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Republican Politics, 1989-1990
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19
2
6
7
THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
For Immediate Release
June 26, 1989
REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT
TO STATE AND LOCAL OFFICIALS
CHANGING PARTIES
The Rose Garden
3:44 P.M. EDT
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much. And all of you,
greetings, welcome to the Rose Garden. To Lee -- Lee Atwater and
Jeannie Austin -- delighted that the leaders of our party are here
for this important occassion. And, of course, to our special friend,
Congressman Bill Grant of Florida -- a great, great pleasure to see
you again and have you here with us. And to state officials, key
elected leaders, fellow Republicans all, welcome to the White House.
And welcome officially you don't need it from me -- but, welcome
to the Republican Party. (Applause.)
It was once said that some men change their principles
for their party, while others change their party for their
principles. And since the election, scores of elected Democratic
officials -- men and women -- have made the right choice and joined
the Republican Party -- and because the values and principles of the
Democratic Party were not their values and principles. And I think
many more will follow them.
The switch is on to the party in sync with the American
principles. The switch is on to the Republican Party.
In February -- seems like just yesterday -- Bill Grant,
Congressman, came to the White House to announce his switch from
Democrat to Republican. And now he's with the party of opportunity,
the party of ideas, the party of the future, because in the future, I
honestly believe there will be many more Democrats joining our ranks.
And people say the Republican Party is on the move.
Well, when I look around here today, I'd say that's true. We're
moving in the right direction. But the Democratic Party is on the
move, too -- to the left and out of the mainstream.
And as the greatest former Democrat of them all,
President Reagan, once said, "I didn't leave the Democratic Party.
The Democratic Party left me." The Democratic Party is leaving
droves of voters behind as it moves over on to the more liberal side
-- the left side of the political equasion. And now many of those
stranded voters have made a move on their own -- to the Republican
Party, our party of family, faith and the future.
And each of you here has made a courageous decision,
sometimes a very tough, political decision to join us -- taking
considerable political risk in the process. But you've also made a
move to be on the winning side in the contest of ideas and issues in
America.
And when you made that bold choice to join us, we made a
choice, too. We will support you, we will back you up in every way
we can. You've made a tough decision -- the right decision -- and
we're with you. And when you're out there on the front lines for us,
you won't be fighting alone. This party will stand with you
shoulder-to-shoulder.
As former Democrats, you are the most visible sign of the
MORE
- 2 -
great sea-changes that are going on in the American political scene.
I'm told that since 1984, the Republican Party in Florida has
increased its voter registration by nearly half a million; and in the
last 6.0 days, Republicans have been out-registering Democrats in that
state by better than 3-1. And that's because mainstream Americans
believe in peace through strength, and economic opportunity,
traditional family values. And with the Republican Party, they're
swimming with the current.
We know which party stands for a strong America and a
growing economy and Americans know that too. And that's why with
the able leadership of Lee Atwater, Jeannie Austin, the Party will
become the majority party in America. We can do it -- I want to help
-- we will do it -- because of the courage of you and thousands like
you. On behalf of Republicans everywhere then, thank you,
congratulations, welcome to the Republican Party.
Thank you all very, very much for coming.
END
3:49 P.M. EDT
04/05/90
16:08
CONGRESSMAN BILL GRANT
002
CONGRESSMAN BILL GRANT
Bill Grant is a Republican with rools that go deep in the history
of North Florida.
A sixth generation Floridian, Bill Grant was born in Lake City,
spent his carly childhood on a farm in Suwannee County and
attended High School in Taylor County. While working his way
through Florida State University, he distinguished himself by
becoming President of his class and a member of the prestigious
Cold Key honorary leadership society before graduating with a
dogree in Marketing in 1963.
As an active businessman, he helped establish three North Florida
banks, including the Bank of Madison County, where he served as
President for 13 years.
In the midst of his highly successful banking career, in 1982 he
won a scat in the Florida Senate. In 1984, he was re-elected
without opposition.
An a Senator, Bill earned the reputation as cill expert in the
appropriations process and budgetary issues. Hc was also
instrumental in the passage of landmark education and
environmental legislation.
In 1986, then Senator Grant became the 100th Floridian since
statehood to represent Florida in the U.S. Congress.
Congressman Grant has taken a leadership role in the fight against
illegal drugs, reforming America's welfare system and reducing
the Federal deficit. He supports a. constitutional amendment
mandating a balanced Federal budget and giving the President line
item veto authority.
When a member of the Public Works and Transportation Committee,
he supported measures to strengthen air safely, and ocean dumpino
and protect Florida's coastline. When a member of the Government
Operations Committee, he took special interest in both
agricultural and justice issues, and has introduced legislation
to reform the judicial appeals system.
Congressman Grant has earned accolades for his work or behalf of
voterans and the olderly. lie earned the Golden Bulldog Award for
his efforts to cut Federal spending, eliminate waste and reduce
the Federal deficit.
Congressman Grant is married LC the former Janet Krawiec and has
two sons, John and Carter.
THE WIRTHLIN GROUP
NATIONAL QUORUM
MEMORANDUM
1363 Beverly Road, McLean, Virginia/703-556-0001/Fax 790-5821
Feb.'90
The Wirthlin Group is providing this current political data to apprise you of changes in the
your campaign or those with whom you have contact.
national environment and to give you the opportunity to use this information to help shape
If you have any ideas for future surveys or questions about this summary, please call Neil
Newhouse, or Bill McInturff at 703-556-0001.
This summary is from our February 19-21, 1990 national survey of 1,000 adults. In general,
random samples such as this yield results projectable to the entire universe within + 3.1
percentage points in 95 out of 100 cases.
HIGHLIGHTS OF FEBRUARY SURVEY:
Americans continue to be modestly optimistic about the direction the country
is heade d -- by a 48%-43% margin, Americans believe that the nation is
going in the right direction.
President Bush's job rating continues to be high, with 73% approving of the
job he's doing, and only 18% disapproving.
Contrary to popular belief, just 12% of Americans say that they have either
year. changed their mind or modified their own position on abortion in the past
And, on a couple of issues outside the standard political agenda of most candidates:
Americans aren't taking sides in the current baseball lockout of players by
the owners. Thirty-six percent of those interviewed say they sympathize
more with the players, compared to 32% who side with the owners.
Public opinion is split down the middle on the issue of banning fur sales:
right to buy furs, but another 49% are against fur sales.
49% of Americans believe there is nothing wrong with people having the
PRESIDENT BUSH JOB APPROVAL
George Bush maintains his high approval ratings across the demographic spectrum,
receiving a total approval score of 73%-18%, with 30% now strongly approving of the job
he's doing, and 8% strongly disapproving.
Although there isn't all that much difference between the President's overall ratings by
specific groups, there is a significant difference in the intensity of support he receives.
Key findings on this include:
President Bush receives considerably stronger support from men (35%
strongly approve) than from women (25%), with his most intense base of
support coming from older men (47%).
Although the President's highest overall approval scores come from younger
Americans (77% among 18-34 year olds), his strongest approval comes from
older Americans (36%).
The higher the education level and income level of a respondent, the more
doing. likely he or she is to strongly approve of the job that President Bush is
Democratic men are President Bush's strongest Democratic support group
(63%-28% approval), with 28% being strong approvers.
The President's regional strength emerges most strongly in the South (32%
strongly approve) and the West (36%).
HAVE AMERICANS CHANGED THEIR MINDS ON THE ABORTION ISSUE?
Last year's Supreme Court ruling granting states wider power to regulate abortions sparked
heated debate among politicians and forced an examination, perhaps for the first time,
among voters and politicians as to their opinions on the issue. Amid this controversy and
debate, 12% voters did not undergo the realignment of opinion as was expected. In fact, just
say they have changed their mind or modified their position on this issue.
Those most likely to have changed their position are younger Americans: 61% of those
That who report changing or modifying their position in the past year are 18-to-34 years old.
their minds on this issue.
is especially true among younger Democrats, 27% of whom say they have changed
Although younger Americans appear to have shifted somewhat on this issue, older
changed their minds.
Americans have held steadfast -- just 4% of Americans over 55 years of age say they have
RIGHT DIRECTION/WRONG TRACK
Americans continue to express optimism about the direction of the country, with 48%
saying the nation is headed in the right direction, and 43% believing it is off on the wrong
that a plurality of Americans are positive on this measure.
track. It is important to note that this is just the sixth time in the last 36 monthly surveys
Men, younger Americans, those with higher education and income levels, Republicans, and
Westerners are all significantly more positive than the nation as a whole.
Consistently throughout the last few years, our surveys have shown both a gender and a
generation gap on this question. Although we have examined these differences in our
summaries, it is also important to note that differences of opinion exist within political
than their male and younger counterparts.
parties. For example, GOP women and older Republicans are considerably less optimistic
On this survey, the most pessimistic Republican groups [older Republicans (49%-45%)
[younger Democrats (50%-45%) and Democratic men (46%-43%)].
and Republican women (49%-45%)] match up with the most optimistic Democratic groups
MOST IMPORTANT PROBLEM
Once again, concern over drugs dominates Americans' response as the most important
problem facing the country, receiving 33% of the mentions from Americans. The next
highest concerns are each mentioned by 6% of Americans. This is the 22nd month of the
past 23 (dating back to April 1988) that drugs has topped the issue agenda.
The issues mentioned most frequently by Americans include:
Drugs
33%
Environment/pollution
6%
The economy
6%
The deficit
5%
Poverty/hunger/homelesnes
5%
Unemployment
3%
Education
3%
THE BASEBALL LOCKOUT
By a 36%-32% margin, Americans side more with the players than with the owners in the
current baseball lockout. These results differ dramatically from our September 1988
polling during the NFL Football strike (players 47%-28% owners), indicating that the
players have struck out in whatever efforts they may have made to sway fans strongly in
their direction.
Part of that failure may be attributable to the significant amount of press that baseball
player salaries have received in the past few months, with few Americans being able to
sympathize with such highly paid entertainers.
The crosstabs show some interesting demographic trends, with owners receiving a plurality
of support among men (especially middle-aged and older men), higher educated
Midwest. Americans, those with higher household incomes, Republicans, and those living in the
Those more likely to support the players include: women, younger Americans, less
educated and lower income Americans, Democrats, and those Americans living in the
South and the West.
BAN THE SALE OF FURS?
Almost half of Americans (49%) believe there is nothing wrong with people having the
right to buy furs if they choose to, but an equal number believe either that people
shouldn't purchase furs (28%), or that the sale of furs should be banned (21%).
On this obviously divisive issue, this survey also reveals some interesting sub-group trends.
Those who oppose the purchase of furs tend to be women (especially younger women),
post-grads and Independents, while those taking the other side on this issue tend to be
men (especially middle-aged and older men), lower educated Americans, blacks and
residents of the South.
Again, we hope you find this information interesting and helpful to your efforts. Please
feel free to call on us (703/556-0001) if we can be of further assistance.
WHO DO YOU SIDE WITH
IN THE CURRENT BASEBALL LOCKOUT?
53%
42%
40%39%
40%
36%
34%
26%
27%
27%
23%
22%
MEN
MEN
MEN
WOMEN
WOMEN
WOMEN
18-34
35-54
55+
18-34
35-54
55+
PLAYERS
OWNERS
WIRTHLIN GROUP SURVEY: FEB. 19-21, 1990
CHANGED POSITION ON ABORTION
BY AGE
98%
91%
86%
88%
81%
78%
19%
21%
13%
7%
6%
2%
18-24
25-34
35-44
45-54
55-64
65 *
CHANGED POSITION
DID NOT CHANGE
WIRTHLIN GROUP SURVEY: FEB. 19-21, 1990
GEORGE BUSH STRONG APPROVERS
AMONG DEMOCRAT PARTISANS
MEN
28%
OVER 55 YEARS OLD
24%
35-54 YEAR OLDS
24%
WOMEN
12%
18-34 YEAR OLDS
9%
% STRONGLY APPROVING
WIRTHLIN GROUP SURVEY: FEB. 19-21, 1990
GEORGE BUSH STRONG APPROVERS
MEN OVER 55 YEARS
47%
REPUBLICANS
44%
POST GRADS
42%
MEN 35-54 YEARS
39%
$40K+ HHs
39%
MOUNTAIN RESIDENTS
39%
55-64 YEAR OLDS
38%
WEST RESIDENTS
36%
MEN
35%
65 YEARS OLD +
35%
COLLEGE GRADS
35%
$30 - $40K HHs
35%
PACIFIC RESIDENTS
35%
% STRONGLY APPROVING
WIRTHLIN GROUP SURVEY: FEB. 19-21, 1990
RIGHT DIRECTION/WRONG TRACK
AMONG PARTISAN SUBGROUPS
Percent
69
65
57
49
48
50
50
44
45
46
43
45
35
35
29
24
GOP GOP
GOP GOP
DEM DEM
DEM
DEM
MEN WOMEN
18-34 56+
MEN WOMEN
18-34 65+
RIGHT DIRECTION
WRONG TRACK
WIRTHLIN GROUP SURVEY: FEB. 19-21, 1990
RIGHT DIRECTION/WRONG TRACK
ONE YEAR TREND: Feb. '89 - Feb. '90
60%
to
53%
61%
67%
+
+
4
*
to
+
50%
8%
+
+
48%
to
40%
43%
41% 40%
40%
35%
30%
Panama
OII Spill
Supreme Court
20%
Earthquake
Eastern Strike
Flag
10%
Abortion
0%
2/89 3/89 4/89 5/89 6/89 7/89 8/89 9/89 10/89 11/89 12/89 1/90 2/90
RIGHT DIRECTION
-+-
WRONG TRACK
SOURCE: WIRTHLIN GROUP SURVEYS
PAGE
2
1ST STORY of Level 1 printed in FULL format.
Copyright (c) 1990 The New York Times Company;
The New York Times
January 1, 1990, Monday, Late Edition - Final
SECTION: Section 1; Page 25, Column 1; Editorial Desk
LENGTH: 757 words
HEADLINE: ESSAY;
The Opposition Stirs
BYLINE: By William Safire
DATELINE: WASHINGTON
BODY:
''For myself, as a Democrat, respectfully,' quietly begins the best public
period of deference to the newly victorious President.''
speaker in American politics today, ''I think we have given an appropriate
First he thanks Mr. Bush for ' ' candidly rejecting his predecessor's narrow
view of life in America. He warns that if kinder, gentler talk is not backed
up with resources, ' 'then he will be revealed as an unconverted, conservative
Republican who has simply earned himself some cheap grace by reciting a little
Democratic poetry.'
After this jab, some serious punching: ''In the campaign,'' he reminds the
programs. Remember?
President, ' you said there was no money for housing or child care or education
'NOW, suddenly, you've come up with $166 billion for savings and loans
for babies?''
You said you didn't have it. Where did you get it? Is it there for banks but ... not
He zings that point home with specifics: ''Do we have $166 billion to fight
billion dollars to protect investors but not $20 billion to educate kids and
fiscal problems but not $16 billion to fight drugs? One hundred sixty-six
President teach them the fundamental values that could save a generation? It's there, Mr.
...
if you want to do it.''
Finally, the peroration that pulls partisans out of their seats: ''If the
Administration says that we have the will but not the wallet; the desire but
of the ability; the intention but not the imagination, that the country has run not out
been resources, that we have run out of steam - then we will know the flag they've
never accept that!''
waving so furiously is a flag of surrender! And the American people will
Mario Cuomo.
That ringing oratory is delivered with passion by the Governor of New York,
Nobody is listening yet; you don't see those words on television or even
public is readier to quell than cavil.
quoted in a newspaper. It's too soon, the fun is in foreign affairs, and the
LEXIS NEXIS LEXIS NEXIS
Mead
Data
Central
PAGE
3
(c) 1990 The New York Times, January 1, 1990
This weekend, as the President's supremely confident staff is passing around
drafts of the State of the Union message, New York's hungry Governor puts
the finishing flourishes on his State of the State address. The two speeches are
the opening guns of the 1992 Presidential campaign.
What makes me think Mario is going for it this time? (That's pronounced
marry-o; mah-rio on non-Italian lips is a subtle ethnic slur.) Little signals
count: for the first time since he became Governor, he granted no executive
clemencies at the end of the year. Somebody remembers Willie Horton.
A bigger signal is the Presidential focus of his interests. When members of a
delegation from Solidarity visited him, Mr. Cuomo discovered they were
unfamiliar with the writings of Abraham Lincoln. Forty top scholars assembled by
Prof. Gabor Boritt of Gettysburg College are now choosing those works of Lincoln
to democracy. be translated into Polish that will best help the new Government learn
Seeking. to capture Lincoln for his party just as candidate Reagan captured
the deficit and interest rates,' he tells me, ' 'and to answer national
F.D.R., the Governor thinks big about the peace dividend: ' 'Use it to bring down
interests, like drugs and education - you can't get away with that 'goals'
stuff; and to help Eastern Europe make it with a market economy.'
That's a national candidate at work, honing his themes. Practical question:
Should he run for re-election this year? Reagan's route was to leave the
governorship and concentrate on running for President; Gov. Dukakis held on to
his post and was putting out home fires throughout his campaign.
That suggests it makes more sense these days to leave the state house first.
But if he left Albany, would Mario control the New York delegation at the
Democratic Convention? He is a loner, and if succeeded by a Democrat in office -
Robert Abrams, Liz Holtzman, Andrew Stein, Felix Rohatyn or Arthur Liman - he
could count on no automatic deliverance of delegates.
Forget the old favorite-son approach. The former Governor would win the New
York delegation in a primary. Besides, a Republican would probably become New
York governor in time for the next recession. Rudolph Giuliani and Chief Judge
Sol Wachtler would slug it out in a primary, unless Jack Kemp decided to return.
(Mario observes innocently, ''But Jack's no longer a resident.' I like Mario.
Democratic White House stock is at an all-time low. Good time to buy. Mario
(I like Nixon too; what does that say?) With George Bush's popularity. peaking,
Cuomo knows that; listen to his speeches.
TYPE: OP-ED
SUBJECT: Terms not available
LEXIS
NEXIS®
LEXIS
NEXIS
cg8
Republica Street, of ginfor Issues for D.C. 20003 (202)
310
DRAFT OP-ED ON THE DEMOCRATS' "NEW DIRECTION"
The Democratic Leadership Council, a group of elected officials
trying to move their party toward the center, recently issued "The New
Orleans Declaration," a credo that speaks of "expanding opportunity,
not government. Some Democrats say the Declaration shows that their
party is ditching the "liberal fundamentalism" that has cost it five of
the past six presidential elections.
Before the Democrats congratulate themselves, however, they should
read the policy statements they have issued over the past decade. It
turns out that they have sworn off leftism as often as Roseanne Barr
has sworn off Twinkies -- with about as much effect.
1980: Senator Paul Tsongas tells the Americans for Democratic
Action: "I believe that liberalism must extricate itself from the
1960s when we had the answers. We must move on to the pressing
problems of the 1980s. "
1981: Tsongas elaborates his point in The Road from Here:
"Realism some of it Republican in its origins -- combined with the
value system of the Democratic liberal tradition is the objective."
1982: The House Democratic Caucus issues a report called
Rebuilding the Road to Opportunity, which says that "our policies must
change -- because our country and the world have changed."
1983: Senator Gary Hart writes A New Democracy: "The more we
care about fulfilling our historic commitment and achieving our
traditional values, the more we must adapt to change, the more we must
innovate, the more we must create."
1984: The House Democratic Caucus issues a report called Renewing
America's Promise: "Our program, in fact, amounts to a clean break
with the recent rhetoric --- but not the traditional values -- of the
Democratic Party. " In his acceptance speech a few months later, Walter
Mondale says that the Democrats have made mistakes: "So tonight we
come to you with a new realism
We know that a government must be
as well-managed as it is well-meaning."
1985: In an address at Boston's Fanueil Hall, Gary Hart says "our
past achievements are not a cathedral in which to worship
The party
of change must change." Senator Edward Kennedy says that the Democrats
lost in 1984 because they lost "the feeling of hope, the spirit of
change." He says that the Democrats must show "the courage to
discard" outdated programs.
1986: The Democratic Policy Commission issues a report called New
Choices in a Changing America, which offers "a whole rew agenda arising
out of the many changes in America today. In a report called Choices
for Change, the House Democratic Caucus says: "As the party of change
in the land of change, Democrats offer new direction at home."
1987: Al From, executive director of the Democratic Leadership
Council, says: "We need to move the Democratic Party in a new
direction."
