Republican leader's own words, their fundraising "sucks." ; Money talks Republican bullshit walks

Boehner admits GOP money situation 'sucks'

By: Jim VandeHei and John F. Harris

December 12, 2007 02:09 PM EST

One of the best things that can be said of Rep. John A. Boehner's

leadership is that the head of House Republicans is no Newt Gingrich, no Tom

DeLay.

The Ohio lawmaker has an affable, understated style and runs a team

that has the long knives out only for Democrats, not for each other.

But the worst that can be said about Boehner's style is also that he

is no Gingrich, no DeLay.

Gingrich, for all his flamboyant misjudgments, was a visionary who,

starting two decades ago, carried Republicans from the wilderness to power.

DeLay, for all his controversies and line-skirting, was an enforcer who knew

how to wield influence and build a potent machine.

Boehner became majority leader in 2006, upon DeLay's fall the previous

year, and the elections soon put a different adjective in front of the noun.

As minority leader, his chief job is to position his bruised party for the

long fight back to power.

He's been fighting - and winning some tactical rounds along the way -

but there is scant evidence that his party is much stronger in any long-term

way.

Polls show the public holds congressional Republicans in low esteem.

Boehner's effort to craft a new agenda for Republicans remains under wraps.

And in the minority leader's own words, their fundraising "sucks."

" Now the money sucks for two reasons ," Boehner said in a Politico

interview. " People are mad at the president ; they are mad at the

party . And then [there is] this whole immigration fight. People just

turned off the spigot ."

Boehner has undertaken a study, consulting corporate image experts, to

"re-brand" the party. But so far, no big ideas have emerged. Some of his own

colleagues regard Boehner as more of a transitional figure, between the

Gingrich-DeLay era (in truth, both men drove Boehner to distraction) and the

next generation of leadership.

Instead, he and his leadership team are playing defensive politics,

sometimes shrewdly, as they look for surgical ways to make life miserable

for Democrats rather than launch a frontal assault.

"They've got 60 Democrats that are in districts that George Bush won,

and our own [goal] was to make those 60 Democrats choose every day between

Nancy Pelosi and their constituents," Boehner said.

For examples, Boehner's staff cited measures that would expand U.S.

missile defense systems to include Israel, ensure more local control of

educational curricula and fight a $16 million proposal to begin the process

of building a new House office building.

Such tactical gambits may indeed cause vulnerable Democrats to squirm.

But they are unlikely to be effective unless the GOP is healthy in a broader

way - which includes having the resources to help challengers wage robust

campaigns.

At the end of the third quarter, the Democratic campaign arm had $28

million in the bank ; the Republicans had $1.6 million (and twice that

total in debt ). That certainly fits the definition of "sucks" for most

Republicans.

This is an area where the tough-guy approach often works best. Boehner

was upset earlier this year that the staff of National Republican

Congressional Committee Chairman Tom Cole of Oklahoma was not doing a better

job, suggesting in private that they should be ousted. But he then backed

down.

Some Republicans were miffed that Boehner would not follow through on

his threat if he saw the fundraising operation as such a problem.

"I will be the first one to admit, in my soft, understated way, I lean

on these guys to meet the goals we all need to [meet]," he said.

The number of Republican retirements is troubling, too .

Confident members do not leave Congress in large numbers. They stick

around if they think they will soon hold power. The crop of retiring members

includes three Boehner allies in Ohio:

Reps. Deborah Pryce, Ralph Regula and David Hobson. Boehner certainly

can't stop lawmakers from making career choices, but it his job to manage

confidence and entice high performers such as Louisiana Rep. Jim McCrery to

stay. McCrery, the ranking Ways and Means Committee member, is retiring.

Boehner said it's important to take a longer view of his approach. The

right GOP nominee, he said, can help turn around fundraising in a flash, and

the re-branding effort will be ready for public unveiling early next year.

The confrontational approach, he added, is not necessarily the smart one.

Voters "are tired of all the bickering, tired of all the damn noise,"

he said. "We want people to listen to us; we want people to consider our new

ideas and consider voting for us, and [they want us to] talk to them like

adults." Look for the new agenda to be heavy on health, energy and military

spending - if Boehner can settle internal disputes over the specifics.

Moreover, he said, Republicans should hold most of the seats hit by

retirements, and, in some cases, they are probably better off with the

incumbent leaving.

But that is a dubious assertion in many of the open suburban districts

that would not be competitive had their incumbents remained.

Boehner said his top goal was always to make life miserable for the 60

congressional Democrats representing districts President Bush won. He

calculates the easiest way to reclaim power is to knock off Democrats

holding swing districts, though that strategy requires money, too.

The Republicans' goal for now is to limit additional losses next

election by protecting their incumbents and knocking off some of those

conservative Democrats by publicly amplifying stances taken by the

Democratic majority.

If reassurance is the Republican message, Boehner may be a decent

messenger. He has none of DeLay's snarling reputation, is pretty good on

television and is a much more polished public performer than Minority Leader

Mitch McConnell on the Senate side.

By default, that makes him the face of congressional Republicans.

He has also done what for years seemed impossible: He has ended the

backbiting and suspicion that often hindered Republican leaders. It might

seem small, but one of the smartest things Boehner did was start holding

daily morning meetings with his top deputies: Reps. Roy Blunt of Missouri,

Adam Putnam of Florida and Eric Cantor of Virginia.

This has curtailed internal bickering over who is doing what and who

gets credit.

"My job is to get them ready to take my place" someday, he said.

The test for Boehner will be turning harmony into victory. Congress is

not a country club (contrary to popular opinion). It takes a lot more than a

good golf swing - which Boehner definitely has - and a sunny disposition to

rule effectively.