In politics, connections can mean everything, and GOP gubernatorial hopeful Marc Holtzman is nothing if not connected.
His Rolodex is the envy of many powerbrokers. It stretches back to his days as “sort of a mascot” of the Reagan administration. (That’s how he described himself back then, anyway.)
With the governor’s race in full swing, and with a fresh hint that this race will be fought through independently financed 527 groups attacking candidates, we’re about to find out just how deep his political connections run.
And with Holtzman’s campaign in seeming disarray – his manager quit last week, and a judge soon will decide if he violated state campaign laws – his connections may be all that propels him into an August primary.
He’s running as the political outsider in the race, but he’s spent the past 20 years working to be a consummate insider.
Bob Beauprez‘s campaign has suggested, as have others, that Holtzman exaggerates his ties to Reagan. But the Pennsylvania-raised Holtzman was definitely a player in circles close to Reagan.
By age 24, he was raking in $380,000 year as a consultant and lobbyist in Washington, D.C., making tens of thousands just for making “political introductions” and steering clients to certain companies, according to a Washington Post story.
That year, in 1984, he also was running Citizens for America, an organization created to push President Reagan‘s policies, including aid for the contras in Nicaragua.
Holtzman was succeeded in that job in 1985 by Jack Abramoff, who would later become a disgraced lobbyist and felon. A spokesman says they remain acquaintances, but “they don’t talk or anything.” Of course not. Abramoff knew everyone in Washington, but finding anyone now who knew him is as likely as finding a fiscal conservative in Congress. There were no Abramoff contributions to Holtzman’s gubernatorial campaign.
His latest campaign finance paperwork, filed last week, contained the name of another Pennsylvania Republican who came of political age when Reagan’s conservatism was hot: Tom Ridge. Holtzman actually hired Ridge, then a young assistant district attorney from Erie, Pa., to work on Reagan’s 1980 campaign. Last month, the man who would later become Pennsylvania’s governor and the first Homeland Security chief gave Holtzman’s campaign $1,000.
Former Oklahoma Gov. Frank Keating, and his wife, Cathy, also gave $500 each. Holtzman recruited a young Keating to work for Citizens for America.
Holtzman’s out-of-state money may not be enough to overcome Beauprez, who’s locked up the support of the state party’s brass and who is deeply connected in Colorado.
But Holtzman’s connections, coupled with the advent of 527s, should make this one of the more exciting races to watch in recent memory – if the wheels don’t fall off his campaign before summer.
Unions not joining party
Will Democrats be dancing in Denver come 2008?
A final decision about which city will host the 2008 Democratic National Convention won’t be made until this fall, but Denver’s backers have been winning fans and charming the right people. An evening reception given by the Denver host committee at last month’s DNC spring meeting in New Orleans last month was hugely attended. DNC Chairman Howard Dean not only attended the reception, he crashed the pre-reception, too. “In terms of support, we blew them all away,” said City Councilwoman Elbra Wedgeworth, co-chair of the committee.
Denver’s group will submit its 60-plus page bid, which will detail everything from the number of hotel rooms available to technology capabilities to parking spaces, on May 19. There has been one hitch, and it could be a big one for Democrats: The Denver Area Labor Federation recently passed a resolution declaring its opposition to Denver’s hosting the convention because there are no unionized hotels to house delegates.
But the host committee is trying to make amends. Most of the convention would take place at the Pepsi Center, and Wedgeworth said officials there are willing to let the host committee hire union workers to help staff the convention.
Dan Haley (dhaley@denverpost. com) is a member of The Post’s editorial board. Read the Haley’s Comment blog at denverpostbloghouse.com/haley.
