Another "qualified" player on the GOP's deep bench

Adam Laxalt was described by his firm's evaluation committee as "a train wreck" who "doesn't even have the basic skill set," according to a review of his performance two years ago.

The assessment by the Lewis & Roca Associate Evaluation and Compensation Committee (AECC) suggested that Laxalt attend seminars to "address basic legal principles" because of his "horrible reviews" and because he "has judgment issues and doesn't seem to understand what to do."

The recommendation: A "freeze in salary, deferral, and possible termination."

The summary of the findings, which I have obtained, authenticated and posted below, is incredibly scathing and derogatory. The conclusion: "You need to work on the quality of your work. You need to work on your legal writing skills."

Other than that....

Soon after this assessment by the firm, Laxalt was made "of counsel," a position that allowed him the luxury of not being evaluated. Not only was Laxalt known inside the firm to be pursuing a political career, but the evaluation also chided him for linking to "political articles" on the firm's website, a likely reference to his anti-gay-marriage screeds.

Laxalt's brutal evaluation also was markedly dissonant from his self-assessment, in which he described himself as exceeding expectations and "outstanding" in his performance. That lack of self-awareness was also noted by the evaluation committee.

Dick Cheney calls him “courageous” and says electing him “is of the highest priority.

John Bolton traveled across the country to headline a fundraiser for him. Newt Gingrich, Frank Fahrenkopf, Tom Ridge and Ed Meese (remember him?) all appeared at the same D.C. event to celebrate his candidacy. Donald Rumsfeld gave him a personal check for $5,000, part of a half-million-dollar haul.

Who is this remarkable contender attracting such a list of national GOP luminaries? What remarkably accomplished figure could warrant such attention? Who can command encomia from a former vice president, attorney general, defense secretary, House speaker, chairman of the Republican National Committee and Homeland Security secretary?

Adam Laxalt, that’s who.

Who?

Laxalt is only 34, has never run for office before and is campaigning for attorney general—attorney general!—in Nevada, where he has been a cipher until just recently and whose last name explains … everything. That’s because Laxalt has one of the most unusual pedigrees in American politics: He’s the grandson of Paul Laxalt, the former senator and Ronald Reagan confidant once known as “the first friend”—still, at 91, casting a long if not always visible shadow in Nevada politics. Awkwardly, young Laxalt is also the illegitimate son of Sen. Pete Domenici, his grandfather’s longtime Senate colleague. In fact, it was only last year that Adam Laxalt’s mother Michelle, a 24-year-old Reagan operative at the time of the affair and now a well-known Washington lobbyist, revealed her son’s parentage for the first time, a sensational revelation that almost certainly had the effect of clearing the way for his political career.