September 26, 2006
Bruce Keough Joins Romney's PAC
Lake Winnipesaukee is turning colder, and the fish are hopping into Gov. Mitt Romney’s net. This morning, Romney’s Commonwealth PAC will announce that Bruce Keough, a 2002 gubernatorial candidate and a former state senator, will chair the PAC’s New Hampshire affiliate. That acquisition comes one day after Tom Rath, a Republican National Committeeman from New Hampshire and key associate of President Bush’s, was named a senior adviser.
For the short month until Election Day, these Republicans will help party candidates in the state. Immediately after, they will begin to plan for Romney’s presidential bid.
New Hampshire Republicans say that Romney, who fortuitously owns a vacation home in the state, has heavily courted Sen. Judd Gregg and his influential chief of staff, Joel Maiola. Both were said to have responded well to the attention, but neither has yet to formally, or even privately, commit to any candidate. In 2000, Maiola was an early advocate of George W. Bush’s and directed his New Hampshire primary campaign. Rath is part of Gregg’s inner circle of advisers.
“Sen. Gregg has been meeting with the line up and is not close to making up his mind,” Maiola said in a brief interview.
Gregg’s father, Hugh Gregg, served as governor from 1952 to 1955. [MARC AMBINDER]
Keough, in a statement provided by the PAC, said he is “proud to lead the New Hampshire efforts of Mitt Romney’s Commonwealth PAC. It has provided tremendous support to Republican local and state candidates and it is a privilege to be a part of it.” He also provided a preview of how Romney wants New Hampshire voters to see him. As Governor, Mitt Romney curbed runway government spending, took on the most troubled bureaucracies, and fought activist judges to keep our families strong,” Keough said. “His bold, disciplined and principled leadership is an example for Granite State Republican candidates to follow.”
Rich Killion , a New Hampshire consultant, is helping with the PAC’s day-to-day operations in the state. The PAC has contributed more than $100,000 to candidates and party organizations in the state. They’re focusing on candidates for New Hampshire’s powerful state senate as well as on incumbents and the challengers in county and municipal races, particularly county attorneys and sheriffs.
New Hampshire attorney James Merrill serves is on board. Julie Teer, a veteran New Hampshire strategist, serves as the PAC’s political director.
Romney’s growing roster of talent will help him build a campaign organization in the state, but New Hampshire Republicans have a finicky history of ignoring traditional signs of strength and voting instead for candidates who buck the national party’s conservative establishment. In the last two competitive Republican primaries in the state, insurgents defeated the party’s anointed frontrunners.
Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), who won the state’s primary in 2000, was a virtual apostate by the day of the primary. He had skipped Iowa to devote himself to the Granite State full time. In 2008, McCain stands ready to benefit from residual good will in New Hampshire and from his enduring national popularity among independents. Mike Dennehy remains McCain’s chief consultant in the state. McCain also has the support of Steve Duprey, a former state chair, his wife Susan Duprey, a Bush campaign co-chair, and state executive councilor Peter Spaulding.
Romney’s advisers hope the media will set a high expectations bar for McCain; their argument is that since he won in 2000, he must win again; and if he wins by a smaller margin, the second place alternative could vault ahead (think Clinton and Tsongas in '92). One other complicating factor is that the roughly 40 percent of New Hampshire voters who are independents are eligible to vote in either the Democratic or Republican primary, and if a candidate with strong unaffiliated credentials emerges among the field of Democrats, candidates from both parties might begin to compete with each other. McCain’s team plans to model the independent and Republican electorates and then target specific voters with tailored messages.
Posted at 09:17 AM
Comments
Don't miss out on Romney just picking up the Iowa Speaker of the House . . . Christopher Rants
Jeff Fuller | 09.26.06 10:53 PM
 |
Post a comment
The Watergate · 600 New Hampshire Ave., NW
Washington, DC 20037
202-739-8400 · fax 202-833-8069
NationalJournal.com is an Atlantic Media publication.
