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lx43
04-19-2010, 11:54 PM
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304252704575156420169109694.html?m od=WSJ_hpp_MIDDLENexttoWhatsNewsTop

Parts in bold are about our very on Rand Paul. The battle between Rand/Grayson is truly for the heart/soul of the R. Paul stands for little govt; whereas, Grayson stands for BIG Govt.

WASHINGTON—Sen. John Cornyn, who is spearheading the Republicans' campaign to take back the Senate, is on a roll. The GOP snatched a seat in Massachusetts and polls favor Republicans in many key states.

But the genial Texas lawyer is facing an unusual challenge—from one of his own colleagues. Firebrand conservative Sen. Jim DeMint of South Carolina, breaking with the Senate's tradition of deference, is endorsing and funding conservative candidates to challenge the party establishment's picks. Just last week, he backed a conservative insurgent in the Colorado Republican primary over a former lieutenant governor.

The Republican Party is in play, and the passage of President Barack Obama's health plan has inflamed the intraparty wrangling.

On one side are pragmatists like Mr. Cornyn who insist that uncompromising conservatives aren't good bets to win swing states. On the other are purists like Mr. DeMint who want to field as many conservatives as possible to recapture the public's trust at a moment when faith in government is at low ebb.

History suggests Mr. Cornyn's approach is a safer bet. But recent polls suggest that in a number of states this year, the purist conservative could defeat the Democrat in the general election.

Mr. DeMint is deploying his Senate Conservatives Fund as a counterweight to Mr. Cornyn's National Republican Senatorial Committee, pushing antiestablishment GOP candidates in Florida, California and Colorado.

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The whole House of Representatives and a third of Senate seats are on the ballot in 2010. See which races are considered closest.

More interactive graphics and photos He also is considering jumping into races from Kentucky to Nevada to New Hampshire—in each case, contemplating an assault on a candidate embraced by GOP leaders.

The health-care overhaul has emerged as a litmus test for the candidates. Some Republican candidates who hesitated to call for a total repeal have been pilloried by their conservative opponents.

Mr. DeMint himself swiftly introduced a bill to repeal the health overhaul. When Mr. Cornyn told a reporter that "there's noncontroversial stuff here...We're not interested in repealing that," conservative activists pounced, and Sen. Cornyn promptly signed on to Mr. DeMint's bill. Now nearly every GOP candidate has lined up behind a repeal.

Mr. Cornyn is no one's idea of a squishy centrist. He rose through Texas politics in the 1990s as part of a Republican wave pushed by George W. Bush strategist Karl Rove, and ascended to the U.S. Senate in 2002, becoming one of its most conservative members. Nevertheless, he believes that in some states a centrist Republican has the best chance of winning.

The Senate is an institution in which seniority and hierarchy dictate everything from committee chairmanships to office space. Messrs. DeMint and Cornyn say they discuss their differences routinely and cordially. Nonetheless, the two remain in an uneasy standoff.

Mr. DeMint says he has promised his colleague fair warning before endorsing insurgent Republican candidates. He also says he wouldn't back third-party candidates, except as a last resort.

American conservatism has taken a turbulent turn since the election of President Obama, evidenced by the rise of the tea-party movement. Public anger over the health-care law has energized conservatives. The question for Republicans now is how to channel that into an effective election strategy.

The DeMint approach: "I'm at the point where it doesn't matter if we win if we don't believe in anything," the senator says. "There's no need to nursemaid somebody to the general election if they're just going to come up here and vote like the Democrats do."

The Cornyn approach: "We need candidates who can win," says Mr. Cornyn. "What we're in the business of is reinforcing our numbers, and the only way you do that is by winning elections."

Showdown in California

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Associated Press

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Carly Fiorina, top, former Hewlett-Packard CEO, was recruited and has received backing in her Senate run from establishment Republicans. Conservative Assemblyman Chuck DeVore, middle, is backed by the Senate Conservatives Fund. Former Rep. Tom Campbell, bottom, also is in the race.
Democrats now hold a 59-41 majority in the Senate, counting two independents who usually vote with the Democrats. Republicans expect to pick up at least five seats in November, and their fondest hope is to capture 10 and control of the Senate.

