Rep. Tom Cole (R-Oklahoma), the only Native American in Congress, is the cover story of this Sunday's New York Times Magazine.
Cole, a member of the Chickasaw Nation, is profiled for his role as chairman of the National Republican Congressional
Committee. He's in charge of all of his party's campaigns for the U.S. House, from recruiting candidates to raising money.
It's a tough job, given that Democrats already control the House and 29 incumbent Republicans plan to retire. Democrats have an eight-to-one money advantage and Cole recently said the NRCC has been bilked out of hundreds of thousands of dollars, maybe even as much as $1 million.
In the article, Cole never says whether he thinks he will succeed in bringing in more Republicans. He is quoted more about the presidential race -- he thinks Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-New York) is a stronger candidate than Sen.. Barack Obama (D-Illinois).
On other national issues, Cole appears to have miscalculated the long-term effects of the Jack Abramoff scandal and other corruption scandals that have killed the careers of top Republicans and have sent two former GOP Congressman to jail. Rep. Rick Renzi (R-Arizona), whose district includes parts of the Navajo Nation and some Apache reservations, was recently indicted.
“Scandals kill a politician,” Cold told the Times. They don’t kill a party, or the next guy to run in that district.”
Back in Oklahoma, Cole's relationship with his tribe's leaders is described as "extremely close." He represents the Chickasaw Nation -- the Times says it appears the tribe is responsible for nearly economic development project in south-central Oklahoma -- and other less financially successful tribes.
Get the Story:A Case of the Blues (The New York Times 3/30)
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