Republicans apparently made a mistake by not appealing to one, and by having the other. Hotline On Call reports:"White rednecks" who "didn't show up to vote for us" partly cost GOPers their cong. majorities, Rep. Adam Putnam (R-FL) told fellow Republicans today. And Putnam, seeking the post of GOP conference chair, chided ex-Chair J.C. Watts (R-OK) for ruining the conference's ability to serve its members.

Three Republicans in the room independently confirmed to the Hotline the substance and context of Putnam's remarks. But Putnam's chief of staff insists that the remarks were taken out of context.

Examining the 2006 midterms, Putnam blamed the GOP defeat on "the independent vote, the women vote, the suburban vote." He said that "heck, even the white rednecks who go to church on Sunday didn't come out to vote for us."

Putnam used Watts' tenure as chair to contrast his own vision for the conference, saying the GOP needed a "bolder" vision than the type of strategy preferred by Watts. According to one Republican's notes, Putnam said that "JC Watts ruined the Conference by removing the member services functions that it offered until 1998" by turning it into only a communications and press vehicle. According to two Republicans, Putnam took the same swat at Watts during a Republican Study Conference session yesterday.

A Watts associate confirmed that he had learned of Putnam's comments and that he was angered by them. Watts was not immediately available to comment. I don't care what the context of the remarks were. Saying that you need to appeal more to "white rednecks" while simultaneously deriding the only prominent African-American member of your caucus of the past three decades doesn't look good. But I bet Putnam would work well with Trent Lott if he achieves his leadership post.

Man, am I digging taking out all of the Republican "moderates." It is funny how the progressive movement and the conservative movement have worked in tandem to make the Republican Party as extreme and conservative as possible. The good thing is that even though Democrats are now in power, this is an alliance that will continue through 2008. As Republicans continue to primary every "moderate" in their own midst, we will continue to heavily target and knock off every "moderate" Republican currently in federal office if they survive the primary. And so the process of trapping Republicans in their own extreme base continues unabated.

Memo to Republican moderates: join the Democratic caucus, or prepare for imminent defeat. Hotline On Call also has more on this phenomenon.