The American Spectator

Washington Prowler

(Page 2 of 2)

p> MAIN STREET MAVERICKS br> One byproduct of the successful Bush/Cheney campaign fundraising program is the Mavericks group (fundraisers age 40 and under who committed to individually raising $50,000 for BC '04). During inauguration week, a number of Mavericks were in town for the festivities and met on several occasions, including a meeting on Friday afternoon with Bush/Cheney finance chair Jack Oliver and new RNC chairman Ken Mehlman . /p>

The Mavericks are looking to establish some kind of institutional role for the group within the RNC, but one that is more active and influential within the party than other Republican fundraisers. "We don't want to have a title and just fundraise when the party needs the money," says a Maverick. "We want to be active in the party on policy level, on a finance level. We want a seat at the table and to have a voice. It's a bit different from what Ken and the old-line RNC is looking to do, but no one has really tried this, and we have to find a way to make it work."

p>One thing that is clear is that the Maverick group isn't going away any time soon. Because it raised more than $12 million for Bush (more than $10 million than had been initially budgeted by the campaign), Mehlman and the RNC understand that this group is critical to the party's future growth. Mehlman, according to RNC sources, is looking to use the Maverick program to set up a whole new network of fundraising operations across the country that would support national, state and local Republican candidates. Organizationally, "it would be the first of its kind," says an RNC staffer. br> /p>

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