Posted on 11/18/2006 10:03:57 PM PST by LdSentinal
WASHINGTON -- Rep. Adam Putnam of Bartow defeated three challengers Friday to become chairman of the House Republican Conference, the No. 3 position in the party leadership.
Putnam, who decided to run for the job after the Democratic takeover shook up the Republican leadership ranks, won on the third ballot, 100-91.
As chairman, Putnam will be responsible for shaping and spreading the Republican message. The job will boost his profile, and he says Florida's.
"You don't do it just for the sake of opportunity," he said. "Everything is shifted. We're not writing policy anymore. We need to go out there and communicate our values and offer people a choice."
Putnam replaces Rep. Deborah Pryce of Ohio, who did not run again after narrowly hanging onto her seat, which is still subject to vote counting. The leadership post tied Pryce to the Mark Foley congressional page scandal, which hurt her.
Putnam, 32, is a rising star in the GOP. He became the No. 5 Republican at the start of 2006 by winning election to chair the Republican Policy Committee, which thrust him into thorny debates such as immigration reform.
Putnam's election came in a closed-door secret ballot by Republicans Friday morning. Also running for the post were Reps. Jack Kingston of Georgia, vice chairman of the caucus, Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee and Dan Lungren of California.
Multiple ballots were needed to eliminate low vote getters, In the third and final ballot, Putnam won 100-91 over Kingston.
Leadership races can be tough to predict because secret ballots defy efforts to count votes beforehand. Loyalties can shift in a process that often requires multiple ballots to eliminate low vote getters.
On Wednesday, Sen. Trent Lott, R-Miss., became the No. 2 Republican in that chamber four years after being forced to step down as majority leader for a racially insensitive remark. He won by a single vote.
On Thursday, Democrats voted for their next majority leader, a race that turned divisive after presumptive Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California backed Rep. John Murtha, the anti-war Pennsylvanian, over the current No. 2, Minority Whip Steny Hoyer of Maryland. Hoyer crushed Murtha, which was seen as a rebuke of Pelosi.
Rep. Dave Weldon of Palm Bay, said Florida Republicans were united behind Putnam.
"It's good for Florida," he said. "If we retake the majority, it would put him in a position to move up further."
The post also can hold peril. The candidates are vying to replace Rep. Deborah Pryce of Ohio, who is not running for the job again after a bruising re-election in which she maintains a narrow lead with votes still to be recounted. Pryce was tied by her leadership job to the uproar about whether Republican brass mishandled warnings about Mark Foley's interest in young male congressional pages.
Pryce suffered for that in her campaign, illustrating that the higher the chair, the easier the target.
Putnam, however, was untouched by the Foley fallout and became a go-to voice for embattled leaders.
At the height of the controversy last month, Rep. Tom Reynolds, head of the National Republican Congressional Committee, asked Putnam to fill in for him during a debate with Rep. Rahm Emmanuel, head of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee on ABC's This Week with George Stephanopoulos. Reynolds was under fire in his home district because of the Foley scandal.
Putnam earned praise among many Republicans for coolly handling Emmanuel's attacks and turning them back on Democrats.
Putnam has a 94 lifetime ACU rating, and had a 100 in 2004.
Not bad.
Never heard his name before.
I have seen him "in action" on CSPAN a few times.
IMHO, VERY IMPRESSIVE !!
I watched him durring a few of the "debates" before a bill was being voted on, and he was the person "controling the time" for the repubs.
EVERY time a "dim-dem" tried to "spew and spin", after his time was reclaimed, EVERY time he smacked down the dem before announcing the next repub speaker and how much time was left.
GO "OPIE"!!!!
He was 26 when he was elected back in 2000. Saw him on a interview during the 2000 recount in Florida -- well polished, likeable personality and pretty articulate.
I remember watching him then (in 2000) and thinking that he was probably a future Senator, Governor, maybe even a President.
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