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Congress Daily
November 8, 2007
By Ben Schneider
Hutchison Pushing For Foreign Policy As GOP Pillar In '08
The Senate Republican Policy Committee wants to make Middle Eastern issues -- including terrorism and Iraq -- a focus of the GOP's 2008 campaign message, Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas, the group's chairwoman, said in an interview.
While Senate Republican leaders seem lukewarm, at best, toward the emphasis on the Middle East, Hutchison and the committee are pursuing the idea aggressively. Part of that push includes the recent hiring of Mario Loyola, a writer who regularly contributes to National Review and other conservative journals, to bolster the committee's literature on Iran and other Middle Eastern issues. The hire reflects the committee's belief that foreign policy, especially regarding that part of the world, will be a cornerstone of the 2008 elections for president and Congress.
"We're in a presidential year almost, and I think foreign policy is essential," Hutchison said. "Mario is a very respected foreign policy person ... [and] foreign policy is at the forefront of the issues that are going to be judged by the American people."
With that in mind, Hutchison said terrorism and stabilizing Iraq and Afghanistan should be central to the Republicans' 2008 platform, followed closely by tax policy and Social Security reform.
Hutchison and the committee are in discussions with other GOP leadership offices to make the case for Middle Eastern policy and taxes to be at the top of the 2008 Republican campaign agenda, said Matt Mackowiak, a spokesman for Hutchison.
"There is an ongoing discussion" with other leadership groups, Mackowiak said.
Hutchison acknowledged that the Republican message will ultimately depend on which candidate wins the Republican nomination for president.
"Much of [the message] will be driven by our candidate," Hutchison said. "But we can be helpful to our presidential candidate with our perspective, our background and our experience that we've certainly had here. I think that we will play a role of trying to help with the policy agenda."
While Senate Minority Leader McConnell has made clear his intent to target Democratic tax policies in 2008 -- and to try to keep the focus on Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., whom he sees as the likely Democratic nominee for president -- he declined Wednesday to provide a clearer outline of what the party's central issues should be.
Beyond taxes, no other talking points are set in stone, said one GOP aide familiar with leadership, though Republicans are cautious about how they will handle Middle Eastern policy issues.
While the Middle East will "not be low on the totem poll ... the American electorate is worn out" on the issue, the aide said. Attacking Democratic tax policies, on the other hand, is a "no-brainer," the aide said.
Whatever the Republican message finally looks like, one GOP leadership aide praised Hutchison's work at the policy committee.
"There's been a smooth transition to the Hutchison chairmanship," the aide said. Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., the Senate Republican Conference chairman, preceded Hutchison at the RPC and many of his hires remain in place there.
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