lily
08-13-2006, 01:50 AM
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060812/ap_on_el_se/republican_infighting
PROVIDENCE, R.I. - Fresh off their first victory over a Republican
incumbent, GOP conservatives seeking party purity on taxes and spending are
focused on ousting moderate Republican Sen. Lincoln Chafee (news, bio,
voting record) of Rhode Island.
The Club for Growth and its 36,000 members spent around $1 million to help
challenger Tim Walberg unseat first-term Rep. Joe Schwarz in Michigan's
Republican primary on Tuesday. The win came despite Schwarz's support from
President Bush and the National Rifle Association.
Since its inception in 1999, the group has spent millions to help dozens of
conservative Republicans win seats in Congress - often at the expense of
more moderate party members. The Club's president, former Rep. Pat Toomey
(news, bio, voting record), nearly defeated Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter
(news, bio, voting record) in 2004.
This year, the group's top priority is defeating Chafee, who angered many
Republicans by voting against President Bush's tax cuts and then casting a
write-in vote for the president's father in the last election. The Club has
helped Cranston, R.I., Mayor Stephen Laffey raise hundreds of thousands of
dollars to unseat Chafee, and polls show the two Republicans running even a
month before the Sept. 12 primary.
The prospect of a Laffey win worries national Republicans, who consider
Chafee the party's best bet for holding the seat in a heavily Democratic
state. Polls show Laffey trailing far behind the leading Democratic
candidate, former Attorney General Sheldon Whitehouse.
The Club's Web site says that's fine: "It wouldn't be much of a loss if a
new Democrat senator were elected, as he would vote much the same as Chafee
does now."
Republicans who support the Club say its refusal to compromise its ideology
gives it credibility.
"They're not about getting more Republicans elected, they're about getting
real Republicans elected," said Jerry Stacy, spokesman for Sharron Angle, a
Club-endorsed House candidate in Nevada.
But Chafee is a Republican who votes with his party most of the time. His
father, the late John Chafee, is revered in Rhode Island as a World War II
hero who served three terms as governor and more than 20 years in the
Senate. Like his father, the younger Chafee is a fiscal conservative and
environmentalist.
Moderate Republicans criticize the Club for targeting incumbents like Chafee
instead of going after Democrats.
"I refer to the Club for Growth as the enemy within," said Rep. Sherwood
Boehlert (news, bio, voting record), R-N.Y., whom the Club opposed in GOP
primaries in 2002 and 2004.
Economic conservatives founded the Club to encourage the federal government
to adopt "pro-growth economic policies." That includes making the Bush tax
cuts permanent, repealing the estate tax, cutting government spending and
expanding free trade.
One Club tactic is providing campaign cash to candidates who espouse a free
market philosophy. It raised $22 million for issue advocacy, candidates and
operations in the last election cycle.
This year, the club and its 36,000 members were responsible for $1.1 million
of the estimated $3 million spent on Michigan's Republican primary. The
group opposed Schwarz even though he - like Chafee - was endorsed by Bush.
Also like Chafee, Schwarz has criticized the war in
Iraq, supports abortion rights and favors stem-cell research.
PROVIDENCE, R.I. - Fresh off their first victory over a Republican
incumbent, GOP conservatives seeking party purity on taxes and spending are
focused on ousting moderate Republican Sen. Lincoln Chafee (news, bio,
voting record) of Rhode Island.
The Club for Growth and its 36,000 members spent around $1 million to help
challenger Tim Walberg unseat first-term Rep. Joe Schwarz in Michigan's
Republican primary on Tuesday. The win came despite Schwarz's support from
President Bush and the National Rifle Association.
Since its inception in 1999, the group has spent millions to help dozens of
conservative Republicans win seats in Congress - often at the expense of
more moderate party members. The Club's president, former Rep. Pat Toomey
(news, bio, voting record), nearly defeated Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter
(news, bio, voting record) in 2004.
This year, the group's top priority is defeating Chafee, who angered many
Republicans by voting against President Bush's tax cuts and then casting a
write-in vote for the president's father in the last election. The Club has
helped Cranston, R.I., Mayor Stephen Laffey raise hundreds of thousands of
dollars to unseat Chafee, and polls show the two Republicans running even a
month before the Sept. 12 primary.
The prospect of a Laffey win worries national Republicans, who consider
Chafee the party's best bet for holding the seat in a heavily Democratic
state. Polls show Laffey trailing far behind the leading Democratic
candidate, former Attorney General Sheldon Whitehouse.
The Club's Web site says that's fine: "It wouldn't be much of a loss if a
new Democrat senator were elected, as he would vote much the same as Chafee
does now."
Republicans who support the Club say its refusal to compromise its ideology
gives it credibility.
"They're not about getting more Republicans elected, they're about getting
real Republicans elected," said Jerry Stacy, spokesman for Sharron Angle, a
Club-endorsed House candidate in Nevada.
But Chafee is a Republican who votes with his party most of the time. His
father, the late John Chafee, is revered in Rhode Island as a World War II
hero who served three terms as governor and more than 20 years in the
Senate. Like his father, the younger Chafee is a fiscal conservative and
environmentalist.
Moderate Republicans criticize the Club for targeting incumbents like Chafee
instead of going after Democrats.
"I refer to the Club for Growth as the enemy within," said Rep. Sherwood
Boehlert (news, bio, voting record), R-N.Y., whom the Club opposed in GOP
primaries in 2002 and 2004.
Economic conservatives founded the Club to encourage the federal government
to adopt "pro-growth economic policies." That includes making the Bush tax
cuts permanent, repealing the estate tax, cutting government spending and
expanding free trade.
One Club tactic is providing campaign cash to candidates who espouse a free
market philosophy. It raised $22 million for issue advocacy, candidates and
operations in the last election cycle.
This year, the club and its 36,000 members were responsible for $1.1 million
of the estimated $3 million spent on Michigan's Republican primary. The
group opposed Schwarz even though he - like Chafee - was endorsed by Bush.
Also like Chafee, Schwarz has criticized the war in
Iraq, supports abortion rights and favors stem-cell research.