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HAZE Temp: 43 °F Wind: NW at 4 mph Wednesday, December 11, 2002 SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map EXTRA HomeLife Magazine W3 Magazine Jobs @ Mail Tribune Tempo A & E Oregon CarZone Wellness Connection Real Estate Newspaper in Education Prime Times Outdoor Journal Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People CLASSIFIEDS Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Find Everything E SOUTHERN OREGON Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar ABOUT US FAQ What's New Advertise Home Delivery Classified Ad Contact Us Media Kit Email Story to a Friend November 20, 2002 Oregon Republicans squabble over money By DAMIAN MANN Mail Tribune Oregon Republican leaders accuse U.S. Sen. Gordon Smith of snatching the party’s purse strings in the last election, squeezing out money for his own campaign at the expense of other GOP candidates. "That giant sucking sound of a vacuum cleaner is Gordon Smith sucking up the money," said Darryl Howard, the Oregon Republican Party’s executive director. A spokesman for Smith denied the charge, saying money was spent to support grass-roots efforts for Republican candidates throughout the state. Howard said that of $3.4 million in party money spent on the election campaign, only about $200,000 went to help candidates in other races — the rest promoted the Smith campaign. Defeated Republican candidates such as Kevin Mannix, who lost the gubernatorial campaign, and ousted Jackson County Commissioner Ric Holt might have fared better if they had received more support, Howard said. To illustrate how much was spent by Smith, Howard said there wasn’t enough money left to send out "slate mailers," pamphlets describing all the party’s candidates running in a particular election. Howard and other Republican leaders say Smith is trying to solidify party control by attempting to squeeze out Perry Atkinson, of Medford, as the Republican Central Committee chairman, replacing him with former Oregon House Speaker Lynn Snodgrass. Howard said Smith wants more control over the so-called "soft money," or large campaign donations. Atkinson has vowed to run for the chairman position during elections in February and resist the pressure to oust him, said Howard. Diane Davidson, president of the Jackson County Republican Women, said the struggle within the Republican Party is about money and power. "It’s not about leadership," she said. "It’s not about the future of Oregon. It’s not about Republican principles, and it’s not about the people." She thinks that Mannix’s bid for governor was thwarted by his own party. "The very people behind this attack on Perry Atkinson are the very people who cost us the governor’s race," said Davidson, who helped manage Mannix’s campaign in Southern Oregon. "We could have won the election." Davidson said very little money trickled down from Republican headquarters to help local campaigns. "What money did come, came very late in the game," she said. Instead, Smith asked the Republican machinery that had been erected by Atkinson over the past few years to come to his political aid, then effectively abandoned it, she said. "The grass-roots structure of the Republican Party was used with no respect for how hard they worked during the past four years," she said. "If I were Gordon Smith, I would be ashamed of myself." Marilyn Shannon, chairwoman of precinct organization for the Republican Party and a supporter of Atkinson, said the amount of money used by Smith definitely hurt the Mannix vote. In precincts where a small amount of money was given for phone campaigns, Shannon said, Mannix got the majority vote. If the Smith campaign had provided more money, volunteers could have canvassed the entire state. "We got the crumbs," she said. Chris Matthews, a spokesman for Smith, said the senator believes a significant amount of effort went into the last campaign that helped all candidates. But Matthews said he couldn’t respond to many of the statements by Republican Party leaders. "From the senator’s standpoint, he can’t speculate on anything about what’s going on behind the scenes," he said. However, he did say the senator supports an all-encompassing campaign that makes use of advertising, mailers and phone campaigns. "The senator does believe in a strong grass-roots campaign," he said. Smith’s support for Snodgrass, said Matthews, is based on her ideas about recruiting candidates, raising money and preparing for a push to re-elect President Bush in 2004. John Watt, former Medford Republican legislator, said the struggle within the Republican Party is par for the course in politics. "It doesn’t matter if you’re a Democrat or Republican, they’re always eating their young," he said. Reach reporter Damian Mann at 776-4476, or e-mail [email protected] Printer Friendly Version Email Story to a Friend Subscribe Archive: Click to Search Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright 1997-2002 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy webmaster feedback A D V E R T I S E R S