The New Hampshire presidential primary is a year away, but Concord, N.H.-based Rath Group has already received payments totaling nearly $105,000 from Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney's political action committee, according to a review of state and federal campaign filings - payments the Concord Monitor reports are generating complaints from some who believe Rath Group principle Tom Rath should have resigned his seat on the Republican National Committee when his firm signed on with McCain's PAC.
Tom Rath's decision to advise Romney's political action committee - the Commonwealth PAC - has caused grumbling in Republican circles, said McCain supporter Steve Duprey, a former Republican Party chairman. At issue is whether Rath, a director of the Rath Group, should have resigned his seat on the Republican National Committee when he signed on to Romney's committee.
State regulations prohibit the three RNC members - who protect the state's first-in-the-nation primary and serve as New Hampshire's ambassadors to the committee - from working on presidential primary campaigns. As a result, Rath plans to step down from the committee next month. Because Romney has yet to announce his candidacy, Rath was free to advise Romney's political action committee.Rath has "been in compliance with the bylaws," Duprey said. But "a number of members of the state committee were concerned that he was pushing the envelope of neutrality. The rumbling I was hearing was that as soon as he went on the Romney payroll, he should have stepped down."
In 2001, when Duprey was GOP chairman, state Republicans adopted the neutrality regulation, Duprey said. "My view was that the party leadership should be neutral and act as the hosts of the primary, and that served New Hampshire's interests best."
But Rath defended his tenure as RNC committeeman and his recent connection to Romney. Although the Commonwealth PAC retained the services of Rath's group, the contract was with Rath's colleague Judith Rhines, he said. The Rath Group received nearly $65,000 in September and $40,000 in October, according to campaign filings.
As for his role with the RNC, "I've been forthright. I have acted consistently with the rules of the party," Rath said. And his position with Romney's committee could advance the primary cause, Rath added. "One of the safeguards of the primary is to get people involved in a high level at presidential campaigns."
Even if his actions were allowed within the letter of the rules of the party, Rath should have resigned immediately - simply to avoid the appearance of breaking the spirit of the rules, and to avoid ruffling feathers of people who haven't yet decided which candidate they support for the GOP nomination.
By not resigning immediately, Rath unintentionally created a story that reflects negatively on his client.
Meanwhile, the paper reports that other "several other" possible GOP presidential candidates have already hired local New Hampshire political consultants, including the PACs of Arizona Sen. John McCain and New York Gov. George Pataki.
Charlie Arlinghaus, president of the New Hampshire's Josiah Bartlett Center for Public Policy and a former executive director of the state Republican Party, comments:
"In the past, consultant payments may just have been a way of reserving someone as a future staffer. But what was more typical was that a national campaign would have local staff. Traditionally, the perceived front-runners - your Romneys and McCains - will start to hire more people so that they feel like they can keep others out of the race by the sheer size of the investment required."
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