One interesting change was in the House. My old buddy John Boehner was no longer House Majority Whip, but was slated to become the Speaker. He had been Majority Whip for the last eight years, since I had given up the job when I became the Veep. Denny Hastert had been the Speaker for most of that time, but had decided not to run for reelection in 2006. Tom DeLay became Speaker, and Roy Blunt had snaked John out of the Majority Leader slot. Tom only lasted two years, however, before he had to leave Congress to fight Texas criminal conspiracy and election law fraud charges. (Ooops!) Now it was John’s turn to return the favor to Roy, and he managed to get voted over Roy’s head as the Speaker.
We had worked together for years getting stuff through Congress, and it was relatively well known that part of my success with Congress was due to the fact that we were long time friends and allies. More than a few afternoons or evenings had been spent sitting out on the Truman Portico, with him drinking bad Merlot and smoking, while I drank a much better grade of Riesling. Now I wasn’t really sure how his new job would work out. It is not at all unusual for a really good Number Two to turn out to be a lousy Number One. On my first go, John hadn’t done well holding out against the Tea Party. This time we really didn’t have any Tea Party, but the Republican Party base was more conservative than either of us liked. I wondered how strong an ally he would prove to John McCain.
Meanwhile at the lower levels, people were moving out, up, or around. The ones moving out were typically heading towards much better paying lobbying jobs over on K Street or at some of the think tanks around town. The ones moving up or around were the Assistant and Deputy Assistant Secretaries, often moving up a level or two as their bosses decided they needed better paychecks as they got older and discovered just how much private college for their offspring was going to cost.
The week between Christmas and New Year I sat down with Frank Stouffer. Most of my senior staff was leaving with me, as John brought his own people on board, and I was ashamed to say that I hadn’t been really following what they would do. I immediately started off with an apology. “Frank, I am sorry, but I just haven’t spoken to you about what you are going to do after I’m gone. The last time we spoke about that was that in the Bahamas, and you simply said you were talking to some people. What are you and the others doing after the 20th?”
He smiled at me. “Well, I talked to some people.” I raised an eyebrow, and he continued. “I wasn’t sure if Marty Adrianopolis had called you yet.”
“Marty? No, but I think there’s a note for me to call him. Why?”
“Marty’s leaving ARI. He and I are going into business together and forming our own lobbying outfit, Adrianopolis/Stouffer. Mindy will come with us until you get your act together. Elsewhere, Brewster is going to be the next RNC chairman, but you already knew that. We’ll still be running this town, Mister President.”
I heard the words he was saying, but they weren’t quite registering, so I just looked at him stupidly and said, “Huh?!”
Frank gave me a smirk. “Marty told me it would take you awhile to figure it out. Marty is quitting at the American Renaissance Initiative, but he’s not folding it. It’s still your lobbying group. He’s bringing in Michael Steele to run it. You’ve met him before, he’s from Baltimore.”
I blinked at that. I knew Michael Steele. It was the knowledge that ARI was ‘my’ lobbying group that had me set back. “But… how… you know…”
“What, that ARI was yours?” he asked, a real shit eating grin on his face. “I’ve known for years! I figured it out during the ’04 campaign. You’d propose something, and within days, ARI is lobbying for it with an endless budget and legislation already written. It was too much of a coincidence, especially if you could see the timing from the inside.”
“I’ll be damned! Who else knew?”
“Mindy picked up on it while you were still in Congress, and she confirmed it with Marty. I snookered Marty Adrianopolis into confirming it for me after I had a suspicion. Tell me, just how much have you spent through ARI?”
“I will be damned!” I sighed and gave it all some thought. I guess Marty and I weren’t the big sneaks we thought we were. I looked back at Frank and admitted, “Since we started? Probably $450 to $500 million, maybe more. I’d have to add it up.”
It was Frank’s turn to stare. “You spent half a billion dollars getting stuff passed! Jesus Christ!”
“It might be more. Frank, you have no idea how much money I am worth. I am worth way more now than when I became the President. The game is so slanted towards the top that I could spend that much money on politics, trying to even out the playing field, and still make more than I was spending!” I shrugged helplessly. “Who the hell else knows?”
He shrugged. “As far as I know, it’s just us four, you, me, Mindy, and Marty. You really had to be inside to see it fall into place. You and Marty buried it pretty good, but not from the real insiders. Neither Mindy nor I would have stuck if we didn’t go along with you, so your secret is safe.”
“Damn!”
“So, you’ll now have two lobbying groups reporting to you, the American Renaissance Initiative and Adrianopolis/Stouffer, and Brewster McRiley will have McRiley Associates, the Austin Consulting Group, and the Republican National Committee working for you. Like I said, we’re still going to be running things.”
“I’m not following you. What do you mean about Mindy joining you and waiting for me!?” I asked.
“She’s coming in with Marty and me, though she’s not a lawyer. She’s going to hang out as a lobbyist and manager until you get your shit together,” he said with a sly smile.
“What do you mean, get my shit together?”
“Mister President, with all due respect, the idea that you are going to simply retire and putter around the garden is ridiculous. In a matter of weeks, certainly within a few months, you are going to drive yourself mad with boredom. At some point you are going to decide to launch another crusade about something. When that happens, Mindy will join you and be your keeper. She’s already cleared it with your wife,” he told me.
“Smart ass!” I flipped him the middle finger, which set him to laughing. “You think you have me figured out!”
“Boss, we’ve already started a pool on how long you last. The minimum is six weeks, the maximum is six months.”
“You’re full of shit! I can’t wait to let Marilyn know this. She’ll get a good laugh.”
“She’s in on it, too. She put a twenty down on you, and not on the long side, either,” he laughed.
“You little bastard! Get the hell out of here!”
Frank left still laughing. I called Marty Adrianopolis and confirmed everything Frank had told me. He also added that Cheryl Dedrick was going to be on the board at ARI. I knew she was out of a job in January. After 18 years, the Maryland Ninth had reverted to the Democrats. Along with the new winners, she had been one of the losers I called election night. Cheryl was going to play the lobbying game, as well as sit on a few corporate boards. I couldn’t fault her; she had children bound for college, too.