House GOP leader John Boehner taps former ‘Contract with America’ director

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House GOP leader John Boehner’s new chief of staff will be the same person who directed the ‘Contract with America’ that became the political banner under which Republicans swept to power in 1994.

Boehner’s announcement today that Barry Jackson would run his office came a week after he assigned a GOP colleague to craft a new political platform to define the party’s drive to retake the House majority it lost to the Democrats in the 2006 election.

“By bringing the director of the Contract with America back to the Hill during this important time for the nation, we’re sending a message that Republicans are serious about listening to the people, building a principled and lasting majority and renewing the drive for smaller, more accountable government,” the Ohio lawmaker said in a statement.

Jackson succeeds Paula Nowakowski, Boehner’s chief of staff who died earlier this month. Jackson served as Boehner’s chief of staff and as executive director of the House Republican Conference in the 1990s.

Led by Newt Gingrich, House Republicans in 1994 ran behind the 10-point contract, which included such issues as tax cuts, welfare reform, term limits, limiting lawsuits and greater defense spending.

Jackson was a top political advisor in the George W. Bush White House and served as an aide to Karl Rove.

-- Associated Press