1988: House Democratic Whip Tony Coelho calls the Democratic
platform "a new direction for our Party and our people."
1989: Saying that the traditional Democratic message "fails to
fully describe [sic] the world as it is, and our future as it must be,"
House Majority Leader Richard Gephardt says "Democrats must offer a
better option to the American people."
Yet the more they've talked of change and new directions, the more
they've clung to the status quo and the old directions. A few minutes
after proclaiming his "new realism" in 1984, Walter Mondale reverted to
the ultimate in old liberalism: he promised to raise taxes. And the
1988 Democratic platform offered new dodges instead of new ideas.
According to Robert Borosage of the left-wing Institute for Policy
Studies: "The reason we didn't have a real fight over the platform is
that the Dukakis people gave us so much of what we wanted -- as long as
we were willing to accept language so broad and generalized that the
ideas sound innocuous. Seventy percent of the platform is actually
from Jackson's agenda
After reading all of this, the Democrats may be tempted to say:
"Okay, maybe we didn't follow through on the 'new ideas' rhetoric in
the past, but this time, we really, really mean it." But recent events
show that the "liberal fundamentalists" are still driving the party --
and punishing heretics.
When Representative Tom Downey suggested that a huge bureaucracy
might not improve child care, he was reviled by the Children's Defense
Fund and public employee unions. When six Ways and Means Democrats
supported a cut in capital-gains taxation, Democratic Chairman Ron
Brown said that their position was "unethical, immoral." Jesse Jackson
threatened Rainbow Coalition attacks in their districts.
Representative Charles Rangel, head of the Americans for Democratic
Action, said: "Certainly no six monkeys on the Ways and Means
Committee are going to direct where my party is going."
The Democratic Leadership Council deserves praise for challenging
party orthodoxy. If other Democrats followed DLC back to the
mainstream, the party could make a comeback in national politics.
But already, Jesse Jackson has told the DLC that his agenda is the
mainstream to which the Democrats are returning.
The more the Democrats change, the more they stay the same. Their
new direction is always leftward.
###
1600 South Joyce Street, #A-1007
Arlington, Virginia 22202
703/486-1639
27 March 1990
Letters Editor
New Republic
1220 19th Street, NW
Washington, DC 20036
To the editors:
In "What's the Beef?" (April 2), Robert Kuttner shows that he has. been
snoozing through recent political debate and skimming the Cliff's Notes
instead. He belittles the Democratic Leadership Council's differences
with "liberal fundamentalist" Democrats by citing DLC's support for an
expanded Earned-Income Tax Credit. Kuttner fails to grasp that a goal
cherished by liberals, reducing poverty, can be reached through
non-bureaucratic or conservative means. The tax-credit proposal would
empower the poor to control their own resources and would avoid the old
minimum-wage pitfall of destroying thousands of jobs.
The Earned Income Tax Credit started under President Ford and was
increased by President Reagan. The proposal for further expansion was
sponsored by Republican Congressman Thomas Petri, endorsed by the 1988
Republican platform and articulated by the Heritage Foundation.
Kuttner says that liberal fundamentalists have forsaken factional wars.
But when Rep. Tom Downey suggested that more bureaucracy might not
improve child care, he was reviled by the Children's Defense Fund and
public employee unions. When six Ways and Means Democrats voted to cut
capital-gains taxation, Democratic Chairman Ron Brown said that their
position was "unethical, immoral.' Jesse Jackson threatened them with
Rainbow Coalition attacks. Rep. Charles Rangel, head of the Americans
for Democratic Action, said: "Certainly no six monkeys on the Ways and
Means Committee are going to direct where my party is going."
The Democratic Leadership Council deserves praise for challenging party
orthodoxy. If other Democrats followed DLC back to the mainstream, the
party could make a comeback. Will that happen? Consider this
admission by a leading Democrat: "After we lost we didn't tell the
American people that they were wrong. Instead we began asking what our
mistakes had been." Sound promising? Alas, these hopeful words come
from the 1984 acceptance speech of the pluperfect liberal
fundamentalist, Walter Mondale.
Sincerely,
John J. Pitney, Jr.
DEMOCRATS CONTROL THE HOUSE
o
The Democrats have run the House since 1955 -- longer than most
Americans have been alive (U.S. median age is 32.1). John
Rowland (b. 5-24-57), for instance, had not even been born when
his party last had the majority.
o
Until 1980, it was easy to explain Democratic dominance in the
House: voters identified with Democrats over Republicans,
53%-34%.
o
Now the parties are virtually tied in voter identification -- 45%D
to 44%R (CBS poll taken 1-90). Yet the Democrats still control
the House (175R to 257D, 3 vacancies). Why? The Democrats have
had advantages in four areas:
Redistricting
*
Incumbency
Recruitment
Minority outreach
The national GOP seeks to overcome Democratic advantages in each
area.
REDISTRICTING
O
Gerrymandering is the drawing of district lines to favor one
party. Our goal is to prevent gerrymanders following the 1990
census.
In most states, redistricting plans must be approved by both
legislative chambers and the governor. To block a gerrymander, we
have to control one of these three power points. Thus, the
national GOP is putting effort into winning legislative seats,
picking up governorships, and holding onto governorships that we
already have.
Three states are most important: California, Texas and
Florida. After the 1990 census, these three will contain
nearly one-quarter of all the seats in the House.
O
In addition to working for a seat at the redistricting table,
Republicans are fighting the gerrymander through these routes:
Supporting ballot propositions to reform the redistricting
process.
Building coalitions with minority groups, who also suffer from
gerrymanders.
Assembling the resources to fight unfair redistricting plans
in court, if necessary.
INCUMBENCY
o
In 1988, over 98 percent of incumbents won re-election. The only
members who lost were embroiled in ethics controversies.
In 1988, only 15.4% of House seats were won with less than 60% of
the vote -- the lowest share of competitive seats in the history
of the U.S. House.
O
And because most incumbents are Democrats, the decline of
competition hurts Republicans.
To restore fair competition to House races, the President is
proposing to:
End PACs set up by corporations, unions and trade groups.
Strengthen political parties by increasing the sums that
they can spend on behalf of congressional candidates.
Fully disclose all "soft money. "
At Republican prodding, Congress has voted to curb congressional
newsletters, which are often thinly-disguised vehicles for self-
promotion.
Congress has also forbidden members to convert campaign money to
personal use after 1993. Many incumbents with big warchests --
mainly Democrats -- will retire in 1992 SO that they can take the
money. This will mean more open seats.
RECRUITMENT
To defeat incumbents or win open seats, Republicans need
experienced candidates -- best of all, people who have won office
before. In recent decades, Democrats have had a big advantage in
state legislative seats and local offices, leaving the GOP with
little bench strength. Republican challenges have often been
weak or nonexistent.
In 1988, 61 House Democrats -- nearly one-fourth of the total
had no Republican opponent at all.
According to Stuart Rothenberg, NRCC and RNC "now appear to have
had somewhat greater success in attracting potentially strong
candidates.
"
The party is actively recruiting people to run for state
legislative seats, not only to strengthen our redistricting
position but to build our bench of future House candidates. The
Chairman and Co-Chairman have personally talked with scores of
potential candidates. The Vice President has also put a great
deal of time into the effort.
0
In 1989, over 160 Democratic officials switched to the GOP,
simultaneously strengthening our base and eroding the Democrats'.
MINORITY OUTREACH
o
In the 1988 House elections, Republican candidates won:
13% of the Black vote
29% of the Latino vote
*
52% of the Asian vote
o
Republican strength among Asians is encouraging, but they now make
up only 1-2% of the electorate. (This figure will grow during the
1990s, particularly in California.)
o
Latinos make up 3-4% and Blacks 8-10% of the electorate. Dozens
of House districts have large concentrations of Black and Latino
voters. As long as Republicans do poorly among Blacks and
Latinos, we cannot win most of these districts. Thus the
Democrats now have an automatic head start in House seats.
o
To win more minority votes, RNC has an aggressive outreach
program, to bring the Republican message to minority
organizations and recruit minority candidates.
In its outreach effort, the party's greatest asset is President
Bush. According to a January ABC poll, 74% of Blacks approve of
the job he is doing.
###
This in part of what went
Counterattack
to Simpson He only used
Page 1
3-7-90
coyle of lines fun the end
Yesterday, Congressman Gephardt claimed that President Bush
lacked vision and imagination. "America must think creatively and
act boldly," he said. "Rather than pouring more and more money into
weapon systems, we should be investing in our own self-interest."
But just the day before, he told the Washington Times, and I
quote: "We don't have the resources, nor do we have the need, in my
view, for a huge activist agenda."
I know that Congressman Gephardt likes to change his mind, but
I've never seen him do it quite that fast.
His confusion pretty much sums up the state of his party.
Last October, he said that "a new Democratic blueprint" would solve
all our problems, from acid rain to acid indigestion. Then, during
the questions and answers, he admitted that they didn't even have a
blueprint yet. He said, and again I quote, "most of it will come
next year."
We hear that kind of talk every day: "Please hold, and the next
available operator will take your call."
The fact of the matter is, if he looked in his wastebasket, he'd
find lots of Democratic blueprints. Every couple of years, the
Democrats have announced that they're going to do some new thinking.
The trouble is, they never have any new thoughts.
In 1982, Mr. Gephardt and his colleagues put together a booklet
called Rebuilding the Road to Opportunity. Here's how it started:
"But the proposals we make represent a break with the policies of the
past [Our] policies must change -- because our economy and the
world have changed.'
So far, so good especially the mention of opportunity in the
title. It's a Republican word.
But two years later, they put out another booklet called
Renewing America's Promise. Here's how it started: "Our program, in
fact, amounts to a clean break with the recent rhetoric -- but not
the traditional values of the Democratic Party."
I don't get it. The first booklet was a break with the past.
The second booklet was a break with the rhetoric of the recent past.
But the first booklet was the rhetoric of the recent past. In other
words, they were breaking with their break with the past.
So where were they going? Who's on first? I con't know --
maybe Abbott and Costello were the ghostwriters.
It gets worse. In 1986, they put out yet another booklet called
Choices for Change. In the preface, Mr. Gephardt said, "[Our] party
must also define itself in terms of its goals." Anc a few months
later, he gave a speech where he posed all sorts of questions and
Counterattack
Page 2
3-7-90
said: "It is incumbent upon us, the Democratic leaders, to begin
answering those questions."
Just a month ago, Congressman Gephardt admitted that his party
still hadn't defined itself: "People don't have any sense of what we
are or who we are. " He must have been the last person in town to
figure that out.
While the Democrats have been repackaging their unsold
merchandise, President Bush and the Republican Party have been
getting the job done.
o
Look at economic growth. The 1984 Democratic blueprint --
remember, their second new identity -- said this: "The
current recovery will not do the job
Unless the Reagan
policy is changed, we face wither another recession two years
down the road or
another outbreak of high inflation. "
Instead, Republican policies have sustained the longest
peacetime expansion in history -- without high inflation.
The Gephardt Democrats were wrong.
Look at jobs -- more than 20 million new jobs during the
expansion. That same 1984 booklet said that "optimistic
projections place unemployment at 7.5 percent by 1986.
Wrong again: the 1986 figure was down to 6.9 percent.
Last year it had fallen to 5.3 percent.
Look at their world view. Again from the 1984 booklet: "America
has made no real progress toward a safer, stabler world. The
arms race spirals upward
Soviet aggression in Afghanistan
and oppression in Eastern Europe continue unabated."
Well, the START talks are moving ahead. The Soviets have left
Afghanistan and removed their INF missiles from Europe.
Havel's in, Ortega's out, and the Wall is down.
That's a pretty good record -- especially since the Democrats
kept saying that we had to repent because the end was near. But
President Bush and the Republicans isn't just resting on their
record. They're looking forward:
0
Look at tax policy. Just as he promised, he beat back
the Democratic demand for a tax increase and he carried
on his fight for a capital gains tax cut.
Look at the savings and loan crisis. A year ago, millions
of ordinary Americans -- farmers and factory workers --
worried about losing their life savings. As scon as he
took office, President Bush set out a reform package.
He took a lot of hits, but he worked hard and got it passed.
o
Look at drugs. President Bush proposed the largest
dollar increases in the history of the drug war. And while the
Democrats can't see any points of light, the private sector
is raising a million dollars a day to fight the drug war.
Counterattack
Page 3
3-7-90
What did the Democrats propose? What was their bold,
innovative alternative to President Bush's plan? Senator
Biden summed it up nicely: "I'd do everything he did on law
enforcement except a little more."
o
Look at education. We've made some progress in the past
few years. We still have a long way to go. Back in 1986,
Mr. Gephardt said that too many people -- quote -- "can't
write good enough" -- unquote. He got that right: even his
speechwriters don't know the difference between good and well.
To correct this kind of problem, President Bush sent Congress a
comprehensive bill to foster excellence in education. And he
sat down with the governors to set goals for making sure our
children get the schooling they deserve.
Tough problems -- real answers. The national Democratic leaders
don't have real responses, just smoke. They can't talk straight
because their positions are far from mainstream America.
They want more taxes.
They want less defense.
They don't want to let parents choose which public schools their
kids will go to.
And they don't want the death penalty for vicious crimes.
In November 1988, we had an election on these issues. The
Democrats tried to set up a smokescreen by making a lot of personal
attacks against George Bush. You remember: "Where was George?" We
all know how the election turned out. Where's George now?
I know why the Democrats are frustrated. The American people
are standing behind President Bush. Meanwhile, their own support is
going down the drain. Listen to these recent numbers:
O
Three-quarters of the American people like the way President
Bush is doing his job. And big majorities approve of the way
he's handling every major issue: economy, environment, foreign
policy and drugs.
Among Democrats, his approval rating stands at 66 percent.
Among blacks, the Democratic Party's most loyal constituency, it
stands at 74 percent.
Among all voters, the Republicans have pulled even in party
identification. And among young voters -- the ones who will
decide the elections of the future -- Republicans have a
fourteen-point advantage.
Counterattack
Page 4
3-7-90
The people support President Bush because he is delivering on
his campaign promises. And they're turning to the Republican Party
because they agree with our message of free enterprise and peace
through strength.
So it's no wonder that the Democrats have turned negative. Now
there's nothing wrong with good, tough criticism of your opponents --
so long as you've got something positive to offer. Americans
understand the difference between constructive criticism and careless
whining. But when the people look at what the Democrats are saying,
what they'll see is like an empty stockyard after a rainstorm -- lots
of mud, but where's the beef?
A couple of clear-headed Democratic analysts have explained this
problem. Here's what they say in a report called "The Politics of
Evasion":
"What is to be done? The Democratic Party must choose between
two basic strategies. The first is to hunker down, change nothing,
and wait for some catastrophe -- deep recession, failed war, or a
breach of the Constitution -- to deliver victory
The other
strategy, active rather than passive, is to address the party's
weaknesses directly."
In the 1988 primaries, Mr. Gephardt thought he'd ride to victory
on the Hyundai automobile. He had a fast start, but he ran out of
gas. He ended up with six percent of the primary vote.
He put together farm legislation -- the Harkin-Gephardt bill --
with all sorts of collectivist controls on agriculture. Round about
the same time, the Russians finally decided that that kind of policy
doesn't work. It took them seventy years to learn that. But don't
worry about Mr. Gephardt: he changes his mind a lot quicker.
Last year, he tried to turn the capital gains tax cut into an
episode of class warfare. But then the Democrats started talking to
working people about the idea. This is what one of them said: "I
think it's a good idea because, in the future, I may be able to buy
and sell stocks." That's the sunlight of the American dream -- but
all that Mr. Gephardt can see is midnight in America.
Pessimism is just about the only constant in his record.
In 1981, he said: "I would get rid of government in health
care. I would get rid of government in education tc a much greater
extent than we have. I would discharge those resporsibilities either
to the private sector or to the states."
Now he wants all sorts of regulations on health care and massive
new federal spending on education.
In 1981, he voted for the Reagan tax cut. Now he denounces it.
Counterattack
Page 5
3-7-90
In 1981, he talked about consolidating Social Security with
welfare programs. Now he wants to make it untouchable.
In recent years, he's criticized trickle-down economics. Now he
wants to practice his own version: give to Moscow, USSR, and
eventually it will trickle down to Moscow, Idaho.
Not a model of consistency. I have an idea of what his next
campaign slogan should be:
"Read My Flips."
The worst inconsistency of all is that he's cultivated an image
of courtesy and fair play. But in 1988, he said of the Bush
campaign, and I quote, "Hitler would have loved those people."
During the capital gains debate, he said that the President's
proposal was -- and again I quote -- "to take care of those who
didn't get named ambassadors."
Mr. Gephardt says that he's laid aside his White House ambitions
to be a a legislative leader, a true man of Congress. If that's
so, he's not measuring up to other great men of the Hill.
Can you picture Sam Rayburn talking about a president the way
Mr. Gephardt has?
Can you picture Richard Russell abandoning the bipartisan
consensus on foreign policy?
Can you picture Tip O'Neill playing pinball with his principles?
That was one thing about Tip you always knew where he stood.
So let me offer some friendly advice to Mr. Gephardt. Make up
your mind whether you want to be a weathervane or a statesman. Your
party desperately needs statesmen. And our country would be better
off if the Democrats had them. President Bush has a strong record,
and he enjoys strong support from the people. He has extended the
hand of bipartisanship. If statesmen on the other side accepted his
hand -- well, there's a lot of good we could do for America.
But if you slap away his hand, you diminish yourself and your
party. What's more, you'll lose at the polls. The hour is late and
the choice is yours.
###
Counterattack
Page 7
3-7-90
Presidential approval: The Polling Report, January 1990.
Democratic and black approval: Washington Post, January 18, 1990,
p. A9.
Party identification: Helmut Norpoth and Michael R. Kagay, "Another
Eight Years of Republican Rule and Still No Partisan Realignment?"
paper presented at the 1989 annual conference of the American
Political Science Association, Atlanta, August 31-September 3, 1989.
"What is to be done?" William Galston and Elaine Ciulla Kamarck, "The
Politics of Evasion: Democrats and the Presidency" (Washington:
Progressive Policy Institute, September 1989), p. 27.
"I think it's a good idea " Washington Post, October 4, 1989, p.
A4.
"I would get rid of government " Randall Rothenberg, The
Neoliberals (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1984), p. 126.
Consolidating Social Security: Neoliberals, p. 125.
"Hitler would have loved
" Washington Times, October 25, 1988.
"to take care of those
" Story by Bud Newman, United Press
International, September 19, 1989.
###
Rebultal to a Ren Boun og red
Never used
Ron Brown V. Reality
BROWN:
"1989 was a year of triumph for the Democratic Party."
REALITY:
"The Republican Party enjoyed virtual parity in 1989 with
the Democrats in the loyalty of Americans for the first time
since just after World War II ended" (NY Times, 1-21-90).
More than 160 Democratic officials switched to the GOP.
"We won because our candidates shared a vision
"
BROWN:
REALITY:
"People don't have any sense of what we are or who we are."
(House Majority Leader Richard Gephardt, quoted in
Washington Post, 2-3-90).
BROWN:
"
and a commitment to America's working men and women."
...
REALITY: "There is a fairly persuasive perception that the Democrats
over-commit to social spending, inevitably creating
situations that require middle-class taxpayers to pay more
money" (Polling report to House Democrats, quoted in:
Washington Times, 2-5-90).
BROWN:
"The challenge is to recapture American economic leadership
by the year 2000."
REALITY:
We never lost it. Since 1982, the United States has created
more jobs than Western Europe, Canada and Japan put
together (Economic Report of the President 1990, p. 144).
BROWN:
"For ten years, the United States built its military while
others built their economy.'
REALITY: The United States is enjoying the longest peacetime
expansion in history. And between 1986 and 1990, military
spending fell from 6.5% of GNP t) 5.4%. President Bush's
budget plan would reduce it to 4.2% by 1995 (FY91 Budget, p.
A-303).
BROWN:
"During 10 years of Republican government the average income
of families with children fell.
REALITY:
Between 1978 and 1982, when the economy suffered from
Democratic policies or their lingering effects, median
family income (1988 dollars) fell from $32,006 to $28,727.
Between 1983 and 1988, with Republican policies in place,
real median family income rose from $29,307 to $32,191
(Census, Money Income and Poverty Status in the United
States: 1988, p. 11).
BROWN:
"And in those 10 years of Republican government, we
certainly didn't win the war on drugs."
