CONGRESS

House GOP Leaders Are On Different Missions

Minority Leader Boehner Is Running The Convention And Working For November While Minority Whip Blunt Works The Trail

by Christian Bourge

Wednesday, Sept. 3, 2008


House Minority Leader John Boehner of Ohio and Minority Whip Roy Blunt of Missouri are following different paths this week as Republicans prepare to nominate Sen. John McCain as their presidential candidate in an election that might help determine whether GOP lawmakers keep their leaders.

As convention chairman, Boehner has had to focus on the daily program, but he said he is working in as many radio and television interviews as he can because "at the end of the day my big focus is to do everything I can to help my team."

With Republicans widely expected to lose seats in November, allowing Democrats to become more entrenched in the majority, the fate of the Republican leadership team has been the topic of open speculation in Washington and, to a degree, here at the convention.

But Boehner said his focus was on the election itself, when all House seats will be on the ballot, and not on whether Republicans will retain him as their leader after that. "My whole focus is doing everything I can up through Election Day," Boehner said. "What happens after Election Day will happen after Election Day."

Blunt left the convention Tuesday, using St. Paul as a 24-hour stop on a fundraising swing for GOP House incumbents and challengers. "Why should he be here if members are not here?" asked a top GOP operative who worked as a senior House aide.

Blunt's campaign swing includes stops on behalf of Duncan D. Hunter of California, who is running for the seat being vacated by his father, retiring House Armed Services Committee ranking member Duncan Hunter; Darren White of New Mexico, who is running to succeed retiring GOP Rep. Heather Wilson; and Rep. Bill Sali of Idaho.

"It gives us a chance to catch up," Blunt said.

Blunt said his time was best not spent at the convention and said most GOP House candidates can get far more done by staying in their districts to campaign. He used his short stay in Minnesota to appear at some Missouri-themed events and to push the party's support for expanded oil and gas drilling.

House Republican Conference Chairman Adam Putnam of Florida has been focusing on Florida receptions and events for younger Republicans. He has also kept a busy media schedule aimed at measuring the response GOP lawmakers are getting from the energy push.

"The biggest thing you have [at the convention] is hundreds of media folks in one building at one time," said Putnam. "It is like walking through the Speaker's Lobby on steroids. You really hit a lot of outlets to continue driving the message. That's probably the biggest thing we get out of it."

Rep. Eric Cantor of Virginia, the chief deputy minority whip who many expect to move up the leadership ladder, has also been focusing on helping younger faces in the party. In keeping with his reputation as a team player, he refused to discuss his leadership interests except in the most general terms.

"No matter what you do in life, if you do well the team will advance and you will as well," said Cantor. "If there is a place for me in the next Congress, I certainly want to be in a place to make a difference."

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