Andover Native Becomes ‘Darling’ of Washington Conservatism
Darlingprofile
The Eagle-Tribune
Bryan McGonigle
Boston University Washington News Service
Nov. 15
WASHINGTON, Nov. 15–Conservative activist Brian Darling sat in his Washington office just days before the midterm elections trying to fit in a quick lunch between a barrage of media appearances.
Speaking as director of Senate relations for a heavyweight conservative think tank, he’d been interviewed that morning for the Dave Chadwick Show in North Carolina and
then appeared on CNBC debating about voter issues. He had more interviews to get to before the day was done.
“I’m really busy now, because people want to know what we think of all these issues
coming up with the election,” Darling said, looking for his schedule. “There’s just so much that I can’t even keep track of it.”
Clearly, he’s no longer in Andover.
Darling left the Merrimack Valley years ago and put on his figurative boxing gloves to champion the conservative cause across the nation. He’s also forged a legal and political career entangled in a few of the most pivotal and controversial fights of the new millennium: the Bush-Gore election recount, the Elian Gonzalez asylum dispute and an unfavorable incident during the Terri Schiavo case that would bring him national attention.
Average grades and ‘left-wing crazies’
Darling, 41, grew up in Andover, the middle of five children of Chester and Daphne
Darling. His father was a Boston trial lawyer famous for representing the organizers of the Boston St. Patrick’s Day Parade in their legal battle against gay and lesbian groups who wanted to march in the procession.
Chester Darling said his son was well-behaved and knew the value of a dollar, proudly noting that Brian Darling washed dishes at a restaurant as a kid. He also recalled an incident in which a woman’s car was stuck on train tracks in Andover while a train was arriving, and Brian Darling took action.
“It was like one of those silent movies, and my son jumped in the car and pulled the lady out of the car,” he said.
Darling graduated in 1983 from Andover High School, where he received average grades. He played sports with his friends, but he wasn’t on any school teams. He wasn’t political-minded in high school, either.
But Darling found his calling at UMass Amherst. A student in his dorm was involved with the College Republicans, and when Darling went to a meeting, he realized that this was where he belonged.
“UMass was a very leftist campus,” Darling said. “The feeling was one of being in a very
contentious atmosphere. We had the Young Communists League on campus… left-wing crazies who were all over the place.”
Darling said his newfound love for conservatism and the opposition from such
“left-wing crazies” are what toughened his punches and nurtured his fighting spirit.
“It gave me a lot of training,” Darling said. “I find that I have an easier time arguing with people because of my experience at UMass. It was baptism by fire.”
W. Greg Rothman befriended Darling when they were freshmen together at UMass.
“Brian and I took several classes, or should I say, ‘missed’ several classes,”
said Rothman,. who is the CEO of a Pennsylvania real estate company and was recently named to the board of the National Veterans Business Development Corp. by President Bush.
Although they had active social lives, Rothman said, their lives at school revolved around politics.
Darling started a conservative newspaper at UMass called The Minuteman, which is still in publication, with classmate Tony Rudy – a man who would become a lobbyist and recently pleaded guilty to conspiracy for his involvement in the Jack Abramoff scandal.
David R. Mark, a liberal blogger and managing editor of a national real estate publication, was an editor on UMass’s newspaper, The Daily Collegian, in the mid-1980s. Last January, Mark wrote an article for Blogcritics Magazine about Darling and Rudy, referring to them as “one half of a quartet that led conservatives” at UMass.
“I remember arguing with Tony [Rudy], Brian and their colleagues about all things Reagan,” Mark wrote. “But basically, I remember them as being fun, smart guys who happily wasted time in the campus center arcade and who weren’t against getting a beer.”
A Right Hook, far-right hook
Darling is a conservative, unapologetic and unhindered. His heroes are his father and Ronald Reagan. Pro guns and against abortion, welfare and same-sex marriage, he’s a hard-line right-winger who wears his ideology on his sleeve and does so with a confident smile.
The talking Ann Coulter doll next to his desk can attest to that.
“If I was going to be involved in politics, I had to leave Massachusetts,” Darling said.
“There was no future for a conservative, pro-gun, pro-life Republican in the state of
Massachusetts.”
So he left the Bay State for redder pastures.
Darling’s first political job in Washington was for Sen. Steve Symms, R-Idaho, in the fall of 1992. After Symms retired, Darling worked for Sen. Paul Coverdell, R-Ga., in 1993.
Darling left Washington in 1993 to get his law degree at New England School of Law,
and later worked for his father’s law firm in Boston and for the Massachusetts Civil Service Commission.
But in the fall of 1999, Darling stepped back into the ring in Washington as legal counsel for Sen. Robert Smith of New Hampshire. Smith had quit the Republican Party, accusing it of abandoning its core conservative values, and was seeking the presidency as a third-party candidate.
Hanging from the wall in Darling’s office is the speech Smith gave when he left the
Republican ranks.
“I remember watching that [speech] on TV in Andover, and I thought it was really
wonderful that this guy was quitting the Republican Party on principle,” Darling said.
“So when I got a call to go work for him, it was an offer I couldn’t refuse.”
