or his push to overhaul health care, Steele said:

“Well I’m gonna tell you honestly, that’s where the line gets a little bit tricky. And you saw in the House and in the Senate that there are ramifications, because that goes against a core principle. And trust me, you’re assuming that people want to have bloated debt, government expenditures and growth into their lives — they don’t. That’s a talking point out of the DNC.”

“People aren’t buying that. So candidates who live in moderate to slightly liberal districts have got to walk a little bit carefully here, because you do not want to put yourself in a position where you’re crossing that line on conservative principles, fiscal principles, because we’ll come after you,” Steele continued.

“You’re gonna find yourself in a very tough hole if you’re arguing for the president’s stimulus plan or Nancy Pelosi’s health plan. There’s no justification for growing the size of government the way this administration and this Congress wants to do it.”

Steele didn’t mention any candidates by name. But the comments could be interpreted as a warning shot aimed at Republicans who have voiced support for the stimulus — like Gov. Charlie Crist, R-Fla., who’s running for governor next year in a competitive primary — or who, like Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, are supporting health care reform efforts.

Crist told CNN earlier this week that he never endorsed the stimulus package, and that he voiced support for it only because he was simply trying to get the best deal for Florida, given that the stimulus was headed for passage in Washington. However, given Crist’s sharing a stage with President Obama to trumpet the stimulus package and his publicly stated support for it, it will no doubt continue to dog him in his competitive primary against Marco Rubio no matter how strenuously he attempts to walk it back.

Steele also disputed the contention by White House senior adviser David Axelrod that 2009 wasn’t a referendum on the president’s policies, but that 2010 will be.

“You have the president going into New Jersey four times, and you’re going to then sit back after we kick your butt and say, ‘Well, no, this had nothing to do with the president?’ Well why was he there?” Steele said.

“And you can’t sit back at the same time and say … the only reason we’re losing is because our base isn’t excited so pass this horrendous health care bill. And that will excite them? They’re not excited because they’re fearful that you’re going to pass this horrendous health care bill because this is not the change that they voted for. They’ve missed that point.”

“So don’t get in front of the White House lawn and give me this sort of disingenuous, ‘Oh well, you know, ’09 isn’t about the president, 2010 is going to be about passing our agenda and that way people will be excited again.’ They’re not excited because they’re fearful of what it is you want to pass.”

Watch our full interview withthe RNC chairmanHERE.

UPDATE: The Democratic National Committee jumped on the interview after it aired, saying that Steele is tying himself to “extremist” elements inside the Republican Party:

“With today's threat to 'come after' moderate Republicans or those that would work for bipartisan solutions, it's clear the Michael Steele and the Republican party are ready to hand over the keys of the GOP to Michele Bachmann, Glenn Beck and the rest of the extremist tea party crowd,” DNC spokesman Hari Sevugan said in a statement.

“And in establishing a policy of purging moderates, the Republicans have committed themselves to being an extreme ideological party that will only turn-off independent voters and further marginalize an already isolated party going into 2010 and beyond.”

What about Joe? Much work remains for Dems after Finance vote

ABC’s Z. Byron Wolf reports:

All eyes are on the Senate Finance Committee this morning, where there have not yet been any surprises.

But Republicans are circulating snippets from an interview conducted by Don Imus of Sen. Joe Lieberman, the Independent from Connecticut who caucuses with Democrats. He's one of the 60 votes Democrats will need to pass a sweeping reform bill.

In a reminder that once the Finance Committee passes its bill today, there is still a very long road for health reform, Lieberman told Imus he doesn't support the Baucus bill and he thinks President Obama is trying to do too much.

“I've been saying for a couple of months now that I'm concerned, that I'm concerned that there's a danger that we're trying to do too much here and the president is trying to do two good things. But doing them at once in the middle of a recession may be hard to pull off,” Lieberman said, according to a transcript circulated by Republicans.

