Posted on 01/24/2012 6:17:52 AM PST by McGruff
A Mitt Romney campaign fundraiser has previously served as a lobbyist for Fannie Mae records show. Drew Maloney, who fundraised for Romney during both his 2008 and 2012 campaigns lobbied for Fannie Mae from 2004-2008.
According to a 2011 article by Roll Call, Maloney also coordinated early efforts by the Romney campaign to round up endorsements from Members of Congress in early 2011.
A June 29th Romney for President fundraiser, hosted at the DLA Piper in Washington DC, features Maloney as a member of the host committee. Tickets for that events sold for as much as as $25,000.
In 2008, Maloney was one of the Romney campaign's official co-chairs of Young Professionals for Mitt. In a press release from the Romney campaign in 2008, Maloney said "We are looking forward to helping Governor Romney raise the resources he needs to continue building his strong national organization."
Romney has gone on the attack in Florida, pressing Gingrich to release records from his time at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. FEC records show that Maloney is not currently on the Romney campaign payroll.
The only thing I can gather from all of the back and forth is that, one way or another, we’ll have another scumbag insider elitist gasbag in the White House, and we’ll be ok with that as long as it’s OUR scumbag insider elitist gasbag. Yay for us.
Yeah but someone will have to explain to Romney why this is a problem. IMHO, he probably won’t “get it”.
lol
Romney is so done.
Is this fundraiser running for President?
Now THAT’S funny. I don’t care who you are.
Newsmax
Romney Campaign Run by Charlie Crist’s Political Aides
Monday, January 23, 2012 02:06 PM By: Andrew Henry
http://www.newsmax.com/InsideCover/romney-crist-rubio-gingrich/2012/01/23/id/425195?s=al&promo_code=DFD7-1
As Mitt Romney puts the South Carolina primary in his rear-view mirror and hits the accelerator in a bid to win Florida, he may discover himself crashing headlong into the bitter legacy of Charlie Crist, the former Florida governor who defected from the GOP and was soundly defeated for the U.S. Senate by Marco Rubio.
Romney’s “Charlie Crist” problem is this: Romney’s chief campaign strategist and several of his most senior campaign staff were Crist’s top political advisers the same ones who crafted Crist’s moderate, ignore-the-tea-party strategy epitomized in Crist’s famous “hug” of President Barack Obama. That strategy led Crist, once the most popular Republican governor in the nation, to defeat.
Crist’s erstwhile political team was led by controversial GOP strategist Stuart Stevens. Stevens and partner Russ Schriefer are the principals in the high-profile Stevens & Schriefer Group consultant firm and are playing the lead role in crafting Romney’s primary and national campaign strategy.
According to the Stevens & Schriefer website, the firm had a long history with Crist, serving as chief strategists for his bids for education commissioner, attorney general, governor, and later for the U.S. Senate.
Other senior Crist political aides from his failed Senate campaign now hold key posts in Romney’s campaign. Amanda Henneberg, who had served as Crist’s press secretary, now is a spokeswoman with the Romney 2012 campaign. Likewise, Andrea Saul, who was Crist’s communications director, now is Romney’s press secretary.
The Stevens & Schriefer firm has played a central role in several GOP presidential campaigns, including Romney’s failed bid in 2008. It also holds a strong track record of winning campaigns, mainly for more moderate Republicans.
The firm specializes in helping Blue State Republicans woo moderates, swing voters, and Democrats to help the GOP win statewide elections. Stevens & Schreifer advised Republican Chris Christie in his bid for New Jersey governor.
The firm’s appeal to the GOP conservative base, however, may be mixed at best especially when its role in Crist’s unsuccessful 2010 Senate bid is factored in.
When former Florida House Speaker Marco Rubio announced his bid to challenge Crist for Senate in May 2009, he trailed the popular Republican governor in positive name recognition in the Sunshine State by 36 points (13 percent to 49 percent), according to the Mason-Dixon polling company. Nevertheless, Crist went on to suffer one of the worst political meltdowns in recent history.
For his Senate bid, Stevens crafted a moderate Crist message that proved very much at odds with the tea party sentiment then sweeping Florida and the nation. Many analysts believe the Stevens strategy was played out, creating a mortal wound for Crist, when he gave Obama the infamous “hug.”
