Grover Norquist might get more attention, but the latest Newsweek offers a brief profile of another “tax-hating, free-market-loving” political figure, Club For Growth President Chris Chocola.
This cycle, the club’s super PAC dropped more than $16 million in independent expenditures, and the club’s PAC bundled an additional $6 million in direct donations, in order to reward preferred candidates and punish scofflaws. Chocola touts the Senate elections of Ted Cruz in Texas and Jeff Flake in Arizona as success stories, while claiming an uptick of seven club-endorsed House members in the incoming 113th Congress.
“Our first focus in every election cycle is safe, open, and Republican seats—we want the most pro-growth candidate,” says Chocola. “Our second focus is incumbents behaving badly.”
Thus he immediately phoned Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.) Nov. 29 when the latter suggested that House Speaker John Boehner take Obama up on extending the Bush-era tax cuts for the bottom 98 percent now and haggling over the other 2 percent later. “I told Tom, ‘There goes your chance for the Defender of Economic Freedom Award!’?” Chocola says, referring to the prize the Club confers on members who vote the right way at least 90 percent of time.
