Thilli$$$$ eyeing the NR$C prize
In DC, when they talk these days about the Dynamic Duo, they’re not referring to Barry & Joe, or The Donald & Newt. It’s all about Thom & Cory.
No, we’re not talking about the hottest new sitcom on the LOGO network. We’re talking about the two BFFs aiming to take control of the National Republican Senatorial Committee:
Sens. Thom Tillis of North Carolina and Cory Gardner of Colorado are floating a novel idea: Sharing the job of leading the Senate GOP’s campaign arm.
The freshmen lawmakers are gauging support for a proposal to become co-chairmen of the National Republican Senatorial Committee for the 2018 election cycle, a prime opportunity for the GOP to pick up seats or recapture the Senate if they lose it this year. Democrats will be defending 25 seats vs. just eight for the GOP, and Tillis and Gardner are aggressively pursuing a leadership role at the organization to capitalize on the opportunity.
Two guys running as a team for a job that has always been done by ONE? Lloyd and Harry couldn’t have come up with a better game plan. MORE:
[…] Though both won Senate races in 2014 in purple states, each has a different specialty that could help make such an unusual arrangement work. Gardner has a sunny disposition and has refused to endorse Trump given the diverse population and libertarian bent of his state. Tillis is a former statehouse speaker and has become one of Trump’s most vocal surrogates in recent weeks.[…]
Really? I don’t think I have heard anything out of Thilli$$$ about the presidential race since his *well-timed* endorsement of Marco Rubio DAYS before Rubio quit the race. (Hmmm. I don’t think Thilli$$$ even bothered to show up for Trump’s recent rally in Raleigh.)
MORE: 
Donors and lobbyists have been informed of the co-chairmen idea, and Tillis confirmed in an interview that it’s under consideration. Nothing will be decided until after the 2016 election, when the GOP caucus will elect the next NRSC leadership team.
“It’s not any more prominent than other operational things that we’ve talked about that we may want to look at,” Tillis said of the proposal. “I’m an organizational guy. So it’s like, what do we think is optimal for running the 2018 cycle? But right now we’re laser focused on 2016.”[…]
Thilli$$$ + donors & lobbyists. Talk about a pig in mud. (*Time ta get paid, yo!*) MORE:
[…] Convincing the caucus to elect a Gardner-Tillis tandem would allow the party to skirt an intra-party feud between close friends. But that’s not the point, Tillis said.
“I don’t think it’s about avoidance at all. What you have to do is look at what’s the optimal model at every level of the organization. I’m an organization change guy,” Tillis said. “It could very well be the traditional model makes sense. We could go down that path. Or some other model (might make) sense.”
Another possibility that some Republicans view as more realistic would be a power-sharing agreement similar to the 2014 leadership team. Sen. Jerry Moran of Kansas was chairman and was tasked with recruiting, media and organizational duties. One of his vice-chairmen, Sen. Rob Portman of Ohio, was the fundraising guru, traveling the country to rack up millions that proved invaluable in taking over the Senate.
Despite the success of that team and its pick-up of nine seats, the NRSC wasn’t entirely stable that cycle. The second vice-chair was Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), who made a $250,000 donation to the NRSC, but essentially abandoned his job of facilitating grassroots outreach. Cruz believed the NRSC was getting too involved in Republican primaries.[…]
*Gee, what could go wrong here?* It’s a whole new channel for shaking down people with interests before the government. It sounds like a win-win for University of Maryland University College’s online bachelor’s degree program’s favorite son. He’ll be in a position to shake down lobbyists AND heavily influence candidate recruiting. (JUST like he did in the NC House — saddling us with a caucus full of RINOs.)
What do WE get out of all this? Hmmm. (*crickets*)
I seem to remember Elizabeth Dole landing the NRSC gig prior to her 2008 reelection bid. (How did that work out for her?)
Tillis, who wants to revive the Gang of Eight Bill, really? Rah rah GOP, no thanks
Conservatives should avoid the NRSC like the plague anyway as it is a stridently pro-establishment and anti-conservative entity. That should suit Tillis just fine with his anti-conservative history of recruiting and trying to recruit primary challengers to conservatives.
