Excerpts from a 19-page document, "Freddie Mac Field Program State by State Summary Report," dated Dec. 12, 2005. It shows that Republican consulting firm Freddie Mac and Republican consulting firm DCI targeted 17 GOP senators in a campaign to build opposition to a tough regulatory bill. The campaign began shortly after the Senate Banking Committee sent the measure to the full Senate on July 28, 2005.
The senators were Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, Christopher "Kit" Bond and Jim Talent of Missouri, Conrad Burns of Montana, Mike DeWine of Ohio, Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, Olympia Snowe of Maine, Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island, George Allen of Virginia, Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania, Mike Crapo of Idaho, Jim Bunning of Kentucky, Larry Craig of Idaho, John Ensign of Nevada, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, George Voinovich of Ohio and David Vitter of Louisiana.
IDAHO
TARGET: CRAPO - SECONDARY, CRAIG
ON DAY ONE: Crapo had voted with the chair to pass S.190 out of
the banking committee. He had not indicated his final position on
all provisions - especially those of most concern.
TODAY: Both offices have received at least 50 to 60 letters from
constituents in related professional fields and from affordable
housing advocates. More letters are in process. Their staffs are
aware of interest within the state.
KENTUCKY
TARGET: BUNNING/MCCONNELL (Secondary)
ON DAY ONE: Senator Bunning was not 100 percent comfortable with
S.190 as it stood when it was passed out of committee and hoped to
find a compromise on portfolio limits. He and his banking committee
LA (legislative assistant) were well versed in the issue but were
hearing no voices from home on the matter. Also, Senator McConnell
did not have this issue on his radar and was hearing no feedback
from home.
TODAY: Sens. Bunning and McConnell have heard from some very
influential associations in the state. ... Sen. Bunning is not
comfortable with S.190 specifically limiting ... portfolios but
does see the portfolio limits as the only thing holding up a final
bill. Sen. McConnell has not taken a public stance on this bill but
his field office has noted in recent weeks, the number of calls
coming in on the issue.
LOUISIANA
TARGET: VITTER
ON DAY ONE: Sen. Vitter knew very little about legislation
concerning ... regulation and was not taking a position.
TODAY: Sen. Vitter is impressed with the work Freddie Mac has
done in Louisiana in regard to hurricane recovery. Senior staff
members have advised that the senator will side with the rest of
Louisiana's delegation in support Congressman Baker's House bill
before siding with the administration.
MAINE
TARGET: SNOWE
ON DAY ONE: GSE issue and S.190 were largely unknown to Sen.
Snowe's housing LA and committee staff.
TODAY: The staff is fully apprised of the legislation. Awareness
has been extended to in-state staff as well. Snowe has been
approached to sign a "Dear Colleague" letter. Snowe has received
direct contact from key in-state political and business leaders,
many of whom, and others, are ready to activate their colleagues to
contact Sen. Snowe to encourage her support of Freddie Mac's
position.
MISSOURI
TARGET: BOND/TALENT
ON DAY ONE: Talent's position was unclear. Sen. Bond is very
knowledgeable on this issue and is committed to keeping it out of
appropriations.
TODAY: Talent's position is becoming clear. He has made strong
statements in opposition to S.190 such as "I understand the
instability that could be caused by requiring FM to liquidate their
retained portfolio."
HIGHLIGHTS:
1. MO Independent Bankers Association have informed their
membership, published an article in their newsletter and sent
letters to both targets. Their executive director has made two
attempts at op-eds in KC Star.
2. The MO Association of Mortgage Brokers sent an e-mail to
their membership, posted a call to action with target's phone
numbers on their Web site and they are currently assessing interest
in possible visit with Freddie Mac executive.
3. Major donors, Rick Sullivan, Lew Melahn & Jim Hutcheson have
placed calls, letters and intercepts to targets. Three additional
major donors have made commitments to make calls or sent letters.
4. MO CreditUnion President Roshara Holum made phone calls to
Talent and Bond office and met in person with Sen. Bond.
5. Letters were sent from three real estate agents and calls
from two state representatives were made to both targets.
MONTANA
TARGET: BURNS
ON DAY ONE: Sen. Burns had been supportive of mortgage brokers
but was not familiar with S.190.
TODAY: Sen. Burns told a state representative in Montana in
November that he would not support anything that hurts the builders
in Montana.
