Battle of New Orleans
At the recent Southern Republican Leadership Conference in New
Orleans, where the stars were supposed to be the likes of former
Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, the real stars were the
behind-the-scenes players attempting to build momentum for their
candidates leading into the 2010 and 2012 election cycles.
While Mitt Romney had his full organization out
front trying to buy up the straw poll event, operatives for
Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, Rep. Ron
Paul, and former Arkansas Gov. Mike
Huckabee were all actively working the main floor event
and holding meetings with interested groups.
The big target: fundraisers and bundlers from the Bush 2004 and
McCain 2008 presidential campaigns. Perhaps under the radar — a
political consultant claiming to represent former Utah governor and
current Obama administration ambassador to China Jon
Huntsman quietly encouraging Bush donors to “keep their
powder dry” until Huntsman had a chance to consider his viability
as a presidential candidate.
Also in play: several political consultants claiming ties to
Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour, who spoke at the
event.
Barbour hasn’t decided on his potential run for the presidency
in 2012, though staff members say that his administration has taken
on the feel of one that is focused on other things.
Another candidate who fell flat in the Big Easy? Former House
Speaker Newt Gingrich, who, some advisers say,
doesn’t believe the Tea Party movement is a good thing for the
Republican Party.
Up River With DeMint
Sen. Jim DeMint has done more than just about
any other elected official in Washington, except perhaps President
Barack Obama, to improve the political fortunes of
conservative Republicans, particularly with his endorsement of
state and federal candidates.
He was an early adopter of Florida’s Marco
Rubio, and was influential in driving conservatives away
from established incumbents, like Sen. Robert
Bennett of Utah, and candidates, like Indiana’s former
Sen. Dan Coats and former Interior secretary and
Colorado senate candidate Gale Norton.
“In some cases [DeMint] has probably pushed some of these
candidates further to the right than they are comfortable with, but
more squarely where they need to be if they succeed in the
primaries,” says a Washington-based consultant. “No one would
accuse Gale Norton of being a conservative, but the ads she has
been running were far more aggressive than anything you would have
expected from her. I think DeMint’s shadow in all these races has
had an impact.”
So the question follows: beyond helping the movement, why is
DeMint injecting himself into these races and sometimes poking
colleagues in the eye? Some believe DeMint’s endgame is the
eventual play for Senate Republican Leader Mitch
McConnell’s job or at the least creating a conservative
caucus in the Senate that, should Republicans win back the body,
would have the votes to push policies and politics toward
conservative principles.
“If nothing else, Jim DeMint has shown he’s more about principle
than whipping the votes for a compromise piece of legislation with
Democrats,” says a Senate Republican leadership aide. “He’s
supporting men and women who hold his view and who have indicated
they will fight for conservative principles. If he has seven or
eight of those types lined up, and Republicans hold a narrow
majority, those votes become increasingly important.”
Ironically, some say DeMint is using a strategy similar to the
one set up by senators John McCain and
Lindsey Graham five years ago, when they created a
loose-knit “Gang of 14” to block Sen. Bill Frist
from using the “nuclear option” to push through Bush administration
federal court nominees.
“The difference,” says another Senate leadership aide, “is that
DeMint wouldn’t be selling conservatives down the river.”
Presidential Slice
President Barack Obama likes his schedule to be
flexible enough for him to get in at least one weekend round of
golf if he so chooses, but some senior White House advisers think
that he should be focusing more on doing the work of a sitting
president.
“It doesn’t look good that he goes on vacation in North Carolina
two days after the [British Petroleum] oil spill takes place,” says
a former Obama campaign adviser. “So all weekend, you have stories
about the Obamas in North Carolina playing golf and having fun, and
meanwhile, no one knows what the federal government is doing to
help with the oil spill.”
According to White House sources, Obama considered golf outings
at least twice more in the wake of the spill and was advised not to
“overplay” the game.
“At least with basketball, he can do it on the White House
grounds,” says a current Democrat political consultant, who advises
the White House on media matters. “Golf just tends to make you look
detached, and now a lot of people connect it simply to Tiger Woods,
and the president doesn’t need to be tied to that at all.”
Tory Centered
Some American conservatives were not surprised that British
Conservative Party leader David Cameron hired
Obama campaign advisers, led by former White House communications
adviser Anita Dunn.
“Ever since Cameron began gaining traction politically by moving
the Conservative Party to the left on issues like global warming,
he’s seen himself as more of a centrist player,” says a member of
Cameron’s shadow cabinet. “The question is whether he will feel
comfortable moving to the right should he gain the prime minister’s
job.” (At press time Cameron was leading in the polls nationally
over Liberal Democrat Nicholas Clegg and Labour
prime minister Gordon Brown.)
Cameron purportedly got the idea to “repackage” the Conservative
Party as a more appealing party to women and young people from
Newt Gingrich and his ideas to “repackage” the
Republican Party to allow for policy discussions around such issues
global warming and green politics.
Obscured Transparency
Rep. Mike Quigley (D-IL) has been walking the
point on federal legislation that would impose new requirements on
lobbyists, but it’s the Obama White House that is really driving
the issue. The Transparency in Government Act would require members
of Congress to detail personal financial data more clearly, but
also require lobbying filings to be more timely. More important, it
would change the definition of what a “lobbyist” is and set new
limits on who lobbyists meet with and when.
“It’s really all about locking the current system in place in a
way that gives Democrats the advantage over Republicans,” says one
House Republican leadership staffer. “Just as things are beginning
to pivot away from Democrats, all of a sudden, they get religion on
transparency in government, something that this Democratic
leadership fought tooth and nail against for months. This has been
the least transparent Congress and the least transparent
administration in history.”
Obama political advisers don’t doubt that they can rival if not
exceed Obama’s 2008 fundraising for his re-election campaign in
2012, but they want to limit Republicans’ ability to match them,
particularly with the Supreme Court ruling in Citizens United which
changed the way corporations and others could support political
activity in the run-ups to elections.
