Young Guns Meet The Press
Vowing to run their campaigns locally instead of relying on DC, 10 candidates who have made the NRCC's "Young Guns" tier met reporters in DC today after being feted before GOP members of Congress.
The 10 candidates, 9 of whom the NRCC sees as some of their best hopes of taking back Dem-held House seats this year, at once associated themselves with each other while distancing themselves from a national party they said they would come to DC to fix.
"I am a Republican, but I am a conservative first," said ex-US Atty Tim Griffin (R), who is running for an open seat held by Rep. Vic Snyder (D-AR). Added Iraq war vet Allen West (R), who is running against Rep. Ron Klein (D-FL): "The Republican Party has not completely regained the trust" of the American people.
"We will have enough clout in the freshman class to have a major impact," said OH state Sen. Steve Stivers (R), who is waging a second battle against Rep. Mary Jo Kilroy (D). Ex-Rep. Steve Pearce (R-NM) predicted a "new paradigm" if GOPers retake the House: "The discussions I'm having with leadership indicate a very strong understanding of what went wrong."
The candidates said they all want to see a second Contract with America, or something very like the set of issues on which members of the class of '94 promised to vote if they retook Congress. Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), who recruited many of the Young Gun contenders, is beginning work on just such a proposal, with House GOP support.
"We should have a set of principles, and I think we probably will," said ex-Rep. Steve Chabot (R-OH), who is running for the seat he lost in '08. Chabot said he wants to see the GOP plan contain a balanced budget proposal and a series of tax cuts.
West said he would like to see broader conservative principles like promoting limited government, national security and personal responsibility. Stivers, in the meantime, said he wanted to see "process" aspects of a new contract -- promoting transparency and the way the GOP would operate the House.
The GOPers acknowledged that their party may not have the money to compete with Dems. The NRCC faces a tremendous cash disadvantage when matched against the DCCC, but candidates said any recognition they get, and cash they raise, will come from their
independent efforts, not from DC.
"All the ads in the world don't sell a broken product to the American people," said MD state Sen. Andy Harris (R), who is taking a second run against Rep. Frank Kratovil (D).
And, GOPers said, Dems' positions have hurt more than any ads could save them -- even as they seek to challenge incumbents who voted against key Dem initiatives.
"More people have read the 2,000-page health care bill than have read the Bible in my district, I will guarantee you that," Pearce said.
"39 Democrats voted against the health care bill. Zero Democrats voted for the GOP alternative. What happened?" Asked Vaughn Ward (R), an Iraq war vet running against Rep. Walt Minnick (D-ID). Minnick voted against both bills. "Walt Minnick stands at the crossroads for nothing," Ward said.