REALITY:
The war is not over, but we are making progress. Citing
federal statistics, the LA Times (2-14-90) reports: "The
proportion of high school seniors who said they had used
drugs within the last year dropped to 35.4%, the lowest
figure since the closely watched surveys began in 1975.
BROWN:
"Democrats are making the hard choices [on drug policy]
and backing tough measures that work."
REALITY:
On "MacNeil/Lehrer" (9-6-89), Senator Joseph Biden summed up
the Democrats' bold, dramatic and original alternative to
President Bush's drug plan: "I'd do everything he did on
law enforcement except a little more."
BROWN:
"In the 1990s, we will bring the traditions of the
Democratic Party -- of middle-class values and American
know-how -- to bear on the new and unique challenges we
face. "
REALITY:
According to Stuart Eizenstat, President Carter's domestic
adviser and leading Democratic strategist: "We have lost a
sense of middle class values and seem to blush or look
condescendingly on patriotism [and] family values"
(Washington Post, 9-12-89).
###
a rebittal to the argument that
House turrover is to high that we
need not away about incuntry probation Never usel
The article said turnover has remained steady in recent years.
This is true but irrelevant. As David Broder said: "[T]urnover
is not the same thing as competition. Clearly, House membership
changes result mainly from members retiring and seeking other
offices. But the number of marginal seats, where races are
vigorously contested by both parties, continues to decline
That sense of immunity from challenge is exactly what makes some
members of the House, swimming in a sea of campaign cash, dip in
for themselves" (Washington Post National Weekly, June 26, 1989)
Statistics support Broder's argument.
Of the 1,305 House general elections between 1984
and 1988, only 4% resulted in a change in party control.
The number of House elections won with less than 55% of the
vote dropped from 17.5% in 1982 to 8.7% in 1988.
Between 1982 and 1988, the number of members elected without
major-party opposition rose from 56 to 81.
The article said that the 98% re-election rate is just slightly
higher than the historical average. This is misleading. Just as
a tiny increase in compound interest can mean a big increase in
yield, a few points' rise in the re-election rate means vastly
greater incumbent safety in the long run.
With a 90% chance of winning each time, your chance of winning
two consecutive races is 90% times 90%, or 81%. Your chance of
winning three races is 90% to the third power, or 73%. And so
on. But if you slightly increase the chance each time, your
long-term odds improve greatly. With a 98% re-election rate,
your chance of winning two consecutive races is 98% times 98%
or 96% -- 15 points higher than with a 90% rate.
Over five elections, compare an incumbent's chance of survival
with a 90% re-election rate versus a 98% rate:
First
Second
Third
Fourth
Fifth
90%
81%
73%
66%
59%
98%
96%
94%
92%
90%
To confirm this analysis, look at similar classes of House
incumbents. The elections of 1964, 1972 and 1982 brought large,
heavily Democratic freshman classes. But these lasses met
different fates. Compare the percentage of each who lost a
re-election bid within the next three campaigns:
1964
33%
1974
21%
1982
7%
This is a piece
Insurance munth the
House 60P Conference Itwent
out under their
"THE LOST DECADE," THE LOST DATA
AND THE LOST DEMOCRATS
February 1990
Staff Contact: Flint Lewis
"The Lost Decade" is the Democratic National Committee's
"analysis" of the 1980s. It starts from a preposterous premise --
that America was better off under Jimmy Carter -- and goes downhill
from there. Its "facts" are poorly-documented, misleading, and often
just plain false. It offers no agenda or vision of its own. It is a
preview of what our friends on the other side of the aisle will be
saying in the months ahead.
Lost Data
Deficit and Debt
"Presidents Reagan and Bush never submitted a budget to Congress with
a deficit under $100 billion" (first chart). Under Article I of the
Constitution, Congress has the power of the purse. Under the 1974
Budget Act, passed by a Democratic Congress, the President can
neither sign nor veto the budget resolution. The President cannot
veto line items of appropriation bills, nor can he veto report
language earmarking funds. Therefore, the truer statement would be:
"The House -- now controlled by the Democrats for more than 35 years
-- never produced a deficit under $100 billion at any time during the
Reagan and Bush Administrations."
"We could have bought every man, woman and child a (hevy 2x4 pick-up
truck and come out ahead -- our debt went up $8,000 per person during
the 1980s" (second chart). DNC cites the 1989 Statistical Abstract
as its source, but the researchers got their data elsewhere, since
the Abstract's debt figures only go to 1988. In any case, the debt
is definitely a problem -- caused by Democratic overspending -- but
it belongs in context. Between fiscal years 1980 and 1989, gross
national product increased by $2.5 trillion, or nearly $10,000 per
person (FY91 Budget, A-282; 1989 Abstract, 15). So the more accurate
statement would be: "Our GNP went up enough to buy everyone that
Chevy 2x4 and have money left over for insurance."
Dropouts
"4.2 million kids drop out of high school each year" (p. 11).
This makes no sense: if the figure were valid, then America would
have accumulated 42 million dropouts during the 1980s -- more than
the entire population aged 16-24. Apparently the DNC researchers
carelessly misread the data. The Abstract (p. 146) says that the 4.2
million figure refers to the total number of people aged 16-24 who
have dropped out of school, not the yearly number of new dropouts.
And most embarrassing for the Democrats: in 1980, when they last had
the White House, the dropout total stood at 5.3 million.
Education Spending
The DNC Chart "Federal Contribution to Education" purports to show a
decline in federal aid from 1980 to 1988. But the nation's spending
on education -- by the federal government, states and localities --
is about $353 billion in 1990, a real increase of 29 percent for
elementary and secondary education and 36 percent for higher
education (FY91 Budget, 94).
Housing
"As the number of homeless grew, the Reagan-Bush Administration
responded by slashing federally assisted housing programs from over
$30 billion in 1981 to less than $10 billion in 1988 (CRS)"
(p. 16). DNC cites a Congressional Research Service report titled
"Homelessness: Issues and Legislation in the 101st Congress." But
the CRS report contains no such figures. For real data on housing
assistance, check OMB's Historical Tables FY90 (pp. 70-71). Outlays
for housing assistance (budget function # 604) went from $7.8
billion in fiscal 1981 to $13.9 billion in fiscal 1988. In constant
1982 dollars, that's an increase of 38 percent: from $8.3 billion to
$11.5 billion (using OMB composite deflator, p. 20 of Historical
Tables).
Defense Spending
"Only 23 percent of the total defense budget during the 1980s was
spent on critical readiness functions and needs while 75% was spent
on hardware" (p. 22). Not even close. In fiscal 1989, procurement
only amounted to 28 percent of Defense Department military outlays
(FY91 Budget, A-295). Here's where the rest went:
Operation & Maintenance
30%
Military Personnel
27%
Research & Development
12%
Other
3%
Poverty
"7 million more Americans are poor in 1987 [sic] than in 1978" (p.
24). Between 1978 and 1981 -- when Democratic policies were in place
-- the number of people below the poverty level rose from 24.5
million to 31.8 million -- an increase of 7.3 million (Abstract, p.
452). The 1987 figure is less than one million greater than the 1981
figure. The poverty rate, which rose each year between 1978 and
1981, has been declining since 1983.
Research
"US civilian R&D expenditures remained 50% lower as a percentage of
GNP than our serious rivals (SA)" (p. 24). In 1980, non-defense R&D
amounted to 1.7% of GNP. In 1987, it was up to 1.9 percent, the same
as France and slightly higher than Britain. It was lower than West
Germany and Japan, but not by 50 percent:
USA
1.9%
France
1.9%
Britain
1.8%*
W. Germ.
2.6%
Japan
2.8%*
(Abstract, p. 578. Asterisks indicate 1986 data where 1987 data are
unavailable). More important, these data omit defense R&D, which
often yields civilian applications, such as radar. Compared with
these other countries, the US spends roughly the same percentage of
GNP on total R&D (including defense):
USA
2.6%
France
2.3%
Britain
2.4%
W. Germ.
2.8%
Japan
2.8%
Food Prices
"[C]onsumer food prices have increased since 1980" (p. 27). In 1980,
consumer food prices rose 10.2 percent. In 1988, they rose 5.2
percent (Economic Indicators, October 1989, p. 24).
Rural America
"Per capita income growth in rural areas was 1.9 percent in rural
areas [sic] between 1979 -- compared to [sic, should read compared
with] 8.5 percent in urban areas" (p. 27). Under the DNC's figures
(source: the Democratic Policy Commission), rural per capita growth
was 22 percent of urban per capita growth. Figures from the Bureau
of Economic Analysis show that in metropolitan areas, per capita
income grew at a yearly rate of 1.7 percent between 1979 and 1986,
while in nonmetropolitan (rural) areas, the rate was 0.7%.
Therefore, rural per capita growth was 41 percent, not 22 percent, of
urban rates.
"400,000 people are leaving rural America each year -- twice the
level sustained in the early 1980s" (p. 27). Statistics from the
County Estimates Series, US Census Bureau, show that between 1986 and
1988, nonmetropolitan areas lost 134,000 people, for an average
annual migration of only 67,000.
Income
The Democrats' report says that most Americans are worse off now than
in the good old Carter days. More recently, the Chairman of the
Joint Economic Committee released another report that purports to
show downward trends between 1979 and 1988. But the Democrats'
arguments rest on a statistical trick: using 1979 as a base year.
Between 1979 and 1982, when America was either living under
Democratic rule or suffering its lingering effects, median household
income plunged (in constant 1988 dollars):
1979 26,050
1980 25,204
1981 24,791
1982 24,711
Republican policies reversed this trend: median household income
increased from $24,943 in 1983 to $27,225 in 1988. The decade was a
Republican recovery from Democratic disaster. In other words, the
Democrats are like a hit-and-run driver who returns to the accident
scene and carps at the paramedics.
Democrats also claim that income distribution became more unequal
during the 1980s, that a few got rich while the vast majority fell
farther back. But in fact most households moved up the
ladder. Between 1980 and 1988, the share of families in the low
income group (under $15,000 in 1988 dollars) fell from 20.8 percent
to 19.6 percent. Meanwhile, the share of middle-income families
($15,000-50,000) dropped from 60.1 percent to 54.7 percent, as their
upward movement increased the upper income share from 19.1 percent to
25.7 percent.
For the Democrats, here is the most embarrassing statistic of all:
The 1980 plunge in median family income -- $1,673 (in 1987 dollars)
-- was the largest one-year drop in decades. Like Pogo, the
Democrats should admit: "We have met the enemy and he is us."
###
Victory Scenario
Page 1
The data here
A GOP HOUSE AND SENATE
BY 1992
are old to let me
January 1990
howf you l like
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
an update.
The Republican Party can take control of both the House and the
Senate by 1992.
In the House, we need 43 seats. This is a reachable goal. Over
the 1978 and 1980 cycles, we won 46.
We can win those 43 seats through:
-- Open-seat victories. Up to 72 Democratic seats may open
during the next two cycles. Of these, 27 went strongly
for Bush and thus constitute potential pickups. And others
may also be winnable.
-- New seats. The shift of House seats from Democratic to
Republican areas could mean a gain of at least six.
-- Fair districting. Curbs on gerrymandering could reduce
unfair Democratic advantages and supply the GOP with
another six seats, or more.
-- Challenger victories. Even with the incumbent advantage,
it will be possible to topple at least seven Democratic
incumbents.
In the Senate, GOP prospects are even brighter. In 1992,
the Democrats will be defending nine seats that they won
in 1986 with 52% or less. Only two Republican seats are
that marginal. Even if we lose a couple of seats, we can
still win control by taking seven of the nine extremely
marginal Democratic seats.
Trends in party identification -- especially among young
voters -- point to growing GOP strength. This trend makes
the victory scenario all the more likely.
Victory Scenario
Page 2
SCENARIO FOR VICTORY
Summary
Although it will take luck and hard work, the Republican Party
can gain control of both the House and Senate by 1992. This
memorandum explains how we can make this case to our audience:
reporters, contributors and PAC managers.
The Democrats have ruled the House for more than 35 years -- the
longest stretch of one-party control in the two centuries of House
history. But during the next two election cycles, three conditions
will give Republicans a chance to gain a majority:
Many Democratic seats will soon become open.
Redistricting will create GOP opportunities.
Several Democratic incumbents are vulnerable.
The GOP has an even better chance to regain the Senate. We need
only five seats -- and more than five Democrats are marginal.
The House
The Republican Party now has 175 seats in the House. To gain a
majority, we need 43 more. This is a reachable goal. The Democrats
gained 43 seats in 1974, and we won 46 over the 1978 and 1980 cycles.
Here is how we can match that feat during the 1990 and 1992 cycles:
Open Seats. Because of the advantages of incumbency, our
best chance is among open seats. And 72 Democratic seats either
are open now or could open by 1992:
Forty-nine Democratic incumbents will be 65 or older by
1992, and will thus be prime candidates for retirement.
Another fifteen will be 60 or older and have more than
$150,000 in "grandfathered" campaign money. The House
closed the loophole allowing members elected before 1980 to
keep surplus campaign funds, so these sixteen will have a
great incentive to take early retirement before repeal takes
effect in 1993 (Data on "grandfathered" money from: Roll
Call, October 2-8, 1989, p. 30).
Six (Leath, Flippo, Nelson, Morrison, Brennan, Tom Luken)
are giving up seats in 1990.
Two others (Florio and Garcia) have resigned.
Of these 72 seats, 27 went for George Bush by a larger
percentage than the country as a whole (i.e., 54% or more).
These 27 seats are potential GOP pickups.
Victory Scenario
Page 3
0
New Seats. Of the nine districts that have gained the most
population in the 1980s, eight went for Bush. Of the nine
districts losing the most, seven went for Dukakis (CQ
Weekly Report, August 12, 1989, 2144):
Bush
Dukakis
Population Gainers
8
1
- Population Losers
2
7
+6
-6
With fair districts, the shift of seats from shrinking to
growing areas should mean six additional Republican seats.
0
Fair Districts. Democrats got six extra seats just as a result
of the 1981 California gerrymander. With fair districts, we
could get those seats back (in addition to the new seats
mentioned above).
Defeating Incumbents. Seven Democrats won with less than 51% of
the vote in 1988 (CQ Weekly Report, May 6, 1989, 1064). With
favorable national tides, we should be able to take these seats
by 1992.
Open seats, new seats, fairly redistricted seats and challenger
gains should put us just over the top:
Current Total
175
Plus Gains From:
Open Seats
27
New Seats
6
Fair Districts
6
Challenger Gains
7
New Total
221
And once we reach this level, a number of Southern Democrats
are likely to switch, thereby strengthening our hold.
The outline above depicts opportunity, not certainty. To achieve
the goal, we have to make sure that a number of things go right:
o
Protecting our own seats. We must hold the 175 seats that we
have (and hold onto Molinari's open seat in NY). This will take
work, but it is practical. While 52% (135) of House Democrats
represent districts carried by Bush, only 7% (13) of the
Republicans represent Dukakis districts (CQ Weekly Report, July
8, 1989, 1710).
o
Candidate recruitment. We cannot take advantage of a
Republican-leaning open seat without good contenders in the
district. In the past few elections, we have gained state
legislative seats in the South. And in the past year, over 160
Democratic officials have switched to the Reputlicans. We are
Victory Scenario
Page 4
getting ready to seize the opportunity.
0
Fair districts. The Democrats may try a replay of the 1981
gerrymander. If they succeed, we may fall short. We have to
fight for fair districts.
The Senate
0
Even though the GOP lost seats in 1986 and 1988, recent Senate
elections actually display a promising trend. To see why, keep
two things in mind:
*
Whereas House members represent districts of equal
population, senators represent states ranging from a few
hundred thousand to thirty million. In Senate elections,
trends in the parties' overall vote totals may not correspond
with their seat totals. In 1986, for instance, Republicans
won by healthy margins in California and New York, while
Democrats squeaked by in the Dakotas. Taken together, these
four states gave GOP candidates a big majority of their
votes, but Republicans got the same number of seats as
Democrats.
*
Because of the six-year term, only one-third of the Senate
seats are up in any election. Thus there are three "classes"
in the Senate, those elected in: 1978 and 1984; 1980 and
1986; 1982 and 1988.
Within each of these classes, the GOP increased its nationwide
popular vote during the 1980s (1987 Republican Almanac, 7; CQ
Weekly Report, May 6, 1989, 1063).
1978 47.7%
1980 46.1%
1982
44.0%
1984 50.3%
1986 48.7%
1988
46.5%
o
These figures show that the GOP base vote is steadily rising:
within each of the three classes, Republicans gained about 2.5%
of the national vote over six years. Now our challenge is to
target specific seats.
0
The GOP will have a tough time taking control in 1990, as it has
more seats at stake (18) than the Democrats (16). But in 1992,
Democrats will have nine senators who won with 52 percent or
less in 1986. Only two of the Republicans won with equally
narrow margins. Even if we lose a couple of seats, we can still
take control by taking seven of the nine extremely marginal
Democratic seats. (In a 50-50 Senate, Vice President Quayle
breaks ties.)
Prospects
o
The scenario of a GOP Congress is optimistic -- but it is not
Victory Scenario
Page 5
far-fetched.
0
The best way to predict how people will vote is to find which
party they identify with. On this score, the GOP has pulled
even with the Democrats (CBS data in: Helmut Norpoth and
Michael Kagay, "Another Eight Years of Republican Rule and Still
No Partisan Realignment?" paper presented at the 1989 annual
conference of the American Political Science Association):
Percentage Identifying With Or Leaning Toward:
Republican
Democratic
1980
34%
53%
1989
44%
46%
o
And the best way to predict future voting patterns is to look at
the partisanship of young voters. Here the GOP trend is even
more dramatic:
Percentage of Voters Age 18-29
Republican
Democratic
1980
33%
54%
1989
52%
38%
0
Even analysts who are unsympathetic to the GOP think that these
numbers may spell doom for Democratic control of Congress.
"Democratic party identification and turnout rates may
erode to a point beyond which there is a sudden seat
loss sufficient to give the Republicans control of the
House -- the proverbial straw that breaks the camel's back"
(Jerrold Schneider, "The Democratic-Republican Balance,
Congressional Party Coalitions, and Economic Policies and
Messages," paper presented at the 1989 annual conference of
the American Political Science Association, 53).
*
"We are witnessing instead a slow-motion, trickle-down
realignment in which, over time, Republican presidential
strength is inexorably eroding Democratic congressional,
state and local strength
[U]nless Democrats can regain
credibility with entry-level voters, the passage of time and
the movement of young people who now lean Republican into the
electorate will assure completion of this trickle-down
realignment" (William Galston and Elaine Kanarck, "The
Politics of Evasion," Progressive Policy Institute, September
1989, 16, 20-21).
###
Victory Scenario
Page 6
Appendix: Seats That May Open By 1992
Key:
1.
Incumbent born before 1928 (i.e., will be 65 or older in 1992);
2.
Incumbent born before 1933 and has more than $150,000 in
"grandfathered" campaign money;
3.
Incumbent has already announced retirement or candidacy for
office in 1990;
4.
Incumbent confronts personal problems.
Boldface indicates districts that may switch parties:
Republican districts where Bush got less than 54% and Democratic
districts where Bush got 54% or more.
