He did the country veterinarian schtick, the Jeffersonian citizen-legislator riff, the stalwart Republican routine and the modest family guy thing. Then it was maybe 10 minutes into the press conference at which Sen. Wayne Allard was announcing his decision not to run for re-election in 2008 that bare-fisted political reality leaked into the tender, aw-shucks event.
“Who is this press conference for, Dick Wadhams or me?” the senator said to laughs from an assembly of friends, family members and reporters in the state Capitol rotunda after he found himself fielding question after question about the future of his former campaign manager.
The joke was not meant to be a commentary on politics in America.
But it said it all.
Wadhams is revered by Republicans and Democrats alike as the most brilliant, ruthless, effective political strategist since Karl Rove.
Allard took the opportunity Monday to endorse Wadhams for state Republican Party chairman, a position that’s his for the asking, even though it seems wimpy for a guy known for ripping reporters’ faces off before he’s even finished his first cup of coffee – and liking it.
Anybody who watches politics even casually can recite the highlights of Wadhams’ career by heart. He managed Hank Brown’s campaign for the Senate in 1990, Bill Owens’ campaign for governor in 1998 and Allard’s two campaigns for the Senate. He took over the ailing campaign to get Montana Sen. Conrad Burns re-elected in 2000, ran the campaign of South Dakota Sen. John Thune that buried former minority leader Tom Daschle’s Senate career in 2004, and was widely believed to be the glorious heir apparent to the savage legacy of the late Lee Atwater and his successor, Rove.
In contrast, ask anybody about Allard’s most memorable accomplishment after 16 years in Washington and the reaction usually is a long pause.
He seems like a nice guy, people say.
Ah, but it’s the essence of the strategy.
Wadhams is known for taking ordinary guys with undistinguished records and propelling them into office on campaigns that might best be described as blistering.
The candidates stump on being
likable, affable and unpretentious while Wadhams relentlessly goes scorched-earth.
Thune calls him “the best pit bull out there.”
But Wadhams’ success is not merely the result of his skill and utter delight in negative campaigning. He’s also a master at controlling the message – so much so that during Owens’ first term as governor, when Wadhams was his spokesman, it was almost impossible to get an actual quote from the flesh-and-blood governor.
Wadhams handled it. Period.
The master’s recent high-profile face-plant occurred precisely because one of his good-ol’-boys made the mistake of going off-script.
Wadhams went to work for former Sen. George Allen’s re-election campaign last year when the Virginia Republican was National Journal’s top choice to lead the GOP presidential ticket in 2008. Allen was considered a shoo-in for re-election; Wadhams was there to manage the candidate into the White House.
He was on the brink of running his first national campaign. It was his moment.
Then came the “macaca” incident, and even an expert at putting critics on the defensive like Wadhams couldn’t rescue Allen from his damaging lapse into authenticity.
Suddenly, fleeing the national stage for Colorado, where Republicans still love him unconditionally, seemed like a good idea. He could regroup, and it didn’t hurt that his party was feeling desperate.
“We’re fortunate in the state of Colorado to have someone with Dick Wadhams’ skills to be part of the Republicans getting their act together,” Allard said, maybe a bit too candidly.
Job 1 for Wadhams will be to find someone to run for Allard’s seat in 2008.
If history is any guide, it’ll be a smiling, underestimated good ol’ boy.
Preferably one who doesn’t say much. Ever.
Diane Carman’s column appears Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. She can be reached at 303-954-1489 or dcarman@denverpost.com
