By Aaron Blake
September 28, 2007
While Republicans look to locate their bearings and recalibrate their party’s platforms in the wake of historic losses in the 2006 election, the conservative Club for Growth sees unprecedented opportunity.
With the retirements of several GOP centrists and a clarion call for the party to return to fiscal responsibility, the potential hit list is longer than it’s ever been during the five election cycles that the Club has existed.
And the Club, the largest GOP-oriented 527 in 2006, is more than willing to play a role in the effort to move the party to the right.
The Club has begun the 2008 cycle by going after former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee’s (R) presidential hopes and rehashing its quest against Rep. Wayne Gilchrest (R-Md.), but those appear to be merely the first in an election full of opportunities to take down GOPers who don’t conform to the Club’s core beliefs.
“Clearly, you can’t beat somebody with nobody, and there are a lot of credible challengers in these primary races this year,” Executive Director David Keating said. “I’m not saying any of them are going to win — if you look at the odds on primary challenges, probably all of them will lose — but I don’t remember seeing so many, at least on paper, credible primary challengers to incumbents.”
GOP incumbents on the Club’s radar include Gilchrest and fellow anti-Iraq war Rep. Walter Jones (R-N.C.), as well as Reps. Jean Schmidt (R-Ohio) and John Doolittle (R-Calif.), who both appear headed for arduous primaries.
The Club also is looking to get involved in the increasing number of open seats formerly held by the GOP. It effectively could replace a number of centrists by getting its candidates in districts of retirees like Reps. Jim Ramstad (R-Minn.), Deborah Pryce (R-Ohio) and Ray LaHood (R-Ill.).
One open seat on which it’s focused for the immediate future is that of former Rep. Paul Gillmor (R-Ohio), who died early this month, clearing the way for a special election.
In the Senate, the Club would like to take on Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens (R), a notorious earmarker whose legal woes are giving some hope for a primary challenge.
And as in 2004, the Club is ready to make a splash in the presidential contest. It has engaged in a lengthy series of attacks on Huckabee’s record but also might go after Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) if his campaign regains steam.
Its efforts to label Huckabee as a tax-and-spender included an ad by the group’s ClubforGrowth.net 527 arm that ran in Iowa in the days before the Ames Straw Poll. Huckabee went on to take second in the poll, bolstering his claim to a bump in momentum.
Huckabee spokeswoman Kirsten Fedewa said the Club “is a special interest group that has its own agenda. They’re recognizing the same momentum for our campaign that we are — that’s why they are trying to distort the governor’s record as a fiscal conservative …”
Keating said the results the Club has seen from the ad were anecdotal.
“A lot of people heard things about Huckabee’s background that they didn’t know about,” Keating said.
The ad surely didn’t have the same impact as the Club political action committee’s (PAC) 2003 ad against former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean (D). That ad featured a couple ascribing numerous liberal stereotypes (“latte-drinking, sushi-eating, Volvo-driving”) to Dean and telling him to take his “freak show” back to Vermont.
Keating noted that the old Club for Growth, which sold all its assets and name to the new 501(c)(4) Club after the 2006 election and retains much of its staff, weighed in heavily during the Democratic presidential primary and could well do so again.
Keating said the group also is ready to attack McCain on the estate tax and “free-speech” issues but said it doesn’t see him as a very viable candidate at this point and doesn’t want to waste resources.
As for congressional races, the Club has suggested it would like to dabble in some GOP Senate primaries if opportunities present themselves.
It issued a poll last week showing Stevens losing handily to Gov. Sarah Palin (R) and this week criticized Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s (R-Ky.) votes for the Democrats’ appropriations bills.
Stevens does not have a major potential primary challenger at this point, while some Kentucky GOP activists are trying to recruit former gubernatorial nominee Larry Forgy (R) to challenge McConnell.
In the Gillmor race, the Club was looking closely at state Rep. Lynn Wachtmann (R), who decided against a run, but could get involved with one of two GOP state legislators: Bob Latta or Steve Buehrer.
The Club has found most of its success focusing on open-seat primaries, which are much cheaper than taking down incumbents. Last cycle, it ushered Republicans Adrian Smith (Neb.), Doug Lamborn (Colo.) and Bill Sali (Idaho) through crowded open-seat primaries and into Congress.
But its notoriety often comes from going after the incumbents.
Last year, it replaced Rep. Joe Schwarz (R-Mich.) with former state Rep. Tim Walberg (R) and fell just shy of knocking off then-Sen. Lincoln Chafee (R-R.I.) with Cranston Mayor Steve Laffey (R).
In 2004, then-Rep. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.), who now serves as the Club’s president, nearly upset Sen. Arlen Specter (R) with the Club’s support.
In 2002, it went after Gilchrest, and in 2000, it supported now-Rep. Scott Garrett (R-N.J.) against Rep. Marge Roukema (R). Garrett won the seat two years later.
This cycle, the Club is backing state Sen. Andy Harris (R) against Gilchrest. It has posted an anti-Gilchrest website and looks to step up its efforts as the February primary rapidly approaches.
For the Jones seat, it is waiting to see how opponent Joe McLaughlin’s (R) third-quarter fundraising turns out.
Against Schmidt, the Club likes former Hamilton County Commissioner Phil Heimlich (R) but could support state Rep. Tom Brinkman (R) if he gets in the race.
The Club is also watching Doolittle’s primary. Two challengers have entered, while state Rep. Ted Gaines is weighing a bid.
Lamborn, who looks to face a tough primary from two of his 2006 opponents, will be on his own as an incumbent.
Keating said the Club has about 10 percent more money this cycle than it did at this point last cycle.
A spokeswoman for the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) said it looks forward to the situations in which its and the Club’s aims overlap.
“The NRCC remains committed to picking up seats in the House and will be doing everything possible to make sure that happens,” spokeswoman Julie Shutley said. “We welcome the assistance of anyone who can help us achieve that goal.”
http://thehill.com/campaign-2008/club-for-growth-sees-wealth-of-opportunities-in-2008-cycle-2007-09-28.html
