He also suggested he won’t spend any of that money on GOP-held seats that appear to be lost.
The seat of retiring Sen. John Warner (R-Va.), in particular, looks to be a steep uphill battle for the party with former Gov. Mark Warner as the likely Democratic nominee.
“If they are gone, you don’t put any money in there; if they’re way up, you don’t put any money in there,” he said. “It’s the races that we can make the differences.”
Ensign is candid about the many difficulties he faces but adds that certain things could swing back in the Republicans’ favor in the final eight months of the cycle.
He pointed particularly to better fundraising and Hatch’s and other members’ increasing presence. He also noted that a party’s optimism in March of an election year has been a bad harbinger for it in recent elections.
He said that last year, only two senators a week would come in to help, whereas this week, it was seven or eight.
Many of them are motivated by the 74-year-old Utah senator, who could be seen walking through the NRSC lobby on Wednesday shortly before The Hill interviewed Ensign.
“Orrin Hatch has become our hero over here,” Ensign said. “He … is coming over here and is basically shaming other people finally into coming over and [making] phone calls. And we are getting more senators because of his example.”
Excerpts of interview with NRSC Chairman John Ensign Q: Have you ruled out for running for NRSC chairman next cycle?
A: That’s correct. … The job’s very important, and I think it is good that it is only a two-year cycle. I can’t believe [Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee Chairman] Chuck Schumer [N.Y.] is doing this for four years.
Q: Do members of the Republican Conference have an every-man-for-himself attitude?
A: No, that’s not it. Republicans in the past have just been used to raising money for themselves. … In the soft-dollar days it was much easier. You would leave a message on the phone and then, boom, the money would come in the door. Now if you don’t speak to someone for 20 minutes, at least, you are not going to get the money.
Q: Would the nomination of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) help your efforts more than Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) would?
A: Actually, I am not too sure he, in the end, isn’t easier to run against. But for our committee in the meantime, in the short run, raising money would be much easier if she is at the top of the ticket.
Q: Has the crystallization of the Democratic presidential contest helped your fundraising?
A: Yeah, we had a decent month in February. But it’s also the talk of the Democrats. They’re talking about getting the 60 votes. That scares the heck out of people in the country, and it should.
Q: What is President Bush’s role in the 2008 election?
A: Fundraising. I think that is the main place that he’ll be helping is fundraising. He is still a very effective fundraiser.
Q: The National Republican Congressional Committee has some audit issues. Has that caused you to make sure your books are in order?
A: When I took over, I ordered a full audit last year. We hadn’t had an audit in the building in 13 years, a full-blown audit, in 13 years … We found it was clean.
Q: Do you expect financial help from the Republican National Committee this presidential election year?
A: We are not counting on it. We’d love to have it. But we are not planning on it.
Q: How has this job affected your personal life?
A: I have played 18 holes of golf this year: two nine-hole matches with my son. So the golf game is definitely suffering. … We sat down as a family before I took the job and made that decision, and they knew that this year would be a tough year.
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