Democrats
Republicans
Bevill (AL) 1,2
Dickinson (AL) 2
Flippo (AL) 3
Hammerschmidt (AR) 1,2
Udall (AZ) 1,4
Robinson (AR) 3
Edwards (CA) 1
Lagomarsino (CA) 1
Mineta (CA) 2
Moorhead (CA) 1,2
Roybal (CA) 1
McCandless (CA) 1
Hawkins (CA) 1,2
Brown (CO) 3
Dymally (CA) 1
Rowland (CT) 3
Anderson (CA) 1,2
Young (FL) 2
Brown (CA) 1
Lewis (FL) 1
Bates (CA) 4
Morrison (CT) 3
Hyde (IL) 2
Young (FL) 2
Martin (IL) 3
Hutto (FL) 1,2
Michel (IL) 1
Bennett (FL) 1,2
Tauke (IA) 3
Gibbons (FL) 1,2
Whittaker (KS) 3
Nelson (FL) 3
Bentley (MD) 1
Lehman (FL) 1,2
Conte (MA) 1,2
Fascell (FL) 1,2
Schuette (MI) 3
Ray (GA) 1
Broomfield (MI) 1,2
Rowland (GA) 1
Frenzel (MN) 2
Barnard (GA) 1,2
Smith (NE) 1,3
Akaka (HI) 1
Vucanovich (NV) 1
Hayes (IL) 1
Smith (NH) 3
Savage (IL) 1,4
Skeen (NM) 1
Collins (IL) 2
Lent (NY) 2
Rostenkowski (IL) 2
Green (NY) 2
Yates (IL) 1,2
Fish (NY) 1,2
Annunzio (IL) 1
Gilman (NY) 1,2
Smith (IA) 1,2
Horton (NY) 1
Natcher (KY) 1
Houghton (NY) 1
Boggs (LA) 1
Molinari (NY) 3 (resigned)
Victory Scenario
Page 7
Brennan (ME) 3
Ballenger (NC) 1
Frank (MA) 4
Gradison (OH) 2
Moakley (MA) 1,2
DeWine (OH) 3
Traxler (MI) 2
Lukens (OH) 4
Crockett (MI) 1
Miller (OH) 1
Ford (MI) 1,2
Wylie (OH) 1
Dingell (MI) 1,2
Regula (OH) 1
Whitten (MS) 1,2
McDade (PA) 2,4
Montgomery (MS) 1
Schulze (PA) 2
Skelton (MO) 2
Coughlin (PA) 2
Hughes (NJ) 2
Goodling (PA) 1
Dwyer (NJ) 1
Schneider (RI) 3
Roe (NJ) 2
Ravenel (SC) 1
Guarini (NJ) 2
Quillen (TN) 1,2
Scheuer (NY) 1
Archer (TX) 2
Rangel (NY) 2
Nielson (UT) 3
Weiss (NY) 1
Slaughter (VA) 1
Garcia (NY) 4
Jones (NC) 1,2
Valentine (NC) 1
Hefner (NC) 2
Clarke (NC) 1
Luken (OH) 3
Pease (OH) 2
Applegate (OH) 2
Stokes (OH) 1,2
Kolter (PA) 1
Murtha (PA) 2
Yatron (PA) 1,2
Gaydos (PA) 1
Murphy (PA) 1,4
Hall (TX) 1
Brooks (TX) 1,2
Pickle (TX) 1
Leath (TX) 3
de la Garza (TX) 1,2
Gonzales (TX) 1
Olin (VA) 1
Sisisky (VA) 1
Foley (WA) 2
Kastenemeier (WI) 1
THE WHITE HOUSE
WASHINGTON
February 27, 1990
MEMORANDUM FOR DAVID DEMAREST
CHRISS WINSTON
THE SPEECHWRITERS
BARRIE TRON
FROM:
DEB AMEND
DA
RE:
RECENT RNC FOCUS GROUP STUDY
The RNC conducted a focus group study of young adults living
in the Chicago area the day after the State of the Union.
Attached is a summary of the findings.
I watched part of the video taped sessions today and took
notes on their comments on the speech. Among those who saw or
heard about the speech (half) the comments were generally
positive.
One woman was touched by the ending and was going to
encourage the various generations of her family to share their
experiences with one another. A man thought it was a "breath of
fresh air." When one guy criticized the speech for a lack of
specifics, saying "it was just lots of dreaming" another shot
back "everything in America starts with a dream."
The issues they remembered favorably included the education
goals, no new taxes, the troop withdrawal and health care.
The RNC plans to do focus group studies every month or SO.
The next one is scheduled for California, where they will test
for issues, presidential perception, and impressions of the
changes going on in Eastern Europe and Latin America, among other
things. I'd be glad to pass along your recommendations for any
other subjects you think should be addressed.
Finally, if you are really interested in this sort of stuff,
they have four hours of unedited video tape of these sessions
which you are welcome to review. Let me know.
Chicago Focus Groups
February 1, 1990
Summary of Findings
Participants
Twenty-three registered adults, age 21 to 39, were interviewed in two focus groups
on the evening of February 1, 1990, in Des Plaines, Illinois (west suburban Chicago).
In general, the participants reflected through their lifestyles and concerns some of the
more significant trends in the American political economy. In terms of employment,
not one worked for a major American industrial concern, instead they were more
likely to work in either the government and health care sectors (firefighter, teacher,
occupational therapist, federal government claims examiner), or else in industries
characterized by small business involvement such as construction or advertizing.
Of the women, all but two were either working or looking for employment. Al-
together about half of the participants were married or had been once. A third of the
twenty-three participants reported that they had children.
Unlike younger people in other parts of the country, the participants did not appear
to be relatively mobile: most had either lived in the Chicago area all their lives or
else moved into the area from surrounding outstate regions.
None of the participants could have been considered a professional in a strict sense,
though one was an architectural student. Perhaps four were on mid-level managerial
career tracks.
Issues and National Problems
Education: Many viewed the education system and its failures as a fundamental
problem leading to other problems such as drugs, losing of America's edge in foreign
competition and even failures in the judicial system.
Money was not seen as the overall answer to education, rather it was its relatively
low position among American values which was thought to be an impediment to
improving the country's education system.
The participants did not reject an assertion that the federal government should be
involved at the local level in public education, even to the point of assisting with in-
service teacher training.
The corporate booster image of GOP political leadership, is seen by some as working
to the favor of the Republicans with this issue. The participants reasoned that is the
business interests in our party who most see the need for an educated work force
and can take steps to accomplish this end.
R.N.C. SURVEY RESEARCH
1
At the same time the decline of American education was traced to the sixties and
seventies, which one group saw as when the Democrats were on watch. Their lack
of attention to education fundamentals was blamed for the current state the system is
in, and was seen as an indication of how little this party can be trusted to solve the
problems of education.
The Democrats could still win points on handling education with their 'caring for
education; caring for everyone' image since education was seen almost as a welfare
function by some. The Republican party was scored for the perception of GOP-led
cuts for education spending, grants and loans.
Health Care Costs and Insurance: Health care costs were cited by many as a
pressing personal problem. Anxiety over costs was not diminished by having health
insurance through the workplace one participant pointed out that she did not take
it as a given that this work benefit would be available from her next employer.
The cost of insurance itself was considered to be a problem. One woman without
employment-benefit insurance reported the cost of hers and her husbands' insurance
to be $1,500 a year, with $1,000 deductible. Another participant mentioned that his
small business employer was clearly having trouble with managing the costs of the
company's premiums and he expected his coverage to change for the worse.
A national health care delivery system, at least as its benefits and costs are understood
based on reports of other countries' experiences, was generally accepted as an
alternative to the current American health care delivery system. In one group,
participants firmly rejected equating a national health care system with socialism.
No party was given the clear advantage with handling this issue. One participant
described how the Democratic party's historical association with Social Security and
other transfer payment and welfare programs meant that they could in theory do the
most about health care. The same participant, when pushed on which party did she
'expect or entrust' to handle the job, respondent that the Republicans, due to their
status as the party in power, would be the most likely source of solutions to the
problem.
Drugs: In one of the more important findings, many participants expressed the view
that some progress was being made with the issue of drugs. Two participants credited
the 'Just Say No' campaign, despite its simplicity and the derision it earned initially, as
a turning point One reflected on how when Carter was president, there were
discussions of legalization of marijuana and other drugs. He complemented the
Republicans for rejecting the hypocrisy that some drugs were bad, while others were
'ok' and that the party was the first to seriously address the problem.
There was agreement in one group that the Republicans were clearly making an effort
to fight drugs, despite that some of the programs cited by participants were almost
certainly managed by local Democratic officials.
R.N.C. SURVEY RESEARCH
2
Education efforts were credited both for correct targeting, which participants saw as
grade school aged children, and that the anti-drug message of educators and police
was more sophisticated and effective than the scare tactics the respondents remem-
bered from their youth.
Environment: For many of the participants, the environment was viewed as a
fundamental problem. More than one characterized damage to the environment as
threatening Americans' employment or lifestyles. One woman, speaking metaphori-
cally of the country, said that 'there will be nothing to build on' without a clean, safe
environment.
The federal government is seen to be letting 'Big Business' slide with environmental
protection. The government is seen to be spending too much time studying and not
enough to contain the problem. The cost for environmental clean-up, in the form of
a dedicated tax was accepted, though one group seemed to reject internalized private
costs of industrial cost The industrial polluters were seen to be making huge profits
which should pay for clean-up costs. This was only fair, one group concluded, since
they themselves have to pay for personal auto emission clean-up costs.
Tougher regulation of industry, and the resultant increased costs were accepted if the
money was actually going to cleaning up. Still there was the concern that the in-
dustrial interests would only take windfall profits from increased prices falsely justified
on higher environmental clean-up costs.
Another participant said that the environment was the one area where the federal
government actually had a right to involve itself, due to the global nature of the
problem.
The image of Watt and the Reagan Administration selling off federal lands and
Republican complicity with this program, as well as associations of the GOP with the
perceived polluters, big business, were mentioned as reasons for not selecting the
GOP as the most able to solve this problem. On the other hand, there were few
positive reasons mentioned for favoring the Democrats with solving the problems of
the environment.
The Deficit: In one group, the three participants who named the deficit as the most
important national or personal problems, all rejected a tax increase to fix the deficit.
They seemed to perceive little or no benefit from government's expenditures and set
a requirement for '[the government] to balance their budget first' before a tax increase
would be accepted.
State of the Union
No more than half saw either part of the State of the Union message live or read or
heard of it in the media by supper-time the following day. The others seemed taken
up with work, housework, shopping, or other everyday activities. While the question
was not asked, only one person indicated that the speech came up as a topic of
conversation with someone else during that day.
R.N.C. SURVEY RESEARCH
3
Those who saw or heard what the President spoke about formed their impressions of
his message most readily around goals: a balanced budget, the standards for national
educational attainment, the troop reductions, the trees to be planted. 'No new taxes'
was remembered as being said -- there was no apparent 'fatigue' with this promise on
the part of these participants.
The President's message about each citizen's part in keeping the American 'spirit of
democracy' was mentioned by one group as a non-policy topic he touched on.
More generally, attitudes towards the speech were positive, but not necessarily en-
thusiastic. One called it a 'breath of fresh air', while other participants found it to be
just another political speech.
One participant complained about lack of clear comment on what would happen
with what he saw as savings from the cut back in military commitments in Europe
and Panama. Still there was little else which participants could point at as lacking in
the President's speech.
Bush Job Performance
One group concluded that it was too early to tell with certainty about Bush's job, but
most participants expressed a positive impression of him and his job performance.
There was agreement that he hadn't let people down, and many seemed satisfied
with what they saw as Bush's understanding of a limited agenda for the U.S. preside-
ncy with a opposition-controlled Congress and changing world political structure.
Congress
Congress was not held in particularly high esteem by the groups: it was described by
one as 'just holding its own: not moving ahead, not falling behind.' The view that it
was able only to solve the unimportant issues and unable to solve the important ones
was undisputed in one group.
The advantages the Democrats occasionally won on handling individual issues did not
prevail when the issue is framed as trusting either Bush or Congress to solve it.
While the question was not asked directly, it is difficult to see any of these par-
ticipants confirming the recent well-publicized poll finding that Congress was given
the edge to handle the problem of the deficit over the President.
Only the two or three participants most aware of current affairs had heard anything of
the Democratic response to the President's speech, and those who did, saw nothing
more than few seconds 'on the morning TV while getting dressed.'
Beyond a lack of penetration, the Democratic response also failed to win any
receptivity from the participants. One called term the response as just the Democrats
getting their 'two-bits' in.
R.N.C. SURVEY RESEARCH
4
Local politics prevailed in peoples' minds over the national response: Paul Simon's
comments after the President's speech seemed to reach relatively many of the
participants, but several agreed that Simon's statements were 'just politics.' Two
participants could identify that 'the Speaker of the House' as giving the Democratic
response, but all participants were essentially unaware of Foley or George Mitchell.
Democratic Leadership
Unprompted, these voters could name only a few Democrats such as Jackson,
Bentsen, Kennedy and perhaps Cuomo as leaders of the Democratic party. Other
leaders including Foley and Mitchell were virtually unknown to the groups. Jackson
had clearly wore out his welcome with these voters. They had little patience for his
activities as leader of a political movement which took him across the country and
overseas, and wondered out loud what it was he did for living and speculated on a
fortune he may have amassed.
Abortion
Even a strongly religious, devout ethnic Catholic could not see the government
banning all abortions, and said that whether we like it or not, abortion was here to
stay. No one countered this assessment.
Education was mentioned several times independently as a solution to limiting the
number of abortions, a point which came up in both Northern Virginia sessions.
Participants were in agreement that government involvement in terms of education
should go beyond a short 'birds and the bees' course as one participant called it.
The groups overall tended to favor some government involvement in the abortion
issue. They were deeply divided over the abstract question of whether a woman
should have reasons for having an abortion, but few accepted that abortion should be
available simply on demand when pushed on instances of gender selection or
parental consent.
Beyond this and perhaps a 24-hour waiting period, there was no consensus on the
workability and general acceptance of other specific rules or laws against abortion.
Unlike the Northern Virginia focus groups, these voters were less generous with the
public purse when it came to abortions. One participant thought that at the least,
public funding for abortion should require something approaching the level of the
information intrusion involved with adopting a child as a requirement to receive aid.
Bush and Abortion
No one in one group would say that they would use the President's position on
abortion as a major reason to vote for him or against him One participant pointed
out that Congress was a foil to having to vote for or against Bush on the basis of this
issue
R.N.C. SURVEY RESEARCH
5
Tape Digest
Chicago Focus Groups
First Session -- 6 P.M.
February 1, 1990
Meter Subject (approximate duration)
Introductions (5:00)
300
Two Issues Most Important to You (23:00)
1675 Issue Follow-ups:
1675 Taxes (:50)
1725 Issues Important to Country (1:15)
1800
Issue Follow-ups: (11:00)
Foreign Affairs
Budget Deficit
Education
Foreign Competition
2460 Solutions for Health Care (5:55)
2815
Party Handling of Issues (8:55)
2940
Health Care (4:00)
3186
Drugs (2:45)
3350
BREAK (:40)
3389 What Do You Remember of State of the Union Speech? (4:55)
3685 Was There Anything Not Addressed by President Which Should Have Been? (2:45)
3850 What Do You Remember of the Democrats' Response? (2:20)
3990 Who is the Leading Democrat in the Country? (3:15)
Jackson, Foley, Mitchell, Kennedy, Cuomo, Bentsen, R. Brown
4184
Rate Congress' Job (1:10)
4254 Job Handling: Congress versus Bush (2:30)
4405 Should Government Reduce Number of Abortions? (1:40)
4505
Should Some Abortions Be Illegal? (1:55)
4620
Should There be Rules for Abortion? (2:25)
4650
Parental Consent
4672
Spousal Consent/Notification
4766 Abortion Prohibitions and Rules (6:20)
5146 END OF DISCUSSION
R.N.C. SURVEY RESEARCH
6
Tape Digest
Chicago Focus Groups
Second Session -- 8 P.M.
February 1, 1990
Meter Subject (approximate duration)
Introductions
310
Two Issues Most Important to You (5:10)
1125
Issues Important to Country (13:35)
1942
Issue Follow-ups: (7:10)
Environment (5:00)
2252
Budget Deficit (5:10)
2291
Education (1:20)
2370
Which Issues Should Federal Government Have a Major Responsibility: (10:30)
3002
Party Handling of Issues (11:00)
3070
Environment (3:00)
3249
Foreign Affairs (4:30)
3517
Education (2:30)
3665
BREAK (:30)
3694
Impressions of State of the Union (5:35)
4029
Democratic Response (:10)
4036
Leading Democrats (4:45)
Jackson, Kennedy, Cuomo, Bentsen, Mitchell, R. Brown
4323
Atwater (:30)
4354
Job Evaluation of Congress (3:25)
4560
Bush versus Congress (:55)
4560
Education (:20)
4580
Europe (:35)
4614
Economic Expectations; Fear of Recession (3:25)
4819 Should Government Reduce Number of Abortions? (2:00)
4935 Should There Be Rules and Regulations on Abortion? (2:00)
4976
Parental Consent (:40)
4991
Public Funding (1:10)
5061
Where Do You Stand: Abortion Rules and Regulations (4:50)
5348
Bush and Abortion Issue (1:00)
5405
END OF DISCUSSION
R.N.C. SURVEY RESEARCH
7
SENT BY:Republican Natl Comm
3-15-89
2:01PM
2028638820-OFFICE OPERATIONS 52;# 2
U.S NEWS
Let the great gerrymander war begin
At stake is the reapportionment of all the political real estate in the land
W
ith all eyes focused on a just
elected President and a new, if
embattled, Congress, it hardly
seems possible that yet another dizzying
national campaign cycle is already off and
spinning. But it is. This one has no "Air
Force Two" and no Willie Horton televi-
sion ads. There is no nosy national press
corps and not a single national candidate.
ISM MUST UCH . BROWN AB
Yet measured by its potential influence on
the American agenda until the end of the
century, the coming 1989 and 1990 races
for nearly 7,500 state legislative seats and
38 governors' chairs may be as decisive as
George Bush's presidential victory. The
reason is simple: The winners will redraw
the nation's political map.
The 1990 census, followed a year later
by reapportionment of virtually all the
political real estate in the land, will affect
most legislative seats and, more impor-
tant, the shape of the U.S. House of
Representatives until 2002. Races in 1991
will be especially crucial because of his.
toric population shifts from rural and
inner-city areas to burgeoning suburbs
and from the Northern rust belt to the
High-tech warriors. Democrats prepare computers for the redistricting fight
Southern and Southwestern sun belt.
What is at stake. For both parties, the
can political pie is controlled by those
stakes go beyond raw political control and
who control the states, especially states in
have long-range implications for their
which one party captures both legislative
national ambitions. The Democrats have
houses and the governor's mansion. At
been frozen out of the White House for
that point, the game becomes an old
the better part of a generation, and the
American tradition called gerrymander-
party is hemorrhaging white voters in
ing. After the 1988 elections, Democrats
growth areas. But Democrats must pro-
controlled all three legs of power (gover-
tect their 34-year lock on the House of
nor's seat and both legislative houses) in
Representatives to have any chance of
15 states. But in 22 more, they held two
advancing an activist national agenda and
legs-both legislative chambers or one
again becoming a presidential party. For
chamber and the governor's mansion.
Republicans controlled all three branches
Republicans. despite success at the peak
of the political pyramid, the challenge is
of power in only four states and two
Battle scene. On their computer screens,
to narrow the gaping 260-to-175 Demo-
branches in seven others. In 12 states,
a yellow line redraws part of Florida's
cratic margin in the House and to present
legislative control was split between the
sixth congressional district, above.
themselves as a broad-based, national
parties, which augurs bipartisan redis-
instantly revealing population (85,966).
tricting that protects incumbents' seats.
governing party.
ticket splitters (27 percent), Democratic
At best, Republicans are hoping to
Those arcane equations focus every
voters (46 percent). An electronic map,
create enough new GOP seats to get back
political strategist's attention on marginal
below, discloses similar details about
states where one or more of the three
to the status they enjoyed at the dawn of
every block in Central Falls, R.I.
the Reagan era when they combined with
power legs is vulnerable. For the Demo-
several score conservative Democrats to
crats, the juiciest targets in 1990 are gu-
bernatorial races in California, Texas and
construct a working majority in the
House. But, first, they will have to make
Florida. Democrats already control both
breakthroughs in state and local elections
legislative houses in all three states, and
and gain more control of the redistricting
Republican governors in all three are
machinery. Next year's races represent
retiring or in political trouble. In any of
this century's last chance to influence the
the three states, this scenario could be
process. "It's already late in the day,"
upset by a strong Republican gubernato-
insists Representative William Thomas
rial showing, and in Florida, the Demo-
(R-Calif.), who heads a Republican redis-
crats' six-vote margin in the State Senate
tricting task force. "The battleground for
is vulnerable to a Republican takeover by
the 1990s will be over by '92."
a switch of only four seats.
