The Center for Public Integrity

With roots in Republican politics and corporate public relations, FLS-DCI and its sister companies have become a one-stop political shop. They have handled phone calls for the Bush campaign, lobbied the White House for corporate clients, and, through the separate-but-affiliated group Progress for America, lobbied the public on behalf of the White House.

During the 2004 election cycle, FLS-DCI served as telemarketers for the Bush campaign, House and Senate candidates in 23 states, taking in more than $26.9 million, according to a Center study of federal filings.[correction] In the political off-season, however, the affiliated DCI Group lobbies for corporations looking to influence politicians and the public.

The partners have a long history in politics.

Tony Feather served as executive director of the Missouri Republican Party from 1987 until 1990, when he left to manage the unsuccessful gubernatorial campaign of the state's then-Attorney General William L. Webster. The candidacy was marred by word of a federal investigation that ultimately resulted in Webster serving a two-year prison term for using state employees and equipment for his campaign. Feather went on to become Midwest Regional Coordinator for the Republican National Committee, in 1993.

Thomas J. Synhorst's background includes working on campaigns for Sen. Charles Grassley and serving as senior advisor to Sen. Bob Dole through 1996. In 1999, Feather joined Synhorst, Jeffrey T. Larson and a fourth partner, Chris Hodges, to form Feather Hodges Larson & Synhorst, later known as FLS-DCI.

These are some frequently asked questions regarding campaign consultants:

What is a consultant?

A hired professional or firm that provides inherently political services, including creative or strategic advice.

Why do candidates hire consultants?

Political consultants are hired for their expertise and experience in specialized areas needed to run a campaign, such as fundraising or advertising.

What are some of the main consulting specialties?

• Media consultants create advertisements, and buy airtime from stations and networks.
• Direct mail firms design and produce mailings to promote the candidate and solicit money.
• Polling firms survey voters on their attitudes toward issues and candidates, and run focus groups.
• Political technology firms offer services such as Web site design, online advertising, online fundraising and voter targeting services.

Why is there concern over the rising costs of running campaigns and hiring consultants?

These expenses have consequences on the political system, forcing candidates to raise money, a time consuming process that potentially makes them beholden to their donors. Since incumbents generally have an advantage raising money, potential challengers can be shut out of the system, leaving constituents limited choices.

Are political consultants hired by anyone other than candidates and their own campaign committees?

Yes. Political party committees and “527” groups also hire consultants to create campaigns opposing or supporting candidates or issues.

Below are links to profiles of selected consultants who have been prominent or cutting edge in their fields, including media, direct mail, and polling.

Maverick Media, formed in 1998 as a political consulting super-group of sorts composed of top consultants, was created for the single purpose of electing George W. Bush as president. In the 2004 election cycle it took in more than $177 million from the Bush campaign and the Republican National Committee, according to Federal Election Commission data analyzed by the Center for Public Integrity.

The leader of the group is Mark McKinnon, a former Democratic consultant who previously worked with late Texas Gov. Ann Richards and presidential hopeful Michael Dukakis, former governor of Massachusetts.

In 1996, McKinnon, who worked for the Austin-based public affairs firm Public Strategies Inc., announced his retirement from politics in a Texas Monthly article titled "The Spin Doctor is Out." In it, he described his once and future profession as one of "incredible highs, devastating lows, sometimes feeling bulletproof, sometimes feeling that all the blood had been drained out of my body. I had no idea of the toll it had taken on me mentally and spiritually until I quit."

McKinnon recounts his early history in politics, beginning with covering it for the student newspaper at the University of Texas at Austin — and how he got elected its editor: he said he won by leaking damaging information about one of his opponents to another, then "I sat back, watched them cut each other up, and coasted to victory."

He also "spent several years in Nashville working as a song-writer with Kris Kristofferson. And was wildly unsuccessful," according to his bio for Public Strategies, the Austin-based public affairs firm for which he of which he is vice-chairman.

