"[A] funny thing happened to [Ralph] Reed this week: He lost a Republican primary in a Southern state -- exactly the sort of electorate that Reed was an expert at courting. In a race for lieutenant governor of Georgia, Reed was defeated by Casey Cagle, a state senator who initially didn't seem to have a prayer against his charming and charismatic foe.

Reed was upended by his very success as a consultant: An old friend named Jack Abramoff had some Indian gambling clients who wanted to beat back the effort of a competing tribe to open a casino. Abramoff arranged for Reed's companies to be paid $4 million to organize grass-roots anti-gambling sentiment to oppose the competitor's casino bid. So Reed got to be on the anti-gambling side publicly, even as he was being paid privately by gambling interests to do what they needed done.

It all might have worked splendidly had Abramoff not gotten into a spot of trouble. The public interest in Abramoff, who pleaded guilty to corruption charges, forced Reed's gambling transaction to the surface, and Cagle made the most of it. One Cagle ad declared that Reed had "sold out our conservative values" and concluded: "Ralph Reed: His values are for sale." It's the sort of attack Reed himself might have admired under other circumstances. Cagle won by 12 points."

Get the Story:
E. J. Dionne Jr.: Reed and The End Of a Road (The Washington Post 7/21)
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Senate Indian Affairs Committee Abramoff Report:
�GIMME FIVE�� INVESTIGATION OF TRIBAL LOBBYING MATTERS (June 2006)

Exhibits:
Pre-2001 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | Undated | Finance

Misisssippi Choctaw/DOI Letters:
Chief Martin/Jim Cason Correspondence

Relevant Links:
Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians - http://www.choctaw.org
Read About Reed - http://www.readaboutreed.com
Stop Ralph Reed - http://www.stopralphreed.com
Ralph Reed - http://www.ralphreed.com
Century Strategies - http://www.censtrat.com

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