This decennial reslicing of the Ameri-
These three states are the biggest prize
of 1990 because the frost-belt-to-sun-belt
U.S.NEWS & WORLD REPORT, Feb. 20. 1989
29
NEWS
shift will give them a combined boost of
ple to run for state offices; we're building a
Committee Chair Ron Brown last week
12 new seats in Congress. Together, they
farm team of people who can run for
fired an early shot across Atwater's bow:
will represent 109 congressional districts,
Congress when the time comes," says
"I intend to explode that Republican
or one fourth of the House of Representa-
Callaway. Republican National Commit-
myth of a rigged realignment through
tives. And the trend of population growth
tee Chairman Lee Atwater has assembled
reapportionment and redistricting."
in sun-belt suburbs is usually followed by
a star-studded kitchen cabinet of experi-
California squiggles. Once the 1990 elec-
a habit of voting Republican. By the 1992
enced campaigners to help channel re-
tions are settled, the gerrymandering be-
elections, a projected 18 congressional
sources to key states. One inside player,
gins-a process that former President
seats will magically vanish from the farm
Ed Rollins, mastermind of Ronald Rea-
Reagan last week characterized in his first
belt and traditionally Democratic urban
gan's 1984 landslide and later White
post-White House speech as "pure dyna-
strongholds in the North only to reappear
House political director, was hired last
mite because it deals with political greed."
in increasingly Republican city sprawls in
week in a million-dollar deal to head GOP
Where Democrats have the upper hand,
the South and Southwest. Big losers are
congressional re-election efforts. The
they will no doubt follow the precepts of
rust-belt states such as New York; Penn-
RNC recently started seminars on redis-
the late California Representative Phillip
sylvania, Ohio, Michigan and Illinois.
tricting and last year ran training sessions
Burton, who in 1981 and 1982 created a
Besides those in the Big Three sun-belt
for state legislative staffs. "We've got to
state-of-the-art gerrymander that not
states, gubernatorial races will be hotly
make some gut-wrenching targeting deci-
only captured all five of the state's newly
contested in Virginia, New Jersey, Ohio,
sions," says a ranking RNC staffer.
allotted seats but widened a one-seat mar-
Pennsylvania, Illinois, Wisconsin, New
"We're not going to be spreading money
gin over Republicans to nine seats. A six-
Mexico and Missouri. There will be rag-
around just to make people happy."
year Republican-led lawsuit to overturn
Burton's artful map making-
a squiggle of boundaries that
THE SWING TO THE SUN BELT
included a long-tailed district
Eighteen congressional seats are expected to be respportioned to the South
created for his brother-final-
and Southwest after the 1990 census
ly failed last month in the U.S.
Supreme Court.
New York
Republicans, working from
Wisconsin
Michigan
a position of greater weakness
Montana
in both Congress and state leg-
Massachusetts
islatures, will try to maximize
lowa
their strength by paring down
Ohio
districts where their candi-
California
Kansas
dates usually win by luxurious
Arizona
margins, thus shifting some
Illinois
Republican voters into other
Texas
winnable districts. "We've got
to convince some guys to go
from a 60 percent Republican
district to one with 55 per-
cent," says Charlie Black, an
Losers
Atwater adviser.
USN&WR-Basic date:
Winners +18
Another possible Republi-
U.S. Census Bureau
can tactic would be to stir the
multihued Democratic pot by
making deals with black politi-
ing battles to control state senates in
Democrats focus on targeting, too.
cians to create new black-majority dis-
Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan. New
Representative Vic Fazio (D-Calif.), head
tricts through consolidation of inner-city
York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Washington
of the party's Impac 2000 funding arm,
voters. This ploy would leave surround-
and Wisconsin. House races are targeted
says, "The governorships are where it's
ing districts whiter and more receptive to
in Arizona, Connecticut, Illinois, Indiana
at." To halt Democratic state losses, an-
the Republican message. California Re-
(where the House is now tied. 50 to 50).
other organization, Project 500, was
publicans/such as Representative Thomas
Michigan. New Jersey, Oregon, Pennsyl-
formed in 1985 after the party had given
hope to thwart the gerrymandering tradi-
vania, Washington and Wisconsin. This
up more than 600 legislative seats during
tion with ballot initiatives that would shift
complex political checkerboard is the dai-
Reagan's two landslide elections. With
redistricting to bipartisan commissions or
ly playing field of Washington trench
the help of sophisticated computer tech-
even randomly selected citizens' panels
soldiers seeking to shape the national
nology at the liberal-oriented National
that would function like grand juries.
agenda into the 21st century.
Committee for an Effective Congress,
These groups would hear proposals from
Political fann team. In their most ambi-
Project 500 is carefully selecting winnable
all interest groups and make supposedly
tious grass-roots drives ever, both parties
governor's races and legislative chambers
apolitical decisions.
are mounting fund-raising and training
where a shift of a few seats could swing (or
For now, the action remains firmly in
programs that target critical legislative
keep) those bodies in the Democratic
the hands of political professionals, to
and gubernatorial races. GOPAC, a Re-
column. Project 500 Executive Director
whom this stuff is mother's milk, and
publican group chaired by conservative
Timothy Dickson says targeted states are
committed statehouse pols, who always
Representative Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.)
chosen for "extreme marginality"- po-
live for the next election. But by next year,
and run by former Army Secretary How-
litical euphemism for a real-time chance
the game will be played by both parties'
ard "Bo" Callaway, has sent out inspira-
to win or lose. Funds are earmarked for
heavy hitters, as they scramble for power
tional campaign tapes-audio and vid-
campaign services such as polling, tele-
in the first great battle of the 1990s.
eo-to potential GOP candidates around
phone banks, voter contact and printing.
the country. "We're not just getting peo-
Newly elected. Democratic National
by Peter Rose Range
30
U.S.NEWS & WORLD REPORT, Feb. 20. 1989
SENT BY:Republican Natl Comm 3-15-89 2:35PM
2028638820-0FFICE OPERATIONS 52;# 2
-4-
II. LEGISLATIVE LOCK
The 1951 redistricting cycle was the last time Republicans were
at parity with Democrats at the state legislative level The last
time Republicans held a majority in the U.S. House of
Representatives was in the 1950s. Since then, we have lost strength
at both the state legislative and congressional levels, and there is
obviously a direct relationship between the two. Without dramatic
Republican legislative gains in 1990, we face the possibility of
being in the worst redistricting posture since we lost the U.S.
House in the 1950s.
Considerable press and political attention has been devoted in
recent years to the Republican electoral college lock on the
Presidency. This discussion is premised on a corresponding
Democratic "legislative lock" on Congress.
Since congressional district lines are drawn, in most cases, by
state legislatures, competitiveness in congressional races depends
on influencing the state legislatures which draw congressional
lines. However, since, in most states, state legislatures draw
their own legislative district lines, once gerrymandered lines are
in place, it becomes extremely difficult to dislodge the legislative
majority. Given the geometric growth of redistricting technology
and available data, if one party controls the entire redistricting
process in 8 state, it can, barring a political or legal disaster,
draw legislative lines to ensure that it will be in the majority for
the next redistricting and beyond. That party is thus "locked" into
the legislative majority.
The Democratic Party is on the verge of creating a legislative
lock on redistricting, similar to our electoral college lock, except
that their hold on the process is potentially much stronger.
Democrats now have a redistricting advantage in states that compose
about 90 percent of the total seats in Congress. If they are able
to move from simple advantage to complete control of the process in
these states, they will have created a lock on redistricting.
Avoiding this lock is the challenge for the Republican Party in
preparing for the next redistricting.
The Current Playing Field
Since the 1981 redistricting effort, the Republican Party has
fallen behind the Democrats, both politically and technically, in
its ability to affect the redistricting process. This will
obviously hamper efforts to achieve majority status in the U.S.
House of Representatives in the 1990s.
In those states where the Democrats completely controlled the
process in 1980, they have not lost a single legislative body.
Republicans, in contrast, have lost five legislative bodies in
states we controlled in 1980. The Democrats were obviously more
technically skillful and politically cunning than were Republicans
in the 1980s redistricting.
SENT BY:Republican Natl Comm 3-15-89 2:36PM
2028638820-OFFICE OPERATIONS 52:# 3
-5-
In 1981, the Republican Party held 23 Governorships and 35 state
legislative houses. This gave Republicans either complete control
of or the advantage in the redistricting process in states
comprising 123 congressional districts. If redistricting took place
today, Republicans would have control or the advantage in states
comprising a mere congressional districts.
45
Republicans now hold 22 Governorships and only DD state
legislative houses. Since 1981, we have lost the Republican
redistricting advantage in six states, comprising 82 congressional
districts:
State
CDs (1991 Projections)
Illinois
20
Pennsylvania
20
Ohio
19
Indiana
10
Washington
8
Iowa
5
In contrast, we have gained the advantage in only one state --
New Jersey -- accounting for 14 congressional districts.
Because of our situation in the legislatures, the population
shifts expected to be reflected in the 1990 census could be of
little direct benefit to us. Arizona might pick up two new
congressional districts, while Kansas may lose a district.
Consequently, by virtue of population shifts alone, we can probably
expect one more congressional district subject to Republican
redistricting control.
Republicans can find consolation in the fact that we are not
completely shut out of the process in as many states as in 1981. In
1981, Democrats completely controlled the process in states
comprising 210 congressional districts. If redistricting were to
conducted today, the Democrats would be in complete control in
states comprising 119 congressional districts.
The 1990 legislative and gubernatorial elections are clearly
crucial to redistricting success in the 1990s and beyond. Critical
gubernatorial or legislative races in the eight largest states will
determine whether Republicans will be an effective part of the
redistricting process:
State (Race)
CDs (1991 Projections)
California (Governor)
50
New York (Senate)
31
Texas (Governor)
31
Florida (Governor)
22
Illinois (Governor)
20
Pennsylvania (Senate)
20
Ohio (Senate)
19
Michigan (Senate)
16
Total CDs Affected
209
SENT BY:Republican Nat Comm
3-15-89
2.36PM
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-6-
Republicans even if we were to win all eight of these
However, completely control states comprising 328 congressional districts.
If the Republicans lose in all eight states, the Democrats would
Republicans That is somewhat sobering since even if the states than
1981. would still be in a weaker position nationally races, in
congressional delegations, we would still be in the minority.
controlled the process in 1981 elected all-Republican where
What everyone 'knows'
about Atwater isn't true
Obviously, Republican National
Committee Chairman Lee Atwater
/9/22/89
make a valid inference that liberal
was being hypocritical in encourag-
ing blacks to join the Republican
Party during his appearance in Mil-
milwaybeate
Dukakis appointees would take sen-
sible liberal policies and carry them
to ridiculous extremes, with Dukakis'
waukee last week, because every-
approval.
body knows that Atwater was the
mastermind of the racist Willie Hor-
Political
"The furlough issue, far from be-
ton ads in George Bush's presidential
ing an appeal to racism or a mindless
campaign.
beat
distraction, instead pointed to central
defects in Dukakis' candidacy and
The problem is, what everybody
style of governance."
"knows" is wrong.
By KENNETH R. LAMKE
The Horton ads and the prison
Sentinel staff writer
The Almanac's account squares
with this reporter's memory of see-
furlough issue it highlighted were
not racist.
Gore Jr. of Tennessee, during a New
ing the Horton ads and wondering
York debate. presidential primary campaign
for weeks whether Horton and / or
The following account of the Hor-
the victims were white or black.
ton issue comes from the new 1990
According to the Almanac, Duka-
The ads gave absolutely no hint.
edition of the non-partisan Almanac
of American Politics, considered the
kis refused to say at the debate that,
And careful attention to the national
"bible" of state and national political
by this time, he agreed with a change
news media provided no clue either
in the Massachusetts furlough law
for weeks, until the handful of inde-
reporters.
even though he did agree with it -
pendent committees supporting Bush
The text is written by Michael
"grudgingly saying only that the peo-
ran ads with Horton's picture in a
Barone, who also writes opinion
pie of Massachusetts and the legisla-
handful of states (not in Wisconsin).
pieces for the Washington Post, not
ture wanted it."
your average bigot newspaper.
That gave the Democrats their op-
In the debate, "his response to
portunity to cry racism.
The Almanac is endorsed in jacket
Gore was, The trouble with you, Al,
blurbs by such other non-bigots as
political columnist David Broder,
is system." you've never run a criminal justice
By that time, everyone knew who
Willie Horton was, what he had done
Common Cause President Fred
The Almanac continues, "With
and what Dukakis' position was,
Wertheimer, Sen. Bill Bradley (D-
N.J.) and Democratic Gov. Mario
that bit of arrogance, Dukakis missed
even though they did not know Hor-
his chance to dissociate himself from
ton's race.
Cuomo of New York.
a position that wrs morally and polit-
"On this (the furlough issue) it is
ically indefensible.
Now everyone "knows" that Lee
Atwater masterminded a racist cam-
confidently alleged that the Bush
campaign Hed and that Dukakis
"The Horton case and the Dukakis
paign.
should have responded.
campaign's efforts to hide its record
were the subject of a Pulitzer Prize-
There is a word for the willfully
"But in fact the Bush campaign
winning series by the Lawrence
ignorant or malicious stereotyping of
(Mass.) Eagle-Tribune" and also the
people (in this case, not Willle Hor-
was careful to tell the truth (the
subject of a Reader's Digest article in
ton and blacks, but Lee Atwater and
more they told it, the more damaging
the issue was), and the arguments on
July 1988.
Republicans) and the word is bigotry.
the subject that were misleading to
the point of falsehood were those
According to the Almanac, At-
made in Dukakis' ads and statements
water, who already knew of the
and articles by journalistic shills for
Horton case through campaign re-
the Dukakis campaign.
search, heard some people talking
favorably about the Reader's Digest
"It is alleged that the Bush cam-
article in a Virginia bar and autho-
paign appealed to racism, although
rized ads. the Bush campaign's Horton
the Bush campaign ads were careful
not to use the picture of Willie Hor-
"Some charged the ads were racist
ton but simply to mention that he
(because Horton is black). But Bush's
had been sentenced to jail for life
without parole for committing a bru-
ads never showed Horton (though an
tal murder, and that he had been
Independent committee's ads did),
and the prisoners going through the
granted weekend furloughs numer-
revolving door were mostly white.
ous times under a policy Dukakis
supported and defended for 11 years,
"The episode showed how Dukakis
and that from one such furlough he
took a sensible and defensible policy
did not return but instead went to
(granting furloughs to prisoners
Maryland where he raped and brutal-
scheduled to be released) and carried
Ized a young woman."
It to ridiculous extremes (granting
furloughs to prisoners sentenced nev-
The Horton issue was raised first
er to be released)."
In the presidential campaign not by
Bush but by a Democrat, Sen. Albert
The Almanac says the issue pro-
vided voters a basis on which to
Lee Atwater
V vonan
Politics Make It Possible,
Women Make It Work!
What's Bush What Behind PAGE marity? Makes 4 Run? Lynn STORY 6
S
March/April, 1990
SEE COVER S
A MESSAGE FROM NATIONAL
A Clean Slate, A Fresh Start
NFRW
On
January 2, 1990 I assumed office
New for the
plished by January 1, 1991. As you
as your national president. One of my
evaluate the previous year ask your
first acts was to compile my New
'90s
club these questions:
Year's resolutions-resolutions which I
Did we increase membership last
feel will be kept! By January 1, 1991 it
year?
is my hope that NFRW will:
Did we reach out to "non-tradi-
Increase membership by 25,000;
tional" Republicans?
Recruit 500 GOP women to run
Were we willing to change our
for state and local office;
meeting time to accommodate work-
Achieve 75 percent participation
ing women?
in the building fund drive;
Would young working women
Gain a reputation as a driving
feel welcome in our club?
force in state Party politics.
Did we make an effort to
Looking back, the 1980s were
support women candidates?
certainly prosperous for NFRW. After
Did we encourage club members
gaining our financial independence
to run for office?
from the RNC in 1979, we developed
Did we support NFRW's building
our major donor program which
fund drive?
enabled us to create our Party's only
Are we involved in local Party
form of volunteer polling, and we
activities?
established the GOP's most respected
Did we approach a candidate
Campaign Management School. We
with a "plan of action" for her/his
also gained a vote on the RNC's
campaign?
Executive Council, a first for any Party
If you answered yes to each of
affiliate.
Huda Jones, NFRW President
these questions your club's contribu-
I credit my predecessors with the
tion to our future is indeed great. If
foresight and perseverance to achieve
your club answered no, to any of
these goals. However, this is not a
stands $1.3 million short of our $1.5
these questions, you are now aware of
time to congratulate ourselves for past
million goal.
areas of deficiency and should begin
successes; rather it is a time to dedi-
FACT-For years NFRW has been
to refine your program. The impor-
cate ourselves to future achievement.
known as the volunteer army of the
tance of achieving these goals is
The initial step toward a strong
Republican Party, it is a reputation we
permanent and each of us should
future is to honestly assess our
earned through our collective hard
begin working immediately.
position today. Such an assessment
work. While nothing can replace our
To help you reach your goals for
indicates that our organization while
grass roots knowledge, we must
1991, and strengthen past programs,
rechannel our efforts toward other
strong, faces substantial challenges in
NFRW will be conducting new mem-
the years ahead. Consider these facts:
Party directed endeavors.
bership training seminars in nine
FACT-In 1973, NFRW adopted the
FACT-Politics is becoming slicker
regions across the country, ready to
slogan "A million or more by '74."
and more advanced each day. Mail
assist you with membership, fund-
Today our membership is hanging on
houses perform the work our mem-
raising, public relations, and candidate
at 128,000. No one can deny that
bers once did voluntarily. And one-
recruitment/campaign activities.
we're witnessing a decline that
on-one morning coffees and after-
By working together we can make
threatens our very existence.
noon teas are being pushed aside for
the 1990s the decade of Republican
FACT-Currently, there 497 Republi-
big dollar fund-raisers and maximum
women. Commitment is key, change is
can women elected to state and local
visibility events. If we want to keep
essential, but the benefits will be long
office, a number that has remained
up, we must change. If we want
lasting.
steady since 1980, and has dropped
respect, we must change. If we want
Let each of us have a list of accom-
slightly since 1989.
to survive, we must change.
plished resolutions on January 1, 1991;
FACT-In 1989, immediate past presi-
With these areas of possible im-
no regrets and no excuses.
dent Judy Hughes established the
provement in mind, take time at your
next club meeting to evaluate your
Editor's note: For more information
Marion Martin building fund with
past year. Draw up a list of goals and
on 1990 regional membership semi-
$120,000. Less than a year later, the
fund contains $200,000. The fund
objectives you think can be accom-
nars, see pages 10-11.
2
NATIONAL FEDERATION OF REPUBLICAN WOMEN
CONTENTS
Woman
MARCH
APRIL 1990
A Message from
A New Look
National
2
for NFRW
10-11
ISSUES SPOTLIGHT:
Outstanding in Their
The President's
Field- Women Candidates
Popularity
4
for 1990
12-13
President Bush and Vice President
Quayle leading the Nation
GOP WOMEN ON THE
"FUND" for the '90s
14
MOVE: Schneider and
Molinari
5
Our Readers Write
15
COVER STORY:
An Offer We
Martin -v- Simon
Can't Refuse
16
NFRW President Huda Jones and U.S.
What a Way to
Rep. Lynn Martin
Start the Decade
6-7
The Federation Across
the Nation
17-19
NFRW PROGRAMS:
Graduating With Honors
the CMS Faculty
8-9
Regents Day Set
for May 10
20
NFRW Regent Thelma O'Hare and First
Lady Barbara Bush
Cover: NFRW President Huda Jones (left) and U.S. Rep. Lynn Martin
Photo by: Rebecca Hammel
NFRW Executive Committee
NATIONAL
The Republican Woman
The National Federation of Republican Women's Executive
OF
The Republican Woman is an official publication of the
Committee is elected by the delegates to NFRW's biennial
convention. The Members at Large are elected immediately
REPUBLICAN WOMEN
National Federation of Republican Women. It is mailed
bimonthly to every dues paying NFRW member. It is
following the convention by the NRFW Board of Directors.
designed to provide NFRW members with current information
about Federation goals and programs (national, state, and
President Huda Jones, Kentucky
local), Republican Party efforts, administrative policies, legislative
Immediate Past President Judy Hughes, Colorado
activities in Congress, and other issues relevant to women in politics
First Vice President Charlotte Mousel, California
and leadership positions.
Second Vice President Mary Jo Arndt, Illinois
Third Vice President Lou Brown, Texas
The Republican Woman is paid for by the National Federation
Fourth Vice President Pat Barton, Florida
of Republican Women, Republican National Committee, 310 First
Secretary Joyce Glass, North Carolina
Street, S.E., Washington, D.C., 20003, 202/547-9341.
Treasurer Dodie Londen, Arizona
Karen Johnson, Editor
Member at Large Ellie Holt, Indiana
Susie Lewis, Assistant Editor
Member at Large Jane Jepsen, Connecticut
Design Ink, Inc. Design and Production
Member at Large Marilyn Thayer, Louisiana
POLITICAL LEADERSHIP FOR THE '90s
3
ISSUES SPOTLIGHT
What's the Secret Behind
Bush's Popularity?
