Posted on 08/21/2010 7:13:40 AM PDT by Tom D.
The Most Powerful Republican in Politics
By JIM VANDEHEI & ANDY BARR & KENNETH P. VOGEL
Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour is the most powerful Republican in American politics at least for the next three months.
Barbour, who runs the Republican Governors Association, has more money to spend on the 2010 elections $40 million than any other GOP leader around. And in private, numerous Republicans describe Barbour as the de facto chairman of the party.
Its not just because he controls the RGA kitty but, rather, because he has close relationships with everyone who matters in national GOP politics operatives like Karl Rove, Ed Gillespie and other top Republicans running or raising cash for a network of outside political groups. Together, these groups are essential to Republican hopes of regaining power because Democrats are cleaning their clocks through more traditional fundraising efforts.
The political class, in particular, is consumed with Barbours behind-the-scenes endeavors this week, with the $1 million he got from Rupert Murdochs News Corp.
Yet the reality is that Barbour has been uniquely adept at leveraging concerns about President Barack Obama into huge contributions from many others. Bob Perry, the Texas businessman who funded the Swift boat attacks in the 2004 campaigns, has given more than twice as much as News Corp.
Barbours stature has grown at the expense of cash-strapped, gaffe-prone Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele, and he has funded his various efforts by tapping into broad dissatisfaction with Steele at one point, Barbour complained to donors that he needs to raise even more money because Steele is stumbling. This past quarter, Barbours RGA actually matched the Republican National Committee in fundraising, something that hasnt been done in at least five years and probably much longer, according to a POLITICO analysis.
Hes clearly the top political strategist and political operative of his generation, said Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.), a former RNC chief of staff. He is without peer when he is raising money.
At the moment, Barbours power is derived from his ability to tilt gubernatorial and statehouse races with his RGA funds. These races might not be as sexy as some of the star-studded races for Senate or as dramatic as the battle for control of the House. Yet they could prove even more important over the long haul because they will create the next generation of Republican leaders and set the terms for the decennial redrawing of House seats.
"You never had the sense that Haley Barbour didn't have control of the situation," Colorado GOP Chairman Dick Wadhams told POLITICO. "In terms of his political impact, governorships in 2010 are even more important than most cycles because of the redistricting that will occur in 2011 for 2012 and beyond. So the fact that he's raised massive amounts of money at the RGA to help elect Republican governors will have an impact way beyond the 2010 election."
Barbours clout is also derived from his serious interest in running for president in 2012, a point he is making clear in private conversations. His logic, one adviser told POLITICO, is simple: When he surveys what most Republicans consider to be a weak field, he sees no reason he couldnt easily beat them. Hes a better strategist and fundraiser than any other candidate currently considering running and just as good on television and in debates, his thinking goes.
When you look at the five or six factors needed to run a national campaign, there is a lot of strength there, said GOP operative Rob Collins.
But the obstacles to a Barbour candidacy are substantial. A portly Southern conservative who represented tobacco firms and made millions building a lobbying firm isnt the ideal profile for a Republican nominee in this or any political environment. In recent polls, Barbour is stuck in low single digits, way behind Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee and Sarah Palin.
At least one close friend lobbied him strongly to give up on considering a presidential run for this reason but walked away certain he made no progress in swaying Barbour.
A year ago, he was saying no way, but now hes saying to [donors and operatives] to keep their powder dry, another friend said.
Barbour is assembling an elaborate fundraising operation beyond the RGA that would prove essential if he were to run. There is talk in GOP circles that with all the money shifting between the RGA and state parties and Barbour moving so much cash through his own separate operations he runs the risk of attracting legal challenges after the 2010 race. For now, though, hes just attracting a lot of cash.
Barbour operates a federal political action committee, as well as PACs in Georgia and Mississippi, which have raised $800,000 since the beginning of last year.
The Georgia PAC which, like the RGA, can accept unlimited corporate and individual contributions that the RNC and other federal committees cannot has become Barbours main personal fundraising vehicle.
It hosted a June fundraiser in adjoining hot spots in Washingtons upscale Glover Park neighborhood that pulled in about $70,000 but was perhaps more significant as a marker of fundraising potential. The host committee included Altria (formerly Philip Morris) and Motorola, which have contributed $655,000 to Barbours RGA, as well as a raft of savvy politicos whose services will be coveted by contenders for the 2012 GOP presidential nomination.
Among them were media strategist Phil Musser and election lawyer Michael Toner both of whom have expressed early allegiance to Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, considered a likely 2012 candidate as well as Phil Cox, who ran Bob McDonnell's successful campaign for governor of Virginia, and Tony Feather, a top Republican robocall operative.
Barbour also held a March fundraiser for the Georgia PAC in Las Vegas, where donors who contributed at least $5,000 got to take a few laps in a stock car around the track at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, then attend a cocktail party with Barbour and casino magnate Steve Wynn. His resort contributed more than $5,600 worth of food, beverage and venue to the PAC and also $50,000 to Barbours RGA this cycle.
The Barbour approach is hardly original. Romney, in the run-up to his presidential bid in 2008, used both the RGA, which he chaired in 2006, and a network of state-based PACs to help form the basis of a highly successful national fundraising operation.
Barbour has a huge advantage over Republicans in Washington when it comes to raising money. The RGA is a 527 organization, which unlike the RNC or the federal PACs, can raise money in unlimited sums from individuals and corporations, the latter of which have been barred since 2002 from giving to party committees. Thats enabled drug makers and energy companies, for example, to give millions to Barbours RGA.
