Latham & Boehner

As you may recall, House Minority Leader John Boehner did a fundraiser last month for Congressman Tom Latham (R-Ames).  POLITICO has a story today about Latham’s relationship/friendship/political partnership with Boehner.

It reminds me of the Bob Dole/Chuck Grassley friendship.  The two were close, but Grassley never revealed much about the friendship.  When asked at the 1996 Republican National Convention about his relationship with Dole, Grassley (essentially) said he wasn’t going to talk about it.  Grassley hinted that was why he and Dole were friends, because Grassley didn’t blab about it.  If you read the POLITICO piece, you’ll see Latham isn’t “blabbing” about Boehner either.  Perhaps it’s a Midwestern thing? 

In 1996 when Dole’s nomination as the GOP presidential candidate was confirmed on the convention floor in San Diego, and the national networks took a live picture feed from the hotel room where Dole was watching the procedings, it wasn’t E. Dole sitting on the couch with B. Dole.  It was Grassley.  A Dole campaign aide, knowing “the picture” to capture the moment Dole was nominated was near, had approached Grassley and asked him to move off the couch so Dole’s wife could sit there.  Dole told his campaign aide Grassley wasn’t moving.