Putnam's Profile Rising Within GOP

WASHINGTON - Nearly 400 people were expected to fill a $2,500-a-table fundraiser for GOP Rep. Howard P. 'Buck' McKeon near Los Angeles Saturday night.

The main draw: U.S. Rep. Adam Putnam.

The Bartow Republican was to attend a cocktail party and be the dinner's guest speaker.

'We're just delighted as can be that Adam is coming,' said McKeon's campaign manager, Bob Haueter, prior to the dinner. 'He's creating a lot of interest.'

Such out-of-state appearances are yet another sign of the continuing ascendancy of the 33-year-old in the ranks of a party that lost its hold on Congress last fall and is looking for new leadership.

'Adam Putnam has been rising through the ranks so fast that I would think he would get vertigo,' said David Wasserman, the U.S. House editor of The Cook Political Report, a nonpartisan political newsletter.

Putnam is still not a widely recognizable name for much of the nation, including within his own party's rank-and-file members.

The Floridian with youthful looks and red hair, first elected to the U.S. House in 2000 at age 26, is beating a path to change that.

Putnam initially moved in to a House Republican leadership post last year in the GOP reorganization after the resignation of former Majority Leader Tom DeLay. Putnam was elected policy chairman of the Republican conference, the fifth-ranking position in the House GOP at the time.

Then, after Putnam won a fourth term to his House seat last fall even as his party lost its majorities in both the House and Senate, he beat Rep. Jack Kingston of Georgia for the No. 3 GOP post in the House as conference chairman. Only Minority Leader John Boehner of Ohio and whip Roy Blunt of Missouri outrank Putnam.

A Republican Attack Dog

As conference chairman, Putnam plays a prominent role in setting his party's House agenda, including being a main House attack dog against Democrats on issues. The position also has given him an active role in trying to recapture a GOP House majority next year.

In an interview, Putnam said that effort includes more out-of-town appearances.

Since March, Putnam has traveled to Houston; Chicago; Blowing Rock, N.C.; and Bridgewater, Va., for events on behalf of House colleagues paid for by their campaigns.

'The tempo will accelerate as the battlegrounds take shape and you get a sense of the vulnerable districts,' Putnam said.

It's not just Putnam's nationwide travel that's ramping up, though.

With the 2008 elections still more than 13 months away, he already has transferred at least $210,000 this year from his campaign account to the National Republican Congressional Committee, campaign reports show.

He's also delivered more than $100,000 to 24 fellow Republicans from his personal political action committee, Red PAC, to help them in their upcoming races.

Helping to pay for this generosity is the more than $345,000 Putnam raised this year for his own campaign account, more than half of it from businesses and other political action committees.

Red PAC has raised another $175,000 this year, also relying heavily on business and lobbying donations.

Building For The Future

Putnam said he has not ruled out an eventual bid for statewide office - or for a higher leadership position in the GOP - but said all of these moves are just a part of being a Republican leader in the U.S. House.

Others agree, but as Putnam is fulfilling that role, they say he is also raising his national profile, making contacts in other states and building political chits that could have a huge bearing on his future.

It makes perfect sense for Putnam to try out appearances nationally, said Wasserman, of The Cook Political Report. 'That's because he's a candidate that everyone is talking about for a future, high-ranking leadership position in the Republican Party.

'So many Republican leaders have gone down in flames, and this kid with the hair color of flame and an untarnished reputation has been able to step forward,' Wasserman said.

Ross Baker, a political science professor and expert on Congress at Rutgers University, agreed: 'I would say there is some evidence of ambition here,' adding that Putnam's plans to increase his national travel are 'a leading indicator.'

Saturday's appearance in Santa Clarita, Calif., on behalf of the 69-year-old McKeon is, among other things, generating excitement among younger Republicans, said Haueter, McKeon's campaign manager.

Haueter said he thinks Putnam's appearance will benefit the Floridian, as well as McKeon.

'I think that what he's best known for is that he's been able to accomplish so much at such a young age,' Haueter said.

'A lot of our supporters out here know him and see him on TV. Now, there's a great deal of interest in our constituents in getting to know him better,' he said. 'For us, we're actually getting a lot of people in their 30s interested in coming to our event.'

Putnam responded: 'That's flattering. They're probably just being nice.'