The presidential race has been taking center stage in our political discussions and debates.

But don’t forget the vitally important campaigns for Republicans running for Senate in 2008.

Here’s a great quote by Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) in today’s Roll Call:

“‘I’m going to try to stop them from doing it — it would be disastrous for our country,’ Hatch said.”

(Senator Orrin Hatch on what would happen to our great nation if Democrats gained 60 seats in the Senate, Roll Call, 4/1/08)

Senator Hatch is right.  We need to keep the Democrats from expanding their 51 seat majority to a filibuster-proof, 60-vote margin — which would relegate the Republicans to the sidelines.

Last week I was honored and thrilled for President Bush to join me and my wife Marlene at my house for a fundraiser in support of our Senate campaign efforts.  Senator Hatch was also in attendance

Here’s an AP story on the event:

Bush to Raise Money for Senate GOP

The Associated Press; Tuesday, March 25, 2008

WASHINGTON — President Bush joined an old partner to raise serious campaign cash for Senate Republicans.

The president headlined a private fundraiser Tuesday night at the home of Fred and Marlene Malek in the wealthy Washington suburb of McLean, Va. The dinner was raising $2 million for the National Republican Senatorial Committee, the campaign arm of the Senate GOP.

Malek, a local venture capitalist, was leader of a group that unsuccessfully bid two years ago to become the new owners of the Washington Nationals baseball team. Further back, he co-owned the Texas Rangers baseball franchise with Bush.

Malek, a veteran of the Nixon White House, also advised Presidents Ford and Reagan and was the 1992 campaign manager for the first President Bush.

It was a great evening – and the money we raised will help, as Senator Hatch might put it, avert disaster for our country.

John McCain gave a masterful speech on the economy this week.

Masterful because McCain’s plan would, in his words:

“ ….strengthen the foundations of the millions of businesses small and large that provide jobs for American workers. There is no government program or policy that is a substitute for a good job. These steps would also strengthen the U.S. dollar and help to control the rising cost of living that hurts our families.”

Naturally, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton immediately attacked him.

Obama:

“John McCain has said that he doesn’t understand the economy as well as he should, and yesterday he proved it in the speech he gave about the housing crisis.”

Hillary Clinton:

“It sounds remarkably like Herbert Hoover, and I don’t think that’s a good economic policy.”

Ad hominem attacks aren’t the way to get the economy moving in the right direction again.

Bold action will — the kind of steps Sen. McCain would take, such as:

• keeping taxes low on our families, entrepreneurs, and small businesses
• making the tax code simpler and fair by eliminating the Alternative Minimum Tax
• improving the ability of our companies to compete by reducing our corporate tax rate
• providing investment incentives and controlling rising health care costs

As someone with a lot of practical business experience, I see first-hand everyday how much these sound policies are needed.

It’s fine to debate policy. I enjoy a good discussion, most especially with my political adversaries, about the direction our country should be headed in. I’m confident that our side will win each debate, on the merits. But let’s leave it at that – a debate over tactics and strategy, not personality.

Sen. McCain is right in saying, “I will not play election year politics with the housing crisis. I will evaluate everything in terms of whether it might be harmful or helpful to our effort to deal with the crisis we face now.”

I hope the other candidates follow his example.

Meantime, you can see part of McCain’s speech in this Associated Press YouTube video.

As Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton continue to fumble over each other headed to the April 22 Pennsylvania primary, a couple of recent polls have me excited about the general election.

Here’s one in particular that caught my attention, the new Gallup poll:

• John McCain’s 67% favorable rating is the highest of any of the three major candidates running for president, and ties for his highest in Gallup polling history
• Barack Obama’s favorable rating is now at 62%
• Hillary Clinton’s favorable rating, 53%, is significantly lower than those of the other two candidates

And Larry Kudlow noted on his National Review Online blog:

“Has anyone noticed that John McCain is surging in the polls? According to the latest print from Rasmussen and Zogby, McCain now holds a 6 to 8 point lead against Hill-Bama.”

