Fiorina boasts of NRSC support in California primary

[Brian4Liberty]

October 21, 2009
Fiorina boasts of NRSC support in California primary
Posted: October 21st, 2009 02:08 PM ET

From CNN Political Producer Peter Hamby

WASHINGTON (CNN) – Carly Fiorina, a likely Republican candidate for Senate in California, made public on Tuesday what her GOP primary opponent Chuck DeVore has long claimed: that the national party is supporting her bid to take out Sen. Barbara Boxer next year.

"The chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee has encouraged me to enter the race, reaffirming my belief that Chuck DeVore can not beat Barbara Boxer," Fiorina said Tuesday, according to SanDiegoNewsRoom.com.

That remark elicited a swift I-told-you-so from DeVore, who for months has accused NRSC chairman John Cornyn of unfairly meddling in the Republican primary on behalf of Fiorina, the millionaire former CEO of Hewlett-Packard who was a frequent surrogate for John McCain during the 2008 presidential race.

"We know that the entire Fiorina campaign is predicated on a recruiting effort by the NRSC," DeVore told CNN. "They may have an official policy of neutrality, but I know why she's running. It's because she was recruited."

But DeVore said he has not made any effort to meet with national Republican officials because he knows who the NRSC is supporting, and doesn't want to provide them with "valuable intelligence that they would simply pass on to Carly Fiorina."

The NRSC would certainly save a few bucks by having Fiorina as the Republican nominee: Whenever she decides to officially enter the race, she's expected to have a serious financial advantage over DeVore, who entered October with just $144,000 in the bank.

A spokesman for the NRSC, however, is playing down the significance of Fiorina's remark.

"Sen. Cornyn and the NRSC routinely meet with potential candidates around the country, oftentimes multiple folks in various states," committee spokesman Brian Walsh said in an e-mail. "We believe Barbara Boxer is uniquely vulnerable and her record is way out of step with mainstream America. If there are qualified candidates who want to challenge her that is a good thing. However, we've made clear that the NRSC has not endorsed any specific candidate and has no plans to do so."

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2009/10/21/fiorina-boasts-of-nrsc-support-in-california-primary/

[dannno]

Well naive is one thing that Chuck is not.

[TCE]

Well naive is one thing that Chuck is not.

No, he's especially blunt.

[Brian4Liberty]

More Questions About NRSC Role in Calif. Senate Primary

By Emily Cadei | October 21, 2009

Republican Senate candidate Chuck DeVore has escalated his war of words with the National Republican Senatorial Committee, citing new evidence his campaign says shows the committee is playing favorites in the California Senate primary.

The DeVore campaign leaped on comments made by potential primary rival, former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina, Wednesday at a campaign stop in San Diego. Fiorina, who is exploring a bid but has not declared her candidacy, told reporters, "The chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee has encouraged me to enter the race, reaffirming my belief that Chuck DeVore cannot beat Barbara Boxer," which DeVore spokesman, Josh Trevino, said contradicts previous NRSC statements that it was not endorsing a candidate in the race.

In an e-mail Trevino sent to NRSC Communications Director Brian Walsh, and circulated to the press, he asked the committee to clarify "who is telling the truth on this matter:"

It's no secret that many Republicans in Washington think Fiorina, who has name recognition, the capacity to self-fund and more centrist political tendencies, is a more promising general election candidate. But she has not performed any better against third-term Democrat Boxer than DeVore in recent polls -- and unseating a Democratic incumbent in a state like California is no easy task, no matter who the GOP's nominee is.

That does not, however, mean the NRSC has endorsed Fiorina, which Walsh reiterated in his reply e-mail to Trevino, also forwarded to reporters, as well as in comments to CQ Politics.

In a statement, Walsh noted, "The NRSC routinely meet with potential candidates around the country, oftentimes multiple folks in various states. We believe Barbara Boxer is way out of step with mainstream America and her poll numbers make clear she is vulnerable. If there are qualified candidates who want to challenge her that is a good thing."

But the distinction between endorsing and recruiting -- one involves formally linking the party name to the candidate and lending material support, the other seeking out and encouraging candidates to run -- bears less of a distinction out in the states than it does in Washington, D.C. And the party has generated a backlash among local activists in states like Florida and New Hampshire, as well as California, with the perception that it is meddling in primaries to the benefit of more moderate, but potentially more electable, candidates.

The NRSC, however, says it is happy to sit down with viable candidates across the spectrum. For example, it has met twice with Marco Rubio, a conservative candidate taking on Gov. Charlie Crist in the Republican primary for Florida Senate.

The NRSC has not met with DeVore, though there are differing accounts as to why that is. Trevino cited an attempt by the campaign to reach out to the NRSC in August, in which the campaign e-mailed the committee about a call it was hosting with GOP online activists to discuss Pat Toomey's Senate candidacy in Pennsylvania. The DeVore campaign asked the NRSC about setting up a similar call in California, but in his words, "they demurred."

"Since then, it has become crystal clear that the NRSC is 100 percent behind Fiorina's candidacy, raising the question of whether there is pragmatic utility in further outreach to them. If and when the NRSC wants to work with us, we await them with open arms," Trevino told CQ Politics in an e-mail.

DeVore, meanwhile, told CNN on Wednesday that "he has not made any effort to meet with national Republican officials because he knows who the NRSC is supporting, and doesn't want to provide them with 'valuable intelligence that they would simply pass on to Carly Fiorina.'"

The growing distrust between campaign and committee raises questions about what their relationship would be like should DeVore win the GOP nomination. Trevino, however, says he doesn't expect it to be an issue. Asked if the DeVore campaign would seek out NRSC support for a race against Boxer, he replied, "We shouldn't have to."

"The NRSC's sole mission is to aid Republicans seeking election to that august body. We have full confidence that the NRSC will do its job, and keep faith with its donors, in rendering full and effective support to Chuck DeVore once he wins the nomination."

CQ Politics currently rates the general election contest Safe Democratic, but the nature of the Republican primary could impact that rating going forward.

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/eyeon2010/2009/10/republican-senate-candidate-ch.html