Many Republican strategists share Mr. Cornyn's outlook. Elections, they say, are often determined by independents uneasy with ideologues on either side. Democrats pulled off big wins in 2006 and 2008 in large part by recruiting candidates who didn't adhere to liberal orthodoxy.

The GOP itself has notched three impressive wins recently—in Massachusetts, New Jersey and Virginia—with candidates who to varying degrees stressed moderation and bipartisanship.

Occasionally elections come along that upend such patterns. In 1994, voter anger at Washington swept many conservatives into Congress.

Conservative activists say this election shows hallmarks of being such a race, and they cite polls showing that in Florida and California, for example, conservative insurgents are either leading or nearly even with the Democratic candidate.

Republicans contend that fierce opposition to the health law will resonate with an angry electorate. "It's likely to be the centerpiece of many campaigns, particularly against Democrat incumbents," Mr. DeMint says. "I think it will be a very powerful message."

The few Republican Senate candidates who haven't gotten on board with the repeal push, such as Rep. Mike Castle of Delaware, have taken flak. "While this president is in office, repealing this full law is not realistic and not the best use of our efforts," he said in a statement.

"Unforgivable," wrote Christine O'Donnell, Mr. Castle's conservative challenger, to her supporters. "What else can we call my opponent Mike Castle's cynical refusal to fight for the repeal of ObamaCare?"

Mr. Obama would likely veto a repeal, meaning opponents would need 67 votes, a highly unlikely scenario.

Democrats contend that the repeal push will hurt Republicans, since portions of the health law are quite popular. They hope that GOP divisions will blunt Republican momentum in the coming election.

"Republicans face competitive primaries in nearly every Senate race," says New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez, who coordinates the Democrats' Senate campaigns, making him Mr. Cornyn's counterpart. "Some of them are ideological, many of them are antiestablishment, but all of them have the same upshot—ugly, bloodletting battles."

Mr. DeMint didn't start his career as a movement leader, but he's always been outspoken in his conservatism. At a campaign stop in 2000, he dumped the entire federal tax code from a hot air balloon during a thunderstorm. He caused a furor in 2004 by saying gays shouldn't be allowed to teach in public schools. In trying to explain his position, he added that pregnant women with live-in boyfriends shouldn't either. Later he backed away from those comments.

When he first came to Congress, Mr. DeMint was a team player. But the sweeping Democratic victory of 2006 convinced him his party was paying a steep price for its leaders' deviation from principled conservatism.

"It totally changed my M.O.," Mr. DeMint says. "I realized I wasn't going to change many minds who were already there, that the only opportunity was, instead of trying to convince my colleagues, to try to take the message to the outside."

Mr. DeMint has antagonized his Republican colleagues in various ways—calling for big turnover in the Senate, ranking all senators for their conservatism (only he scored a 100) and proposing term limits for GOP senators on the Appropriations Committee, which controls a big chunk of spending.

Florida Face-Off

Associated Press

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Gov. Charlie Crist, top, received early support for his Senate run from the National Republican Senatorial Committee. Conservative Marco Rubio, bottom, has surged to a lead with backing from the Senate Conservatives Fund.
Mr. Cornyn, for his part, became the opposite of Mr. DeMint—the ultimate team player. He supported President George W. Bush's nomination of fellow Texan Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court, although she was anathema to conservatives.

Since taking over as head of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, Mr. Cornyn has courted centrists. These candidates are performing well in some races while DeMint candidates seem more effective in others. What's clear is that races in which both are involved have become bitter.

In Florida, when popular governor Charlie Crist announced he would run for Senate, Mr. Cornyn endorsed him within hours. But conservatives were troubled by some of Mr. Crist's positions, such as an aggressive approach to global warming and support for Mr. Obama's stimulus package.

