McCain reaches out to GOP senators with weekly meetings

Sen. John McCain’s (R-Ariz.) campaign manager met with 14 Senate Republicans Tuesday as part of a new attempt to improve communication between the GOP presidential campaign and the party’s senators.

Rick Davis discussed McCain’s healthcare plan at the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) headquarters in what is expected to be the first in a series of meetings. Next week the focus is on energy policy, according to Republican senators.

{mosads}Republicans say the meetings are open to all 49 senators and may be as frequent as every week. A McCain aide said the talks will feature policy advisers, strategists and political staff.

“They’re just keeping us informed,” said Sen. John Ensign (R-Nev.), chairman of the NRSC, which oversees Senate campaigns.

The issue of coordination arose at a bicameral Republican meeting at the White House last week. Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, vice chairman of the Republican Conference, told President Bush that the White House, Republican leaders and McCain should regularly be on the same page to communicate the party’s talking points effectively.

“The two best bully pulpits there are are the White House and the presidential nominee, so there ought to be a way of learning what Sen. McCain is going to be talking about and a way that we can echo and reinforce,” Cornyn said Wednesday.

Cornyn said Bush acknowledged that coordination could be improved.

“When he talks, people listen and it makes news,” Cornyn said. “And when McCain is talking as presumptive Republican nominee, people listen and it makes news. That’s not necessarily true when we talk over here.”

There have been some coordination miscues with Republicans so far. For instance, when McCain delivered his biggest economic speech of the year on April 15, Tax Day, several senior Republicans were not aware of McCain’s proposals.

When asked about McCain’s plan to suspend gasoline taxes over the summer-driving season, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) confessed he had just learned of it moments earlier. At a press conference Tuesday, Bush held back support for the gas-tax holiday even though it is emerging as a major campaign issue.

Republicans also privately say more work should be done to improve communication with the White House. For instance, they note how the White House surprised them earlier this month by hinting at a veto threat on a housing bill even though both sides had reached agreement and were poised to declare victory.

“You’re telling me something I was unaware of,” McConnell said when asked on April 8 for his reaction to the White House’s position. “It was unclear that the White House had a stated position yet on this bill.”

Coordinating with senators is trickier than with House members because senators are less inclined to follow someone else’s agenda.

Still, the McCain campaign has spent far more time working to repair relationships with House Republicans, largely because of the senator’s longstanding feuds with senior members of the conference. The strategy seems to have paid off. House Republican leaders are planning a new effort to get behind McCain’s campaign platform.

Now the attention turns to senators and opening lines of communication with people with whom McCain has fought in the past.

Sen. Thad Cochran (R-Miss.), who famously said that the thought of McCain being president sent “a cold chill” down his spine, said Wednesday that he was supportive of the senator’s presidential bid and noted that Republicans would benefit from increased coordination.

“I think it’s a fine idea, because we can’t keep track of what is going on from up here,” Cochran said.