It was recently announced that Christopher Barron, who has been a consultant to U.S. Senate candidate Steve Sauerberg, is now his press secretary. Interestingly, Barron was the national political director of the Log Cabin Republicans (LCRs) in 2004 when the organization withheld endorsement and launched a series of negative ads against the President because of his promotion of a federal amendment to protect the definition of marriage as between one man and one woman. In fact, Barron himself was responsible for those ads and the damage they did not only to Bush, but to the image of the Republican Party.
Sauerberg's choice of staff is...perplexing. And seems to be a clear message to Republicans - and conservatives - that he's not interested in their principles, opinions, and dare we say...votes!
A wise woman in politics, conservative icon Phyllis Schlafly, once told me "Personnel is Policy." She is right. The foresight and wisdom one chooses when forming a council of campaign advisors and staffers hints at what kind of legislator that person will be if elected, and what position he or she will most likely take on legislative issues and political strategy.
In other words, the more we know about a candidate's staff, the more we know about the candidate -- probably more than any questionnaire or media interview could ever tell us.
After reading Bernie Schoenberg's State Journal-Register column today about U.S. Senate candidate Steve Sauerberg's choice of campaign staff, we can tell a lot about what kind of Senator he would be. He is focused on running a middle-of-the-road campaign by hiring consultants who specialize in running moderate Republicans for office and he has hired a press secretary who was the political director for the national Log Cabin Republicans.
In 2004, Log Cabin Republicans ran ads against President George W. Bush because he advocated a federal amendment to protect marriages. They've fought the nomination of strict constructionist judges. If "Personnel is Policy," Sauerberg will not be a friend to social conservatives.
And, if "Personnel is Policy," Sauerberg has made it very clear where he is on the conservative spectrum. He hasn't hired one identifiable conservative on his staff.
Trying to outwit the conservatives by skating around issues is an insult. Without an enthusiastic base, the nation's most liberal, arrogant loudmouth in the U.S. Senate will remain in power six more years.
More to come on this . . .
ALSO: See IR's January 20, 2008 post: "Sauerberg's position on abortion"