Shake-Up at the RNC

The dismissal of Jeff Berkowitz, the Republican National Committee’s research director, is only the latest in a series of high-profile departures that will hurt the GOP in the run-up to November’s elections.

Jeff Berkowitz may not be a name that many outside the Beltway are familiar with, but his departure as Research Director for the Republican National Committee is an immense loss for the GOP’s campaign apparatus going into the November elections.

Jeff Berkowitz plays chess while his opponents play checkers. I’ve had the pleasure of speaking with Jeff on a number of occasions, and he thinks with a surgeon’s complexity and accuracy – his depth of political knowledge is rare, even in a town like Washington, D.C.

Berkowitz has built up an enormous amount of goodwill over his time with the Bush administration, then with the Giuliani presidential campaign, and most recently the RNC. “It is a tremendous loss for the RNC to have Jeff Berkowitz leave, because he brings in an enormous amount of institutional memory as well as unparalleled strategic thinking into winning elections,” one political strategist told FrumForum.

Over the course of his time at the Republican National Committee, Berkowitz changed the research department into an office widely respected for its daily 7am research briefing, which was perhaps the best conveyance of what Republicans were thinking and doing and saying about the opposition.

During Berkowitz’s tenure, the RNC research department also formed its own twitter account to distribute its findings instantly; created its own rapid-response channel on YouTube; and regularly had their research briefings posted on Drudge or mentioned on cable news.

The RNC’s success in framing the President’s healthcare reform agenda was due in part to Berkowitz’s research department; some have pointed to the RNC’s work as being a major factor in why the President didn’t see a polling bump after passage of Obamacare.

Berkowitz’s departure was sudden and unexpected. On Friday morning he was delivering a lecture about candidate research at American University, and introduced himself as the Research Director for the RNC. That afternoon, em>Politico reports<, he was dismissed.

When a staffer as talented as Berkowitz is let go, one has to wonder why.  Jeff himself has been tremendously loyal to his former office – news of his departure didn’t make the press until two days later, an eternity in Politico’s Washington. Berkowitz also didn’t respond to FrumForum’s requests for comment.

But some of those who are familiar with the circumstances of Jeff Berkowitz’s departure suggest that he was let go because his first loyalty was to electoral success, and not primarily to the promotion of Chairman Steele’s personal image.

“It seemed that promoting Chairman Steele was the number one priority for the people who surround Chairman Steele. Jeff was probably let go because he wasn't willing to put Chairman Steele above winning elections," one senior official close to the RNC told FrumForum. “Jeff Berkowitz had a very high standard for everything that he did … to not recognize that success shows that [the RNC] was ungrateful for the work.”

The Republican National Committee declined to comment on the situation behind Berkowitz’s departure, except to tell FrumForum that “the Committee decided to go in a different direction.”

The Committee is currently experiencing a prolonged shakeup. Chief of Staff Ken Mackay left in early April, and Finance Director Rob Bickhart was booted earlier this month. Berkowitz’s deputy, research staffer Matt Moon, gave notice of his departure two weeks ago.

Jeff Berkowitz will not be replaced by a lightweight, but the fact remains that the Republican Party’s campaign apparatus has for now lost an incredibly capable, thoughtful and intelligent political operative, and GOP fortunes will suffer accordingly.