New RGA Chair Barbour In Iowa Today
- Thursday, June 25, 2009, 4:25
- Iowa, National, Presidential, Top Story
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- 12 comments
Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour wasn’t supposed to assume the chairmanship of the Republican Governor’s Association until sometime next year, but when he arrives in Iowa this afternoon, Barbour will already be the RGA chairman, a role which will be very helpful if he has his eye on the presidency in 2012.
Barbour took control of the RGA yesterday after South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford resigned as chairman following a bizarre absence which led to the discovery of an affair between Sanford and a woman for Argentina.
In a statement about Governor Sanford’s ordeal Barbour said, “The news revealed today hurts all of us who have gotten to know Governor Sanford over the years, and so it is with regret that the RGA accepted Governor Sanford’s resignation as chairman. While this news is deeply disappointing, I also know it’s important to remain focused on the future and Governor Sanford’s resignation allows him and us to do just that. The RGA has an important task over the next two years. I am committed to seeing it through and confident we will succeed.”
While Sanford’s political career may very well be over, the RGA and Barbour could benefit immensely from having 18 months to shape and mold the organization. Many governors have chaired the RGA, but none have had the knowledge and skill set that Barbour is able to bring to the position.
As Chairman of the RNC, Barbour played a critical role in the Republican Revolution of 1994. In that cycle, Republicans gained 54 seats in the House of Representatives, and 8 seats in the Senate. While Newt Gingrich often gets most of the credit for the Republican’s success in 1994, Barbour and the RNC played a critical role in implementing the Contract with America. In his time as time as RNC chair, Barbour also proved to be shrewd fundraiser, strong communicator, and an excellent campaigner.
Barbour’s 18 month chairmanship of the RGA could also be beneficial if he is eyeing a 2012 run for the presidency. Nobody in recent memory has used the RGA chairmanship to benefit a political career more than Mitt Romney did in 2006. Not only does the position allow a potential presidential candidate the ability to travel across the county to help elect Republican governors, it also allows you to develop and expand a nationwide donor network and build relationships in critical states like Iowa, South Carolina, and Florida, which will all have hotly contested gubernatorial campaigns in 2010.
The Chairman of the RGA also gets to dole out a lot of money to Republican candidates across the country. In 2006, the RGA contributed $1.4 million to Jim Nussle’s gubernatorial campaign. In one instance, I remember Mitt Romney coming to Iowa to headline a fundraising event for Nussle in Dubuque. While there, Romney personally delivered to Nussle a check for $500,000. Someone in a position who can distribute that kind of money has an easy time making friends in states like Iowa or South Carolina.
While Romney was good at passing out RGA funds and contributions from his Commonwealth PAC, he was unable to help deliver many gubernatorial victories. 2006 was a horrible year for Republicans, and while Romney is an astute businessman, he left the political decisions up to his paid staff. This is where Romney and Barbour couldn’t be more different.
Barbour is more than an elected official who is the figurehead of a political operation. He’s been the political operative in the trenches of a campaign, and he understands the difference between a winning and losing campaign. Before serving as the RNC Chairman, Barbour cut his teeth in politics as the executive director of the Mississippi Republican Party. He later served in the Reagan administration as Political Director and then as the Special Assistant to the President on Political Affairs. Barbour’s past political experience combined with his success in defeating an incumbent Democrat Governor and then winning re-election shows just how skilled in politics he is.
Barbour also will have a much better environment working in his favor than Romney and his successors had at the RGA. While the Republican brand remains tarnished, there are clear signs that a tide has shifted back which gives many Republican’s hope in the next election.
With Barbour visiting the state tonight to help raise money for the Republican Party of Iowa, we simply cannot pass up the opportunity of looking at Barbour’s prospects in Iowa if he does decide to run for President in 2012. Below are some of the advantages that Barbour brings to a caucus campaign that were not discussed earlier.
Barbour’s Iowa Connection: Many presidential candidates build relationships with Iowans before they run for president, but not many can count on a former trusted operative moving to the first in the nation caucus state. Many candidates hire politically talented operatives to help them navigate Iowa’s political waters. Some even start long before they are mentioned as potential presidential candidates. For example, Mitt Romney’s direct mail vendor in his 2004 gubernatorial campaign was David Kochel, an Iowa operative who lives in Des Moines. Romney, who also served as the Chairman of the RGA, chose an Iowan, Gentry Collins, to serve as its Executive Director. Both Kochel and Collins played important roles in Romney’s Iowa caucus campaign.
Barbour’s Iowa connection runs much deeper than hiring a couple of political operatives a few years before running for office. His former Deputy Political Director at the RNC now calls Iowa home. Ruth Haus worked for Barbour during the four years he chaired the RNC. While at the RNC, Haus was one of eight people who worked on the Contract with America, and she is still very fond of her former boss.
