IN MY SHOES: From Liberal Dem To Tea Partier In One Lifetime
The Washington Post profiles Paul Teller, who “was reared by liberal Jewish parents on Long Island” but has become “one of the most influential conservative aides in Congress, revering Ronald Reagan, fighting Big Government and serving as an unofficial liaison to the Tea Party movement”:
"The joke in my family is that I was accidentally dropped on my head as a child and the side effect was conservatism."
Teller, who says he's a conservative before he's a Republican, is the executive director of the House conservative caucus known as the Republican Study Committee (RSC). He's the bomb thrower in the shadows for more than 100 RSC members, whose purist conservative mission often poses a challenge for the more pragmatic House Republican leadership.
Where the party establishment treads lightly, Teller and Co. rush in. Take the Tea Party wave, for instance.
Whereas most Republicans have taken a cautious approach to their support for organizations such as Tea Party Patriots, Tea Party Nation and Tea Party Express, Teller describes the RSC as "very in line" with the tea partyers. …
His ebullient nature, impeccable manners and stealthy determination make him simultaneously lovable and annoying to his party's establishment. "Paul's a very quiet force on Capitol Hill for conservative values," said Rep. Mike Pence (R-Ind.), Teller's former boss who is now in the GOP leadership. "And he does it with a smile."
Teller is known as a Hill staff member who can influence the thinking of lawmakers and the outcome of legislation. …
It was Aug. 4, 2007, the last day before Congress adjourned for the summer. The GOP leadership had just forced a vote on its substitute to the Democratic majority's energy-tax bill. Republicans voted "yes." Then they looked at their BlackBerries and saw the memo alert from Teller warning: "The substitute contains tax increases - and other revenue increases."
One by one, in rapid succession, the GOP "yes" votes on the electronic voting board changed to "no." With Teller's intervention, conservatives had helped kill the Republican bill and embarrass their leadership. …
Teller has also earned the respect of K Street lobbyists and leading conservative thinkers. "People trust his judgment and want to know what he has to say," says Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform and an icon of the conservative movement.
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