By Alexander Bolton – The Hill
Published: 01-22-09
Sen. John Cornyn is taking a more aggressive approach to running the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) a sharp break from his more easygoing predecessors.
The Texas Republican who is facing an eight- or nine-seat Democratic majority and a difficult electoral map in 2010 has raised the profile of the GOP campaign chief in recent days delaying key Cabinet confirmation votes and criticizing party leaders on the other side of the aisle.
His latest target is Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) who is up for reelection in 2010 and is seen as a primary target for Cornyn.
Through a spokesman Cornyn on Wednesday accused Reid of being the biggest obstacle to President Obama’s success and insinuated that Reid is closely tied to lobbyists.
“Sen. Reid’s close ties to Washington lobbyists and the very real question of whether he represents their interests or Nevada’s interests will be a significant issue before Nevada voters in 2010” said NRSC spokesman Brian Walsh in a statement. “What’s also clear is that for President Obama to succeed in changing Washington he will first have to change Sen. Reid.”
Reid dismissed the attacks as “desperate.”
Attacking Democrats inside the Capitol may lay the foundation for Cornyn’s ultimate goal of winning back seats and could be more effective than going after Obama who enjoys high approval ratings and is not up for reelection until 2012.
Last week Cornyn OK’d a shot at another senior Democratic leader Sen. Charles Schumer (N.Y.) whom the NRSC blasted for asking a U.S. Airways flight to depart earlier than scheduled so he could make a vote in Washington.
His salvo against Reid comes one day after Cornyn blocked Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton’s (D-N.Y.) confirmation as secretary of State. Cornyn dropped his objection Wednesday and Clinton was confirmed 94-2.
Also Wednesday Cornyn said he would do what he could to block a committee vote on the nomination of Eric Holder Obama’s nominee to serve as attorney general.
“I’m not going to allow things to proceed to the extent I have that right to object as long as my legitimate questions aren’t answered” Cornyn told reporters before a lunch meeting with colleagues.
“I just want an opportunity to get my questions answered” he said.
Rodell Mollineau a spokesman for Reid suspects Cornyn has another aim. “It is quite evident and also very unfortunate that Sen. Cornyn’s opposition to Sen. Clinton and Eric Holder has nothing to do with policy and everything to do with raising money at the NRSC” he said.
Sen. John Ensign (R-Nev.) who chaired the Senate Republican campaign committee in 2007 and 2008 did not take such a bare-knuckles approach with Democrats.
Ensign was put on the defensive by Republican retirements in Virginia New Mexico and Colorado and the need to protect vulnerable GOP incumbents in New Hampshire North Carolina Georgia Mississippi and Alaska.
Cornyn by contrast has decided to go on the offensive early and often.
“He’s definitely aggressive and I think it can be very effective for him” said Ensign of his successor at the NRSC. “We have different styles different ways of going about it but I think his style can be very effective.”
Ensign and Reid have developed a friendly relationship since Ensign challenged the Democratic leader in 1998 and fell only a few hundred votes short of defeating him.
Since then the two Nevadan lawmakers have signed a non-aggression pact. They held a joint holiday party for their staffs in the Capitol’s Mansfield Room.
That peace between Reid and the Republican campaign committee ended abruptly Wednesday.
In the same press release attacking Reid the campaign committee questioned lobbying activities by members of Reid’s family citing a 2003 article in the Los Angeles Times that concluded: “so pervasive are the ties among Reid members of his family and Nevada’s leading industries and institutions that it’s difficult to find a significant field in which such a relationship does not exist.”
The committee also attacked Reid for inviting lobbyists to an Inaugural brunch on Monday.
Reid fired back at the NRSC at a news conference Wednesday.
“That shows how desperate and without foundation of facts the Republican Party has become” said Reid. “No wonder they lost eight seats this last go-around. They have to come up with something more meaningful than this old stuff they came up with.”
Reid implemented a policy several years ago prohibiting relatives from lobbying his office after the Times raised questions about professional interactions between family members and Senate staff.
Reid explained Wednesday that his daughter is a retired schoolteacher his eldest son is an elected public official and his three other children are lawyers who don’t lobby.
A senior Senate GOP aide applauded the committee under Cornyn’s leadership for getting tough with Reid after four years of relatively easy treatment when Ensign and Sen. Elizabeth Dole (R-N.C.) served as NRSC chairmen.
