Seeing green

Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund plans to organize and advertise its way to a New Mexico victory in November.

Rodger Schlickeisen is CEO of Defenders of Wildlife, a group that is putting down its marker in New Mexico's 2008 election.

ALBUQUERQUE -- In the 2006 midterm elections, a relatively new, politically active environmental group pulled off what many observers thought impossible: It toppled U.S. Rep. Richard Pombo, a seven-term California Republican who had been one of the most outspoken adversaries of environmental issues in Congress.

In 2008 the same group has come to New Mexico and is hoping to extend its electoral campaign record to 2-0 by getting Rep. Tom Udall elected to the U.S. Senate.

"That's our No. 1 goal," said Rodger Schlickeisen, CEO of the national conservation group Defenders of Wildlife as well as its political arm, Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund.

In Albuquerque this week to review the Action Fund's rapidly expanding New Mexico operation, he sat down with the New Mexico Independent over iced tea on a recent afternoon to talk politics, the environment and the increasing confluence of the two.

Schlickeisen (pronounced SHLIK-eye-zun) has spent more than 40 years in the nation's capital and clearly loves the action. He served President Carter as associate director of the Office of Management and Budget, was chief of staff to Sen. Max Baucus, D-Montana, and headed a consulting firm for progressive advocacy organizations.

Since 1991 he has led Defenders of Wildlife, a nonprofit group committed to "saving imperiled wildlife and championing the Endangered Species Act, the landmark law that protects them."

Like other conservation groups, Defenders has always lobbied Congress, Schlickeisen said. But the environmental movement has never had the political horsepower of, say, Big Oil or the National Rifle Association. Most are limited in how much they can spend on lobbying, and they never had much effect at the ballot box, he said.

But after the 2000 elections, with President Bush in the White House and Republicans controlling Congress, it became clear the movement was losing ground, Schlickeisen said. Going before congressional committees to testify, he said, "It didn't matter if you had the facts on your side, the law on your side, the truth on your side — they would ignore or undermine the laws we had."

Schlickeisen said it became clear that the environmental movement needed to help change the makeup of key committees, and that required money. So in 2001 he formed the Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund. As a 501(c)(4) group, it can spend a greater percentage of donated money on lobbying than a regular nonprofit. It also, like a 527 group, can advertise in political races.

The Action Fund's first target was Pombo, the powerful Republican chairman of the House Committee on Natural Resources, who was leading the charge in Congress to eviscerate the Endangered Species Act. Nobody thought the group and other members of the coalition of environmental groups could succeed, Schlickeisen said. But a combination of hard-hitting ads, plus support for Pombo's opponent, wind-energy consultant Jerry McNerney, led to a surprisingly lopsided win.

"One of the biggest things we learned was not to trust conventional wisdom," which said that Pombo was too entrenched to lose, Schlickeisen said. "Not only could he be beaten, but we did it."

Fast forward to 2008: The environmental movement's goal this year is to increase the pro-environment membership in the Senate to 60 — the number needed to overturn a president's veto. "Right now the Senate is where good (environmental) legislation goes to die," Schlickeisen said.

Udall's race is one of three key contests eyed by a coalition of national groups, and the Action Fund has chosen New Mexico as the focus of its efforts. The other two races are in Colorado, where Udall's cousin, U.S. Rep. Mark Udall, is challenging former Republican Rep. Bob Schaffer, and in New Hampshire, where former Democratic Gov. Jeanne Shaheen is challenging Republican incumbent Sen. John Sununu.

The Action Fund expects to spend about $1 million in New Mexico, Schlickeisen said. It already has produced ads for radio and TV and hired eight of the 15 staff members it expects to need once the Senate race kicks into high gear.

Even though most polls suggest Udall will defeat whoever wins the Republican nomination — Rep. Heather Wilson of Albuquerque or Rep. Steve Pearce of Hobbs — Schlickeisen said he isn't convinced. Pearce has a deep well of financial backing, while Wilson has proven to be a surprisingly tough opponent in the past.

"It is a little odd that someone would come in and do what we've done, but we're helping to grow that margin" that pollsters say Udall already has, he said. "Udall should win that seat. We want to help him put it away."

Plus, this is a good time to take jabs at both Republicans, Schlickeisen said. The Action Fund has been running a TV ad called "Two Bad for New Mexico," which says neither Wilson nor Pearce should win in November. "Advertising works," he said. "We're out there now without all the other ads" in the Senate race that eventually will clutter the airwaves. "We don't have any doubts it's a good strategy."

Otherwise, Schlickeisen's group isn't involved in the primary races, he said, and it may not spend money in any of the U.S. House races in New Mexico. The seat being vacated by Udall, Congressional District 3, should be a relatively easy win for whichever Democrat gets the nomination, he said. Schlickeisen said he doesn't know much about any of the candidates in the wide-open race for CD2, Pearce's seat, and will wait to see who wins the primary races to determine if Action Fund will step in.

The one congressional race that may get some Action Fund money is in CD1, the seat vacated by Wilson. Recent polls suggest a face-off in November between Democrat Martin Heinrich and Republican Darren White. "Depending on our resources, we might be able to help (the Democratic candidate) get to victory," Schlickeisen said.

The Action Fund will also help environment-friendly allies through polling, opposition research and the like, he said.

At the national level, either of the Democratic contenders for president would be better than presumptive Republican nominee John McCain, Schlickeisen said. The Arizona senator has an "extremely erratic" voting record on environmental issues, he said, and while McCain is better than than most in his party, "that's not saying much."

And since McCain started his presidential bid, he "has hidden from every environmental vote," Schlickeisen said. "He doesn't want to piss off his right-wing constituency."

Interestingly, Schlickeisen said he thought Gov. Bill Richardson had the strongest environmental stance of any of the original Democratic field of candidates, but added that either Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama will be welcomed by the environmental movement.

Environmental concerns normally don't drive elections, Schlickeisen said, but 2008 could be different — global warming and energy could help define the national contests. "The environmental community can't force it. We can't buy enough air time to make it an issue," he said.

But an environmental stance can say a lot about a candidate's character, and that can move voters one way or another, Schlickeisen said. "Do I really want somebody who wants to drill offshore, who wants to sell off our national forests, who wants to gut the Endangered Species Act?" he asked.

Schlickeisen is hoping the answer is "no," and these days he's putting money on it.

print Share

Register or log in to rate