The day of Mr. Crist's announcement, Mr. DeMint met with Florida conservative Marco Rubio, who was seeking his support. About 10 minutes after Mr. Rubio began his presentation, Mr. DeMint was teary-eyed, moved by his unapologetic conservatism. Mr. DeMint endorsed Mr. Rubio the following month.

Since then, Mr. Rubio, who started out 30 points behind Mr. Crist, has surged to a sizeable lead with a tireless campaign, a moving story of his roots in Cuba and attacks on the Washington establishment.

A new Quinnipiac University poll shows Mr. Rubio leading likely Democratic nominee Kendrick Meek 42% to 38%, though Mr. Crist leads Mr. Meek by a considerably larger margin, 48% to 34%. This month, some supporters urged Mr. Crist to abandon the Republican primary and run as an independent.

In California, Mr. Cornyn aggressively recruited Carly Fiorina, a former CEO of Hewlett-Packard Co. She seemed an ideal candidate—a well-known figure who was new to politics, had money and could appeal to women.

Mr. DeMint is pushing conservative Assemblyman Chuck DeVore. After months of campaigning, Mr. DeVore trails both Ms. Fiorina and former Republican Rep. Tom Campbell.

The eventual Republican nominee will face a formidable campaigner in incumbent Democrat Barbara Boxer. In a recent Rasmussen Reports poll, Ms. Fiorina trailed Ms. Boxer 42% to 38%, Mr. DeVore was behind 42% to 39%, and Mr. Campbell trailed her 43% to 41%.

Mr. DeMint jumped into the Colorado contest last Thursday. Jane Norton, the former lieutenant governor, had announced the day before she was skipping the state Republican convention, in what some saw as a recognition of her weakness among GOP activists.

Mr. DeMint announced he was endorsing District Attorney Ken Buck, telling reporters, "I intend to do everything we can to raise money and resources for him."

A recent Rasmussen poll shows Ms. Norton leading Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet 46% to 41%, while Mr. Buck leads Mr. Bennet 44% to 40%.

In Kentucky, secretary of state Trey Grayson has received endorsements from many prominent Republicans. Mr. Grayson is being challenged by Rand Paul, son of Rep. Ron Paul, the Texas Republican and former presidential candidate with an intense following among conservatives and libertarians.

Mr. DeMint hasn't yet endorsed Mr. Paul, but there is little doubt where his sympathies lie. "I think Rand Paul is a great candidate," he says. "He is certainly a conservative and shares my point of view on a lot of things."

Mr. Paul, an ophthalmologist, leads Mr. Grayson by double digits in recent polls. Both Republicans comfortably lead the Democratic contenders.
Mr. DeMint's endorsement is highly sought-after. More than 25 GOP Senate hopefuls have trooped to Washington to seek his backing.

Some say they approached Mr. DeMint only after Mr. Cornyn refused to see them. "I've tried to talk to Mr. Cornyn. I've been unable to," says California's Mr. DeVore. "Last time, they palmed me off to his executive director, and no way I was going to meet with the executive director, since the staff already have their marching orders."

Mr. Cornyn denies this, saying he meets with all the candidates he can. "I'm in the business of making friends, not enemies," he says. "I'm certainly not intentionally shunning or refusing to meet with anybody."

Mr. DeMint's Senate Conservatives Fund raised $1.3 million in 2009 and aims to bring in another $3 million in 2010. That is dwarfed by Mr. Cornyn's committee, which brought in $4.6 million in February alone.

But Mr. DeMint's impact comes from raising the profiles of specific candidates. "What I want to do is just to elect people who understand the situation we're in as a country, and who are willing to make some hard decisions to turn us away from this cliff," says Mr. DeMint.

Mr. Cornyn plays down the conflict, saying hard-fought primaries can bring conservatives into the party.

"He has carved out a niche for himself and he's happy with that niche," Mr. Cornyn of Mr. DeMint. "But my attitude is: I have a job to do here, which is to help our candidates win as many Senate seats as possible in November."

Write to Naftali Bendavid at naftali.bendavid@wsj.com