New Breed of GOP Groups Rises to Party's Challenges

WASHINGTON (July 7) -- Depending on whom you ask, the proliferation of new conservative groups here represents either a "shadow" Republican Party aimed at getting around the dysfunctional real thing or a political renaissance by a GOP that sees its best chance in years to regain power in the capital.

A combination of factors -- from the gaffe-prone chairman of the Republican National Committee to the Supreme Court's landmark Citizens United case to the Democrats' continued unpopularity -- has spurred a new generation of right-leaning advocacy groups, think tanks and polling groups. Among the new breed:

• Liberty Central: The well-funded conservative think tank founded by Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas' wife, Virginia "Ginni" Thomas, has emerged as "a bridge between the conservative establishment and the anti-establishment tea party," as Politico puts it.

• American Crossroads: Founded by former White House senior adviser Karl Rove and former Republican Party chairman Ed Gillespie, this group may be the most formidable outside the normal party apparatus. After raising a paltry $200 in its first month, it brought in $8 million in June and is sticking to its goal of spending $50 million to help elect like-minded candidates in November.

So far, the group has been active in just one race, spending $480,000 on TV ads to help unseat Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada. Political Director Carl Forti said the group "plans to be very active in the fall."

• American Action Network and Forum: Headed by former Sen. Norm Coleman, this combination "action tank" and policy shop bills itself as an independent, center-right version of the Center for American Progress, the liberal think tank founded in 2003 by former Clinton White House chief of staff John Podesta.

"These groups are springing up because this country is moving in a path of expanded growth of government, stifling debt and higher taxes and people want to change that," Coleman told AOL News. "We see an opportunity in 2010 that wasn't there before."

John Feehery, a Republican strategist working with American Action, said it is designed to be a "Heritage Foundation 2.0, meant to be a little more mobile, a little bit quicker" to match the speed and reach of MoveOn.org, labor unions and other left-leaning groups.

• Resurgent Republic: Also founded by Gillespie as well as veteran GOP strategist Whit Ayres, Resurgent Republic started 18 months ago to conduct polls and run focus groups in a way that "seeks to replicate on the right the success Democracy Corps has enjoyed on the left," according to its website. The group's research was among the first to report a shift by independent voters toward the Republican Party and provided talking points for congressional opponents of President Barack Obama's health care reform plans.

The new conservative groups aren't the first to work outside the GOP establishment -- even if many of their key personnel are inside-the-Beltway veterans. Freedom's Watch, which billed itself as a conservative version of MoveOn, spent $30 million during the 2008 cycle but shut down soon after the election when it failed to get close to the $250 million it had promised to spend to defeat Democrats that year.

"Freedom's Watch tried to fill that void, but they didn't wind up with the money they thought they would and closed their door," said Forti, insisting that things are different now. "People recognize the tremendous opportunity for Republicans this year and that this role needs to be filled. Republicans are sick and tired of being outspent by Democrats."

The plethora of new groups mirrors an earlier Democratic organizational surge. "When you're winning, there's less imperative to start groups like this. When you're losing, there is," Ayres said. "We have lagged but we're fast catching up."

Gillespie agreed that Democrats had a head start in forming outside political action groups. "Republicans have finally come to terms that McCain-Feingold is the law of the land," he told AOL News. "It's probably time after three [election] cycles to stop complaining about it and start adapting to it. ... We just can't allow the left to have that playing field to themselves."

For their part, liberal groups have pounced on the idea that Rove, Gillespie and others are out to create a "vast network to reclaim power."

Eric Schultz, communications director for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, said the groups are a sure sign that Republicans are "cashing in."

"Whether it's big oil, big insurers or big banks, Republicans have sided with the corporate interests on nearly every issue facing the country," he said. "But Democrats are going to have the resources we need to wage competitive campaigns in each of our targeted states."

Others on the left welcomed at least some of the new players.

"The more it's about actual policy, and conservatives putting ideas on the table, that's ultimately good for us [versus] the stagnation we're in now. We actually like that there are Republican think tanks popping up," said Jennifer Palmieri of the Center for American Progress. She noted a "friendly rivalry" with American Action, which recently took part in the first of a planned series of debates between the two groups.

But Palmieri, who was press secretary for John Edwards in 2004, questioned other right-leaning organizations. "Some of these groups are short-circuiting the process by going right to messaging when what they have is idea problems," she said. "This offers them another avenue to get money into the system that will influence elections in ways [they] couldn't do before."

Just as Democrats broke fundraising records in 2008 to usher in a solid blue power base in Washington, 2010 is "a Republican year and the energy is on the Republican side," said Larry Sabato, director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia. "We don't know whether they'll really be able to raise top dollar but my suspicion is they will. ... That doesn't mean they will outspend the Democrats. It just means the Republicans can be more competitive than they have been."