It came during a Feb. 10, 2009, rally in Fort Myers in support of the president’s controversial $850 billion stimulus program. Crist joined Obama on stage, praised the plan, and physically embraced the president.
That was a defining moment for Crist and his Senate campaign: He had embraced the opposition but had ignored the party’s conservative base.
During the campaign Jeb Bush, the influential former Florida governor, gave an exclusive interview to Newsmax and declared that Crist had committed an “unforgiveable” act by supporting the Obama stimulus.
Bush’s remark triggered a downward spiral in the polls from which Crist never recovered. In April 2010, before the Republican primary vote, Crist left the Republican Party and ran as an independent. Rubio defeated him decisively in the November election.
When Crist bolted from the Republican Party, Stevens and his firm resigned from the Crist campaign, as did senior aides Saul and Henneberg.
Florida 2012: Crist vs. Rubio Déjà Vu
With Florida’s Jan. 31 primary shaping up to be a bitter and critical battle between the establishment GOP represented by Romney on one side and the Main Street/tea party Republicans who are backing Gingrich, the race looks like it could be a do-over of the bitterly contested 2010 Florida Senate race.
The primary drama may offer a replay of Crist-Rubio, with Crist’s former associate Stevens crafting the Romney message and Jose Mallea, who was Rubio’s Senate campaign manager, leading the Gingrich campaign in Florida.
For example, when a November poll briefly showed former House Speaker Gingrich leading Romney in Florida, GOP strategist Alex Castellanos tweeted sarcastically: “Don’t worry, Stuart [Stevens] will deliver [a] Crist endorsement.”
To some, the Florida race has all the markings of a repeat of the Crist-Rubio showdown. Veteran political strategist Roger Stone tells Newsmax that the Romney campaign has been “tone deaf when it comes to conservatives.”
The Miami-based Stone adds: “Stuart Stevens, while he is a smart guy, he is not a conservative. He does not come from the conservative movement, he does not understand the conservative movement.”
So far, Romney’s national campaign playbook has been eerily similar to Crist’s strategy, embracing swing, middle-of-the-road voters while keeping the GOP’s conservative base at a distance.
bttt
Was it Stalin who said: “Accuse others of the acts you are doing yourself.”?
Or was he just quoting Karl Marx?
My thoughts, exactly. My first reaction was, "So?!"
I don't support Romney, but it looks like silly season will get REALLY silly this time around.
Breaking News? Really?
It’s all coming into focus now how Romney made his money
He had one of his investments laying off people while another was foreclosing on their homes.
Guilt by association has been elevated to the level of sport. Soon Vegas will be laying odds on who will be linked to what activity via a 3rd party.
Seriously? The guy who raised money for Romney worked for Freddie and Fannie?
How awful and what a jerk.
Oh wait, so did Newt.
Viva Santorum!!
Interesting article but isn’t the election more about the person running than their strategists? I think Crist’s support was never that deep. Sort of the way this primary season has had a flavor of the month parade in the GOP.
I have already Voted in the FL Primary for Newt, so please don’t take me for a “RomneyBot” on this Thread.
That being said, anyone who had associated with Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac PRIOR to the Housing Bubble Fiasco was engaged in a ubiquitous program that involved every loan originator, mortgagee, home refinancer, home-buyer or seller, sub-prime lender or borrower, etc.
Although we now look back and sneer at Fannie and Freddie, there was a time when doing business with them was considered quite respectable. That is why I have no problem with Newt having been a consultant with them some years ago.
When I train a student (and make money doing it!), I have no idea if that child is going to grow up to be a great musician or a serial killer....Although SOME of them did give me pause! LOL!
You wrote: “Interesting article but isn’t the election more about the person running than their strategists?”
Crist is now a Democrat. Crist was the “establishment Republican” candidate against the Tea Party candidate, Marco Rubio. Crist lost.
Mitt is the establishment Republican candidate in this Primary at the moment. The minute they think they have another loser against the TP candidate, they will dump him for a substitute establishment candidate.
That’s because they are hell-bent on preventing ANY Tea Party candidate from having an effective voice in the Republican Party.
Listen to them in their own words:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2837004/posts?page=79#79
Is there a link where one can go see his returns? I thought for sure they would be up in breaking news but I don't see anything.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.