He went on: “And the two good things are to bend the cost of health care down by changing a lot of the ways health care is delivered. The second thing is to cover some of the people, millions of people, who are not covered with insurance. So, this puts us in the position where you say, on the one hand, what we're about to do in adopting health care reform will, will reduce the cost of health insurance from what it would otherwise be and the other hand you say, oh incidentally, we're going to raise your taxes or cut your Medicare to the tune of $900 billion or a trillion. And people are beginning to think that maybe they'd do better holding on to what they have now.”

Lieberman's statement underscore the perilous situation for Democrats who will take the Baucus bill and try to marry it with what the HELP Committee passed in July. They will have to attract Lieberman's vote on one end of the spectrum. And only the votes of more liberal senators who think the Baucus bill does not go far enough toward universal coverage. Only one Democrat, Sen. Roland Burris of Illinois, has said he won't vote for a bill that lacks a public option.

“The inclusion of a public option as a central component to any healthcare reform legislation is the only way to create meaningful competition with the insurance companies, and in turn, bring down costs and improve quality of care for the people of Illinois and all Americans,” said Burris on the Senate floor recently.

But other liberals, like Sens. John Kerry of Massachusetts and Jay Rockefeller of West Virginia have pledged to do their best to force a public option and affordability votes on the Senate floor.

It's hard to square those pledges with changes to mollify Lieberman and other moderates, who opposes a public option.

Wiggle room on the public option could come in the form of wordplay. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, whose job it will be to marry the HELP and Baucus Finance Committee bills, has said there are different variations of a public option, even suggesting that the series of non-governmental co-ops envisioned by the Baucus bill could substitute for the public option.

But where it comes to affordability for people who currently have health insurance, there is less wiggle room. And there is also the undeniable fact that the Baucus bill does not insure every American.

“The bill before us still falls short of what people need and what people expect from us,” said Rockefeller during today's Finance Committee markup.

“It is not enough,” Rockefeller said. “Universal coverage has always been the goal”

He'll have to swallow his reservations and support the Baucus bill in the committee vote later today if he wants to make changes on the Senate floor in the future.

DeMint Trip to Honduras Back On? Travel Authorized after Senate Leadership Intervenes

ABC News' Viviana Hurtado reports: Senator Jim DeMint’s trip to Honduras, which was blocked by Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chair John Kerry (D-MA), is back on,

A senior DeMint staffer tells ABC News, but only after Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) became involved. The Kentucky lawmaker used his leadership position to authorize DeMint’s trip through the Department of Defense, and not the State Department, which is customary for Senate overseas travel.

DeMint who supports the de facto government, accuses the Democrats of “playing politics.” In a statement, the South Carolina Republican says, “These bullying tactics by the Obama administration and Senator Kerry must stop, and we must be allowed to get to the truth in Honduras. Not a single U.S. Senator has traveled to Honduras to learn the facts on the ground. And the Obama administration won't allow Honduran officials or even businessmen to come to the U.S., either. While this administration has failed to act decisively in Afghanistan, it is has no problem cracking down on a democratic ally and one of the poorest nations in Latin America.”

Senators Kerry and DeMint are most recently at odds over the nomination of Arturo Valenzuela to be the next Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere affairs and Tom Shannon, the current Assistant Secretary and nominee to be Ambassador to Brazil. In the case of Valenzuela, DeMint was not pleased with what he interpreted as Valenzuela’s lack of knowledge about the Honduran crisis that led to the June ouster of President Manuel Zelaya, who the Obama Administration backs. Valenzuela, who served the Clinton Administration and has taught politics at Duke and Georgetown universities, is considered an authority in Latin American politics.

Senator Kerry gives DeMint “an A for ‘audacity.’” In a statement, the senior Senator from Massachusetts says, “Thanks to his intransigence, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee can’t even hold hearings on our policy in Central and South America. Sen. DeMint is blocking the nominations of two key officials who will implement President Obama’s foreign policy in the Western Hemisphere.” The Senator continues, “When Senator DeMint lifts these holds and allows these individuals to receive an up or down vote on the Senate floor, the Committee will approve his travel to Honduras, a country that is in the middle of delicate, political crisis.”

