‘Pollstress’ Conway Brings Trump Campaign Experience With Conservative Edge New manager made her name with Republican candidates who tried to oust former Speaker BoehnerBy Michael C. Bender and Beth Reinhard
http://www.wsj.com/articles/pollstress-conway-brings-trump-campaign-experience-with-conservative-edge-1471563477
The woman tasked with turning around Donald Trump’s Republican presidential campaign has toiled extensively in the party’s antiestablishment conservative lane during the past decade, working for House members who tried to overthrow former Speaker John Boehner and Senate candidates whose stumbles helped delay the takeover of that chamber.
Kellyanne Conway, a longtime Washington-based pollster, was installed this week as manager for the New York billionaire’s insurgent campaign. A New Jersey native with a knack for snappy sound bites, Ms. Conway made her name in Republican circles by surviving in a space occupied by few females: overseeing opinion surveys for some of the party’s most conservative politicians.
A self-described “pollstress” who includes Trump’s running mate, Indiana Governor Mike Pence, as a former client, Ms. Conway leveraged her status to help sell herself as an expert on marketing candidates to women. Despite a mixed record of success, she has now secured senior-level positions supporting the presidential bids of the last two Republicans standing this year: Mr. Trump and his last serious rival, Senator Ted Cruz. Those jobs have earned her company more than $1.2 million in the past two years, according to Federal Election Commission records.
In an interview, Ms. Conway indicated that she also intends to narrow and sharpen the campaign’s focus. While Mr. Trump has talked about competing in a broad range of states, including California and Connecticut, that haven’t supported a Republican candidate for decades, Ms. Conway, 49 years old, said the campaign would focus on “seven or eight states.” “If things go well there, then we’ll look at expanding,” she said.
In a statement, Mr. Trump said that “Kellyanne has a great vision for politics and tremendous spirit.” He called her “a wonderful person, whom I trust and respect.”
Ms. Conway, who once lived in Trump World Tower in Manhattan, was elevated this week as part of an attempt to reset Mr. Trump’s campaign. He has trailed Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton in nearly all major public polls since her party’s convention three weeks ago, in part because of his struggles with female voters.
In the latest Wall Street Journal/NBC News nationwide poll, Mr. Trump trailed Mrs. Clinton by 16 percentage points. In 2012, Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney lost women by 11 percentage points to President Obama.
ENLARGE Some Republicans, noting Mr. Trump’s history of controversial comments about women, question how much such numbers can be turned around.
“The problem with this campaign is Trump,” said Tim Miller, former communications director Jeb Bush’s presidential campaign. “Women voters don’t have amnesia. They’re not going to forget everything he’s said and done over the past two years. Even if this new team is supposed to help him appeal to women, it’s too late.”
Ms. Conway’s status as a Washington insider contrasts with the outsider image of Mr. Trump—who often mocks political professionals, saying he can read polls better than they can. She also exhibits many of the personality traits prized by the former reality TV show host. She’s a high-energy, fast-talking strategist. Former clients describe her as “no-nonsense” and praise her ability to boil complicated policies into easily digestible talking points.
But while Trump justified hiring Ms. Conway by saying she gives him the best chance to win, others have noted that her record in recent years suggests otherwise. She helped steer Rep. Lee Zeldin (R, N.Y.) to a victory in a toss-up district two years ago and includes another half-dozen members of Congress as current or former clients. But she has also tied to some significant failures. This year she advised Sen. Ted Cruz during his presidential campaign, as well as GOP candidates Newt Gingrich in 2012 and Fred Thompson in 2008.
Federal Election Commission records indicate Ms. Conway’s Washington-based company, The Polling Company, performed surveys for Christine O’Donnell, the Senate candidate from Delaware who lost in the conservative Tea Party wave in 2010. Two years later, Conway worked for Todd Akin, a U.S. Senate candidate in Missouri who questioned whether victims of “legitimate rape” can become pregnant. Mr. Akin’s comments became an issue for Republican candidates across the country, including a rebuke from Mr. Romney.
Ms. Conway said in the interview that she quit Mr. Akin’s campaign after the comments. At the time, she compared his ability to withstand the backlash to cult leader David Koresh’s deadly 1993 standoff with federal agents in Waco, Texas. “The guy’s not coming out of the bunker,” said Ms. Conway, who, like Mr. Akin, is a staunch abortion opponent. “Todd has shown his principle to the voters.”
The following year, at a retreat for Republican lawmakers, Mrs Conway told them to stop talking about rape. “It’s a four-letter word,” she told them.
Ms. Conway received at least $2.8 million over the last decade from federal candidates and committees, FEC records show. A big chunk of those earnings came in the current presidential race, after years working for House and Senate candidates. She earned more than $532,000 working for super PACs backing Cruz and another $705,000 working for a pro-Trump super PAC, FEC records show.
Her clients in Congress include conservative firebrands Rep. Steve King of Iowa, former Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota and Rep. Tim Huelskamp, a Tea Party Caucus leader who recently lost his seat in a GOP primary.
“She’s one of those individuals you have on speed dial,” said Rep. Marsha Blackburn, a Tennessee Republican backing Trump. “She has good instincts, gives good advice and is very thoughtful. I think her impact on the Trump campaign will be significant.”
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