Why We Did It by Tim Miller

Author:Tim Miller
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2022-05-13T00:00:00+00:00

10

The Little Mix

A classic midwestern pleaser, Reince Priebus rose through the ranks of the Republican Party with a skill for making everyone from the tricornered-hat-donning Tea Party loony to the Brooks Brothers–clad, deep-pocketed donor feel like he was going to do what they thought was best.

From the cradle, Priebus was a natural networker. In high school, he dressed like Alex P. Keaton and sauntered into school, briefcase in tow, peacocking for his teachers. As a young striver he worked to impress the other Badger State up-and-comers like Paul Ryan, who would come in handy down the line. At law school in Miami, he was such a presence on campus that as a second-year he managed to receive 4 percent of the vote in their 1996 presidential straw poll, finishing just a hair behind the actual GOP nominee that year, Bob Dole. (Whether Priebus lobbied for these write-in votes or was just the beneficiary of a grassroots campaign of obstreperous campus Republicans remains a mystery.)

After law school, Priebus returned home, where he took on clients at a law firm for his day job while volunteering in politics as a side hustle. He made his bones, and the contacts that would serve him in the future, as chairman of the 1st Congressional District GOP, a seat held at the time by Ryan. He then tried his hand at becoming a candidate himself in a failed campaign against an incumbent Democratic state senator. After that flopped, he refocused on the things he was good at: glad-handing, organizing, and kissing up to other influencers, resulting in his election as chairman of the Wisconsin Republican Party, the youngest in the party’s history.

Now, being a state party chairman can be important as far as local politics go, but generally it isn’t a stepping-stone to national fame. Climbing the greasy pole from Madison to the penthouse of the national Republican Party was not an easy task. The RNC top job is generally acquired in two ways, and very few who attempt Priebus’s approach pull it off. The first is being appointed top-down by elites in Washington, D.C. These chairmen usually have the job bestowed on them by a president who wants an ally at the party. The other path is bottom-up from the states. These chairmen succeed by buttering up enough committee members to fill a void when a party is out of power.

Priebus did the latter, networking with grassroots leaders in other states, which he first leveraged to help Michael Steele in his successful campaign to be the party’s first black chairman in 2009, selling an inclusive vision for the GOP. Priebus went on to serve as Steele’s consigliere and general counsel, before turning on him and running for the office himself.

The chairmanship was a job that suited his skill set and his high key desire to be loved by all. He was naturally adroit when it came to keeping the elites happy but was able to pair that with a keen awareness of how to manage the rank and file.

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