Sal Russo

Sal Russo is the founder and a principal in the Republican Party-affiliated public relations firm Russo Marsh & Rogers (RM+R), a senior advisor to the King Media Group, RM+R's mirror firm, and chief strategist for Move America Forward. [1] He is also a partner in Russo Watts & Rollins.

Anti-Obama PAC

Russo is chief strategist for a political action committee formed to oppose Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, called "Our Country Deserves Better." In addition to Russo, several PAC officers are or were associated with Move America Forward, including Howard Kaloogian, Russo Marsh & Rogers principal Joe Wierzbicki, and Marine mom Deborah Johns.

Profiles

"Under Mr. Russo's direction, Russo Marsh has successfully managed numerous statewide initiative campaigns and provided strategic communication services to a wide variety of national and international clients," RM+R's website states.

• 1966: Russo volunteered for Ronald Reagan's California gubernatorial campaign. Appointed as a "special assistant" to elected Governor Reagan.
• 1969: Administrative assistant to "a member of the California Legislature."
• 1975: Editor of the Agricultural Labor Relations Reporter
• 1976: Founded political consulting firm California Capitol Consultants

Russo, according to his Move America Forward profile, "has been at the forefront of some of the most prominent national, state and local campaigns in the nation including the election of Governor George Deukmejian (1982), Senator Alfonse D'Amato, New York (1992), Governor George Pataki, New York (1994), presidential bids by Jack Kemp and Senator Orrin Hatch."

Russo "has been called on several times to provide consulting in other national elections, including the election of Violetta Chamorro in Nicaragua, and in 1991, Mr. Russo conducted the media campaign for the successful referendum on Ukranian independence." [2]

Russo "holds a B.A. in Government from California State University, Sacramento, and a J.D. from McGeorge School of Law. He has recently served on the Board of Directors of the International Association of Political Consultants." [3]

Contact information

Email: srusso AT rmrwest.com

Articles and resources

Related SourceWatch articles

• Move America Forward
• Our Country Deserves Better
• Swift Boat Veterans for Truth

External resources

• Sal Russo, Russo Marsh & Rogers bio.
• Sal Russo, King Media Group bio.
• Sal Russo, Move America Forward bio.

External articles

• Jake Tapper, "They feed horses, don't they? Bush and Forbes finished one-two in the Iowa straw poll, and why not? They paid for this circus, after all," Salon, August 16, 1999: "For everyone but Bush, the real question here was whether anyone could emerge to mount a serious challenge to the Texas governor. Only a few weeks ago, for instance, GOP consultant Sal Russo received a phone call from Utah Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch asking what Russo thought about his decision to throw his hat into the ring. ... 'Orrin, didn't you hear?' Russo responded. 'We already coronated George W. Bush!'"
• Bill Bradley, "The Fictional Candidate. Bumbling Bill Simon could provoke Democratic sweep," LA Weekly, August 14, 2002: "Dr. Arthur Laffer, successfully sued Simon campaign chief Russo over the collapse of Laffer's proposed statewide flat-tax initiative in 1996. ... (The judgment called for Russo to pay less than $20,000 and return about $200,000 to contributors from the campaign firm he controlled.)"
• Bill Bradley, "Taking Down Gray. Talk of recalling unpopular governor leads to Dick Riordan and Bill Simon Jr., and many others," LA Weekly, February 13, 2003.
• "Calling the Kettle Black: Ethically Challenged GOP Front Move America Forward Accuses the UN of Corruption," MaxBlumenthal Blogspot, February 23, 2003.
• Transcript: "Calif. Gov. Davis Faces Recall Effort," CNN, June 17, 2003.
• Carla Marinucci, "Recall Fever. Both Huffingtons, Audie Bock, Condit possible candidates," San Francisco Chronicle, July 26, 2003: "Audie Bock, the only Green ever elected to the Assembly, is a former client of GOP political consultant Sal Russo, who ran her unsuccessful independent campaign against Assembly Democrat Wilma Chan and her derailed effort to challenge Rep. Barbara Lee of Oakland."
• Jeff Kearns, "Recall Death Match. Ready 2 Rumble. What happens when two of the most knowledgeable and aggressive politicos in Sacramento square off to debate the issue of the recall? Let’s put it this way: It isn’t pretty," Sacramento News & Review (CA), August 7, 2003.
• "Who Pays the Bills for 'MOVEAMERICAFORWARD.ORG'?" WhatReallyHappened.com, undated.
• Lakshmi Chaudhry, "Who is Sal Russo?" AlterNet, August 18, 2005: "The man coordinating the conservative offensive against Cindy Sheehan has an extensive resume in dirty politics."
• Joe Garofoli, "She reopened debate about war, and, boy, is she hearing about it," San Francisco Chronicle, August 18, 2005. re Cindy Sheehan
• Nannette Miranda, "Gov. Schwarzenegger Quick To Start Ad Campaign," ABC7News.com (CA), June 9, 2006.
• Aaron Glantz, Kurdish "Thank You" a Republican Stunt?, Inter Press News Service, July 31, 2006.
• Diane Farsetta, "Moving Foreign Investment Forward: A Strange PR Pick for Iraqi Kurdistan," PR Watch, September 27, 2006.
• Alicia A. Caldwell, "Iraq Kurdistan launches tourism campaign," Associated Press, October 20, 2006.
• "Russo Works Anti-Obama Tour," O'Dwyer's PR Daily (sub req'd), September 30, 2008.
• Sal Russo, op/ed: "Tom Bradley Didn't Lose Because of Race: Voters rejected his liberal policies," Wall Street Journal (sub req'd), October 20, 2008.