Of course, everyone knows that polls this early are, for the most part, worth the paper – or the Internet – they’re printed on. Still, I’m thrilled that John McCain has secured the Republican nomination for President. Winning the presidency certainly is no easy task – either Clinton or Obama will be formidable foes. But I firmly believe that our party has chosen the best candidate to keep the White House in November. I’m honored to be part of Team McCain – but more important, I think America can achieve greatness with John McCain as president.

By the way, a photo in The New York Times captured John and Cindy McCain in Dallas March 4 reacting to the TV announcement that he was the nominee. It’s a great picture — and I’m not just saying that because, well, that’s me in there, too!

I’m thrilled to be a blogger. I enjoy the rapid fire exchange of ideas and the debate that occurs all the time in the blogosphere. And I enjoy hearing all opinions, even those contrary to my own.

But one thing that gets under my skin is when fiction parading as fact enters the general political discussion.

In a recent posting on Daily Kos the author said:

One of Nixon’s advisors, Fred Malek, compiled a manual of techniques for ensuring that government agencies were more “responsive” to Nixon’s political goals. The Malek Manual described how administration officials could thwart federal laws prohibiting the firing and hiring of career employees based on their political affiliation.

What’s wrong with that?

A few things:

1) I did not compile, nor author, that manual.

2) It was written by Alan May in 1974.

3) That was a year after I had left the White House (I left the White House and became Deputy Director of OMB in Jan. 1973)

Why is my name linked to this document? It can’t just be that people like the alliteration, since the “May Manual” is just as catchy. And his authorship of the manual is public record – both the Washington Post and National Journal have reported that Alan May wrote it.

So how did the document get dubbed the “Malek Manual”? Unfortunately for me, it was found in my files because a copy was sent to me as a “courtesy.” I found it distasteful. But did not in fact have anything to do with creating it.

My alleged authorship of the “Malek Manual” is one of those myths which will probably linger around for a while longer. But let the record be straight, I left government service feeling a great degree of respect for the dedication and excellence of civil service employees, and support the federal laws prohibiting the firing and hiring of civil servants based on their political affiliations. Claiming I wrote the so-called “Malek Manual” is a falsehood, plain and simple.

I am fortunate today to be in a position to give something back to my community. So I don’t want to seem ungrateful when mentioning that being a somewhat public figure brings with it a certain amount of notoriety. I have always been proud of my lifelong work in philanthropy, politics, baseball, business, and cancer research. My years serving various presidential administrations and elections, in particular, were an important time in my life. Unfortunately, it is incidents from that earliest time in my life that sometimes get dredged up over and over again – and I’ve addressed my time in the Nixon administration 35 years ago and have been very straightforward about it.

Recently, however, other allegations have again surfaced on the blogosphere – allegations which are hurtful, and more importantly, untrue. I’m talking about an incident dating back nearly 50 years, when I was on active duty in the Army. Rumors abound that I killed and barbecued a dog in the summer of 1959. This is simply not true.

A recent statement from one person who was there – retired and highly decorated Colonel, Andrew P. O’Meara, Jr. – couldn’t make it more clear:

“Scurrilous allegations have recently been directed at Fred Malek charging that he killed and barbecued a dog in the summer of 1959. The allegations are totally false. During a trip to Peoria, IL in the summer of 1959, I became inebriated and in an ill-advised preparation for Ranger School survival training, I killed and barbecued a dog [Fred and a few others happened to be on the trip to Peoria but had nothing to do with the incident]. I was subsequently arrested, brought before a Magistrate, fined $200 for cruelty to animals and the incident was closed, I take full responsibility for my ill-advised actions that were a source of embarrassment to the Army and the Ranger School”

Andy takes full responsibility for the incident. I’d like to thank Andy for being a man with the integrity, to volunteer this information on the record and help keep the record straight and clear up my name.

It would have been far easier to ignore this issue, so I thank him for bringing the facts to light however uncomfortable it might be. Andy sets an example of admitting our mistakes and moving on, hopefully leaving the world a better place than we found it. And that’s what I’d like to do as well.