Senator DeMint is scheduled to travel to Honduras on Friday as the head of a Congressional delegation that includes: Rep. Aaron Schock (R-IL), Rep. Doug Lamborn (R-CO), and Rep. Peter Roskam (R-IL) to meet with the de facto President Roberto Micheletti and some Honduran lawmakers.

ABC News' Kirit Radia contributed to this report.

Bill Clinton Says Right-Wing Conspiracy Now After President Obama

ABC News' Kristina Wong reports: Former President Bill Clinton says the right-wing conspiracy that attacked him during his presidency now is after President Obama.

When asked whether the “vast right-wing conspiracy” is still present today, the former president answered without hesitation, “Oh you bet.”

“It's not as strong as it was because America has changed demographically, but it's as virulent as it was,” Clinton said today on NBC's “Meet the Press.”

“Right-wing conspiracy” was the term used by former first lady Hillary Clinton to describe the tactics her husband's political enemies used to attack his presidency after revelations of his affair with Monica Lewinski.

“I mean they may be hurting President Obama,” Bill Clinton said of the current attacks. “They can take his numbers down, they can run his opposition up, but fundamentally he and his team have a positive agenda for America. Their agenda seems to be wanting him to fail, and that's not a good prescription for a good America.

“I mean, they're saying things about him just like when they accused me of murder and all this stuff they did, but it's not really good for the Republicans or the country, what's going on now,” Clinton said.

Repeat of 1994?

When asked to compare his administration's unsuccessful attempt at health care reform to President Obama's current push, Clinton said the president has been at a “terrible disadvantage in the law-making phase.”

“He has a better Congress than I did. And he doesn't have a committee chairman that I had demanding that he present a bill,” Clinton said. “So [Obama] said, 'OK, I'll let you develop the bill.' Well, while they're developing the bill, he's set out certain principles and he is vulnerable to whatever anybody wants to say about any of the bills moving through Congress — whether that's his position or not.”

But, Clinton said, the current situation will not lead to a “repeat of 1994”, when Democrats lost 15 seats in the House for the first time in 40 years, crippling progress on his administration's agenda.

“There's no way they can make it that bad, for several reasons,” Clinton said.

For one, he said, “The country is more diverse and interested in positive action.

“Number two,” he added, “they've seen this movie before, because they've had eight years under President Bush, when the Republicans finally had the whole government, and they know the results were bad.

“Number three, the Democrats haven't taken on the gun lobby like I did and they took 15 of our members out … so whatever happens, it will be manageable for the president,” Clinton said.

Hillary 2012?

Clinton said he was content with his current life in the non-governmentalsector.

“I love what I do now,” he said. “And while I can't touch as many lives and things as I did as president, the things I do focus on, we can have a huge impact on,” he said.

Asked whether his wife, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, would run for president again, he chuckled.

“That's up to her,” he said. “We're not getting any younger. But I'm proud of what she's doing now. I think she's doing a great job.

“I think it's pretty thrilling that she and the president just have established the relationship they have, and I think it's a good argument for reconciliation and remembering the good things for all the rest of us.”

Bill Clinton Says Right-Wing Conspiracy Now After President Obama

ABC News' Kristina Wong reports: Former President Bill Clinton says the right-wing conspiracy that attacked him during his presidency now is after President Obama.

When asked whether the “vast right-wing conspiracy” is still present today, the former president answered without hesitation, “Oh you bet.”

“It's not as strong as it was because America has changed demographically, but it's as virulent as it was,” Clinton said today on NBC's “Meet the Press.”

“Right-wing conspiracy” was the term used by former first lady Hillary Clinton to describe the tactics her husband's political enemies used to attack his presidency after revelations of his affair with Monica Lewinski.

