Lobbyist and top Boehner ally says GOP will 'beat the snot' out of the Tea Party

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LaTourette is a lobbyist and strong Boehner ally. Top Ten 2012 US Senate races lost by 'business' side of the GOP.

10/24/13, "Inside the Messy but Moneyed Republican Plan to Neutralize the Tea Party," National Journal, Beth Reinhard

"The business-friendly GOP establishment is putting its cash to work in skirmishes across the country that might reshape the 2014 elections."

"From Alabama to Alaska, the center-right, business-oriented wing of the Republican Party is gearing up for a series of skirmishes that it hopes can prevent the 2014 midterm election from turning into another missed opportunity. This will not be a coordinated operation. It will be messy, ugly, and prone to backfiring. And if the comeback succeeds, it will be in fits and starts, most likely culminating in the selection of a presidential nominee in 2016.

"Hopefully we'll go into eight to 10 races and beat the snot out of them," said former Rep. Steve LaTourette of Ohio, whose new political group, Defending Main Street, aims to raise $8 million to fend off tea-party challenges against more mainstream Republican incumbents. "We're going to be very aggressive and we're going to get in their faces."...

For some Republicans, the time for soul-searching is over. "This is a battle we have to fight," said GOP consultant John Feehery, who has advised top Republican leaders on Capitol Hill. "We can't just lie down and let this happen."...

LaTourette's Defending Main Street group has identified its first project: defending Rep. Mike Simpson of Idaho. The Club for Growth threw its support to a tea-party challenger, Bryan Smith, because Simpson backed the $700 million Wall Street bailout, raising the debt ceiling, and a budget deal that staved off the fiscal cliff.

Defending Main Street also is keeping an eye on other House Republicans who have drawn the wrath of the Club for Growth, including Aaron Schock and Adam Kinzinger of Illinois and Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia, who is running for the Senate....

Along with LaTourette's group, another player in the battle for control of the Republican Party will be the Conservative Victory Project, an arm of the Crossroads super PAC founded by Republican strategist Karl Rove. The group plans to vet GOP primary candidates with the goal of sending the most viable conservative to the general election."...

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LaTourette and his wife are both lobbyists. LaTourette says he can begin lobbying fed. agencies immediately:

1/8/13, "Boehner ally LaTourette joins lobby firm," The Hill, By Kevin Bogardus 

"Former Rep. Steven LaTourette (R-Ohio) is heading to K Street."

"The nine-term congressman, who was a strong ally of Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) in the House, will head up a new lobbying and government relations services subsidiary of the law firm McDonald Hopkins in Washington. 

The ex-lawmaker will be president of McDonald Hopkins Government Strategies and will be joined by his wife, Jennifer LaTourette, who will be vice president for the new practice. She is a former House and Senate aide and was vice president of one of K Street’s top firms, Van Scoyoc Associates....

""To be clear, I can't lobby Congress for a year," LaTourette emphasized. "I am not prohibited from talking to federal agencies. Most of my time will be spent on business development and working with clients who may have difficulties with federal agencies.""...

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1/8/13, "Former Rep. Steve LaTourette and wife to start law firm's lobbying practice," Cleveland Plain Dealer