Politics: How To Make It in the New GOP

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Politics How To Make It in the New GOP It helps if conservatives love you. One day in the life of a Republican hopeful. By David Weigel Posted Saturday, Feb 11, 2012, at 01:56 AM ET The man who would be U.S. senator is running late. Just 15 minutes or so. Nobody's panicking. Richard Mourdock just refused to take a taxi from Reagan National Airport, and his arrival at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) depends on the whims of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority. "He's cheap!" says Diane Hubbard, Mourdock's grassroots director. "This is how he is. It's one of the reasons I work for him." Mourdock arrives, hauling his own luggage, and hands it off. He's given a binder of his CPAC duties, and his guest speaker badge. "They were giving me the stink-eye as I walked in without that," he says. I point out that the hotel's been prepping for invasions by the Occupy movement; maybe they put him on the watch list. "Good call," he says. "I have that militancy about me." No, he doesn't. Mourdock is a fit 60-year-old man, average height, with thick eyebrows hovering over a hawklike nose. He looks a bit like the actor Dan Hedaya—Nick Tortelli, Carla's ex-husband, on Cheers. He's been Indiana's state treasurer since 2006. Since early last year he's been running against Sen. Richard Lugar, first elected in 1976, one of the GOP's last elder statesmen. Mourdock is a favorite with the GOP's most conservative base, having already won the endorsements of the Tea Party Express, Citizens United, and most of the other groups that humiliated incumbent Republicans ... To continue reading, click here. Join the Fray: our reader discussion forum What did you think of this article? POST A MESSAGE | READ MESSAGES Also In Slate Obama Wants Much Higher Taxes on the Rich, Romney Wants Slightly Higher Taxes on the Poor A Soulful, Tearful Night at the Grammies The Two Superiority Complexes That Keep People From Vaccinating Their Kids	Advertisement
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