“I mean they may be hurting President Obama,” Bill Clinton said of the current attacks. “They can take his numbers down, they can run his opposition up, but fundamentally he and his team have a positive agenda for America. Their agenda seems to be wanting him to fail, and that's not a good prescription for a good America.

“I mean, they're saying things about him just like when they accused me of murder and all this stuff they did, but it's not really good for the Republicans or the country, what's going on now,” Clinton said.

Repeat of 1994?

When asked to compare his administration's unsuccessful attempt at health care reform to President Obama's current push, Clinton said the president has been at a “terrible disadvantage in the law-making phase.”

“He has a better Congress than I did. And he doesn't have a committee chairman that I had demanding that he present a bill,” Clinton said. “So [Obama] said, 'OK, I'll let you develop the bill.' Well, while they're developing the bill, he's set out certain principles and he is vulnerable to whatever anybody wants to say about any of the bills moving through Congress — whether that's his position or not.”

But, Clinton said, the current situation will not lead to a “repeat of 1994”, when Democrats lost 15 seats in the House for the first time in 40 years, crippling progress on his administration's agenda.

“There's no way they can make it that bad, for several reasons,” Clinton said.

For one, he said, “The country is more diverse and interested in positive action.

“Number two,” he added, “they've seen this movie before, because they've had eight years under President Bush, when the Republicans finally had the whole government, and they know the results were bad.

“Number three, the Democrats haven't taken on the gun lobby like I did and they took 15 of our members out … so whatever happens, it will be manageable for the president,” Clinton said.

Hillary 2012?

Clinton said he was content with his current life in the non-governmentalsector.

“I love what I do now,” he said. “And while I can't touch as many lives and things as I did as president, the things I do focus on, we can have a huge impact on,” he said.

Asked whether his wife, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, would run for president again, he chuckled.

“That's up to her,” he said. “We're not getting any younger. But I'm proud of what she's doing now. I think she's doing a great job.

“I think it's pretty thrilling that she and the president just have established the relationship they have, and I think it's a good argument for reconciliation and remembering the good things for all the rest of us.”

FAA: Flights at Ronald Reagan Airport Halted for 20 Minutes After Reports of Shots

ABC News' Lisa Stark reports: The Federal Aviation Administration confirmed to ABC News that flights departing from the Washington D.C. Ronald Reagan National Airport were stopped for 20 minutes as a precautionary measure after media reports of shots fired by the Coast Guard on the Potomac River.

FAA officials say 17 outbound flights were affected but arrivals were not impacted. Departures stopped at around 10:08 a.m. and resumed at 10:29 a.m.

The Coast Guard said no shots were fired, as reported by some media outlets around 10:00 a.m., and that it was just undergoing a routine exercise.

After ‘Considerable Thought,’ Specter Supports Holder

ABC News’ Ariane de Vogue reports: Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., the ranking minority member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, has decided to publicly express his support for Attorney General-designate Eric Holder in advance of the committee vote Wednesday to give his Republican colleagues “some notice as to my thinking on the subject.”

In a press conference today, Specter said that after “considerable thought” and “analyzing a lot of factors,” he decided to support Holder despite concerns about some of the actions Holder took as deputy attorney general in the Clinton administration.

In particular, Specter took issue with Holder’s role in the controversial Clinton pardon of financial fugitive Marc Rich in 2001. Holder had made a recommendation, “neutral-leaning-positive” to the White House, going against the recommendation of the Department of Justice’s pardon attorney.

“Mr. Holder was candid in conceding, with respect to the Rich pardon, that he made a mistake,” said Specter.

Specter added he also met with Holder privately and discussed the concern of some of his Republican colleagues that Holder should publicly address whether he would prosecute military or intelligence officials who had engaged in enhanced interrogation practices against detainees.

“I do think that President Obama has the right approach when he said that it is preferable not to look backwards but to look forwards,” Specter said. “If every administration started to re-examine what every prior administration did, there would be no end to it. This is not Latin America.”