Many of Barbours most loyal donors have followed him throughout his career, starting from his days as a political operative for Ronald Reagan, through his time as a lobbyist and then RNC chairman and now as head of the RGA and governor of Mississippi.
He has a number of prolific fundraisers and operatives in his orbit, including Fred Malek, himself an influential party presence and one of the most sought supporters for any national Republican. Barbour brought Malek over to the RGA to help expand the associations executive roundtable, membership of which comes with a minimum $25,000 donation.
Together, Malek and Barbour have grown the membership of the RGAs executive roundtable from 15 members to more than 500, each of whom is tasked with bringing more funds into the RGA.
The success of any fundraiser is having a good product to sell and selling it in a convincing and disciplined way, said Malek.
John McCain plucked Malek to serve as co-chairman of his national finance committee during his 2008 run for president, and soon after coming to the RGA he and Barbour set their sights on some of the same donors who gave big to McCain and the RNC in 2008 but were not active with the RGA.
First, you go to the low hanging fruit, the people you know. And you work from there, Malek said of how he and Barbour began targeting donors. You look at who were the big donors to McCain and the RNC victory committee. Who are the people you know who had interest in Republican politics?
Then, Malek said, Barbour hit the phones.
You have to have the discipline to make the calls, he said. You have to grind it out and make it a priority. (See "Mojitos to Blame for Pool Gaffe")
And once he makes the call, Barbour is well-known as someone who gets what he wants. Chris Henick, a former RGA executive director who has known Barbour for decades, said the governor doesnt have any trepidation when it comes to asking for money.
He knows the importance of money in politics first and foremost, Henick said.
He's a fine asset, but let's get real: no Congressman is going to win the nod. Not mine, not yours, not Ryan. it's not going to happen.
He need to run for Senate or Governor. Then he'll be a realistic choice.
I ain't the one writing reality's script, my FRiend. It may suck, but it's the way it is.
When the Dems told Politico what to write: ‘he runs the risk of attracting legal challenges after the 2010 race.’
Of course a Politico article is propaganda.
Barbour is a very good man.
I guess you're in the minority then.
Sarah Palin in Searchlight, Nevada, March 27, 2010
No chance. Period.
Slow ticket sales force Palin appearance to smaller room Originally booked for the 2,900 seat Moran Theatre, she will now speak in the 600-seat Terry Theatre.
http://jacksonville.com/news/politics/2010-08-17/story/venue-change-palin-appearance
Trying to make it look packed...and call it 'sold out' spin spin spin
Put him in as the Carl Rove on a Palin/Jindal ticket. The article is right on the effect of tobacco/lobbying background on the public in general.
Nonsense. If that is the way it is, how did we get a community organizer with two years in the Senate as our President? The only other sitting senators to become President were Harding and JFK. Garfield was the only sitting Congressman.
If we continue to limit our thinking to conventional or past solutions, we will never get off of our current path to failure.
The National Park Service said Thursday that it has approved the permit for the Aug. 28 Glenn Beck/Sarah Palin rally at the Lincoln Memorial.
Park Service spokesman Bill Line said the permit indicates that organizers expect 300,000 people to attend.
You realize that the one event being made smaller is a charity fundraiser and not a political rally, right?
IIRC when Haley ran the RNC, it was extremely successful in fundraising, and keeping on message.
Because he was young, black, charismatic, had all the right Chicago and Ivy League connections, and had been groomed by certain elements within the Democrats for a presidential run as a hedge against the Clintons, beginning with his keynote speech at the 2004 Rat convention in Boston.
Palin came out of the 2008 election rebuilding the demoralized conservative movement, her first big efforts were displayed in the December following the election, for a long time it was Palin alone, and then the movement started growing and Republicans have made massive gains in winning national favor and energy.
Palin has been more responsible for this than any other single individual, your statement is absurd in the face of the facts of the last two years. Palin is gaining for the party and this female voter push recently is something that conservatives have dreamed of for decades.
We have the least qualified President in history and we have no idea as to exactly who he is. You seem to credit the Dems with his success, but the GOP nominated the oldest first time Presidential candidate in history who became the presumptive nominee of the party with just 31% of the primary vote. Moreover, McCain ran a terrible campaign refusing to go after Obama's vulnerabilities, e.g., Rev Wright, the lack of disclosure on his personal life, etc. And on issues like cap and trade, amnesty, drilling in ANWR, closing Gitmo, etc. Obama and McCain had the same positions. The American people were offered an echo, not a choice.
And Mitch Daniels isn’t a bright light either. If Lugar is the one singing his praises, it does not impress...
I think the fact they didn’t go with Blackwell indicates the RNC is more RINO friendly.
Also, one big problem, IMO, is the R’s wading too far into the religious grass. Constitutional types/fiscal conservatives don’t necessarily back a social conservative agenda. Candidates can be socially conservative in their private life, but it’s all about the Constitution, IMHO.
Paul Ryan really, really does not want the job. His kids are too young and he’s flat out said so. He’d be a FANTASTIC Speaker of the House and in time VP candidate to get some executive experience.
You sir, are 100% correct. Thank you!
Yes I do.
The seats are cheaper than at a political fundraiser.
The more she associates herself with Beck the less a political contender she is.
She was a last minute addition to the Beck show/rally wasn’t she?
“You could tell Haley was going to be leader when he played Little League BB in Yazoo City. He is in the big league but still has those same characteristics.”
And, you...WKB...are one who should know!
He is one crafty and intelligent guy!
I would love to see him and Sarah in cahoots. ;o)
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