When asked what she thought of the prospect of Barbour running for President in 2012, Haus said, “I’d join his campaign in a heartbeat.” Haus is currently the President of Living History Farms, the former Executive Director of the Des Moines symphony, and she has some Iowa caucus experience of her own.
After her stint with the RNC, Haus was the Deputy Campaign manager for Steve Forbes’ 2000 presidential campaign, which is where she met her husband, Bob Haus, who has a long history in Iowa politics. In addition to working on Forbes’ 2000 campaign, Bob served as State Director of Fred Thompson’s campaign in 2008, managed Phil Gramm’s 1996 caucus campaign and Senator Grassley’s 1992 campaign.
Bob and Ruth also own a media firm, Eagle Media, and both were instrumental in the planning and production of the Republican Party of Iowa’s 2007 Iowa Straw Poll.
Term Limited: Building the type of organization a candidate needs to win in Iowa takes time. Iowa caucus goers have never relied on slick mailers or TV ads to form their opinions on the presidential candidates that stroll through here every four to eight years. Iowans want to look the candidates in the eye and ask the tough questions. Even then, it might take a couple more visits to win over their support. Having to leave the governorship of Mississippi because of term limits means that he would not have to answer the questions about whether he’s seeking re-election to his current position or not. Barbour can create his own time table and stick to it.
Disaster Recovery: If there is one local issue that Iowan’s care deeply about it’s the recovery from the 2008 floods. The impact that this local issue will have on the 2012 caucuses will depend on how well the state is able to recover. If the issue is still on people’s minds, and if Iowa’s second largest city is still trying to recover, Barbour’s ability to help Mississippi recover following Hurricane Katrina could be an issue on which he could capitalize here in Iowa.
Details about the Barbour’s Visit to Iowa:
Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour will make his way to Iowa tonight to headline the Iowa GOP’s Night of the Rising Stars event. The event will be held at Hoyt Sherman Place from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. Tickets are $100 per person to attend and can be reserved by calling 515-282-8105.
The Iowa Republican, American Future Fund, Iowa Progress Project, and The Bean Walker are hosting a join Conservative Tailgate before the event. The tailgate will offer free food and beverage and will be held just two blocks from Hoyt Sherman Place. The tailgate will be held at the home of Doug and Rochelle Burnett at 1510 Center Street, Des Moines from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Please RSVP by clicking here.
About the Author
Craig Robinson has written 700 stories on this site.
Craig Robinson serves as the founder and Editor-in-Chief of TheIowaRepublican.com. Prior to founding Iowa's largest conservative news site, Robinson served as the Political Director of the Republican Party of Iowa during the 2008 Iowa Caucuses. In that capacity, Robinson planned and organized the largest political event in 2007, the Iowa Straw Poll, in Ames, Iowa. Robinson also organized the 2008 Republican caucuses in Iowa, and was later dispatched to Nevada to help with the caucuses there. Robinson cut his teeth in Iowa politics during the 2000 caucus campaign of businessman Steve Forbes and has been involved with most major campaigns in the state since then. His extensive political background and rolodex give him a unique perspective from which to monitor the political pulse of Iowa.
12 Comments on “New RGA Chair Barbour In Iowa Today”
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“While the Republican brand remains tarnished, there are clear signs that a tide has shifted back which gives many Republican’s hope in the next election.”
If the Republican brand is tarnished, the Democrat brand is beyond polishing off the slime.
There is NOTHING good about the Democrat brand and they have to rely on the votes of total idiots and the clueless.
We will see if America has enough thinking people left to save it.
Barbour would be a good start.
Already heard about the “big tent solution” what a sad proposal…Even though our platform is completely against pro-choice candidates, we should embrace them…WHAT! They are not republicans in our state if they are pro-choice! Read the platform…you don’t like the platform…get your pro-choice buddies together and change the platform and us conservatives will leave the GOP and take our majority with us…people are ready for principled candidates who will stand by what they say, with sure footing. This is not the platform we want to run on. We cannot beat the democrats at being democrats. What is better a fake democrat or a real one? We learned this in the last election…McCain didn’t do it for us. Lets try just for the fun of it a conservative candidate for once…who runs on the platform and sticks to it…we would be unstoppable.
The “Big Tent” proposal is a necessary proposal if we are to win elections. The numbers are not there any other way. This conservative Republican welcomes the vote of anyone who recognizes the damage being done to this country by Democrats that are controlling the state of Iowa and our nation.
Today the RATS in DC may be voting in a HUGE new tax increase on all those using electricity-which includes all of us. It could be an economy-destroying tax increase and will result in the loss of many jobs and increase unemployment.
