Washington's chattering class zeroed in Tuesday on a potential but still nonexistent leadership battle between House Minority Leader John Boehner and Minority Whip Eric Cantor after members of the press received their advance copies of the latter's new book, "Young Guns: A New Generation of Conservative Leaders." While the book may indeed elevate Cantor, who co-authored the book with Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan and California Rep. Kevin McCarthy, its title couldn't make its purpose any clearer - the trio sets out to prove that there's a new Republican Party emerging that's younger, bolder and more diverse.

Boehner has given two major policy addresses in as many weeks to go toe to toe with President Obama as he sets the stage for a possible speakership that would make him his party's official foil to the Democratic commander in chief. On Tuesday, Boehner addressed the 92nd American Legion National Convention in Milwaukee about the end of combat operations in Iraq as a precursor to Obama's speech later in the evening. At the same time, about a dozen reporters in the Beltway had just finished combing through Young Guns and found only limited references to Boehner and took that to mean the Ohioan is on the outs.

But the book is less a preview of a leadership battle as it is a forced rebirth.

McCarthy presided last year over an intimate group of congressmen, strategists and pollsters who sought to chart a rebirth of the GOP over a multi-year course. One product of their meetings were "WhiPods," iPods that every member of Cantor's Whip team received in order to listen to weekly podcasts on their way home to their districts about the minority's agenda. A technology embrace and increased communication were two of the ways the GOP tried to put itself on equal footing with the more plugged-in Democrats. Operatives said the tactics were necessary, but even party stalwarts like RNC committeeman Saul Anuzis warned that the GOP's path back would be "long and ugly." Some scolded time and again, "An e-campaign is not a strategy."

It's just that none of the Republican plotters expected to be in a position that could allow them to regain power this soon. And for that reason, the authors aim in the book to create an impression of a reawakened and more likable GOP that has turned the page.

Perhaps more interesting than the number of Boehner mentions is the number of times former President Ronald Reagan is mentioned - just six. Of those brief six, three are old quotes, two are examples in lists of famous Republicans and one is a passing mention of "Reagan Democrats." It's a major shift from three years ago, when the GOP's presidential hopefuls sparred in debates over who was the most like Reagan.

Early in the book in a section Cantor penned, he describes his ideal party and writes, "That party is the party of Lincoln and Reagan; it's the party of [Florida Senate candidate Marco] Rubio, [Louisiana Gov. Bobby] Jindal and [Indiana Gov. Mitch] Daniels." In other words, there is a bit of a shift to emerging and diverse Republicans who have not yet run for president.

There also are multiple references in the book to Cantor's existence as an "American Jew," and Ryan's experience as a youthful veteran in the lower chamber of Congress. Ryan refers to "liberal dinosaurs" who have been in Congress since he was in elementary school or even before he was born, and Cantor mentions New York Democratic Rep. Charlie Rangel, who "has been in Washington since 1971, when Paul Ryan was a year old."

That push to break from the past may explain their take on the trajectory of the parties over the last six years. The trio assumes the back-to-back electoral drubbings in the previous two cycles were rejections of the entrenched GOP rather than a purchase of the Democratic agenda, and that belief may ignore some complicated dynamics.

The last midterm cycle broke against the Republicans in the fall on the basis of the "Culture of Corruption," the unfavorable President Bush and the unpopular war in Iraq. And while those elements continued to play a role in the 2008 election cycle, the popular, seemingly post-partisan Barack Obama inspired scores of new voters, and Democratic candidates campaigned on elevating their party in order to improve access to health care, among other issues. The public bought what the Democrats had to sell and didn't simply fire the already out-of-power Republicans.

Cantor, McCarthy and Ryan make the charged political case that the United States is a "center-right country," and they explain what their Republican predecessors did wrong and why the Democratic leadership is wrong, but they give no credit on any issue where Democrats may have been right.

Nevertheless, the book is largely optimistic and presents the group's vision in broad brushstrokes. There is a section on Ryan's "Roadmap for America's Future," a somewhat controversial collection of the Wisconsinite's proposals for entitlement reform, which the Democratic National Committee and Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office attacked Tuesday.

The book will be released to the public on Sept. 14, and that may be the first time some of the Republican "Young Guns" running get a chance to leaf through it. Several candidates contacted by RealClearPolitics on Tuesday said they haven't seen it yet.

Colorado Republican candidate Ryan Frazier said he hasn't had time to read it yet "because I'm living it." He added of the authors, "These congressmen represent part of America's future. They have engaged candidates through the 'Young Guns' program, - which I am proud to be a part of."

By Erin McPike
September 1, 2010
URL http://www1.realclearpolitics.com/printpage/?url=http://www.realclearpol...