11 April 2008
Campaigns for National Offices Often Rely on Outside Expertise
Oregon’s Mark Weiner reflects on the role of the political consultant
Portland, Oregon -- As Election Day approaches, U.S campaign organizations shift into high gear. Although most of the thousands of contested posts are in local government and lack full-time campaign staffs, larger campaigns have a number of paid staff positions and big budgets for advertising.
But large campaigns are working in a political environment that presents new challenges. Campaigns are both energized and exhausted by the increasing array of communications media. In addition, party affiliation among voters has weakened, meaning that few candidates can count on winning just because of their party label. The Oregon 1st Congressional District illustrates this point. Even though it has more Republican registered voters than Democrats, the district has sent a Democrat to Congress in every election for more than 30 years.
To meet these challenges, campaigns often hire political consultants for specific tasks. Consultants might design campaign brochures, produce television and radio ads or arrange opinion polling. Consultants often participate in the candidate’s policy councils.
Contrary to the popular image of political consultants as steely-eyed gunslingers who would campaign for the devil if the money was right, most consultants have strong political values and work mostly for candidates who share those values.
One of the best-known consultants in Oregon is Mark Weiner, whose company, Winning Mark, has a record of success and has won several national awards. The firm often is hired for national campaigns, some outside Oregon and some outside politics. One of its most noted recent campaigns aimed to raise awareness of the crisis in Darfur, a project that reflects Weiner’s hopes of working internationally.
A robust, bearded man in his 50s, Weiner recently spoke with America.gov about his work.
MATCHING CONSULTANTS WITH CANDIDATES
Weiner sat in a conference room crowded with brochures, photos and other materials from past campaigns. A television and scattered videotapes attested to an office in the middle of its busiest season. Weiner spoke with the frankness of a man paid to communicate effectively and the ironic humor of someone who has known both victory and defeat.
Discussing the campaign in the Oregon 1st as well as others, he said it is not always easy for a consultant to find a good match with a candidate. Weiner said he occasionally has told a client, “I’ll probably vote for you, but if we work together on a campaign we’ll probably kill each other.”
Weiner also has to judge whether the candidate has any realistic chance of success. “I don’t believe in having a candidate spend their money or other people’s money on something that I either don’t believe in or I don’t want to do,” he said.
In addition, a consultant must be frank with candidates he believes cannot win. “I am the crusher of hopes and dreams,” he said with a sardonic smile.
Regarding negative advertising and other campaigns issues, Weiner was blunt: “If it’s true and it’s relevant, it’s important information” that voters need to know. About the public’s fascination with polls, he said the polls that matter most are those taken before the campaign begins, which show what is on voters’ minds. Such polls help ensure a candidate addresses the issues that matter most. On manipulative consultants who tell a candidate what to say and how to act: “I don’t believe in that. The voters are pretty good at smelling out a phony.”
He clearly enjoys the zest of campaigning. Talking about a particularly satisfying win against an opponent he disliked, he smiled and said, “We beat him like a rented mule.”
Although he works generally with Democrats, Weiner assesses races professionally and objectively. He said that the Oregon 1st is “bluer [leaning more toward the Democrats] than it used to be,” but added that the district, like the state has “a great tradition of moderate Republicanism.”
Imagining himself working on the Republican campaign, he said, “There are a lot of libertarian and moderate Republicans in the district who are not going to respond well to” the sometimes harsh rhetoric of more extreme candidates. “If you’re going to run the Republican campaign,” he says, “you have to find a moderate” to take on the incumbent Democrat, David Wu. Crucial to the success of such a campaign is that, “you have to come up with a reason for the voters to fire” the current office holder.
Wu’s job, Weiner said, is simpler: “If you’re defending the seat, you have to avoid screwing up too badly.”
As Election Day approaches, the Republican and Democratic campaigns in the Oregon 1st likely will look to their own consultants to help them run effectively and finish victorious.
