Over in Capitol Weekly newspaper, FR friend Anthony York has penned a quick piece looking at Governor Schwarzenegger’s new media team. I’ve reprinted an excerpt below, but you can read the whole piece here.
The real question is whether of not, in bringing together this team, the Governor has used his gravitas to corral these media consultant into flat-rate contracts where they are making a reasonable amount of money, but not so much that the precious money donated to help the Governor get reelected is instead diverted to vacation homes and lavish trips. For example, I’ve been told that media buyers might take as much as 15% of the buy as a "commission" for booking the airtime. I guess this would mean that for every million dollars of airtime purchase, $150,000 is going to a consultant. In the world of politics, that is an outrage.
Anyways, my editorial whim now being satisfied, here is the excerpt:
Matthew Dowd, Bush’s chief campaign strategist in 2004, is the governor’s chief strategist, and will oversee the campaign’s media message.
Alex Castellanos, who is based in Alexandria, Va., has a reputation for being a hard-nosed media maven. Castellanos was also hired by the Bush campaign in 2004, and has worked for the president’s brother Jeb, in his campaigns for Florida governor. Castellanos, considered one of the GOP’s top media consultants, is perhaps best known for the infamous "White Hands" spot on behalf of Jesse Helms in his 2000 reelection bid, attacking racial quotas.
Rounding out the media team is Fred Davis, another Bush 2004 veteran. Davis, a Los Angeles-based consultant, has worked for a number of Republican campaigns, including Dan Quayle’s presidential campaign in 2000, Elizabeth Dole’s 2002 Senate race and U.S. Rep. Bob Barr in Georgia.