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Politico...
2012
contenders shun Hill support
By Manu Raju
6/26/11
Iowa
Sen. Chuck Grassley is a
Republican powerhouse in his home state, so you’d think GOP
presidential
candidates would be knocking down his door for an endorsement ahead of
the
caucuses in the Hawkeye State.
Not
so much this year.
“It’s
happening a lot less,” Grassley
told POLITICO, saying just two candidates have bothered to come
calling.
Grassley may even delay making an endorsement decision until October,
and he
warned it’d be “stupid” for any candidates to skip the Iowa caucuses
altogether.
Grassley
is hardly alone: Across
Capitol Hill, Republican lawmakers report scant interaction with
presidential
hopefuls. The chase for congressional backing has been moving at a
snail’s pace
this year compared with the previous election cycle, a reflection of
the slowly
forming presidential field, concern in Congress about the strength of
the
candidates and a desire by White House hopefuls to keep their distance
from an
unpopular Washington.
“Given
the landscape, would you want
to be endorsed by some Washington insider?” Senate Minority Leader
Mitch
McConnell (R-Ky.), who plans to remain neutral in the race, asked
half-jokingly. “It’s the kiss of death.”
It’s
a remarkable contrast from the
summer of 2007, when the endorsement chase on Capitol Hill was well
underway.
By midsummer 2007, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney had 29
congressional
endorsements compared with 27 for Arizona Sen. John McCain. Former New
York
Mayor Rudy Giuliani touted his 21 backers, while former Tennessee Sen.
Fred
Thompson had 18 supporters.
Romney
has announced just eight
congressional endorsements so far this year from the likes of Idaho
Sen. Jim
Risch, freshman Nevada Rep. Joe Heck, Florida Rep. Connie Mack and his
wife,
California Rep. Mary Bono Mack.
Former
House Speaker Newt Gingrich has
just five congressional endorsements.None come from senators, three are
congressmen who represent Gingrich’s home state of Georgia and the
other two
are Texas Reps. Joe Barton and Michael Burgess.
Former
Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty has
just three congressional backers — two of whom, Reps. Erik Paulsen and
John
Kline, are from his home state.
Read
the rest of the story at Politico
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