There must be something in the weather these days for aspiring congressional Republicans. After staying silent on his blog since February 4, contender wannabe Brian Davis has suddenly posted twice today.
One is about a straw poll (though no confirmed delegate counts) from Martin County's BPOU convention while the other is about a "coveted" endorsement, from the Freedom Club. The press release notes:
An organization of conservative Republican contributors, the Freedom Club of America only invests in candidates with rock solid conservative credentials who have a legitimate chance of winning the general election.
This was news to us, since when we look at the campaign contributions from the Freedom Club's federal PAC, we see an interesting list of candidates the investors have selected, in addition to those mentioned in Davis's release (John Kline, Michele Bachmann and, er, Gil Gutknecht).
Here's the list of other candidates for the House of Representatives supported by the Freedom Club, followed by their place in the win-loss column and percentage of the vote:
Patrice Bataglia (MN-04) L 33.24%
Craig Duehring (MN-02) L 38.1%
Alan Fine (MN-05) L 21.34%
Rod Grams (MN-08) L 34.39%
Mark Groettum (MN-08) L 32.15%
Mark Kennedy (MN-02/06) W 48.1% (2000); 57.34% (2002); 53.99% (2004)
Dennis Newinski (MN-04) L 39.8%
Linda Runbeck (MN-04) 30.89% L
Dan Stevens (MN-07) L 34.64%
David Sturrock (MN-07) L 33.84%
So far, they're four for thirteen candidates if you don't count Gutknecht's loss in 2006. The group also contributed to Coleman's Senate bid in 2002, Grams' Senate campaign in the 2000 cycle, and big time to Mark Kennedy's U.S. Senate bid in 2006. That puts them at 1-2 in Minnesota Senate bids.
We're not so sure why this endorsement is coveted, since the group's win-loss record is approaching reverse Midas touch territory.
The list of big contributors to the Freedom Club doesn't include anyone from the First District; in 2006, Minnesota Campaign Report looked at the list of contributions from core members, who haven't varied much over the years. Joe Bodell described the group then as "small group of wealthy Twin Cities businessmen," mainly from the western suburbs. That seems accurate. It's also no wonder the Club has endorsed Davis, who--lacking a record--has been able to push the contest for endorsement to the extreme right.
There is one curious thing about this endorsement, however. We have been unable to find any previous examples of federal level endorsements by the Freedom Club that have come before the Republican Party itself endorses a candidate. What might be motivating the Club to do so in the First?
The Club may have incentive to endorse in this race as a form of payback. In the past, Senator Dick Day has criticized the Club in his inimitable style. In a September 22, 2002 Strib article, ( via Lexis-Nexis) Dane Smith reported:
House Speaker Steve Sviggum, R-Kenyon, and Senate Minority Leader Dick Day, R-Owatonna, have openly castigated the Freedom Cluband the Taxpayers League for what they have described as strong-arm tactics, "king-making" and ideological litmus tests.
Two years ago this fall, banker and former Republican Party Chairman Bill Cooper invited a handful of Republicans and high-ranking party officials to a meeting in his Wayzata office. Cooper and most of those in the group were leading members of the Freedom Club, a group of affluent entrepreneurs and large donors. . .
. . .A few months later, House Majority Leader Tim Pawlenty of Eagan, the GOP's eventual nominee for governor, found out about the meeting. Senate Minority Leader Dick Day, R-Owatonna, took Cooper and others to task about it in a speech to Republican activists. And in pleas to delegates, Pawlenty spoke often about how it would not look good for the party to endorse an unknown but wealthy candidate promoted by a small group of peers. Sullivan, he said, had the right low-tax, small-government "message," but wasn't the right messenger for Minnesota's populist voters.
Republicans should be led by members of "Sam's Club, not just the country club," Pawlenty declared to party activists before narrowly defeating Sullivan at the GOP state endorsing convention in June.
It looks like Davis has found his element, and the Freedom Club's got their boy in Davis to punish Day's apostasy.
The group's members have a penchant for doing (or threatening) to do this sort of thing. In 2000, Twin City businessman and Freedom Club member Michael Wigley demanded that Steve Sviggum step aside as Minnesota House Speaker, as he had not delivered big enough tax cuts. on May 19, 2000, the Strib's Dane Smith reported:
Big political contributors seldom are as open and specific as Wigley in linking their largesse to specific demands. He argues bluntly in his e-mails that he and other key business leaders helped find candidates and heavily financed the Republican takeover of the House in 1998 and that they expect results.
In his first e-mail to Sviggum about two weeks ago, Wigley cast himself as "a tireless worker on behalf of conservatives and conservative causes," and "one of the largest contributors to the House caucus."He upbraids Sviggum for having "given away the store" to DFL Senate Majority Leader Roger Moe in legislative negotiations, for "demoralizing" the GOP caucus and for wasting "my and a lot of other people's money."
In a follow-up e-mail to other House Republicans, he says: "Last cycle, I estimate that the Freedom Club and its members contributed somewhere in the neighborhood of $500,000 to individual House candidates, the House caucus and independent expenditures. If Steve resigns, we have a chance to get some of that money back in the game. If he doesn't, most of it is gone."
That was then; this is now. The Freedom Club's power in Minnesota politics at large seems to have peaked with the 2002 election, although it evidentially remains powerful within pachyderm citcles. Since then, the Republican Party of Minnesota, having turned sharply right, has lost a majority in the State House, had its numbers dwindle in the State Senate, and retained only the governor (and lt.governor) in the executive branch. On the federal level, Mark Kennedy was humiliated by Amy Klobuchar and Walz unseated Gutknecht.
While the Club's money is abundant, its litmus tests run counter to Minnesotan's common sense and cultural moderation. One thing First District residents should realize: certain expectations come along with the Freedom club's money. The Club members think they (not voters) should call the tune for those in whom they "invest."
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