GOP "peace room" to counter attacks from Reid's "war room"

.....DeMint’s work is the outgrowth of last year’s realization among many Senate Republicans that they needed to respond more effectively to criticisms launched from the so-called Democratic “war room,” the communications center Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.) set up after becoming minority leader more than a year ago.

At the beginning of this year, Republican leaders created their own Senate communications and research center, dubbed by some GOP aides the “peace room.” DeMint, in consultation with Senate leaders, has assembled a complementary rapid-response operation for the purpose of mobilizing GOP senators to respond to Democratic broadsides on the floor.
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He said that Sen. Rick Santorum (Pa.) recruited him for the job. Santorum, who as chairman of the Senate Republican Conference heads the communications arm of the Senate Republican leadership, might have been expected to lead a rapid-response operation himself, but he is focused on a difficult reelection race and is trailing his likely opponent by double digits in the polls.
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“Republicans didn’t find themselves in this mess because they couldn’t communicate,” Kirszner said. “It is what they are communicating — things like corruption at home and dangerous incompetence abroad. That is the problem.”
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He said that he hopes that Democrats will become dissuaded from attacking Bush and his party on the Senate floor once they learn to expect that colleagues will respond to their remarks armed with voting records and other research.

http://www.hillnews.com/thehill/export/TheHill/News/Frontpage/032206/news1.html