It's enough to give Blueskygirl a good day!
Ann Marie Buerkle's big splash in Washington is drying up because of her own inaction and blinders.
We from her own district knew from before day one that she is from the Triassic. Dinosaur-like, she cannot change and grow. From her simple-minded, uncomplicated hatred of Planned Parenthood and "government get out of our business, women's uteruses excluded" mentality to her flag-waving pandering to veterans, her take on national politics lacks imagination and nuance.
This is no time in our nation's history to fear brains. It is time to work hard, to really bear down and figure out how to rebuild a future of national stability. It is definitely not time to revert to the tea party tactics of "no".
Thanks to Politico for this commentary by Dan Hirschhorn, 10/30/11:
They came to Washington to drown the government in the bathtub — and everything else was a distant second.
Within the massive freshman class of House Republicans is a much smaller subset of hardcore, self-styled citizen legislators who have done little to assure their reelection. They haven’t raised enough money or made much headway in building their next campaigns. Locals gripe that they haven’t sufficiently worked their districts. They’ve been reliable “nay” votes on whatever House leadership is pushing. None of them has qualified for the National Republican Congressional Committee’s incumbent-protection Patriot Program.
Many Republicans think they probably won’t be coming back — and say the freshmen will have no one to blame but themselves.
“They don’t care about a campaign or their reelection,” said former New York Rep. Tom Reynolds, a former NRCC chairman. “They got here their way, and they’re following through on what they said they’d do.”
Still, House campaign veterans say the laissez-faire attitude toward reelection will inevitably create some tension with a party campaign committee that has limited resources to prop up its largest majority in decades.
“There are certain standards that just need to be met for a person to win a competitive election, and it’s hard to see how they meet those standards,” said former NRCC Political Director Ed Brookover. “It’s always frustrating because [the NRCC] wants to help members, but members also have to help themselves.”
“It’s fine to bury your head in the sand and say you’re doing it differently, but these people aren’t aware of the millions of dollars that were spent on their behalf to get them there,” said Mike McElwain, another former NRCC political director. “It’s amazing to me the number of people who won and the only thing they recognize is their own campaigns. They don’t think about the state parties, the independent expenditures, the millions of dollars that were spent to get them there.”
Longtime Hill veterans and GOP operatives share the same lament: This happens after every wave election. Former Democratic Florida Rep. Alan Grayson, elected in the 2008 wave, was a bombastic presence on cable news but ultimately fell short in the nitty-gritty of reelection politics. Class of 1994 Republicans recall former Indiana Rep. John Hostettler as someone who never adapted to a two-year campaign cycle and held on to his seat for more than a decade thanks only to consistent bailouts from the NRCC.
“Any time you see a large group of legislators come in on a wave, there are many that aren’t prepared to adapt their message to the new realities without abandoning their principles,” said former Pennsylvania Rep. Phil English, a Washington-based lobbyist who informally advises some freshmen. “You frequently see people who are carried in and don’t want to play the political game. It’s an attractive facade to put up the first time around, but people have an expectation of what they want their elected representative to be, including someone who listens, and in a modern campaign environment, if you don’t have a war chest, you’re not in a position to respond.”
Most Republicans agree the freshman class has actually done better than expected at adapting to the permanent campaign necessary to stay in Washington, with the problems isolated to about six rookies. With a 25-seat majority, one top Republican quipped, “We probably have half a dozen to spare.”
“There’s always a small group of folks who aren’t quite there, but it’s a smaller group than I thought it would be, and the good news is there’s plenty of time to get with the program,” said former New York Rep. Bill Paxon, a former NRCC chairman.
“There’s a romance to not raising money and not raising PAC money,” English said. “But as a practical matter, all you’re effectively doing is depriving yourself of the ability to answer criticisms. This is a serious problem.”
Among those drawing quiet scorn on the GOP fundraising circuit are New York Rep. Ann Marie Buerkle, a nurse who upset former Democratic Rep. Dan Maffei last year but who raised a paltry $89,000 last quarter and has already drawn a rematch with Maffei; Rep. Joe Walsh, the cable news mainstay buffeted by personal and financial issues who raised just $150,000 last quarter and faces a tough primary against fellow GOP freshman Rep. Randy Hultgren; and Arizona Rep. Paul Gosar, who has raised less than $500,000 since upsetting former Democratic Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick, and now faces a rematch with Kirkpatrick, who is outpacing him in the money race.
The freshmen mostly acknowledge their fundraising challenges and promise things are about to pick up. After a taste of the budget-cutting axe, some political neophytes who would have been happy with one-term Hill careers are now convinced they need more time in Washington to finish a job that will get easier if their party can send President Barack Obama packing.
“I know why I came here,” Walsh told POLITICO. “I don’t want to be a professional politician, and I’m not going to be here for life. But that doesn’t conflict with the fact that I have to raise money to tell my constituents what kind of citizen-legislator I am.”
“I haven’t talked to anybody who says, ‘I don’t care if I get reelected,’” said freshman Pennsylvania Rep. Mike Kelly, who has turned in decent fundraising numbers but also has his own money to draw on from years as a successful car dealer. “Most folks, after being here for nine months, realize there’s so much more work to do and want to stay. Most people are starting to realize the clock is ticking. But there’s real work to be done, and it’s a balancing act,” said Kelly, who so far has drawn no serious challengers.
Some freshmen may win reelection in spite of themselves. North Carolina Rep. Renee Ellmers has been criticized for skimping on town halls and raised only $97,000 last quarter. But Ellmers, a nurse who squeaked by former Democratic Rep. Bob Etheridge last year, was buoyed by a redistricting process that made her mid-state seat significantly safer.
“I’m working hard, but it is difficult with so many freshmen competing for the same dollars,” Ellmers said. “All I can say is next quarter will be better. The only way we’re going to really make the changes we need [is] after 2012.”
Freshmen should consider how better campaigns could make them better lawmakers, said former Virginia Rep. Tom Davis, a former NRCC chairman.
“You’ll never be an effective legislator if you’re always being targeted and people think your tenure could be short-lived,” he said. “That aura of invincibility is just part of being a good legislator. If you’re walking around with a bull’s-eye on your back, you’re not going to be as effective.”
Florida Rep. Allen West, the conservative fundraising star of the freshman class, had similar advice.
“Raising money is the mother’s milk,” he said. “If you’re hoping to come back and fight for fiscal responsibility, you just have to do it.”
And with the White House and Senate up for grabs, operatives close to the GOP’s growing stable of independent expenditure groups are expecting less money to go around for House races on the bubble.
“It’s going to pale in comparison to what was spent on the House last year,” McElwain said.
Some freshmen say they’re doing just fine, contrary to what their Republican critics might say.
“Between working here full time and building a campaign full time,” Gosar said, “I think I’m doing pretty good.”