Many political pundits, and a great
not seen in 16 years. Income
number of Democrats are astounded
levels have risen sharply and
at President Bush's record-breaking
growth in industrial output is over
popularity. To date the President has
one-and-a-half times that of West-
an 81 percent approval rating.
ern Europe. Real per capita income,
But there is no secret, no magic.
output, and business fixed invest-
Upon examination of the President's
ments, are at record levels. Yet,
first year in office one realizes that
consumer price inflation has
much has been accomplished. Behind
remained under five percent for the
the record-breaking approval rating
past seven years.
lies history making policy and innova-
a Europe "whole and free" during his
tive programs.
International Trade
visit to Mainz, Germany. Though the
And if one is looking for a clear
pace of change was even faster than
explanation of this Administration's
Leading efforts to promote free and
anticipated, the United States remains
success it stems from the true sense of
fair trade, the Bush Administration
on the course set by the President last
caring and commitment from a
successfully advanced the Uruguay
spring.
President and his Administration
Round of multilateral trade negotia-
which clearly has its finger on the
tions. It proposed to correct and
Malta
pulse of our nation and the world.
prevent trade distortions in agriculture
From international trade to afford-
and also proposed to create rules for
As European and other events
able housing, the Bush Administra-
international trade in services. Cur-
accelerated, the President conceived
tion's accomplishments are far-
rently, the Administration is engaged
the idea of informally meeting with
reaching. The following is a brief
in bilateral trade talks with Japan to
Mr. Gorbachev for an in-depth, wide
outline of domestic and international
discuss impediments to expanding
ranging exchange. This took place on
policies and programs which have
trade and encourage it to open its
board ships off Malta in early Decem-
lead to the American public's resound-
markets to U.S. exports.
ber. The President offered a number
ing approval of President Bush and
of initiatives on economic relations,
his Administration.
cultural exchanges, human rights, and
A Resurgence of Democracy
arms reduction. Europe and regional
Record Expansion
In April of last year, the President
issues, particularly Central America,
spoke in Hamtramck, Michigan, and
were also subjects of discussion. It
During the current economic
called for self determination in Eastern
was agreed to hold a formal US-Soviet
expansion-in its 84th month as of
Europe and an end to the division of
Summit in the summer of 1990, in the
November, 1989-over 20.7 million
the continent. Later in May, President
United States.
jobs have been created and the
Bush called for the Berlin Wall to
unemployment rate has fallen to levels
come down, and set forth his vision of
Education Summit
The President called the nation's
Governors together for an historic
Education Summit. The Administration
and the Governors committed to en-
courage education reform in America
by: establishing national education
goals; working for greater flexibility in
the use of Federal funds in exchange
for increased accountability; imple-
menting state-by-state restructuring of
the education system; and adopting
improved ways of measuring perform-
ances.
continued on page 16
4
NATIONAL FEDERATION OF REPUBLICAN WOMEN
GOP WOMEN ON THE MOVE
Charging Up the Hill
Claudine Schneider Makes a Bid for the U.S. Senate
T en years ago, when Claudine Sch-
officials
Schneider is a proven coalition
neider ran for the U.S. Congress, she
in the
builder. She is the co-founder and co-
was told by her Democratic opponent
Ocean
chair of the Congressional Competi-
to, "go back home and scrub floors
State.
tiveness Caucus, a bi-partisan group of
and wash dishes." There had never
She has
over 200 U.S. Representatives and
been a woman elected to federal
cospon-
Senators. The caucus functions as a
office in Rhode Island. Democrats
sored
forum to build consensus for legisla-
outnumbered Republicans 15-1 in an
anti-
tion in the areas of trade policy,
era when straight Party voting was
drug
human resources, capital formation,
the norm. The odds were against her.
and
and science and technology.
So Schneider challenged the second
anti-
NFRW president Huda Jones said,
Congressional District of Rhode
crime
"Claudine Schneider has proven
Island to make a choice and look at
legisla-
herself to be an effective leader. As a
the person, not the Party. They did,
tion to protect children and senior
U.S. Senator, I know she will continue
Schneider beat the odds and was
citizens, and to punish drug traffick-
to dedicate herself on behalf of
elected as their U.S. Representative.
ers. She is a strong advocate of treat-
women and the nation. The National
Today, Schneider is running for the
ment-on-demand and the national
Federation of Republican Women is
U.S. Senate. As a U.S. Senator, Schnei-
Drug-Free School Zone program.
behind her 100 percent."
der says she will continue to actively
work to protect the environment,
provide a drug-free society, and
promote economic growth and com-
Susan Molinari Wins U.S. House Seat
petitiveness.
R
epublican Susan Molinari crushed
Schneider has proven herself an
her Democratic opponent by nearly
effective leader in Congress. As a
2-1 in the March 20, special election,
member of the Merchant Marine and
to win New York's 14th Congres-
Fisheries Committee and the ranking
sional District seat.
Republican on the Oversight and In-
The seat was vacated by her
vestigations Subcommittee, Schneider
father, who assumed office as Staten
is the author and primary sponsor of
Island borough president on January
the Global Warming Prevention Act
1, 1990.
of 1989. She has also promoted a
Molinari is no stranger to politics
wide range of legislation to protect
or winning campaigns. This congres-
the environment, to preserve endan-
sional victory makes her a three-time
gered species, and to promote a
winner. She was first elected to the
balanced use of natural resources.
New York City Council in 1985, the
As a member of the Select Com-
youngest person ever elected to the
mittee on Aging, Schneider has re-
Council, and as its only Republican,
sponded to the needs of her elderly
became the Minority Leader.
Susan Molinari
constituents. Concerned about
As Minority Leader, Molinari was
widows being cheated out of their
Born-March 27, 1958
a voting member on the Council's
pensions through loopholes in the
most influential committees includ-
Education-graduated cum laude
law, Schneider actively worked with
ing Finance, Rules, and Environ-
from State University Center at
the Reagan White House to legislate
mental Protection. She says she
Albany, 1980
the Pension Reform Act.
hopes to continue her work on en-
She is also the lead sponsor of the
Professional background-
vironmental issues in Washington.
Ocean Dumping Ban Act of 1989 as
Finance Assistant for the National
As the newest and youngest
well as the Wolpe-Schneider Hazard-
Republican Governor's Associa-
member of the 101st U.S. Congress,
ous Waste Reduction Act.
tion and Ethnic Community
Molinari is only the second woman
Schneider's dedication to the na-
Liaison for the Republican
in United States history to succeed
tional war on drugs has her working
National Committee's Political
her father in the House.
closely with local, state, and federal
division
POLITICAL LEADERSHIP FOR THE '90s
5
COVER STORY
Lynn Martin:
soda pop" at her house. "It wasn't
quite volunteer, but I knew if I didn't
Vision for
feed the kids, I'd never keep them on
the road," she laughed. "I don't know
the Future
if people felt sorry for me, or if they
were entranced, but I won by over
17,000 votes." Martin served one term
in the House and quickly moved to the
Illinois Senate in 1979.
"The very foundation of
In the Illinois Legislature, Martin
this race is based on the
was regarded as an excellent law-
maker and orator, with a sharp mind,
future versus the past."
and an even sharper wit. She captured
U.S. Rep. Lynn Martin
the attention and admiration of her
constituents, and in 1980 when
Congressman John Anderson tossed
his hat into the presidential ring, she
seemed his natural successor. And she
In what is expected to be a tightly
sity of Illinois and married in 1960. She
was.
fought battle between the old and the
had two daughters and later became a
While always regarded as some-
new U.S. Representative Lynn Martin
high school English, government, and
what of a political legend in Illinois, it
(the future) is challenging Democrat
economics teacher. But that is where
wasn't until 1984 that she began to
incumbent Paul Simon (the past)-the
the typical American life ends and the
make a name for herself in Washing-
prize is the U.S. Senate.
American Dream kicks in.
ton and across the U.S.
Just to refresh your memory, Paul
That year marked her entrance in
Simon was the 1988 Presidential
the history books as the first woman
candidate who thought bow-ties were
Vote for My Mom!
ever elected to House leadership. She
hip and tax reform was not.
was elected by her GOP colleagues to
Recall also that it was Paul Simon
It was out of frustration with an
the vice chairmanship of the Republi-
who viewed Michael Dukakis as too
unresponsive County Board that
can conference.
conservative for America. Fortunately,
Martin launched her first campaign in
Martin may be best remembered,
the idea of "President Simon" was
1972. Declaring that the Winnebago
however, as then-Vice President
never brought before the national
County Board was dominated by too
Bush's sparring partner in the vice
electorate as his own Party over-
many "out of touch Democrats," she
presidential debate practice sessions.
whelmingly rejected his candidacy,
chalked up her first victory and
Even today, President Bush quips that
regarding the freshman Senator from
became the Board's Republican
debating against Lynn Martin was
Illinois as too wet behind the ears, and
spokesperson.
much more difficult than his actual
too far out of step with their "main-
From there it was a short climb to
opponent, Geraldine Ferarro.
stream" thinking.
the top.
But enough of the past. Let's turn
In 1976, after she had completed
our attention to the future and Lynn
one term on the Board, she decided to
The Future Takes Shape
Martin of Illinois's 16th Congressional
run for the Illinois State House, a race
District.
she ran in true grass roots fashion.
Martin's plain-spoken fiscal conser-
The 16th district occupies the
Accompanied by several of her
vatism, which helped her rise through
northwest corner of Illinois and
neighbors, Martin and her ad hoc
the ranks of state government, has
contains Rockford, the state's second
"campaign committee" grabbed their
gained her a great deal of attention in
largest city. Rockford, it is said, most
kids, loaded up their station wagons,
Washington as well. Combined with
typifies America, a place where
and went door-to-door handing out
her good-natured political style and
sociologists can study how middle-
pamphlets and asking for support.
the ability to cross Party lines, she is
America thinks, and as one writer put
"We weren't even sophisticated
regarded as a top legislator.
it, "a city where the American Dream
enough to call it canvassing," Martin
In addition to the respect of her
is alive and living."
recalls. "I just knew that somehow I
colleagues, Martin has been applauded
Although born in Chicago, Martin
had to get out and meet the voters."
by numerous groups such as the
cut her political teeth in Rockford and
Throughout the campaign Martin
National Taxpayer's Union, the
continues to uphold the ideals and
continued a pattern of door-to-door
Watchdogs of the Treasury, and the
standards of the American Dream.
canvassing in the morning followed by
National Federation of Independent
Martin graduated from the Univer-
an afternoon feast of "hot dogs and
Businesses (NFIB).
6
NATIONAL FEDERATION OF REPUBLICAN WOMEN
COVER STORY
"For small businesses, Lynn Martin
many voters. "Is the incumbent doing
is a clear choice," stated David K.
a good enough job for Illinois?"
And Now the Future
Rehr, assistant director of Federal
Thus began months of soul-
Governmental Relations for NFIB. "She
searching, with the persistent question
As Martin's opponent for the U.S.
wants lower taxes, less regulations,
being, "Can I better serve my state as a
Senate continues to grasp antiquated
and more opportunity for men and
Senator?" After seeking the advice of
policies, Martin, by contrast, brings a
women business owners."
the President, and her friends, family,
message of opportunity. But, as Martin
Opportunity for women is a cause
and colleagues," Martin believed the
says, "to have opportunity, you must
Martin has long advocated. According
answer to be a most definite "yes."
have change."
to House GOP colleague Jan Meyers
"It's not easy giving up a House seat
"I hope to take advantage of the
(KS) she was aware of Martin's work
and leaving a job you love and people
wave of freedom that is spreading
on behalf of women even before
you respect. But you have to take
throughout the world," she said. "I
Meyers came to Washington in 1984.
risks. If you don't, who will?"
want to ensure that America can
But it was Martin's persistence and
Now, two years later, Martin is back
compete in the next century. And I
insistence that women be treated fairly
on the campaign trail, this time it's for
want to ensure that my children and
within the hallowed halls of Congress
Lynn Martin, and the President is on
grandchildren have the same opportu-
that most remember.
nities that I have had,
Meyers recalls,
Lynn Martin
but with an even
"Lynn championed the
for
U.S. Senate
greater chance to
cause of job protection
succeed."
for all congressional
No one says that
employees. She intro-
the race will be an
duced legislation that
easy one. In fact, it is
guarantees fair em-
one of the hottest and
ployment practices for
most closely watched
workers and suc-
races in the nation.
ceeded in getting it
passed by the House.
LYNN MARTIN
Lynn Martin has
demonstrated the
It was a major achieve-
FOR U.S. SENATE
vision necessary to
ment for all congres-
succeed in a race that
sional workers, and particularly
the stump for her. Having made one
pits the future against the past and op-
women."
swing through Illinois, he is expected
portunity against stagnation. It is now
Prior to Martin's bill, any member of
to return. Additionally, Mrs. Bush has
up to voters in the Land of Lincoln to
Congress could discriminate against
hit the campaign trail on behalf of
determine which candidate can keep
employees on the basis of sex, color,
Martin. "We joke that when the going
their American Dream alive.
or marital status and the employee had
gets tough we bring out the secret
no recourse.
weapon, The First Lady," Martin grins.
"I think you have to keep in mind
Martin says she knows she can call
that all Hill employees are paid with
upon the President when she needs
the taxpayer's money," Martin added.
his help and if he can do something he
LYNN MARTIN
"Holding the Members' feet to the fire
will. But she says that more important
has made a real difference."
than a fundraiser or a fly-through is
Born: December 26, 1939, Chicago, Ill.
Education: U. of Illinois, B.A., 1960,
what the President is doing for
Phi Beta Kappa
America.
The People of Illinois
Profession: U.S. Congress, 1981-
"He's making America strong,
Deserve a Senator
present, Illinois Senate, 1979-80, Illinois
keeping prosperity in the forefront.
House, 1977-78, Winnebago Cnty
And making life better for the people
Board, 1972-76, High School Teacher
When the 1988 presidential race
of Illinois makes it easier for me to win
1960-69
began to take shape, Martin was
an election. And if that's all he did for
Married to: U.S. District Judge Harry
named a vice chairman to the Bush
me, it would be enough."
Leinenweber
campaign. As she divided her time be-
Everyone agrees that Martin has a
Children: two children, five step-
children
tween Washington, Illinois, and the
tough race ahead of her. But, as U.S.
stump for Bush, she noticed that
House Republican Leader Bob Michel
Religion: Roman Catholic
Office: 1214 Longworth House Office
another well-known Illinoisan was
put it, "More than anyone Lynn has the
Building Washington, D.C. 20515
also on the campaign trail, but never
skills, the knowledge, and the savvy to
Campaign Office: 9575 West Higgins
really in Washington.
beat the incumbent. She's a creative
Rd,. Rosement, IL 60018
Martin began to ask herself, as did
and tireless campaigner."
POLITICAL LEADERSHIP FOR THE '90s
7
NFRW PROGRAMS
CMS Faculty
The success of NFRW's Campaign Management School (CMS) is directly
attributable to its outstanding faculty. It is important to note that the faculty
At The Top of
members volunteer their time and talent to NFRW.
Their Class
From organizing volunteers to defining the role of the candidate, each
member of the CMS faculty brings a different area of expertise to the program,
providing the CMS student with a complete and concise overview of a success-
ful campaign.
This year, the faculty, along with NFRW president Huda Jones and program
MANAGEMENT
director Angie Bedard, has revamped the CMS agenda to include more training
for the candidate.
"We are witnessing a metamorphosis of our membership," stated Jones. "We
began as volunteers, moved to campaign managers, and finally candidates.
CAMPAIGN
CMS
NFRW is responsive to the growing needs of our members, and will continue to
SCHOOL
update our schools to ensure Republican victories."
In addition to the added emphasis on candidate training, each CMS will be
geared toward the needs of the state, or region where it's being held. "If the
Idaho federation thinks we need to pay special attention to the role of the cam-
paign manager, then we [the faculty] can adapt our format to meet their needs,"
said faculty member Melinda Farris. With many new faculty members and a
revised agenda, NFRW's CMS is ready to take on the challenges of the '90s.
1990 CMS FACULTY
Nancy Bocskor
Steve Dunkle
Press relations, with an em-
As district director for U.S.
phasis on earned and paid
Senator Arlen Specter (PA),
media, is the foundation of
Steve Dunkle understands the
Nancy Bocskor's presenta-
importance of his topics -
tion. She is formerly the ad-
fund-raising and opposition
ministrative assistant to U.S.
research. He is the former ex-
Rep. Jon Kyl (AZ). Bocskor
ecutive director of both the
began her political career in
Pennsylvania House Republi-
the office of U.S. Rep. Newt
can Campaign Committee
Gingrich (GA) and has served
and the Republican State
as deputy director of commu-
Committee of Pennsylvania.
nications for the National Re-
publican Senatorial Commit-
Melinda Farris
tee (NRSC) and director of
Consistently ranked as one of
opposition research for the
NFRW's most outstanding
National Republican Congres-
faculty members, Melinda
sional Committee (NRCC).
Farris is an expert in the
areas of personal image and
Ruth Ann Compton
public speaking. A former
The Missouri Federation of
NFRW staffer, she is currently
Republican Women (MFRW)
president of Capitol
served as a perfect method of
Resources, a Washington,
research for Ruth Ann Comp-
D.C. consulting firm. Farris
ton's segment on volunteers
has developed programs and
and Get-Out-The-Vote. A
coordinated events for NFRW,
Party activist for 30 years, she
the Republican National Com-
is frequently called upon by campaigns to set up head-
mittee (RNC), the 1989 Presidential Inaugural, and the
quarters and coordinate volunteers. Compton has served
White House.
as president of MFRW since 1988 and as a member of
NFRW's national board since 1982.
8
NATIONAL FEDERATION OF REPUBLICAN WOMEN
NFRW PROGRAMS
Lisa Friel
Steve M. Kinney
A believer in the phrase
Fund raising and opposition
"money talks," Lisa Friel
research are the cornerstones
brings to the CMS nearly a
of Steve Kinney's presenta-
decade of experience in fund-
tion. Active in GOP politics
raising. She currently serves
for over two decades, Kinney
as a deputy director of the
has served as an advisor and
RNC's Legislative Task Force,
event coordinator for Presi-
advising candidates in tar-
dent Richard Nixon, President
geted legislative races on the
Ronald Reagan, and President
latest fund raising techniques.
George Bush. He currently
In addition to fund-raising,
serves as the RNC's regional
Friel is well versed in direct
political director for the nine
mail for legislative candidates
Western states, developing
and effective phone banking.
voter programs and campaign
organizations.
Joe Gaylord
The role of the candidate is
Carol Vernon
often taken for granted or
The former director of out-
poorly defined, but never by
reach communications for the
Joe Gaylord. Gaylord, is
RNC, Carol Vernon brings a
currently president of Joseph
special style and undisputed
R. Gaylord Company in
knowledge of press relations
Washington, D.C. He is the
and political advertising to
former executive director of
the CMS. Add to her list of
the NRCC, and continues to
credits video coaching, paid
serve as counselor to U.S. Rep.
and earned media, and voter
Guy Vander Jagt (MI), chair-
outreach. Vernon is currently
man of the NRCC. His other
the director of program pub-
clients include GOP Whip,
licity for the National Cable
U.S. Rep. Newt Gingrich (GA).
TV Association.
Carlyle Gregory
Jayne Victor
The key elements of a win-
In 1983, Jayne Victor devel-
ning campaign, as well as ef-
oped the State and Local
fective scheduling are covered
department for the RNC.
by campaign veteran Carlyle
Today under her direction,
Gregory. Currently working as
State and Local is one of the
a political consultant, Gregory
most crucial departments
served as President Reagan's
within the Committee, acting
special assistant and deputy
as the liaison between the
director for Political Affairs,
RNC and grass roots officials.
where he acted as the political
After seven years experience
liaison between the White
with state and local politics,
House and Party organiza-
Victor reveals the secrets of
tions. Gregory is also the creator and a past
victory during her CMS presentation. From
president of the American Campaign Academy.
volunteer management to opposition re-
search, her overview is informative and
Dr. Verne Kennedy
invaluable.
Polling is the map to victory according to Dr.
Verne Kennedy, president of Marketing Re-
search Institute. Dr. Kennedy has served on
NFRW's faculty for over 12 years. In fact, his
segment on polling proved so valuable and
popular that he and NFRW expanded it into
Editor's note: For more information on
the Volunteer Polling School in 1980.
