Alexander readies for leadership role

In what he calls a “new twist” in his life, Sen. Lamar Alexander will take the role of chief communications strategist for the Senate GOP at a time of acrimony and deep partisan divisions likely to intensify with the approaching 2008 elections.

{mosads}In a secret ballot, Senate Republicans voted 31-16 Thursday to install the Tennessee Republican as chairman of the GOP Conference, the third highest-ranking leadership spot that spearheads the caucus’s messaging and communications strategy. Alexander defeated Sen. Richard Burr (N.C.), who appealed to junior conservatives by arguing that fresh ideas were needed to reform a party that has lost its way over issues on federal spending.
After the victory, Alexander said he plans to visit with the 48 other Republican senators and craft a message aimed at wooing independent voters while energizing the Republican base.

The senator has wide respect on both sides of the aisle, and some GOP senators hope his ascension will help ease the growing distrust and anger between the two parties. However, handling the job of conference chairman could be tricky for Alexander, since the position will force the senator, who has a reputation for reaching for bipartisan consensus on issues as thorny as the Iraq war, to draw distinctions between the GOP and Democrats.

Alexander insisted his reputation for bipartisanship would be a boon in his new job.
“Well, I’ve visited with every single Republican senator, and every single Republican senator said to me they’re here not to just play games, but to make things happen,” Alexander said. “I think we can raise the level of discussion here. I want to help [Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky] do that, help our leadership team do that. But it takes some cooperation from the other side.”

Alexander won the position one year after the former Tennessee governor, secretary of education and two-time GOP presidential candidate was upset in his bid for the minority whip position, which Sen. Trent Lott (R-Miss.) won by one vote. Last week, Lott surprised most of his colleagues when he announced he would resign from the Senate at the end of this month, opening up his No. 2 spot within the caucus.

Current Conference Chairman Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) moved up one spot to minority whip on Thursday, running uncontested for the position and leaving a two-way battle for the No. 3 position between Burr and Alexander. Alexander and Kyl will assume their new positions on Jan. 1.

Alexander worked aggressively for over a week to court supporters within the caucus, saying that he would craft a message appealing to both conservatives and independent voters, who will be needed if the GOP has any hope of retaking the Senate majority next year.

“After Trent won last year, I had decided that that was it for me; I would enjoy sitting back and being an independent-minded senator,” Alexander said. “And all of a sudden he leaves, and that completely changed the picture.

“This is a new twist in my life that I didn’t expect,” he said.

The GOP election coincides with the end of a congressional session dominated by stalemates, with each party increasingly sharpening its rhetoric to deflect blame to the other side. Rushing to finish its work, the Senate has come to a standstill on a host of pressing issues, including 11 of 12 annual spending measures, a repeal of the alternative minimum tax, a five-year farm bill and funding for the Iraq war.

But the new GOP leadership team hopes that in the coming year, the tone will soften, a tough goal when the presidential election moves into full swing.

“When I go home to Phoenix, I confess to you, I frequently [say] that it isn’t as much fun as it should be, that it would be a lot more fun if we worked together to get things done, that things are too partisan in this town,” Kyl said. “I have an innate desire to try to work with people on both sides of the aisle and try to undo some of that.”
Similarly, others in the GOP expressed hope that the new leadership team would help ease the partisan divisions.

“I think Lamar Alexander made a good point. He said, ‘You can’t win elections by just talking to your base. You have to build a governing coalition, including independents and Democrats to gain a majority,’” said Sen. John Cornyn (Texas), vice chairman of the Senate Republican Conference, who voted for Alexander. “That’s true to pass legislation here and that’s true in winning elections in the country.”

Supporters of Burr said they had no ill feelings about Alexander’s ascension.

Sen. Jim DeMint (S.C.), the freshman conservative who has occasionally sparred with veteran members of his caucus over federal spending issues, voted for Burr, an ally in his ongoing fight over earmarks. But DeMint said he was “enthusiastic” about Alexander’s victory.

“This was an election that we couldn’t lose,” DeMint said. “I think everyone in leadership knows that [Republicans] gotta change the way we do things. Certainly we need a message but we also need a new operating style,” on issues such as clamping down on earmarked funds for lawmakers’ pet projects.
DeMint said Alexander has “a good conservative voting record.”

After the vote, Burr said his vote count was lower than he expected on Wednesday night. But he signaled that the loss would not set back his work in the Senate.

“I’m going to continue to do what I’ve done and that’s to be vocal on issues that I think are important to me personally, to the American people and to North Carolina,” Burr said. “And it may free me up to do more of that versus less of it, given that I don’t have the responsibilities of the conference.”

While Alexander said that he would still offer independent ideas, he acknowledged that as part of the leadership team, he would have to selectively choose when to push them.

“I’ll still have independent views, [and] I’ll be able to advocate them more effectively and in different places,” Alexander said.