A good example of just how bad NRSC can be is to look at Colorado, one of the two states long identified as possible GOP pickups this year. NRSC’s annointed candidate ran fourth in the primary, and the winner was Darryl Glenn, a black retired air force colonel, small businessman, and county commissioner in Colorado’s largest population county. He is also a staunch conservative and was backed in the primary by major national conservative organizations, Ted Cruz, and Sarah Palin. One would think NRSC would appreciate the opportunity at diversity with a top drawer black candidate, but they pitched a real tantrum over their guy getting slaughtered in the primary and announced that they were having nothing to do with the general election campaign in Colorado. That in spite of post primary polls showing a close race and the Democrat incumbent very vulnerable. At least Sen. Cory Gardner had the good sense to endorse Glenn after the primary even if NRSC was pitching a hissy fit and refused to.
Colorado is hardly the only state where NRSC has behaved this way. It is just the best example this election cycle.
Conservatives should stay away from the NRSC. The two reliable national conservative organizations to contribute through are the Senate Conservatives Fund and the Club for Growth.
I’d add the House Freedom Fund (associated with House Freedom Caucus) to your list of trustworthy groups working to elect true conservatives.
I concur that the House Freedom Fund is another of the ”good guys”.
This new poll continues to show why the NRSC is betraying both conservatives AND Republicans by abandoning the Senate race in Colorado as the numbers show it is highly winnable, even though our nominee is now cash strapped from spending all his money winning the primary and needs to refill his coffers:
http://freebeacon.com/politics/38-percent-coloradans-think-bennet-deserves-reelection/
The bad behavior of the NRSC is utterly shameful.
We also have to remember that past bad behavior by the NRSC is why we do not hold this Colorado Senate seat today. Six years ago in 2010, there was a struggle in the primary between conservative District Attorney Ken Buck (now a Congressman from Colorado), backed by the national conservative groups, and Gale Norton, who had been an AARP lobbyist in the Hillarycare era, backed by NRSC. When Buck took a lead in the polls, the word got out that NRSC was working with Norton on a ”scorched earth” attack campaign on Buck. Conservative leaders tried to head this off, warning that such a divisive primary attack would leave whoever won the nomination too wounded to win in November, with angry supporters on both sides of the primary race. NRSC was apparently more interested in beating conservatives than beating the Democrats and went ahead with the scorched earth attacks. As a result, Buck solidly won the primary despite the attacks, but very narrowly lost to Democrat Bennett in November. NRSC has only itself and its bad behavior to blame for this debacle.
The NRSC played this same game in Nebraska in 2014, where Ben Sasse, backed by the national conservative groups, was in a close primary race initially with the NRSC’s annointed candidate. When Sasse began to pull away in the polls, NRSC unleashed a scorched earth attack campaign against him. In spite of that Sasse expanded his lead to the point that NRSC’s candidate trailed badly. Even when it became clear that NRSC had lost the primary and continuing the attacks on Sasse could only help the Democrats, NRSC still kept beating up on Sasse. They were more interested in beating conservatives than beating Democrats. Sasse won the primary handily, the NRSC’s candidate coming in third place, and then went on to win in November, in spite of the NRSC.
I would add that not only should no conservative give money to NRSC, given their history, but neither should any thinking Republican, of any stripe.
$humaker was talking up Tilli$ as a future NRSC chair before he was sworn in. $humaker will be the general consultant and his errand-boy $tewart will have his hand in direct mail. Wonder when Robin Hayes’ grandson will land a piece of the pie and have his grubby, alcohol-laden hands in the till(is).
Tills favored supporting concerns of those putting large donations in his pocket. No concern for those losing jobs and incomes reduced 75% in the Commercial Fishing Industries. Approved more regulations requested by NC CCA, represent .013 % of NC LICENSED Recreational Fishermen.
With Tillis, everything is for sale to the highest bidder. Remember his pay to play deal with seats on the UNC Board of Governors? No wonder the BOG is totally worthless.