These Democrats are total idiots. They’re going to destroy the health care system. Our national security is at stake. These moron Democrats have absolutely no sane energy party.
Maybe you like what the Democrats have done to the state of Iowa. We’re facing a ONE MILLION DOLLAR hole in the budget next year. This is impact all of us.
There should be not one single person with a brain voting for a Democrat.
Christians don’t compromise morality for the sake of winning. I understand your frustration. We do not have to win at any cost. Unless we put folks up that are good on principles which in turn are good on your issues as well, John McCain has destroyed the possibility of CHristians voting for the lesser of two evils.
Iman Christian: Your thoughts serve as a perfect example of what is wrong with our once proud party. You want a religious party. Sorry, that only works in the Mideast. You have got to come to the realization that there are people of faith and good will who feel differently than you do on issues such as abortion, gay marriage and other hot botton social issues. They too have something to contribute to the GOP and to conservatism in general. Edmund Burke is rolling over in his grave. As the founder of modern conservatism, it was the likes of you Iman Christian that feared him the most. Keep your probing probiscus out of the personal business of others. Witness your faith within the confines of your church and leave religion out of politics.
MIE,
Did you by chance have an opportunity to go to the Rising Stars event last night? Haley had the crowd in the palm of his hand the entire speech, you could feel the energy in the room. People were excited about the Republican Party, and then he started talking big tent ideas and you could feel the crowd disappear. The big tent crushed the spirit of those in attendance–overwhelmingly. The key to winning elections is having an excited group of people who will go out and sell the candidate. Barack Obama got young people excited, those young people volunteered like crazy and the Obama Brand became the overwhelmingly favorite. He did not win on ideas or policies, he won because people were excited about him and worked their tails off to make sure their friends thought the same way. McCain on the other hand, had reasonably good ideas, but no one was listening because no one was excited about his campaign. Then he selected Palin, and for better or worse, people were excited about his campaign. His poll numbers shot up 10-15% simply because people were excited.
Stop telling me about religion and politics, and how you’re the only one who wants to win elections. If you want to win elections, you need people excited about the candidate. Barbour’s big tent ideas did not get people in that room excited, and you simply cannot argue that fact. Without the 1,000 activists in that room excited to give money and volunteer, no campaign will succeed and you will continue to lose. The base must be excited, regardless of how much you want us to cater to the voters who make up their minds in the voting booth.
Well said Thinking.
Thinking: You’re assuming something you do not know. I was also there last night and highly applaud the work of Strawn and our state party.
As far as Barbour’s remarks crushing the spirit in the room, I have no idea. I only know the three other people there with me did not take offense. I expected this reaction among a certain segment but there is no way my voting for someone with less than 100% of my values means I have to compromise on my principles.
The only way that would happen is if I were an elected official and I voted on something on which I did not believe.
Do I want a candidate with my values 100 percent? Of course. Is that possible? Of course not. I MUST GO FOR THE BEST I CAN GET!!!
To be fair to Barbour, he was able to create a state that was the friendliest state in the nation to the unborn. That is what one can do by getting a majority. That only happens by consistently running conservatives in primaries but ALWAYS voting for a Republican in a general election.
We must have our people in place in leadership in order to advance our agenda. We will not advance one single issue without this.
Look at what Barbour has accomplished with his method and let’s duplicate it.
Yes, Thinking, I did attend the event although I missed the tailgater–sorry Craig. I would have loved to have talked to you. I and those that I was with did not feel the crowd disappear with Haley’s big tent comments. We left so encouraged by his speach we could hardly contain ourselves. His focus on the economy, his defense of Sanford etc, led us to believe that Barbour may be the guy. I agree Thinking that we need activists. The problem with your thinking is that you believe activists alone will do the trick. Won’t happen. We need activists to identify issues that will grow our party, not constrict it. The religious extremists will not get the vast middle excited. In fact, the vast middle fear the extreme right. BTW, Palin might have excited the likes of you but poll after poll showed clearly she was a drag on the ticket. She was dumb as a pile of rocks and the electorate knew it. You need to bleach the kool aid off of your white shirt and get with a winning program.
It is foolhardy to demand perfection from a political party when it is the churches who deserve the blame.
Iowa is populated with liberal churches. How many of the “party purists” continue to attend United Methodist churches, United Churches of Christ, Evangelical Lutheran Churches of America, Presbyterian Church USA, Church of the Brethern, Disciples of Christ and even some Catholic churches where priests do not speak out against abortion and homosexuality, and other liberal churches which at best are silent on the issues and at worst promote these sins.
We need do demand more from our churches than our political party.
Deace–iagree. As parishoners we can demand anything we want from out pastors and priests. As long as we do it within the confines of our churches we are fine.