Sunday, March 21, 1999
Politician helping Bush in Ky.
Northup is 1 of 10 on campaign panel
BY PATRICK CROWLEY
The Cincinnati Enquirer
George W. Bush mania will, later rather than sooner, come to Kentucky.
With U.S. Rep. Anne Northup of Louisville part of the inner circle working on the Texas governor's presidential bid, Mr. Bush — son of former president George Bush — will make a campaign appearance in the Bluegrass State.
“Oh yes,” Ms. Northup said Friday. “He'll come to Kentucky. And Kentucky is going to love him.”
Mr. Bush won't be here any time in the near future. He's holding off doing any heavy stumping until the summer, when the Texas legislature will adjourn for the year.
But Ms. Northup doesn't want to wait until Mr. Bush can come to Kentucky. She wants to take Kentucky, at least members of the Republican Washington delegation, to Texas to call on the governor.
“I'm putting a trip together now,” she said.
Ms. Northup is one of the 10 members of Mr. Bush's exploratory committee, which under federal election laws can test the candidate's political waters by raising money, conducting polls and doing other campaign-related activity.
Mr. Bush is a lock for the race, however, particularly with poll numbers that put him not only ahead of the rest of the GOP presidential field but also Vice President Al Gore.
“I'm thrilled, not surprised,” by the polls, Ms. Northup said. “He is that outstanding. And the more the American people come to know Mr. Bush, the more excited they'll become about him being our next president.”
Even though some local and state Republican leaders, including Kentucky GOP Vice Chairman Damon Thayer of Grant County, are on board with Mr. Bush, he could run into some problems in Northern Kentucky over his stance on abortion.
Some hard-line figures on the right as well as a couple of the GOP presidential contenders, among them social conservative Gary Bauer of Newport, have questioned whether Mr. Bush is strongly enough opposed to abortion.
But Ms. Northup said abortion won't be an issue that will hurt Mr. Bush. She said the Christian Coalition and Texas Right to Life “have come out and said George Bush has always been pro-life.”
“There are probably a few candidates who want to create an issue for their own best interest, their own campaign benefit,” she continued. “If Gary Bauer is trying to do that, I don't think it will work.
“When something is not true, it's not going to stick.”
Familiar territory. Speaking of Mr. Bush, anybody remember the last and probably only time he was in Northern Kentucky?
It was Sept. 20, 1995, and Mr. Bush, then the newly elected governor of Texas, rolled into town to attend a fund-raiser for GOP gubernatorial candidate Larry Forgy.
The event for Mr. Forgy, who lost that year's race to Gov. Paul Patton, was held at the fine Fort Mitchell home of real estate company owners Jim and Bert Huff.
About 100 people attended the $1,000-per-couple fund-raiser. Reporters weren't allowed in the event, but Mr. Bush did talk briefly to the media before the party started.
Engaging, personable and handsome, Mr. Bush was the consummate politician as he talked about his part-ownership of the Texas Rangers.
“We're trying to make playoffs, but we'll never approach the likes of the Big Red Machine,” Mr. Bush said.
Good answer.
Candidate search. And speaking of Ms. Northup, she's helping recruit GOP candidates for the National Republican Congressional Committee. But she won't talk about her efforts to help land somebody to run next year against Democratic U.S. Rep. Ken Lucas in Kentucky's 4th District.
“I'm not talking about the district or any other district,” she said. “It's just not a good policy to start talking about that work.”
No word on whether she's talked to state Rep. Jon Draud, the Crestview Hills Republican that party leaders are trying to woo into the race.
But the National Journal said the Republicans may not get a candidate to run against Mr. Lucas next year:
“The simple fact that Democratic Rep. Ken Lucas is a freshman in a GOP-leaning district puts this race on the list” of potentially hot races in 2000.
“Given (Mr.) Lucas' already-conservative record, the GOP may write off this district until 2004, when the incumbent's self-imposed term limit comes due.”
Interesting, but don't bet on it.
The Republicans are way embarrassed over their debacle in not finding a strong candidate to run against Mr. Patton this year, especially after they bragged for months about how they were going to run the Dems from the Governor's Mansion.
And now with U.S. Sen. Jim Bunning giving local leaders marching orders to find a good candidate for the 4th District, the party will find somebody to take on Mr. Lucas.
The questions, of course, are who and when. Stay tuned.
A river crossing. Was that state GOP Vice Chairman Damon Thayer and 4th District GOP Chairman Jay Hall of Florence lunching last week at the tony Bankers Club in Cincinnati with H.C. “Buck” Niehoff, Hamilton County GOP chairman?
It sure was. Seems the Northern Kentucky GOP wants to mine some of the campaign gold — as in contributions to politicians — that can be found in the wealthy Republican environs north of the river.
Patrick Crowley covers Kentucky politics for The Kentucky Enquirer. He can be reached at crowleys@cinci.infi.net.
Patrick Crowley covers Kentucky politics for the Enquirer. He can be reached at 578-5581, or (502) 875-7526 in Frankfort.
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