"Better Umbrella" or "Big Tent"

[Bapopik at AOL.COM]

I went to a year-end party at the Metropolitan Republican Club last night.  
Bill Weld (candidate for NYS governor) was there, and he quoted someone (I  
forget who) as saying that the Republican party was a "better umbrella."
...
The Republican Party used to be a "big tent" and now it's a "better  
umbrella"? Maybe someone can look up "umbrella" and "Republican Party" on  FACTIVA. 
Did Christine Whitman coin this?
...
OT: I hope the Republican Party is not one of those cheap $3 Made in China  
umbrellas that fall apart on the first gust of wind. I hate those  umbrellas.
...
OT: The NY Times article on Weld and Decker College that ran last Saturday  
was devastating, IMHO.
...
OT: The wife of candidate Dr. Joel Zinberg was there. I asked if he was  
running again, and she said "Not if he's going to be married to me!" This was  the 
best Republican chance in Manhattan. The seat had been held within the last  
ten years, although registrations are 2-1 against. The incumbent was  
term-limited. The incumbent's young, inexperienced staffer (who looks  like a teenage 
intern) was running against Zinberg--who's both a doctor and a  lawyer. 
Zinberg was endorsed by the Citizens Union, NY Times, NY Post, NY Daily  News, NY 
Sun, and just about everybody. Lappin brought an army of union support  and beat 
Zinberg, 65%-35%. His wife said that people who had known the doctor  for 
fifteen years said that they "just couldn't vote Republican." Asked if they  were 
voting for Ferrer over Bloomberg, they said, "Well, Bloomberg's not really  
Republican." An interesting conversation.
...
...
 
_Christine Whitman, It's My Party Too: Moderates'  Manifesto_ 
(http://www.google.com/url?sa=U&start=1&q=http://www.radicalmiddle.com/x_whitman.htm&e=912)   
    
Our goal, she urges, should be to create a political  party that’s not so 
much a Big Tent (with its leveling and  collectivist connotations) as a Big 
Umbrella ...
www.radicalmiddle.com/x_whitman.htm -  23k - _Cached_ 
(http://64.233.161.104/search?q=cache:7RTTAq2KFQsJ:www.radicalmiddle.com/x_whitman.htm+"big+tent"+and+
umbrella+and+republican+party&hl=en&start=1&ie=UTF-8)  - _Similar pages_ 
(http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&q=related:www.radicalmiddle.com/x_
whitman.htm) 
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_Bookreporter.com - IT'S MY PARTY TOO by Christine Todd  Whitman_ 
(http://www.google.com/url?sa=U&start=2&q=http://www.bookreporter.com/reviews2/1594200408.
asp&e=912)       
In place of the old political image of a party  as a "big tent," she presents 
a down-home alternative --- the GOP  as an umbrella, in which all Republicans 
...
www.bookreporter.com/reviews2/1594200408.asp - 18k -  _Cached_ 
(http://64.233.161.104/search?q=cache:yJpJ2hfhG0gJ:www.bookreporter.com/reviews2/1594200408.a
sp+"big+tent"+and+umbrella+and+republican+party&hl=en&start=2&ie=UTF-8)  - .
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_Loose Lips_ 
(http://www.google.com/url?sa=U&start=15&q=http://www.scpronet.com/point/9509/lips.html&e=912)      ... the Republican Party  should be a "big 
tent" open to different philosophies.  ... a big Republican tent is beginning 
to look more  like a "little umbrella. ...
www.scpronet.com/point/9509/lips.html - 14k -  _Cached_ 
(http://64.233.187.104/search?q=cache:WASyWms_K-AJ:www.scpronet.com/point/9509/lips.html+"big+tent"+
and+umbrella+and+republican+party&hl=en&start=15&ie=UTF-8)  - _Similar pages_ 
(http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&q=related:www.scpronet.com/po
int/9509/lips.html)