HIGHLIGHTS
-Mike and Susan Hughes, major donors to the senator, have sent a
letter and will be visiting Burns in DC in December.
HIGHLIGHTS
1. State Rep. Ron Stoker and Bob Lake have sent letters to the
senator.
2. Lake and Stoker will submit a guest editorial.
3. Dennis Hardin, a Bozeman real estate agent, called Clark
Johnson, the senator's chief of staff.
4. Ed Hudson and several other Billings real estate
professionals spoke to the senator at one of his campaign events.
NEVADA
TARGET: ENSIGN
ON DAY ONE: Ensign's position was unclear; however assumption
was he was aligning with the administration.
TODAY: Still do not have a final read on his position. He has
not come out on this at this point that the field is aware of.
OHIO
TARGET: DEWINE/VOINOVICH
ON DAY ONE: Neither senator had this issue anywhere on their
radar screen.
TODAY: While both senators have not publicly announced their
position, they continue to hear from a diverse group of
constituents on this issue and told Freddie Mac's lobbyist in Ohio
that they are fully aware of Freddie Mac's concerns about the bill.
PENNSYLVANIA
TARGET: SANTORUM
ON DAY ONE: Senator's senior staff seemed somewhat unfamiliar
with the issue and S.190.
TODAY: The issue has risen to his radar screen. Santorum has
stated that he thought the House version was too weak but the
Senate version needed work. He said it came out of committee with
bipartisan support and there was a lot of work to be done.
RHODE ISLAND
TARGET: CHAFEE
ON DAY ONE: Chafee and his staff were unfamiliar with the issue
and S.190.
TODAY: Due to intercepts and conversations with the senator, he
is now aware of the bill, although still not up to speed on it.
Sen. Chafee's staff has received numerous intercepts and is now
familiar with the bill and the issues surrounding it. They are now
aware of interest within the state. Staff seems to be open to a
favorable disposition on this bill and continued field activities.
HIGHLIGHTS:
John Matson, owner of a real estate firm and former
congressional candidate, has called Chafee and signed an op-ed.
Sam Reid, close friend of the senator and part of the senator's
"kitchen cabinet" has talked to the senator in support of this
issue.
Former Lt. Gov. Joe O'Donnell has called Sen. Chafee on this
issue. O'Donnell was Lt. Gov. while the senator's father, John
Chaffee, was governor of RI. O'Donnell's children used to baby sit
the Chaffee children while their fathers were on the campaign
trail.
SOUTH CAROLINA
TARGET: GRAHAM
ON DAY ONE: The senator's staff was aware of S.190 but not too
familiar with it and they had yet to take a formal position.
TODAY: They are more aware of the issue but have not put a lot
of focus on it as they do not believe the Senate will address it
any time soon. The senator believes that the GSEs
(government-sponsored enterprises Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae) are
in need of reform but that Fannie and Freddie do not need to be
gutted. They believe the focus needs to be on what will be best for
the American home buyer.
TENNESSEE
TARGET: ALEXANDER
ON DAY ONE: Alexander unfamiliar with the issue and S.190 as
told to Lynn Greer at fundraiser for Alexander in Nashville.
TODAY: We are getting letters sent to Sen. Alexander and Sen.
Frist from a broad base of concerned constituents about S.190.
Letters sent from Nov. 16 through Nov. 29 include Dale Sims, state
treasurer of Tennessee; Maribel Koella, a politically active
commercial real estate professional; Phil Ryan, executive director
of Metropolitan Development and Housing Agency (Nashville); and
Andre LeQuire, developer.
VIRGINIA
TARGET: ALLEN
ON DAY ONE: Allen had not addressed the issue.
TODAY: The senator is aware of the issue and S190. At the moment
he is undecided. His deputy chief of staff, Tricia Pearson has said
that the senator will take into consideration before he decides
that Freddie Mac is located in Virginia and is one of the largest
Virginia employers. He was briefed by Freddie Mac at a Freddie Mac
event.
HIGHLIGHTS:
State elected officials: members of the Fairfax County Board of
Supervisors, the head of the state Senate Conservative Caucus, and
the top House financial chairmen have written letters to Allen.
Chamber and economic development: the largest Chamber of
Commerce in Virginia, the Fairfax County Chamber of Commerce sent
Allen a letter.
