No Place for Amateurs: How Political Consultants are Reshaping American Democracy

337 Pages·2001·1.04 MB·English

by  Dennis Johnson

NO PLACE FOR AMATEURS

NO PLACE FOR
A M AT E U R S
How Political Consultants
Are Reshaping American Democracy
DENNIS W. JOHNSON
ROUTLEDGE NEW YORK LONDON
Published in 2001 by
Routledge
29 West 35th Street
New York, NY 10001
Published in Great Britain by
Routledge
11 New Fetter Lane
London EC4P 4EE
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor and Francis Group.
This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2002.
Copyright © 2001 by Routledge
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized
in any form or by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or
hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording or in any information
storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
Cataloging-in-Publication Data available from the Library of Congress.
ISBN 0-415-92125-2 (hb). — ISBN 0-415-92836-2 (pb).
ISBN 0-203-90305-6 Master e-book ISBN
ISBN 0-203-90309-9 (Glassbook Format)
To Linda, with love

Contents
LISTOFTABLES viii
PREFACE ix
INTRODUCTION: CANVASSINGTHEPOLITICALLANDSCAPE xiii
Part One: Professional Campaigning: New Realities, New Challenges 1
1 Celebrity Consultants and Professionally Driven Campaigns 3
2 Running for Office: Not for the Faint of Heart 15
3 Case Study: Challenging an Incumbent U.S. Senator: The Realities of
a Tough, Hard-Fought, Professional Campaign 35
Part Two: Weapons of Modern Campaigning 57
4 Political Research: Digging Up the Dirt 59
5 Testing Public Opinion 87
6 The Media, Old and New 115
7 Targeting Voters 149
8 The Money Chase 169
Part Three: Wider Reach of Political Consulting 199
9 Ballot Issues, Local Elections, and Consultants 201
10 Citizens, Voters, and Democratic Choice 237
APPENDIXA: CITIZENS’ INTERNETRESOURCEGUIDE 251
APPENDIXB: LEADINGPOLITICALCONSULTINGFIRMS 255
NOTES 273
INDEX 315
vii
List of Tables
BREAKDOWN OF EXPENSES AND VOTE EFFICIENCY PAGE 55
POLITICAL RATE CARD, STATION WTVG, TOLEDO, OHIO,
SELECTIVE SHOWS, SPRING 1998 PAGE 125
WASHINGTON MEDIA MARKETS AND THE 1992
PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION PAGE 126
HARD MONEY CONTRIBUTIONS: A SUMMARY PAGE 182
GROWTH OF SOFT MONEY PAGE 184
SOFT MONEY CONTRIBUTIONS PAGE 188
PROFESSIONAL CAMPAIGN FIRMS BY SERVICES DELIVERED,
2000–2001 PAGE 255
Preface
Several years ago, E. J. Dionne Jr., Washington Post syndicated political
columnist, gave the commencement address at George Washington Univer-
sity’s Graduate School of Political Management. After his speech, Dionne
was presented with a gift from the student body, a T-shirt with the words
“Graduate School of Political Management” on the front and “Because poli-
tics is not for amateurs” on the back. Dionne graciously accepted the gift, but
then said that he hoped the T-shirt’s slogan was mistaken. Dionne, author of
the highly regarded book Why Americans Hate Politics, cautioned his audi-
ence: professionals have their place, but we should always have room for the
amateur in American elections and politics.
Dionne was admonishing freshly credentialed graduates who had learned
to design polls, conduct opposition research, make media buys, craft speeches,
develop campaign messages, and apply the whole range of techniques and
skills that are indispensable to modern professionalized campaigning. They
were about to become part of a new generation of professionals trained to
work in the increasingly sophisticated, albeit controversial, field of campaign
management. Dionne’s concerns are legitimate: increasingly elections in
America are high-stakes, expensive contests that are controlled by professional
political consultants; no one wants to see elections become mere spectator
sports, with voters just sitting on the sidelines, content with participating only
at the ballot box or, worse, not getting involved at all.
This book critically examines the role played by political consultants who
apply their skills and technologies to elect their candidates and clients. It
shows how campaign weaponry is used by professionals, and how consultants
have become indispensable to modern campaigns. This book also looks at the
changing role of the campaign volunteer and argues that there is much that
the citizen-volunteer can do to reclaim a voice in the conduct of campaigns.
The business of political consulting has received its share of criticism in
recent years. In many quarters, consultants are reviled as opportunistic spin
ix