Rep. Cole defends work as GOP elections chief

Rep. Tom Cole, who faces a tough challenge from Rep. Pete Sessions of Texas for his chairmanship of the National Republican Congressional Committee, is defending his tenure by stressing the progress made over the 2006 election.
 
In a letter Monday asking colleagues to return him to his chairmanship, the Oklahoma Republican noted that, under his leadership, the committee has unearthed a fraud scandal involving the NRCC’s former treasurer, lost fewer seats than some experts predicted, and is on better financial footing than it was two years ago.
 
{mosads}”Win or lose the chairman’s race, at the end of this year, we will have an NRCC that is stronger and more capable of victory in 2010 than the committee I inherited two years ago,” Cole said. “Even as I write this letter, we are assisting GOP candidates in post-election recounts and runoffs and fighting an election in (Louisiana’s 4th district). That is a far cry from the state of affairs in November and December 2006 when the NRCC was broken.”
 
Cole called the 2008 political environment the “worst any of us has ever experienced” and noted the tough situation he was put in with 30 GOP retirements.
 
“Yes, difficult spending decisions had to made, as they must in these circumstances,” Cole said. “But we made our money stretch with a direct order I gave to our IE unit months before they began running ads: Don’t fire until you see the whites of their eyes. In other words, spend prudently, be judicious, and make it across the river to dry land with as many Republican seats as you can.”
 
Cole will miss at least some of the lead-up to Wednesday’s leadership votes. He is headed to Ohio after the death of his mother-in-law this weekend.