Battles in the Sunshine State
In January 2000, Darling and Smith traveled to Florida to help a child.
Elian Gonzalez was a 6-year-old Cuban who had fled his home country with his mother. She died at sea, and the boy’s father wanted him to return to Cuba. Darling and Smith visited the boy and proposed legislation to grant him permanent residence in Florida. Their battle would eventually be lost when Elian was sent back to Cuba to live with his father.
“We did our best to try to help provide that little guy with some sort of recourse so he
could stay here if he wanted to,” Darling said, still visibly saddened at the outcome.
“It’s sad when you think his mother gave her life to get that boy to freedom and out of a
communist dictatorship, and we just sent the kid back.”
Darling – who believes in tough border security but also wants open borders for those fleeing communism – said he thinks Elian’s family members were being intimidated and threatened by Cuban dictator Fidel Castro.
Darling’s career would gain further notoriety in Florida in the wake of another
controversy – the contested 2000 presidential election. He headed to Miami-Dade County, expecting the issue to be resolved by the time he got there.
“That ended up being a very important count,” Darling said. “All of those ballots were
counted before the count was stopped in Miami. They all mattered in the final tally.”
They counted for several days. Darling said one man at his counting table became so stressed that he ran out and got sick.
Darling said he found nine extra votes – all for Al Gore – and he objected to the count, forcing another five-hour recount which ended with a correct count.
“It was nice to be a part of it,” Darling said. “That year, 2000, was an interesting year, with Elian Gonzalez and the Florida recount, and I somehow was right in the middle of both.”
Darling spent the next few years as a lobbyist, mostly for gun interests, and worked for the Alexander Strategy Group – the same firm his friend Tony Rudy worked for and that shut down early this year after the Abramoff scandal hit.
After Sept. 11, 2001, Darling was instrumental in helping Smith with legislation allowing airplane pilots to carry firearms.
Misstep in a Memo
Florida beckoned Darling again in January 2005, when he went to work for Sen. Mel Martinez, R-Fla. – a move that would bring national fame – or infamy – to Darling’s
career.
Terri Schiavo was in a persistent vegetative condition for 15 years, and her husband wanted to take out her feeding tube and let her die. Her family, the Schindlers, wanted to keep her alive. Despite congressional legislation intended to help keep Schiavo alive, the Florida Supreme Court ruled that her husband could remove her feeding tube, allowing her to die. The issue divided America along cultural lines.
In March 2005, as Schiavo lay dying, Darling wrote a memo about how Republicans could use the Schiavo case as a political issue to rally the conservative base against Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., in the 2006 election.
“This is an important moral issue, and the pro-life base will be excited that the Senate is debating this important issue,” the memo said.
The memo found its way into Democratic hands and was made public, causing a media frenzy and nationwide outrage. Darling admitted writing it and resigned from his job immediately.
Nelson, the target of Darling’s strategy, was re-elected to the Senate earlier this month.
“Clearly, it wasn’t the smartest thing I’ve ever done,” Darling said humbly.
Other than the memo, Darling is proud of the role he played in the Schiavo case. He helped draft the legislation passed by Congress to keep Schiavo alive. Even though the Florida courts eventually ruled against keeping her alive, Darling said he didn’t regret his efforts to save the woman.
“The memo controversy is not something I’m proud of,” Darling said. “But the
only persons that I really was concerned about offending were the Schindler family, who I worked very closely with.”
Mark, who had once played video games with Darling in the UMass campus center, has referred to Darling as a “tragic hero” of the conservative movement.
“I don’t think the Terri Schiavo memo was meant for publication, but I still found it in poor taste,” Mark said. “You shouldn’t capitalize on someone’s pain.”
Darling said the Schindler family has never given him any indication that they were
displeased with what he did.
“It was a tough time, when my career was going so well,” Darling said.
But Darling still was not down for the count. Just a few months later, he joined the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank down the street from the Capitol where he’d climbed up the conservative ladder. Darling was named director of the foundation’s Senate relations.
Next Round
“The way Washington works, it’s funny, because if you’re in the right place at the right
time, things will work out for you,” Darling said.
Darling said the Heritage Foundation gives him a sense of freedom that comes with working for a think tank, where he can express himself without the restraint that comes with working for elected officials. He enjoys making media appearances and expressing his own views rather than working in the background for politicians. And his family enjoys watching him spar in the media.
“We love taping him when he’s on TV,” his mother, Daphne, said. “I just want him to be happy.”
Darling plans to marry someday. Although he is dating a conservative, he said he doesn’t have a political litmus test for a wife.
“We do want some grandchildren,” Daphne Darling insisted.
Darling – whose job it is to deliver the Heritage Foundation’s message to the Senate – was disappointed with the midterm elections, in which Democrats took control of Congress. But he said it sent a clear message to Republicans that they need to get back to their conservative roots – back to the 1994 Contract with America that had helped bring them to power in the first place.
“I trust that he will become even more sought-after and prominent now that Republicans have lost the Senate and the conservative movement regroups,” Rothman said. “Brian Darling has stayed the same principled person despite all his years in Washington. Most people, that can’t be said about.”
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