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Stephen Moore: The 31-Year-Old Strategist Behind the Shutdown - WSJ.com
Mr Needham told the Wall Street Journal that the government shutdown, which has furloughed tens of thousands of federal employees, closed national parks and cut off services to millions of Americans, is unfortunate collateral damage.
But, he says, it was a necessary tool to get the American people's attention - and refocus Congressional Republicans on fighting the Affordable Care Act.
Michael Needham: The 31-year-old Stanford grad who planned the government shutdown
The concern of many Republicans, including strategist Karl Rove, is that Heritage Action's take-no-prisoners approach is hurting the party. The latest Gallup poll shows the GOP is viewed favorably by only 28% of Americans, down 10 points since September.
Mr. Needham blames the GOP for not focusing enough on ObamaCare, adding that "there is nothing in my mission statement that says anything about the Republican Party. Our mission is to advance the conservative agenda. We are nonpartisan and we really mean it." He's confident that Republicans will do fine in the 2014 elections if they stand firm in the fight, and he blames Mr. Rove and others for criticizing Ted Cruz.
Heritage Foundation's Michael Needham Tears Apart Right Wing
Sorting through the wreckage, Washington conservatives can barely contain their anger at Needham for his ideological inflexibility and aggressive, zero-sum tactics. Their strategic sense isnt very strong, griped a prominent Republican lobbyist. Theyve repeatedly been wrong about how to handle this. Says a senior House Republican aide, Mike Needham played a large role in defeating ideas that would have worked out better.
But the wrath is not solely reserved for Needham; his employer now inspires plenty of disgust among conservatives, too. Increasingly in Washington, Heritage has come to denote not the foundation or the think tank, but Heritage Action, Needhams sharp-elbowed operation. Instead of fleshing out conservative positions, says one Republican Senate staffer, now theyre running around trying to get Republicans voted out of office. Its a purely ideological crusade thats utterly divorced from the research side.
Mike all good revolutionaries, Michael Needham had a sterling upbringing, the kind that allows a young man to pursue ideological purity free from worry about consequence or reality. Needhams mother is a former Saks Fifth Avenue executive; his father runs a boutique investment bank. The future Tea Party rabble-rouser grew up on the Upper East Side. He attended Collegiate, a prestigious New York prep school, then Williams. As a political science major and, eventually, the editor of the college newspaper, Needham loved to provoke his liberal classmates, arguing that Social Security was unnecessary and that the minimum wage hurt the working poor. Its amazing how little reflection hes given to his privilege, says a classmate. "It was all kind of a game to him. It was an experiment in winning.
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This pretty much lays rest to the idea that the government shut down was the Democrats doing. It was planned out months ago. And the people hurt and the 24 billion are merely "collateral damage".
The Heritage Foundation was a right wing "think" tank. Now, they skipped over the "think".
Imagine a rich Republican right winger who never has to worry about health care talking people out of the need. The very people who need it the most. Tragic, terrible and distressing.
Mr Needham told the Wall Street Journal that the government shutdown, which has furloughed tens of thousands of federal employees, closed national parks and cut off services to millions of Americans, is unfortunate collateral damage.
But, he says, it was a necessary tool to get the American people's attention - and refocus Congressional Republicans on fighting the Affordable Care Act.
Michael Needham: The 31-year-old Stanford grad who planned the government shutdown
The concern of many Republicans, including strategist Karl Rove, is that Heritage Action's take-no-prisoners approach is hurting the party. The latest Gallup poll shows the GOP is viewed favorably by only 28% of Americans, down 10 points since September.
Mr. Needham blames the GOP for not focusing enough on ObamaCare, adding that "there is nothing in my mission statement that says anything about the Republican Party. Our mission is to advance the conservative agenda. We are nonpartisan and we really mean it." He's confident that Republicans will do fine in the 2014 elections if they stand firm in the fight, and he blames Mr. Rove and others for criticizing Ted Cruz.
Heritage Foundation's Michael Needham Tears Apart Right Wing
Sorting through the wreckage, Washington conservatives can barely contain their anger at Needham for his ideological inflexibility and aggressive, zero-sum tactics. Their strategic sense isnt very strong, griped a prominent Republican lobbyist. Theyve repeatedly been wrong about how to handle this. Says a senior House Republican aide, Mike Needham played a large role in defeating ideas that would have worked out better.
But the wrath is not solely reserved for Needham; his employer now inspires plenty of disgust among conservatives, too. Increasingly in Washington, Heritage has come to denote not the foundation or the think tank, but Heritage Action, Needhams sharp-elbowed operation. Instead of fleshing out conservative positions, says one Republican Senate staffer, now theyre running around trying to get Republicans voted out of office. Its a purely ideological crusade thats utterly divorced from the research side.
Mike all good revolutionaries, Michael Needham had a sterling upbringing, the kind that allows a young man to pursue ideological purity free from worry about consequence or reality. Needhams mother is a former Saks Fifth Avenue executive; his father runs a boutique investment bank. The future Tea Party rabble-rouser grew up on the Upper East Side. He attended Collegiate, a prestigious New York prep school, then Williams. As a political science major and, eventually, the editor of the college newspaper, Needham loved to provoke his liberal classmates, arguing that Social Security was unnecessary and that the minimum wage hurt the working poor. Its amazing how little reflection hes given to his privilege, says a classmate. "It was all kind of a game to him. It was an experiment in winning.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This pretty much lays rest to the idea that the government shut down was the Democrats doing. It was planned out months ago. And the people hurt and the 24 billion are merely "collateral damage".
The Heritage Foundation was a right wing "think" tank. Now, they skipped over the "think".
Imagine a rich Republican right winger who never has to worry about health care talking people out of the need. The very people who need it the most. Tragic, terrible and distressing.