For nearly four decades, political consultant Bob Shrum has been one the most influential voices of the Democratic Party and a populist icon for his campaigns that stressed a "people vs. the powerful" message.  

"I believe that the essence of being a Democrat is about standing up for the people," Shrum told the Boston Globe in April 2004. "You can come up with any variation of words to convey it, but from the beginning, that is what the Democratic Party is fundamentally about."

Shrum, who retired from consulting in early 2005, has worked with practically every major Democratic figure — from George McGovern to Al Gore, from Ted Kennedy to John Kerry. But, despite crafting successful media campaigns for dozens of U.S. senators, governors and big-city mayors, he has failed to help elevate a candidate to the Oval Office. 

Shrum has been a speechwriter or principal media advisor on several presidential campaigns, his last being John Kerry's unsuccessful 2004 run. His firm, Shrum, Devine & Donilon, worked on the campaign's media and advertising strategy, receiving payments worth almost $2.5 million according to the Center for Public Integrity's analysis of 2003 and 2004 Federal Election Commission records.

Shrum and another Kerry media adviser, Jim Margolis of the political consulting firm GMMB, were also involved in the formation of a consortium they named Riverfront Media, created exclusively for the campaign to produce most of Kerry's television ads and to make the media buys. Riverfront received more than $150 million in payments from the Kerry campaign and the Democratic National Committee, the Center found.  

Hal Malchow wrote the book on what has come to be known as "micro-targeting."

The textbook-sized The New Political Targeting, published in 2003, is a dense tome written for political professionals. It is unlikely to make the bestseller lists, but if one takes its premise, that is unimportant. It only has to reach the right people.

"What most Americans and many political observers fail to understand," Malchow writes, "is that almost every competitive election is decided by a small percentage of the voters."

In major elections, fewer than 20 percent of all voters are "truly undecided," he says. The challenge is to find them — and the message that will sway them and bring them to the polls.

In essence, targeting shoots to get the magical 50 percent-plus-one needed to win.

Malchow has put his principles into practice at his firm MSHC Partners (its name recently changed from the more cumbersome Malchow Schlackman Hoppey & Cooper). In 2004, the firm provided direct mail services to federal candidates, including Democratic presidential contender Sen. John Kerry.

The micro-targeting strategy has gained popularity with the sheer amount of data — both public information and consumer information — collected in databases and available for purchase. Commercial marketers, Malchow argues, have become experts at predicting the buying habits of consumers, while political campaigns have been slow to follow. The result, he writes, is that "most campaigns do a poor job of finding the voters they need."

Since Malchow's book was published, the Republican Party has been credited with finding potential voters for President George W. Bush's 2004 re-election campaign using the micro-targeting approach that draws upon consumer research to predict political leanings.

When people discuss the sometimes prohibitive costs of political campaigns, rarely is the role that consultants play in driving up costs addressed.

Consulting firms hired by presidential candidates who make it all the way to the November election earn millions of dollars. If their candidate wins, the consultants' careers are made.

For work on hot House or Senate races, consultants can make anywhere from $200,000 to $500,000 per candidate, according to Raymond Strother, lead partner in the Democratic consulting firm Strother-Duffy-Strother. The most successful firms work for several candidates at a time.

"We make an enormous amount of money here," says Strother during an interview in his new office just north of Washington, D.C. "We make the kind of money a brain surgeon would make."

At political consultant training seminars attended by Center for Public Integrity staff doing research for this study, the speakers invariably advised that more money be poured into their own medium specialties — be it television, direct mail, phone calls or specialized targeting programs — always in the name of conserving valuable campaign resources and making the biggest impact. In that vein, they warned against wasting money on items like yard signs, bumper stickers and other "tchotchkes," or on reaching out to voters who they've decided will never vote for their candidate.

The most influential advisers hired in any big campaign are the media consultants, say experts. They contribute seasoned advice on message and strategy, play crucial decision-making roles in the placement and timing of expensive commercials, and as a result, they have an enormous impact on the campaign's budget.