Rep. Tim Mahoney (D-Fla.), the freshman member who barely beat the name “Mark Foley” in the most bizarre race of the last election, has had a shaky transition to life in Congress. And Democratic leaders have taken note.
The millionaire Florida businessman has shrugged off advice from some seasoned lawmakers and exhibited an impatience for the glacial pace of Congress, prompting Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.), the Democratic Caucus chairman, to have a quiet tête-à-tête with arguably his most vulnerable freshman, according to several sources, including one Democratic lawmaker.
Mahoney denied that a Democratic leader had confronted him, but said, “I think there was a concern that I wasn’t happy in Congress. Very candidly, this isn’t the greatest job I’ve had.”
Mahoney was causing enough worry about whether he could cope in Congress that the Democratic leadership tapped a prominent Washington insider, Chuck Brain, to act as an informal adviser, according to a Democratic lobbyist. Now the head of his own lobbying firm, Brain was a longtime congressional staffer who served as the Clinton White House’s chief liaison to Capitol Hill.
Brain confirmed that he was advising Mahoney but denied that anyone had asked him to do so. Brain called Mahoney a “friend,” saying that Rep. Artur Davis (D-Ala.) introduced him to the freshman last year when Mahoney was running for office.
“I’m trying to do what I can for the Democrat who is perceived by Republicans to be the most vulnerable,” he said.
Davis said that both he and Emanuel pointed Mahoney toward Brain after the freshman came to Washington “because we know how good Chuck is.”
Emanuel and Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), the past and present chairmen of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC), profess not to be worried about Mahoney, denying that he has been given any stern warnings.
“Compared to all the other new members, Congressman Mahoney is doing extremely well,” a staffer for the House Democratic leadership said.
But Emanuel implied that the freshman was improving, a tacit acknowledgement that Mahoney had gotten off to a rocky start. “Where he was in the first two months is totally different from where he is now,” he said, adding: “Anyone who’s a CEO and executive who comes to Congress, the rhythm changes.”
Mahoney’s early frustrations place him among a host of business executives who have come to Congress brimming with confidence and big ideas but become discouraged when they realize that seniority rules in the nation’s capital.
Mahoney, 51, previously headed up a thriving financial services firm he co-founded with a friend. But he had never worked in politics, setting him apart from many of his fellow freshmen in the House who had served in state legislatures or other
elected offices.
“I think there should be a law that says, before you run, you have to do the job for two weeks,” Mahoney said.
He continued, “There’s nothing in my experience in 30 years in business that even comes close to doing what you have to
do in Congress. It’s a very hard job.”
Asked whether he had buyer’s remorse, Mahoney suggested that his happiness with the job is beside the point because he’s only in Congress to serve the people he represents. “My presence here isn’t why I’m here. If I can’t be effective in getting things done for my constituents, then I won’t be here,” he said.
Mahoney insisted that he will run for reelection and there are signs he is aggressively seeking to retain his seat. He raised an impressive $460,000 in the first quarter and has held campaign events in his district nearly every weekend.
Meanwhile, the Democratic leadership is firmly behind Mahoney: Emanuel and House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), along with Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank (D-Mass.), are hosting a fundraising event for him next month.
There is little doubt that Mahoney will have a tough reelection fight. His district voted 54 percent for President Bush in 2004. After former Rep. Mark Foley (R-Fla.) dropped out of the 2006 race amid the now-infamous House page scandal, Mahoney beat his Republican opponent, Joe Negron, by less than 2 percentage points, even though Foley’s name remained on the ballot.
Yet as a Blue Dog Democrat and hobby rancher, Mahoney insists that he’s a great match for his district, which snakes from the wealthy retirement communities of Port Charlotte through the Everglades and some of Florida’s most rural counties to the higher-tech enclaves along the east coast. In what many have called a shrewd move, he kept on Foley’s district staffers, who were known to be exceptionally responsive to constituents’ needs.
Once in Congress, Mahoney quickly secured seats on both the Financial Services and Agriculture committees, putting himself in a position to reform homeowners insurance and to assist the ranchers and citrus growers in his district in the upcoming farm bill. “If the people in my district see me delivering for them on the issues that they care about, I will absolutely be reelected and I will be reelected by a good margin,” he said.
But those legislative aims will prove elusive if he can’t stomach the horse-trading and painstaking cultivation of relationships that is so inherent to lawmaking. So far, there are signs that he’s had some early stumbles on that score. “What’s distressing for people who thought he was a relationship guy is seeing he’s not a relationship guy,” one Democratic lobbyist said.
One Democratic lawmaker questioned Mahoney’s approach, saying that unless he adapts to his surroundings in the House, “it is possible to get rejected by the whole body.”
According to the lawmaker, Mahoney initially clashed with fellow Florida Democratic freshman Rep. Ron Klein on national catastrophe fund legislation the two are working on, and the conflict precipitated the tense conversation with Emanuel.
Both Mahoney and Klein deny that they had any dispute over the legislation. “This is a complicated issue … He and I are both trying to come up with ideas. Some overlap; some are different,” Klein said.
Mahoney dons a Bluetooth earpiece and deliberately presents himself apart from politicians: “I think my whole way of operating and how I use my time is very atypical of a congressman.”
He tends to talk like a consultant trying to apply proven business strategies to gain an edge in the political realm. He describes himself as “very metrics-oriented” and speaks of putting “great systems” and “great people” in place in his Washington and district offices.
“People are going to tell you how things get done in Washington,” he explained. “Where I came from, I always made money and I was always successful by figuring out how to do it better.”
That bold style has rubbed some the wrong way, while others find Mahoney refreshingly plainspoken.
“He talks a little differently. His political savvy seeps through, but he talks about issues like a regular guy,” said Rep. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), a fellow freshman member on the Financial Services Committee. Murphy called Mahoney “the right
kind of member.”
Several Democratic members see Mahoney as very bright and capable of providing a unique contribution because of his business acumen and extensive financial knowledge. Frank has singled out Mahoney as one of just a handful of newer members he nurtures with advice.
“He’s not a policy wonk. He’s someone who came to Washington with a real sense of how the laws and regulations affect people,” said Rep. Mike Ross (D-Ark.), the co-chairman of the Blue Dog Coalition.
Mahoney said he is more hopeful than he was earlier that he will be able to accomplish his legislative goals. “As I’ve gotten to know my colleagues, I’m more and more confident that I will be able to get things done,” he said.
And according to Rep. Alcee Hastings (D-Fla.), Mahoney told him last week, “‘I’m finally getting it.’”
|