NFRW's CMS please contact Angie Bedard at
800-424-9342
POLITICAL LEADERSHIP FOR THE '90s
9
NEW FOR THE '90S
Federation
"New for the '90s" is much more than a catchy phrase
with Aggressive
or program title developed by NFRW President Huda
Jones.
Progressive N
It is, instead an innovative grass roots plan of action
designed to make the National Federation of Republican
Women a major force in national politics.
By concentrating NFRW's efforts on four areas of
action; membership, campaign activities, public
goals are simple, the results are critical.
relations, and fund raising, Jones believes NFRW can
Goals-Increase NFRW membership by 50,000 by
become the premier organization in the American
January 1, 1992
political arena.
-Increase the number of young and professional
To help achieve this goal Jones, along with NFRW's
women in NFRW
executive committee, has selected a core of political
Chairman-Norma Steinbrenner, Scottsdale, AZ
experts to serve as regional directors and committee
Co-Chairman-Jill Shockley-Siggins, Cody, WY
chairmen. She has relied heavily upon their input and
Regional Directors
advice to create each area's major goals.
Region I
Edna Bogosian, Watertown, MA
Perhaps one of the most exciting aspects of this plan is
Region II
Joanne Sharpe, Greensboro, NC
the attention it gives to the grass roots. In order to
Region III
Jean Pipes, Boynton Beach, FL
cultivate a closer relationship between national and the
Region IV
Sandra Barber, Wauseon, OH
clubs, a new "chain of command" has been formed-
Region V
Chloanne Greathouse, Springfield, IL
NFRW President
Region VI
Louise Foster, Austin, TX
NFRW Executive Committee Member
Region VII
Vivian Petura, Rio Rancho, NM
State President
Region VIII
Ann Hein, Arabi, LA
Program Chairman
Region IX
Marcella Whitmore, Arcadia, CA
Regional Program Director
State Program Chairman
Staff contact-Nina Henson, Membership Director
Club President and Club Program Chairman
By using the same methodology as the Constitution when determining
This new system allows federation club members to
Congressional districts, NFRW has derived the following membership goals
work closer with a greater number of members in their
for each individual state. If each state reaches its goal, NFRW will gain
state and region.
50,000 new members by 1992.
Equally exciting are the nine regional membership
Specifically, 435 (total U.S. Representatives) was divided into 50,000
(membership goal). The resulting quotient, 115, was then multiplied by
seminars planned for this year, they are-
the number of Representatives apportioned currently to each state (e.g.
Date
Region
Location
Delaware: 1 Rep X 115 = 115 new members. California: 45 Reps X 115 =
May 11-12
VII
Phoenix, AZ
5,175 new members; etc.).
May 25-26
VIII
New Orleans, LA
Current
Proj.
Current
Proj.
June 1-2
IX
Los Angeles, CA
State
Membership
Increase
State
Membership
Increase
June 8-9
VI
Oklahoma City, OK
ALABAMA
1022
805
NEBRASKA
913
345
August 19-20
II
Alexandria, VA
ALASKA
273
115
NEVADA
1135
230
August 24-25
V
Oakbrook, IL
ARIZONA
2820
575
NEW HAMPSHIRE
459
230
ARKANSAS
1124
460
Sept 14-15
IV
NEW JERSEY
396
1610
Columbus, OH
CALIFORNIA
29,256
5175
NEW MEXICO
1169
345
Sept 28-29
I
Boston, MA
COLORADO
2427
690
NEW YORK
2029
3910
Oct 19-20
III
Columbia, SC
CONNECTICUT
1379
690
N. CAROLINA
2707
1265
DELAWARE
559
115
N. DAKOTA
1361
115
The regional seminars will give local club members
DIST. OF COL.
122
115
OHIO
6109
2415
FLORIDA
5945
2185
OKLAHOMA
1358
690
necessary training in NFRW's four areas of action, as well
GEORGIA
1109
1150
OREGON
1628
575
as relative information to help strengthen their club and
HAWAII
374
230
PENNSYLVANIA
1407
2645
their role in the political process.
IDAHO
542
230
PUERTO RICO
30
115
ILLINOIS
6201
2530
RHODE ISLAND
301
230
The seminars are open to all members of NFRW.
INDIANA
5805
1150
S. CAROLINA
1359
690
Here now is an introductory outline of each area's
IOWA
4985
690
S. DAKOTA
956
115
program, along with its chairmen and directors. A more
KANSAS
2533
575
TENNESSEE
2635
1035
KENTUCKY
1734
805
TEXAS
10,453
3105
indepth review of each program will appear in the next
LOUISIANA
2196
920
UTAH
617
345
issue of TRW.
MAINE
365
230
VERMONT
194
115
MARYLAND
2380
920
VIRGINIA
3096
1150
Membership-The Big Picture
MASSACHUSETTS
1488
1265
VIRGIN ISLANDS
19
115
Increasing NFRW's membership will not only
MICHIGAN
1625
2070
WASHINGTON
2033
920
MINNESOTA
383
920
WEST VIRGINIA
516
460
strengthen the Federation, but will solidify the Republican
MISSISSIPPI
1046
575
WISCONSIN
1745
1035
Party. The larger our organization, the larger the pool of
MISSOURI
2572
1035
WYOMING
1105
115
talent and resources we can provide to the GOP. The
MONTANA
1530
230
TOTAL
127,525
50,270
10
NATIONAL FEDERATION OF REPUBLICAN WOMEN
NFRW Regions
Enters 1990
MONTANA
HAMPSHIRE
MAINE
lew Programs and
MICHIGAN
MASSACHUSETTS
CMA
ew Leadership
LINOS
NEW JERSEY
WEST
COLUMBIA
mm
KENTUCKY
Campaign Activities-
TEXAS
GOP Politics for the '90s
GEORGIA
USUSIASA
FLORIDA
Politically, NFRW has been regarded as the "volunteer
army" of the Republican Party.
Region V
While no one disputes the fact that it is an admirable
Region I
Region VI
Region II
Region VII
reputation, NFRW must expand its political involvement
Region III
Region VIII
and educate the Party rank and file on outstanding Fed-
Region IV
Region IX
eration programs. Added emphasis is put on women can-
didates.
Co-Chairman-Carol Josephson, Grand Rapids, MI
Goals-Increase Party awareness and attendance to Cam-
Regional Directors
paign Management and Polling Schools
Region I
Jane Mendicino, Essex Junction, VT
-Recruit and train 500 NFRW members for state and
Region II
Phoebe Trost, Charleston, WV
local office through Project '90s
Region III
Estelle Johnson, Charleston, SC
-Expand NFRW's role in Party activities through in-
Region IV
Lois McKenna, North Massepequa, NY
novative programs such as primary debates
Region V
Linda Westrom, Elbow Lake, MN
-Encourage state federations and clubs to take a
Region IV
Ella Mae Cromer, Butte, MT
more active role in campaigns
Region VII
Eleanor Boese, Salem, OR
Region VIII
Betty Rinde, St. Thomas, ND
Chairman-Ruth Fox, Austin, TX
Region IX
R.J. Doria, Colorado Springs, CO
Co-Chairman-Helen Purcell, Phoenix, AZ
Staff contact-Karen Johnson
Regional Directors
Region I
Jan Fenger, Old Saybrook, CT
Fund Raising-
Region II
Nellie Long, Edinburg, VA
Increasing NFRW's Assets
Region III
Iris Dlugos, Sebring, FL
Fund raising is the backbone of NFRW. With annual
Region IV
Leatha Rhea, Indianapolis, IN
membership dues to national set at $3.00, NFRW could
Region V
Mary Buestrin, Mequon, WI
not support its wide range of successful political and edu-
Region VI
Clare Rattan, Oklahoma City, OK
cational programs without additional funds.
Region VII
Sandy Madsen, Tempe, AZ
The majority of these funds are generated through
Region VIII
Mellene Schudy, Mt. Grove, MO
NFRW's major donor program-the Regents and Capitol
Region IX
Heidi Smith, Reno, NV
Regents.
Staff contacts-Angie Bedard, Director of Programs for
Additionally, with the purchase of a permanent NFRW
Campaign Management and Polling Schools
headquarters as a number one goal, each member of
Karen Johnson, Director of Communications & Political
NFRW must actively support the building fund.
Affairs for Project '90s, primary debates, and campaigns
Goals-Increase the number of Regents and Capitol
Regents in each state
Public Relations-
-Promote NFRW's building fund drive to achieve 75
Getting the Message Out
percent individual member participation
Chairman-Anne Batchelder, Omaha, NE
Public relations is a crucial area of action because it
Co-Chairman-Rebecca Bancroft, Pewaukee, WI
encompasses all facets of NFRW. From our image within
the Federation to the way others in our community and
Regional Directors
Party view us, good public relations is the job of each
Region I
Open
NFRW member.
Region II
Velma Childers, Pikeville, KY
Goals-Increase membership awareness of NFRW spon-
Region III
Barbara McAndrew, Dandridge, TN
sored programs
Region IV
Ann Davis, Coldwater, MI
-Develop a national advertising campaign which
Region V
Ann Clay, Newton, IA
adequately depicts NFRW
Region VI
Joanne Wayne, Oklahoma City, OK
-Increase NFRW visibility within the community
Region VII
Paula Newkirk, Edgewood, NM
and GOP
Region VIII
Joyce Sherlock, River Ridge, LA
Chairman-The Honorable Theresa Esposito,
Region IX
Grace Jones, Alta Loma, CA
Winston-Salem, NC
Staff contact-Joan Perrin, Finance Director
POLITICAL LEADERSHIP FOR THE '90s
11
NFRW PROGRAMS PROJECT '90s
Off and
When Huda Jones accepted the nomination of NFRW president last October,
she pledged her support of GOP women candidates saying she would work
Running-
toward recruiting at least 500 Republican women to run for state and local
office.
Women
The vehicle for her goal is Project '90s, a grass roots identification/recruit-
ment program within NFRW's political network. Once candidates have been
Candidates
identified through Project '90s, Federation commitment continues through
financial and volunteer support.
Take the
While the emphasis of Project '90s is placed on candidates recruited through
the Federation, NFRW encourages the individual support of all women candi-
Field
dates running for all levels of office.
Women recruited through Project '90s are recruited for open seats (those
without a primary).
NFRW applauds the women who have accepted the challenge to run for
public office. Here now is a sampling of the talented women who will be
carrying the Republican banner to victory in 1990.
Editor's note: Women candidates with primaries were not recruited through
Project '90s. As an organization, NFRW cannot support one Republican candi-
date over the others in a primary. Therefore, we have listed primary opponents
when necessary.
KATHY BAILEY
Professional background-Attorney; member of Ver-
HUTCHISON
mont Legal Aid, Deputy Public Defender; director of the
State-Texas
Vermont Public Service Board; and instructor of business
Candidate for-State
law at Trinity College and the University of Vermont
Treasurer
Professional and civic affiliations-Active in the
Previous elected office-
Burlington, VT Emergency Food Shelf program, and area
Texas House of Representa-
battered women's programs
tives, 1972-76
Primary opposition-none
SALLY PROUTY
GOP resume-member,
State-Ohio
Northwood Republican
Candidate for-Ohio
Women's Club; Texas Women
House of Representatives
for Bush/Quayle; Texas Women for Reagan/Bush
Previous elected office-
Professional background-Attorney; former director
President, Newark City School
of Fidelity National Bank of Dallas; former Senior V.P. and
Board 1988-present; Vice
general counsel of RepublicBank Corp.; instructor of law
President, Newark City School
and public policy at the University of Texas at Dallas; and
Board, 1986-88
first woman television news reporter in Houston
Primary opposition-none
Professional and civic affiliations-Board of Visitors,
GOP resume-member,
the University of Texas Law School, S.M.U. School of
Licking County Republican
Business, and Texas A & M School of Business; board
Women; volunteer, William Moore for Mayor; volunteer,
member, Dallas Women's Foundation, the Boy's Club of
Bush/Quayle '88; phone bank volunteer for GOP candi-
Dallas, the Greater Dallas Chamber of Commerce, and the
dates 1984-present
YWCA
Professional background-Registered nurse and
nursing instructor
Professional and civic affiliations-Past president
V. LOUISE MCCARREN
Newark PTA; founding member Licking Cnty Prevention
State-Vermont
Network; member, Kiwanis International and Women's
Candidate for-Lt. Governor
Aglow Fellowship International; and board member,
Previous elected office-
Friends of the Shelter for Battered Women/Children
none
Primary opposition-
Michael Bernhardt
GOP resume-Fund raiser
for U.S. Rep. Jim Jeffords's
Senate Campaign, 1988
12
NATIONAL FEDERATION OF REPUBLICAN WOMEN
NFRW PROGRAMS - PROJECT '90s
GLORIA GONZALES
Professional background-Director of the Illinois De-
ROEMER
partment of Public Aid (appointed by Governor James
State-Colorado
Thompson), Commissioner of the Rehabilitation Services
Candidate for-United
Administration (appointed by President Ronald Reagan),
States Congress
and Director of the Illinois Department of Rehabilitation
Previous elected office-
Services
none
Professional and civic affiliations-Illinois Coalition
Primary opposition-none
of Citizens with Disabilities, and National Organization of
GOP resume-member,
Women in State Governments
Lucy A. Harris Republican
Women's Club, Finance
CANDICE TREES
Director and Outreach Direc-
State-Illinois
tor, Denver Cnty GOP; National committeewoman,
Candidate for-Illinois
Colorado Republican National Hispanic Assembly; Coali-
House of Representatives
tions Director, Colorado Bush/Quayle; member, Women
Previous elected office-
for Bush/Quayle
Clerk of Circuit Court, Sanga-
Professional background-Vice president and co-
mon County 1986-present
owner of Roemer Oil Company
Primary opposition-
Professional and civic affiliations-Board member,
defeated opponent in March
Girl's Club of Denver; Kiwanis Club of Denver; the Chil-
20 primary
dren's Hospital Foundation; Independent Petroleum
GOP resume-member,
Association of America; and Colorado Energy Resources
Capitol City Republican
PAC
Women's Club; State Co-chairman Blacks for Bush/
Quayle; alternate at large, 1988 Republican National
ARLISS STURGULEWSKI
Convention; member, Illinois Blacks for Reagan/Bush;
State-Alaska
and Republican precinct committeewoman
Candidate for-Governor
Professional background-Springfield City Clerk, and
Previous elected office-
executive correspondent to Governor James Thompson
Alaska State Senate 1978-
Professional and civic affiliations-Gubernatorial
present
appointment, Minority and Female Business Enterprise
Primary opposition-Jim
Council; Illinois State Lottery Control Board; Springfield
Campbell, Jack Coghill, Rick
Area Arts Council; and Springfield Disabilities Committee
Halford, Walter Hickel, John
Lindauer and Don Wright
GOP resume-Candidate for
SUE WAGNER
Governor 1986; member,
State-Nevada
Anchorage Republican Women's Club
Candidate for-Lt. Governor
Professional background-Serves on the Board of
Previous elected
Directors for Alaska Pacific Bancorporation and Denali
office-Nevada State Senate,
Drilling, Inc.
1981-present; Nevada State
Professional and civic affiliations-Anchorage Library
Assembly 1975-1980
Foundation, Food Bank of Alaska, Alaska Center for the
Primary opposition-Andy
Environment, and the National Organization of Women
Anderson
Legislators
GOP resume-member,
Reno Republican Women's
SUE SUTER
Club; Outstanding National
State-Illinois
Republican Legislator of 1988 (one of ten); National Re-
Candidate for-State
publican Legislators' Association, Western Regional Vice
Comptroller
President
Previous elected office-
Professional background-Assistant to the Dean of
none
Women, Ohio State University; reporter, Tuscon Daily
Primary opposition-none
Citizen; government and history teacher
GOP resume-member,
Professional and civic affiliations-Board member,
Capitol City Republican
YMCA; Retired Senior Volunteer Program; Reno Business
Women's Club; board member,
and Professional Women; and Jr. League of Reno
Illinois Federation of Republi-
can Women
POLITICAL LEADERSHIP FOR THE '90s
13
NFRW BUILDING FUND
"FUND" for the '90s
As we enter the new decade, filled with new chal-
National Fund Raising Chairmen Named
lenges, one challenge from the last decade remains-the
Fund is # 1 Priority
purchase of a permanent headquarters for NFRW.
NFRW's 1990 building fund drive will be spearheaded
For over half a century NFRW, the nation's oldest and
by national Fund Raising Chairman Anne Batchelder of
largest women's political organization, has been a tenant.
Nebraska and Co-Chairman Rebecca Bancroft of Wiscon-
While significant "housing" gains have been made,
sin. They will be working with nine qualified regional di-
especially in the 1980s, the fact
rectors, all of whom have a proven fund
remains that NFRW needs a
1.5 million
raising track record and promise great things
home of its own.
for the building fund.
From an economic standpoint
As in the past, each federation club member
the purchase of a building
is encouraged to donate $10 Just for the
makes sense (and cents). Money
Fund of It. Copies of Alexandra Costa's
used each month for rent will be
exciting book, Stepping Down From the Star,
converted into payment for a
are still available to members donating $25. It's
long-term asset. But let's look at
a great book, and fund to read!
the purchase of a home from a
In an effort to expedite the purchase of a
purely "social" viewpoint. How
building, the fund raising directors, along with
many established 50 year olds
4/90 $200,778
Polly Bloedorn, chairman of NFRW's Head-
do you know who don't own
quarters and Gifts Committee and NFRW
their own home?
president Huda Jones, encourage individuals
In the well-to-do neighbor-
and clubs to donate to the building fund rather
hood of Capitol Hill, which
12/89 $188,000
than present NFRW with lavish gifts.
boasts the residences of the
"The gifts we receive here at national are
Republican National Committee,
truly beautiful," stated Jones. "We have re-
the U.S. Capitol, and countless
ceived numerous pieces of art and invaluable
trade associations, think-tanks,
mementos, all of which add SO much to our
and political watering holes,
headquarters. But until we have a permanent
everyone is a home owner. Why
building to adequately showcase our collec-
even the Democrats own their
tion, we are asking that clubs make monetary
building!
donations instead."
With real estate at a premium in our nation's capital, it
As the fund continues into the new decade, federation
is estimated that we must raise at least $1.5 million to
members will be actively involved in the purchase of
purchase a building which will accommodate our organi-
their national headquarters. "We want each federation
zation's growing needs. As you can see by the graph, we
member to feel a sense of accomplishment when we
have quite a way to go.
open the doors of our new building," stated Jones. "And
by working together we will."
Buy a Brick Just for the FUND of it!
YES! I want to help NFRW purchase a home of its own.
Here's my contribution for:
Name:
$10
$25
$50
$100
Please clip this form and mail it along
Address:
with your contribution to:
Huda Jones
The National Federation
City:
State:
Zip:
of Republican Women
P.O. Box 15409
Club Name:
Washington, DC 20003-9997 4/90
14
NATIONAL FEDERATION OF REPUBLICAN WOMEN
READERS WRITE
A Public Thank You
Much of what the article mentions
served to have mammography screen-
to VFRW
rang true to home. She taught me
ing. For more information on this bill,
moral principles and ethics, the impor-
please contact NFRW political affairs
I'd like to take this opportunity to
tance of being independent as a
at 202-547-9341.
thank the Virginia Federation of Re-
woman, and that I had the ability
publican Women and its president,
to be whatever I wanted to in life. I
Mary Vaughan Gibson for their
now have a wonderful career in
An Innovative
unyielding support throughout my
Washington, D.C. and I credit her for
my success. She is a terrific role
Approach to Building
gubernatorial campaign.
Republicans across the Common-
model.
Fund Donations
wealth of Virginia fought a strong
It was a special treat having her
battle to take the governorship, but no
here in Washington for four years.
The Marion Martin Republican
one group was more active than
Although I'm sorry to see my mother
Women's Club, of Washington, D.C.
was honored to have NFRW president
VFRW.
leave, I am delighted that Huda Jones
I want to especially thank Mary
is our new president. I have known
Huda Jones address our biennial
Huda for a number of years, and have
convention in February. Knowing her
Vaughan Gibson for her outstanding
dedication. She played an enormous
the greatest admiration and respect for
dedication to NFRW's building fund
drive, we made a $75 donation to the
role in my campaign, one that many
her. I'd like to extend my best wishes
volunteers no matter how devoted,
to her for continued success.
fund in her name, rather than present
Thank you again for the article, I
her with a gift. We thought this would
would not have undertaken. Rarely
does a candidate find an individual of
will treasure it for a long time, and
be a more permanent way of showing
Mary Vaughan's caliber.
look forward to sharing it with my
our appreciation for her devotion to
For years I have been one of
children (hopefully girls and future
NFRW and at the same time help the
VFRW's most ardent supporters, it is
NFRW members, not to mention
building fund.
