Punching Bag in R.I.
Laffey Begins Subtle Fight to Counter NRSC
Roll Call Staff
As the National Republican Senatorial Committee continues to pound on Cranston Mayor Stephen Laffey, accusing the man who hopes to unseat Sen. Lincoln Chafee (R.I.) in next year’s GOP primary of not being a real conservative, Laffey and his supporters say the effort is likely to boomerang on the NRSC and Chafee.
Laffey is now using the television ads, mailers and anti-Laffey propaganda distributed by the NRSC to bolster his populist-themed candidacy.
When the NRSC aired ads last month calling Laffey a hypocrite for deriding high gasoline prices while having made a living trading in oil stocks, Laffey said the ads were “proof” that his candidacy was catching fire.
“I’ll tell you why the Washington political bosses are attacking me almost a full year before the primary election,” he said in a news release. “Folks, we apparently must have hit a nerve. I’m the kind of guy who they feel the most threatened by. They tried to bully me out this race, and it didn’t work.”
Laffey himself has tried to appear above the fray, calling the NRSC tactics “mudslinging” and saying he will not partake.
“I’m going to keep right on taking my message directly to the people, in the coffee shops and weiner joints, on street corners, and going door-to-door,” he said.
Behind the scenes, it looks as if Laffey and his supporters are trying to curry favor with conservative commentators and donors.
Laffey gave a little-noticed interview in the National Review last month. Some Republican Web logs have also taken up his cause.
Hugh Hewitt, who runs the conservative Web site www.hughhewitt.com, has noticed.
“Lincoln Chafee has a primary opponent, Cranston Mayor Stephen Laffey, whom the NRSC is already spending money to attack,” he said in a recent post. “(The reason why I won’t give a single dime to the NRSC this year.)”
Robin Muksian-Schutt, Laffey’s campaign spokeswoman, said the mayor is not trying to use the conservative media to strike back at the Republican establishment.
Laffey will “to talk to anyone” who seeks an interview, she said. “We’re moving forward on his message.”
Muksian-Schutt said Rhode Islanders are responding negatively to the NRSC’s tactics.
“We have seen a very large backlash against the mudslinging coming from the Washington politicians,” she said. “We’re very comfortable with where we are in this race. The more Lincoln Chafee and his Washington cronies attack Mayor Laffey, the better we do.”
NRSC spokesman Dan Ronayne said the committee is not worried.
“At the end of the day I suspect the backlash will be from voters who don’t appreciate being sold a bill of goods,” Ronayne charged. “Laffey is trying to position himself as the good Republican, but he’s a fellow who’s increased spending, raised taxes and donated money to leading Democrats including [Rep.] Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-Ill.). Those aren’t great conservative credentials.”
While president of the Memphis-based investment firm Morgan Keegan & Co., Laffey donated $200 to Jackson. He also gave $1,000 to then-Sen. Jim Sasser (D-Tenn.) and to Rep. Jim Cooper (D-Tenn.) during his 1994 Senate race against Republican Fred Thompson.
He also gave numerous donations to Republican candidates, including now-Tennessee Sen. Lamar Alexander’s 1996 bid for the presidency.
“Mayor Laffey has contributed to a few Democrats and many more Republicans,” Muksian-Schutt said. “It would be an odd case if the Washington defenders of Linc Chafee want to make an argument about who is a better Republican when Chafee would not even vote to re-elect President Bush. Desperate people say and do desperate things.”
After the 2004 presidential election, Chafee revealed that he wrote in the name of former President George H.W. Bush.
But Laffey also gave a $200 contribution to Chafee in 2002, and the Senator returned the favor later that year, chipping in $125 to Laffey’s first mayoral campaign.
Muksian-Schutt said that while the NRSC is talking about old campaign contributions, “we’re busy doing a press conference on energy policy.”
The NRSC recently took aim at a Laffey donation solicitation, saying that despite his tough rhetoric he has raised taxes and increased the budget since becoming mayor of Cranston in 2002.
“What he’s trying to do right now is position himself as the conservative in the race, and if you look at his record on tax and spend issues, it’s a tough case to make,” Ronayne said. “We’re going to step in and set the record straight when this sort of thing happens. If you’re going to run as the real conservative in the race and say ‘I’m the true Republican but I like to raise taxes, I like to increase budgets and I give money to Democrats,’ it’s a tough sell.”
Muksian-Schutt said that Cranston voters have already rejected such characterizations.
“His record in Cranston stands on its own and stands very strong,” she said, adding that Laffey won the Republican primary with 75 percent of the vote last year and won a second term with 66 percent.
Laffey has gotten moral support from local Republican officials and one influential Washington, D.C., insider who might offer a lot more than that down the road.
Former Rep. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.), who heads the Club for Growth, said he is surprised that the NRSC is hammering Laffey so vigorously.
“I find it amazing that the NRSC, lagging well behind its Democratic counterpart in fundraising ... nonetheless is spending its precious little money attacking a Republican who believes in the Ronald Reagan vision of government,” Toomey said.
Toomey said that the NRSC is attacking someone who supports the party’s ideals far better than Chafee does, which could hurt the committee’s stand with “rank-and-file” Republicans.
“This is a very good way to totally deflate and demoralize the base of the party,” Toomey said.
Toomey’s group, often criticized for its tactics, which include challenging incumbent Republicans it does not consider conservative enough, is considering backing Laffey, though Toomey stressed a decision has not yet been made.
Ronayne said he does not accept the assertion that Laffey best embodies the GOP’s ideals.
“I would challenge that Laffey with this record is a true conservative,” he said. “Sen. Chafee is an incumbent and we support incumbents and we maintain that Chafee is far and away the best chance of maintaining that seat.”
Baucus: We Must Reform Health Care Now
March 8, 12 a.m.
Ten years ago, Dan DeJong, a fourth-generation rancher from just outside Libby, Mont., was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Dan worked hard all his life, but when faced with massive bills to treat his cancer, Dan and his wife, Pat, had no choice but to sell the family’s land and apply for Medicaid and food stamps. Read Full Article
Roll Call Video Channels