Hopefully this will begin to clarify and refocus attention on my future works and the subjects that I am passionate about.

Again, thank you Andy.

As readers of this blog know, I’m a huge Washington Nationals fan – even though I didn’t get the winning bid to own the team. What non-Washingtonians may not be too familiar with is the great Nationals tradition of the Presidents Race.

In the middle of the fourth inning of every home game, the four presidents featured on Mount Rushmore — George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abe Lincoln, and Teddy Roosevelt – race around the stadium. They’re puppets – huge puppets.

Alas, Teddy Roosevelt – one of my favorite presidents (I get that from John McCain, I guess) – never wins.

So unfair.

A grassroots movement has sprung up, with thousands of fans chanting “Let Teddy Win!” I’m with them. I say to the Powers That Be: Even out the playing field! Give Teddy a chance! Don’t rig the race – just be fair.

If you’re a Teddy Roosevelt supporter, I encourage you to check out this great new blog I discovered: http://blog.letteddywin.com/ . You can follow all the latest Presidents Race (and Nationals) news and even show your support for Teddy. And hopefully I’ll see you at the new ballpark.

Let’s go ‘Nats1 Let’s go Teddy!

John McCain’s victory in Virginia yesterday – along with victories in Maryland and D.C. – sets him up nicely to be the Republican Party’s presidential nominee. I’ve been blogging and writing op-eds forecasting the McCain momentum for some time, and not only am I glad to see it happen, I’m thrilled to be part of the winning team.

I also enjoyed reading this item in yesterday’s “Yeas & Nays” gossip column in the DC Examiner newspaper:

Fred Malek is McCain’s new moneyman

John McCain is back in town for today’s Potomac primary (he’s still a senator, too, we’re pretty sure), so he’s taking the opportunity to raise some coin while he’s chasing votes.

Fred Malek, the former Nixon aide, founder of Thayer Capital Partners and ex-suitor of the Washington Nationals, is hosting a fundraiser for McCain at his McLean home tonight.

Among his co-hosts are former VP candidate Jack Kemp, Bill and Bobbie Kilberg, Kathy Kemper, Jim Valentine and Carter Pate.

The price of admission is the maximum individual donation of $2,300.

According to FEC records, Malek has already kicked in his $2,300 to McCain, though it’s a small drop in the bucket of the hundreds of thousands he’s given to Republicans over the years. He also gave $2,150 to the senator’s erstwhile opponent, Mitt Romney.

Nice item, it was a great event, and I appreciate the attention they gave to my work on behalf of Sen. McCain. Just for the record, though, I haven’t contributed to Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign.

On Sunday I ventured into the world of podcasting. I was interviewed by one of Virginia’s top bloggers, J.R. Hoeft of Bearing Drift. Previewing Tuesday’s primary for Virginia Politics On Demand, we discussed John McCain’s conservative background plus how the general election battle against Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama will shape up.

Click here to listen to the interview:

Bearing Drift

With all my various involvements in life, I must say that my achievement in helping to bring baseball to Washington is among my proudest.  So I was quite pleased to see the Washington Post describe me this way in its story on DC-area fundraisers for presidential candidates:

 “[W]ould-be D.C. Nationals owner Fred Malek is backing McCain.”

Yes, I wish I were among the Nationals owners.  But the team they do have on top is doing a superb job.  Almost as good a job as John McCain is doing.

Very generous of Marc Ambinder to plug the Fred Malek blog in his blog at Atlantic.com

Here’s what Marc had to say: “Fred Malek Has A Blog. The gentleman is one of the biggest donors in the Republican Party, a behind-the-scenes-poo-bah, a major venture capitalist, a Vietnam veteran, and an opinion leader whose thoughts are worth reading.”
I’ll make sure to keep reading Marc’s blog to find out what’s really happening in politics.  I guess he joins others in shock that I enjoy blogging and actually know how to do it