CQ TODAY PRINT EDITION
May 11, 2009 – 9:45 p.m.
Kyl Seeks to Peel Off Conflicted Democrats
By Alan K. Ota, CQ Staff
As Senate Republicans have seen their ranks greatly narrowed in the last two elections, Minority Whip Jon Kyl has broadened his strategy for corralling votes — enlisting an informal network to target dissident Democrats.
For example, Sen. Lisa Murkowski and Rep. Don Young , both Republicans from Alaska, took advantage of a chance encounter on the Capitol steps last month to express concern to their home-state colleague, freshman Democratic Sen. Mark Begich , about a critical part of the Democrats’ proposal to battle global warming.
Though neither Murkowski nor Young is part of the Senate GOP’s vote-counting team, both serve as freelance allies in Kyl’s ambitious vision for targeting moderate Democrats from swing states.
Begich told them he remained uncommitted about plans to establish a cap-and-trade system for carbon emissions, but he promised to stay in touch. “We talked about global warming. I’m still not decided on cap and trade,” Begich recalled.
Arizona’s Kyl, now in his third term, and other GOP leaders say they have developed a network of rank-and-file Republicans and allies on K Street to keep track of wavering Democrats before showdown votes on President Obama’s priorities, such as energy and health care bills.
That job previously fell to White House lobbyists under President George W. Bush , said Sen. Richard M. Burr of North Carolina, Kyl’s chief deputy whip. Now it’s up to a network that includes Murkowski and other senators from the 12 states that are represented by a senator from each of the two major parties. The group gathers weekly.
“Relationships are the key. Colleagues reach out to members that they know,” Burr said. “It might be someone from the same region or from the same committee. It might be someone whose office is next to you.”
“It’s a team effort,” Kyl said of the whip operation that targets Democrats as well as Republicans. “Part of it is working with outside groups and with members. . . . You just have to bird-dog it. Stay on it. And sometimes you can win.”
Kyl’s job was made more challenging by Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter ’s party switch, which put Democrats one vote shy of the 60-vote majority that is generally required to pass legislation in the Senate.
Majority Whip Richard J. Durbin , D-Ill., said he’s well aware of the GOP’s low-key campaign to peel away Democrats. Despite a few Republican wins, Durbin said he doubted the opposition would prevail on big issues. “It’s a different approach,” he said. “I don’t think it’s going to work.”
Power of 40 Votes
The latest example of GOP coalition-building came April 30, when Kyl and an alliance of Republicans, banks and other business constituents helped to defeat, 45a?`51, an amendment to a housing bill (
“Red-state Democrats are uncomfortable with some of Obama’s priorities,” Burr said, noting that the cap-and-trade proposal could be particularly problematic for moderate Democrats Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas, Mary L. Landrieu of Louisiana, Mark Pryor of Arkansas and Evan Bayh of Indiana. “And some may not want more mandates on health care,” he added.
Despite Democratic victories on an expansion of children’s health insurance (PL 111-3), the economic stimulus law (PL 111-5) and the budget resolution (
But in a 99-member Senate, 40 votes are enough to keep Democrats from cutting off debate on major legislation. “Usually you need 41 votes to get anything done around here. But right now, you can do a lot with 40 votes,’’ said Judd Gregg , R-N.H.
And Republicans seem in no rush to settle the contested Senate race in Minnesota, as they have backed Republican Norm Coleman’s legal efforts to keep Democrat Al Franken from being certified the winner. Kyl says he hopes Coleman will rejoin his eight-person whip team. “We’ve saved that slot for him,” he said.
As a policy wonk best known for his work on the estate tax, criminal justice and national security, Kyl faced scrutiny when he succeeded a master vote counter, Trent Lott, R-Miss. (1989-2007).
While Lott relied on friendships and ice-breaking promotions such as “Seersucker Thursday,” Kyl tends to work behind the scenes. He once jokingly suggested “Cowboy Boot Wednesday” but did not pursue it, aides said.
“I don’t think I have a right just to say, ‘As a favor to me, would you vote a certain way?’ ” Kyl said. “If you can’t make the substantive argument that persuades them, then you probably shouldn’t be asking them to do you a favor.”
Begich and Joseph I. Lieberman , Ia?`Conn., who caucuses with the Democrats, said they don’t mind Kyl’s overtures. “He talks to me a lot about foreign policy and other issues,” Lieberman said. “He doesn’t always convince me.”
Begich considers Murkowski and Young friends with whom he shares similar views on gun rights and energy. He says he might discuss other issues with them.
“We’ve got a long way to go on health care,” Begich said. “It’s different when I hear something from someone that I have a personal relationship with versus someone that I don’t know.”
Comments
We pray that honest officials are able to save us from Obama's criminal cap and trade scam. Cap and Trade "would be the equivalent of an atomic bomb directed at the U.S. economy--all without any scientific justification," says famed climatologist Dr. S. Fred Singer. It would significantly increase taxes and the cost of energy, forcing many companies to close, thus increasing unemployment, poverty and dependence. To increase their power and wealth at our expense, Obama and his billionaire fraudulent friends (Gore, Soros, Goldman Sachs, the Chicago Climate Exchange guys, GE, etc.) have been trying to brainwash us with the man-made global warming scam. GE, for example, has bombarded us with daily propaganda -- through its NBC networks, that includes MSNBC and CNBC -- to make us swallow the scam. Why? Because they stand to make BILLIONS from the scam. Not only GE is the largest wind turbine generator maker, but it may benefit as the sole "secondary market" trader of the cap and trade credits. More and more scientists and thinking people all over the world are realizing that man-made global warming is a hoax that threatens our future and the future of our children. More than 700 international scientists dissent over man-made global warming claims. They are now more than 13 times the number of UN scientists (52) who authored the media-hyped IPCC 2007 Summary for Policymakers. http://www.climatechangefraud.com/content/view/3562/218/ Additionally, more than 30,000 American scientists have signed onto a petition that states, "There is no convincing scientific evidence that human release of carbon dioxide, methane, or other greenhouse gases is causing or will, in the foreseeable future, cause catastrophic heating of the Earth's atmosphere and disruption of the Earth's climate." http://www.petitionproject.org Obama and his fraudulent friends seem determined to force us to swallow the man-made global warming scam. We need to defend ourselves from the scammers, who threaten our future and the future of our children. Based on a lie, they have already wasted billions and plan to increase taxes and increase the cost of energy, which will limit development, destroy our economy and enslave us. If not stopped, the global warming scam will enrich the scammers (Gore and Obama's Wall Street friends), increase the power of the United Nations and communists like Obama, and multiply poverty and servitude for the rest of us.
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