Members of Congress).
Polly Bloedorn, Public Relations
reassuring to know that Republican
Chairman, Marion Martin
candidates can count on their solid
Leigh S. LaMora
Republican Women's Club,
commitment.
McLean, Virginia
Washington, D.C.
J. Marshall Coleman
1989 GOP Candidate
for Governor (VA)
A Congressional
Kudos for CMS
Reaction to Breast
Cancer Awareness
I want to express my appreciation
A Worthy Tribute
to NFRW for allowing the Campaign
to Judy Hughes
Congratulations to NFRW for an
Management School (CMS) to be held
excellent article on breast cancer and
in Arkansas. The information received
I was SO pleased to read your
the Women's Leadership Summit on
by our participants will reach all parts
tribute to former NFRW president Judy
Mammography. In 1983, a mammo-
of the state. The program was well
Hughes. I first met Judy in April, 1989,
gram and surgery saved my life. As a
developed and every one who
when she moderated VFRW's guber-
result, I am committed to raising
attended benefited tremendously.
natorial debate. And I do believe that
awareness of the need for routine
I have always had a high regard for
the phrase "grace under pressure" was
mammography screening and to
NFRW and the work it does. After
coined especially for her.
making mammograms available and
participating in the CMS, and seeing
During her four year term she
affordable.
first hand the quality of your material
brought strong leadership and a sense
Few families have not been
and your staff, my admiration has
of accomplishment to NFRW. I feel
touched by breast cancer, even among
grown even stronger.
those virtues will be with our organi-
those of us who are Members of
Alan McVey, Political Director,
zation for many years to come.
Congress. Until there is a cure,
Republican Party of Arkansas,
Thank you Judy for all you have
prioritizing the means for early
North Little Rock, Arkansas
done for NFRW.
detection and communicating its
Jane Smith, Acting Program
importance is a vital first step.
Chairman, VFRW,
Our Readers Write.. is a regular feature
The Honorable
Newport News, Virginia
in TRW. We welcome your letters,
Barbara F. Vucanovich
questions, ideas, and comments. Only
U.S. Representative, Nevada
written commentaries will be consid-
I would like to express my appre-
ered for publication. Please address all
ciation to NFRW for the outstanding
Editor: Representative Vucanovich
correspondence to:
tribute to Judy Hughes in the last issue
has introduced legislation to help
Editor, The Republican Woman
of TRW. I happen to be a biased
make mammograms more available
NFRW, 310 First Street, SE,
reader, seeing that I am the subject's
for all women. The Omnibus Breast
Washington, D.C. 20003
daughter, but I feel it is an accurate
Cancer Control Act includes provisions
Publication of letters for this feature
portrayal of my mother's history with
is made at the discretion of TRW's
to help women, particularly minorities,
NFRW.
editor-in-chief, NFRW president Huda
the poor, and the medically under-
Jones.
POLITICAL LEADERSHIP FOR THE '90s
15
Launching a Citizens
and will include several Democrats
who agree with our broad principles.
Opportunities Movement
I am personally very excited that
the National Federation of Republican
An Exclusive Opportunity
Women has elected to participate in
the American Opportunities Workshop
for NFRW Members
as part of its national program for
1990. Your help will be crucial to our
By Congressman Newt Gingrich
ability to get the message out to the
largest possible audience, by organiz-
There is a much better America that
ing individual workshops across the
or promote students even if they can't
is possible in the 1990s. We see evi-
country.
do the work.
dence of it every day, in new technol-
GOPAC is prepared to provide all
On Saturday May 19, GOPAC is
ogy, in the emerging urban reform
the needed support materials for
sponsoring the first American Oppor-
movement, in new products and in
anyone who is interested in hosting or
tunities Workshop, a 60-minute, live
the increasing identification of young
attending a workshop.
teleconference designed to inform and
Editor's note: The author is a Re-
people with basic American values
arouse citizen activists across the
publican Congressman from Georgia,
like honest hard work and the family.
country to become part of a new
U.S. House Republican Whip, and
Our ability to achieve that better
citizens opportunities movement.
General Chairman of GOPAC, a
America is being blocked by a
The movement is founded on the
combination of the bureaucratic
Republican political action committee
simple-but, in today's world,
designed to assist state legislative
welfare state and by a set of permis-
radical-idea of common sense focused
candidates. As Mr. Gingrich men-
sive attitudes that reject personal ac-
on opportunity and success. President
tioned in bis article, the American
countability.
Bush, Vice President Quayle, and
Opportunities Workshop bas been
We see evidence of both every day
more than a dozen other local and
adopted by NFRW as a national
as we read the newspapers and live
national leaders will be participating
program. For further information
our lives-in the government bureauc-
to help us get this message out across
please contact Susie Lewis, NFRW's
racy that makes us fill out dozens of
the country. And, because our aim is
communications assistant at 800-424-
forms for no obvious reason, or the
broader than simply promoting
9342 or contact GOPAC directly at
permissive attitudes that say we
Republican candidates, the teleconfer-
800-872-2798.
should release criminals from prison
ence will be non-partisan in content
The President's
Affordable Housing
Programs
AFRW WINS
The President unveiled HOPE, a
continued from page 4
VOTE ON STATE
comprehensive agenda of Homeown-
EXECUTIVE
ership and Opportunity for People
COMMITTEE
Global Climate and Ozone
Everywhere. Major elements include
Depletion
provisions to help first-time home
buyers, low-income housing residents,
The Arizona Federation of Repub-
The President has accelerated the
lican Women has won a vote on
Administration's activities on global
and the homeless, and to create up to
change. He has enhanced the nation's
50 enterprise zones over the next four
the Arizona State Party's executive
committee.
international leadership in this field by
years.
The victory came in January at the
developing an integrated scientific
end of a year long lobbying effort
approach, endorsing NASA's Mission
The Homeless
by AFRW president Joan Heskett,
to Planet Earth, and increasing the
global change research budget,
The President requested full
immediate past president Norma
Steinbrenner, and NFRW treasurer
already the largest of any nation.
funding of the McKinney Homeless
Dodie Londen.
In order to prevent further damage to
Assistance Act in FY 1990 and pro-
With 2,800 members and 43 unit
the earth's protective ozone layer, the
posed an additional $50 million to
clubs, AFRW is the state GOP's
President has called for a total world-
encourage public-private partnerships
to reduce homelessness. The President
largest auxiliary, and the only
wide phaseout of CFCs by the year
recently signed legislation that sub-
affiliate with voting power on the
2000, provided safe substitutes are
stantially increases funding for the
state Party's executive council.
available.
McKinney Act.
16
NATIONAL FEDERATION OF REPUBLICAN WOMEN
THE FEDERATION ACROSS THE NATION
ALABAMA
done the most for the Party. Mulhern
The Federal City Republican
Martha Foy, President
a retired attorney, is a past president
Women's Club, (FCRWC) a club of 85
of AFRW and former NFRW Protocol
young business and professional
chairman. Currently, she is NFRW's
women, hosted a fund raiser which
Americanism vice chairman.
raised over $10,000 for U.S. Repre-
sentative Lynn Martin's (IL) U.S.
CALIFORNIA
Senate race.
Ella Mae Butterfield, President
Joining Rep. Martin for the event
RNC co-chairman Jeanie Austin
were U.S. House Republican Leader,
was the featured speaker during
Bob Michel (IL); Republican Whip
CFRW's February board meeting in
Newt Gingrich (GA); RNC co-chair-
Los Angeles. "The Challenges of the
man Jeanie Austin; and NFRW presi-
'90s," was the theme of Austin's
dent Huda Jones.
speech. And CFRW honored one of
The Lynn Martin event was the
its own during the meeting. June
second fund raiser hosted by FCRWC.
Wallin, immediate past president of
Last summer, the club raised over
CFRW, received CFRW's "Woman of
$6,000 for Virginia's candidate for lt.
The Cullman County Republican
Achievement" award for her outstand-
governor, Eddy Dalton.
Women's Club (CCRWC) presented Deana Eng-
land, a student at Wallace State Community
ing contributions to the community
College, with its first annual Helen Hunt
and the federation.
FLORIDA
Honorary Scholarship in November 1989. The
Alis Freeland, President
$500 scholarship, established to help single
COLORADO
Sherry
mothers further their education, was presented
Maxine Shroyer, President
Plymale,
by Alabama's First Lady, Helen Hunt, a former
The CFRW recently donated
FFRW's
president of CCRWC.
$10,000 to the Colorado Republican
state
Party to support 1990 Republican
legislative
ALASKA
candidates. CFRW members raised the
chairman,
Hope Nelson, President
funds by conferences, board of
and
The Midnight Sun Republican
directors meetings, and projects;
member
Women's Club sponsored its fourth
including a raffle to win a trip to
of the Re-
annual International Food Festival and
donated $4,000 to Covenant House, a
Cancun, Mexico, donated by a local
publican
travel agency.
Women
shelter for runaway children and teen-
agers in Anchorage. The money will
of Martin
Shirlee Bowne
go to help buy a home for teen-agers
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
Feder-
Cornelia Slavoff, President
ated, was elected vice chairman of
called, "The Rights of Passage Cove-
nant House."
the Florida GOP. And Shirlee Bowne,
member of Tallabassee Republican
Women's Club was elected State Party
ARIZONA
treasurer during the state GOP com-
Joan Heskett, President
AFRW received the 1989 Senator
mittee meeting in January.
Barry Goldwater award for its continu-
ing dedication and devotion to the
ILLINOIS
Arizona Republican Party (ARP). It
Maralee Lindley, President
was the first time the award was
Mary Jo Arndt, NFRW second vice
presented to AFRW.
president and RNC committeewoman
Additionally, NFRW treasurer
for Illinois, was recognized by Today's
Dodie Londen received the Chair-
Chicago Woman magazine (January
man's Trophy for outstanding service
1990), as one of 100 women making a
and dedication to ARP.
difference in Chicago.
Elsa Mulhern, who has been an
NFRW Regent since 1982 and a
Capitol Regent since 1988, received
the Art Wales Award from the Pima
County Republican Party in Tucson.
The achievement award is presented
each year to the individual who has
U.S. Representatives Lynn Martin (IL)
and Newt Gingrich (GA)
POLITICAL LEADERSHIP FOR THE '90s
17
THE FEDERATION ACROSS THE NATION
IOWA
MARYLAND
mogram unit in rural Pahrump Valley
Jane Ecklund, President
Janet Greenip, President
for screening at a moderate price. The
Sally
Lori D.
hospital provides the mobile unit and
Johnson
Simmons,
members of PVRW provide clerical
Novetzke,
member
assistance and publicity. Following
member
of the
PVRW's example, the Nevada Fed-
of the
Chevy
eration of Republican Women will
Linn
Chase
be initiating a similar statewide effort.
County
Women's
Republi-
Republi-
NEW YORK
can
can Club
Joan T. Hudson, President
Women's
is the first
NYFRW has kicked off a campaign
Club, was
woman to
to elect a Republican governor with
appointed
be in-
bumper stickers saying, "Happiness is
Sally Johnson Novetzke
Ambassa-
Lori Simmons
ducted
a Republican Governor." Members of
dor to the Republic of Malta by Presi-
into the Kiwanis Club of Bethesda.
NYFRW say the idea's popularity is
dent Bush and confirmed by the U.S.
Simmons, an American Indian,
spreading.
Senate in October 1989. Novetzke is a
became a member of the Kiwanis club
former NFRW campaign vice chairman
in November 1989. Founded in 1915,
PENNSYLVANIA
1987-89; state co-chairman of Bush/
the once all-male club, is an interna-
Peggy Madigan, President
Quayle '88; member of the IFRW
tional service organization.
Alma R. Jacobs of the Eastern
advisory board, 1987-1989; and Iowa
Montgomery Council of Republican
State Party Chairman, 1985-1987.
MISSISSIPPI
Women was appointed regional III
Governor Terry E. Branstad has
Carolyn Pugh, President
director for the Department of Health
appointed a number of IFRW mem-
MFRW has established the annual
and Human Services in Philadelphia
bers to state boards and commissions.
Ruby Life scholarship fund for de-
by HHS Secretary Louis W. Sullivan,
They include Ruth Baggett, Adams
serving Republican students in mem-
M.D. in December 1989.
County Republican Women's Club,
ory of MFRW past president Ruby
As an HHS regional director, Jacobs
appointed to the Cosmetology Exam-
Life. Life was also state federation
will act as a liaison with the public,
ining Board; Gwen Boeke, RNC com-
president of Louisiana and Missouri.
interest groups, and state and local
mitteewoman and member of the
The fund was established for Life's ex-
officials.
Howard County Republican
tensive involvement in NFRW.
Anne Anstein of Juniata Repub-
Women's Club, appointed to the
lican Women's Club was elected
Architectural Engineering Board; Jane
MISSOURI
chairman of the Pennsylvania Republi-
Ecklund, IFRW state president,
Ruth Ann Compton, President
can Party during the state GOP
appointed to the Certificate of Need
Colorado Secretary of State
committee meeting in February.
Counsel; Rozanne King, Harrison
Natalie Meyer invited MFRW mem-
County Republican Women's Club,
bers to "come join me at the head
RHODE ISLAND
appointed to the Environment Protec-
table" during MFRW's annual "March
Karen Carroll, President
tion Commission; and Virginia
to the Majority" luncheon held in con-
Norma
Ruark, Fayette County Republican
junction with Missouri's Lincoln Day
Willis of
Women's Club, appointed to the En-
festivities. Meyer encouraged women
the New-
gineering and Land Surveys Commis-
to consider themselves for public
port Re-
sion.
office. MFRW also kicked off its 60th
publican
anniversary and 1990 campaign
Women's
LOUISIANA
activities during the event.
Club was
Marilyn Thayer, President
elected
Doris Anne Wart, a Louisiana
NEVADA
state chair-
State University graduate student and
Doris Steiner, President
man of the
1989 NFRW Kabis intern, won the
Pabrump Valley Republican
Rhode
AT&T Collegiate Investment Challenge
Women (PVRW) is continuing an on-
Island
and the USA TODAY/FNN Investment
going project to make mammograms
Norma Willis
State Re-
Challenge including $75,000 in prize
readily available to all women in
publican Central Committee. Willis, a
money. Wart said she plans to use
Nevada. Working in conjunction with
former Rhode Island state representa-
some of her winnings to finance a law
Holy Cross Hospital in Salt Lake City,
tive, will be responsible for recruiting
school education.
Utah, PVRW members help sponsor
and training Republican legislative
and provide a biannual mobile mam-
candidates. Willis will also work with
18
NATIONAL FEDERATION OF REPUBLICAN WOMEN
THE FEDERATION ACROSS THE NATION
the communities to encourage
stronger Party participation at the
grass roots level.
TENNESSEE
Ellida Fri, President
Cline Patterson and Ruth
Mitchell of Shelby County Republ-
ican Women (SCRW) were appointed
as director and assistant director to the
"Front Line Against Drugs" task force
by the Shelby County sheriff. Patter-
son and Mitchell, both nurses, chose
to take a different approach to the war
on drugs. They have produced a
video illustrating the internal effects of
drugs on the body. The video will be
distributed by SCRW to schools,
Senator John Warner (center) introduces Mary Vaughan Gibson (right), Warner's
community groups, and businesses in
daughter looks on
their respective communities.
VIRGINIA
WISCONSIN
Mary Vaughan W. Gibson, President
Ruth G. Johnson, President
Mary Vaughan Gibson has been
State Rep. Susan B. Vergeront,
named chairman to U.S. Senator
member of Ozukee Republican
John Warner's re-election campaign.
Women's Club, was asked to chair
Warner, the senior Republican on the
Governor Tommy Thompson's
U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee
Task Force on Family and Children's
is running for his third term. Gibson
Issues. The task force will examine the
has worked with Warner through the
ramifications of state policy on
VFRW and Virginia Republican Party.
Wisconsin's families.
Cine Patterson and Ruth Mitchell
Gibson will work with the campaign
Ruth G. Johnson WFRW President
organization to appoint chairmen in
was appointed by the Wisconsin GOP
each of the 10 congressional districts,
to its Minority Task Force.
TEXAS
city, or county units. VFRW members
Johnson is also helping to promote
Jan Patterson, President
will be among the volunteers serving
the Governor's "Alliance for a Drug-
Members of the Magic Circle
at all levels. Warner has credited
Free Wisconsin." "We are hoping to
Women's Republican Club attended
VFRW for his success in past elections
have every WFRW club involved with
a naturalization ceremony in Decem-
and stated that VFRW will help carry
the alliance or form an alliance,"
ber, welcoming and congratulating
him to victory again in 1990.
Johnson said. The purpose of the
1,500 new American citizens. Bro-
alliance is to form coalitions across the
chures outlining the Republican phi-
WASHINGTON
state and work towards drug preven-
losophy and voter registration cards
Frances Pettit, President
tion through local prevention pro-
are passed out to encourage voter
Frances Pettit was named to the
grams.
participation.
citizens advisory board of two local
Members of the Dallas County
daily newspapers, the Pullman Daily
Council of Republican Women's
News and the Moscow Idabonian.
Editor's note: The Federation
Clubs made a contribution to the
The advisory board helps determine
Across the Nation is a sampling of
Women in Military Service Memorial
citizen's views and opinions of the
activities from NFRW's 2,253 unit
and registered Ziggy M. W. Hunter's
newspapers. Approximately 20
clubs and 51 state federations nation-
name to be placed on the memorial.
citizens serve on the board.
Hunter is an active member of Oak
wide. Material for this feature is se-
Lyn Firkins of the Evergreen
lected by TRW's publisher and editor-
Cliff Republican Women's Club and
Republican Women's Club was
in-chief, NFRW president Huda Jones.
has served in the U.S. Navy and U.S.
elected to the Snohomish County
WASP (Women Air Service Pilot). The
We regret that lack of space prevents
Prosecutor's Advisory Board and Nora
memorial will commemorate the con-
total coverage.
Mae Keifer of the Whitman County
tributions and achievements of
Women's Republican Club was
women who have served in the
elected as Whitman county commis-
military.
sioner.
POLITICAL LEADERSHIP FOR THE '90s
19
Reserve the Date,
Regents Day is Set for May 10
On May 10, a tradition which was established a decade
ing Regents Day, please contact NFRW's finance director,
ago will take place-NFRW's annual Regents Day and
Joan Perrin at 202-547-9341.
White House Tea with the First Lady.
WELCOME NEW REGENTS
With the date set, additional plans are being made for
the Regents visit to the White House. Of course, the
NFRW's Regents and Capitol Regents support Federa-
White House visit is only a portion of the two-day
tion programs through their invaluable financial contribu-
Regents event.
tions. Monies raised through our major donors are ear-
NFRW makes sure
marked for candidate
that the two days are
recruitment, candidate
filled with banquets,
training, and mem-
tours, and political
bership training.
briefings, along with
Special thanks to
the opportunity to
the women who
meet the President
have pledged their
and Mrs. Bush.
support of NFRW as
Anyone who has
of January 1, 1990.
attended past Regents
Mrs. Bush
Carole Jean
Days will agree, it is
Jordan-Florida;
an exciting, informa-
requests the pleasure of your company
Mary Compton-
tive, and spectacular
at a reception to be held at
Kansas; Abbie Ann
way to see our
Adam-Louisiana;
nation's capital.
The White House
Frances Gwin-
Because of the
Maryland; Marge
Regents and Capital
Regents' invaluable
on Thursday afternoon, May 10, 1990
McGinnis-Mississippi;
Josephine Jones,
support of NFRW and
Margaret King-
its programs, Regents
North Carolina;
Day is an opportunity
Norene Bunker-
for NFRW to express its
North Dakota;
gratitude to those few who do SO much.
Heidi Smith-Nevada; Ginny Lee-Tennessee;
If you are interested in becoming a Regent and attend-
Jan Patterson- Texas.
Woman
Non-Profit Org.
U.S. Postage
PAID
Permit # 3946
Washington, D.C. 20003
NATIONAL FEDERATION OF REPUBLICAN WOMEN
REPUBLICAN NATIONAL COMMITTEE
310 FIRST STREET, S.E.
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20003