Dewey Square Group

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The Dewey Square Group, founded in 1993, is a public affairs firm with specialties in "grassroots" and "grasstops" campaigns, strategic communications, coalition building, state and local affairs, international practice, and political campaigns. [1] DSG, which works extensively with Democrats, routinely partners with Feather Larson & Synhorst DCI, a Republican-leaning lobbying firm. [2] In 2003, DSG merged its international operations with London-based Morgan Allen Moore. The Washington DC-based newspaper Roll Call (Feb. 13, 2003) has called DSG "the powerhouse public affairs firm with close ties to just about every important Democratic politician in the country."

History

DSG describes itself as a "preeminent grassroots management firm" with "a national network of state operatives experienced in implementing effective strategies to general local support for public policy issues." [3] According to the Washington Post, DSG "has been paid by General Motors Corp., the American Insurance Association, AT&T Corp., Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association and Microsoft, among others, to drum up support from voters for legislation the companies advocate." [4] Other clients include Northwest Airlines, UnitedHealth Group, the Alaska Oceans Program and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. [5]

DSG's campaign services include: CampaignOffice.com, campaign internet support; Dewey Square Fusion, a "cost-effective way for political campaigns to mine" consumer information gathered by companies and marketers for "more nuanced" messaging and communications targeting [6]; the Dewey Hub, telephone messaging services; and the Share Group, a full-service direct marketing firm. [7]

"Grasstops" Lobbying

DSG's approach to lobbying "attempts to get prominent local citizens and organizations to lobby on behalf of interest groups. Unlike conventional lobbying, the technique does not require the firms' principals to meet with or even talk to lawmakers. ... The method is considered effective because lawmakers usually do not even know that they've been lobbied." [8]

The New York Times (Sept. 30, 1998) described the phenomenon of grasstops lobbying: "Because mass mobilizations have become so prevalent, a number of firms have become experts in a technique known as 'grass-tops' lobbying, aimed at mobilizing an elite as opposed to the masses. The goal is to figure out to whom a member of Congress cannot say no: his chief donor, his campaign manager, a political mentor. The lobbyist then tries to persuade that person to take his client's side. If the method works, the member of Congress may never know that a person contacting him had been revved up by a lobbyist. To pull off this feat, Washington lobbying and public relations firms keep databases of organizers across the country, most of them with backgrounds in politics."

In December 1997, CNN noted DSG's new lobbying style: [9]

Richard Pinsky, a former campaign operative for Pat Robertson and Bob Dole, works as a political detective. His job: to locate and bring into the lobbying fold what are known in the trade as "once close tos." On assignment from lobbying firms based in Washington, Pinsky is paid to find key individuals who were once close to lawmakers who are undecided on the legislation of the moment. He then ferrets out which of these confidants are willing to make the case to Sen. X or Rep. Y. In the argot of the multi-billion-dollar influence industry, Pinsky is doing grasstops--as opposed to grassroots--lobbying, since he avoids hoi polloi and zeroes in on those few people whom lawmakers know and whose opinions they trust.
When Pinsky was hired recently by the Dewey Square Group, a public relations and political consulting firm, to rally support for "fast track" legislation, he called an old ally, former Republican Gov. Bob Martinez. Martinez, in turn, discussed the issue with fellow Tampa resident and Democratic Congressman Jim Davis. Davis, an impressionable freshman, is now a firm yes on the free-trade measure. Although Davis' spokesman insists the Martinez talk didn't affect the Congressman's vote, the little chat certainly didn't hurt. Nor did any of the casual-but-premeditated contacts made on fast track by another Pinsky recruit, former Florida Secretary of Commerce Charles Dusseau; he wrote to Congresspersons and fellow Democrats Corrine Brown, Peter Deutsch, and Robert Wexler.

The CNN story echoed a Fortune magazine piece (Dec. 8, 1997) around the same time which observed:

Dewey Square is just one of several firms, such as Direct Impact and Lunde & Burger, that now maintain nationwide networks of politically wired operatives who are willing to reach for their Rolodexes in between their election-year gigs to help make ends meet. Campaign professionals like Susan Swecker of Virginia, Ken Benson of Texas, and Tylynn Gordon of Montana are becoming the new breed of influence peddlers. Yet they don't need to register as lobbyists in Washington. They don't even set foot in the city they affect so deeply.

According to the Indianapolis Business Journal (Jun. 7, 2004), DSG partners with local firms in order to maximize its "grasstops" connections. One example is the Democratic, Indianapolis-based Gibson & Leppert, who DSG works with "when national organizations represented by Dewey target federal lawmakers from Indiana."

Kerry Campaign 2004

Several DSG staff joined Senator John Kerry's 2004 presidential campaign as advisers or staff, including Jill Alper, Minyon Moore, Jeremy Van Ess, Anne Sheridan, Charles M. Campion, Charles A. Baker III and Michael J. Whouley. [10] [11] [12] [13] [14]

DSG provided "broad-gauge political advice to John F. Kerry" for some time; "Whouley received $14,000 in expenses for swooping into Iowa this year and helping to pull off a come-from-behind victory for Kerry in the caucuses there," reported the Washington Post. (Kerry, following his Iowa win, referred to his adviser as "the magical Michael Whouley."[15]) The Worcester Telegram & Gazette (Jul. 24, 2004) wrote that Whouley and fellow DSG staff Joseph A. Ricca "did as much as any operative on the ground in Iowa to swing the upset for Mr. Kerry," including gaining the support of John Mauro, a politically powerful Polk County supervisor, and the endorsement of Christie Vilsack, the wife of Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack. The Boston Herald (Sept. 12, 2004) noted, "Top Dewey Square officials such as Chuck Campion and Charles Baker are also longtime Kerry advisers." The Boston Globe (Jul. 28, 2004) reported that DSG partner Charles Baker had raised $64,000 for the Kerry campaign, with Chuck Campion's and Michael Whouley's help.

During the Democratic National Convention in Boston, DSG hosted a cocktail party that received media attention when Maria Shriver, a Kennedy family member whose Republican husband, Arnold Schwarzenegger, had recently won California's gubernatorial recall election, wrote Associated Press (Jul. 26, 2004). The convention party, co-sponsored by DSG, Pepsi and Harpoon Brewery, "honor[ed] the Massachusetts and North Carolina delegations - the home states for Kerry and his vice presidential running mate, Sen. John Edwards," and cost an estimated $80,000, according to Associated Press (Jul. 25, 2004).

Other Democratic Campaigns

Other Democratic presidential nominees worked with DSG staff during the 2004 primaries: Nick Baldick managed John Edwards' presidential campaign (and was New Hampshire state director for the Gore campaign in 2000), DSG's Kiki McLean was a volunteer spokeswoman for Joseph I. Lieberman, and DSG's John Lapp ran Dick Gephardt's Iowa campaign.[16][17] Former Howard Dean campaign manager Joe Trippi, in response to an offer of help from DSG's Baker, asked, "You're with Edwards, you're running Kerry, Alper and Whouley are floating around. My question is, how does that work? Do you guys talk to each other?" [18]

According to the Boston Globe, DSG's Jill Alper "was instrumental in Jennifer Granholm's narrow victory in 2002 as Michigan's first elected female governor." [19]

In 2000, DSG's Catherine "Kiki" Moore ran Al Gore's campaign press office in Washington DC. "Her firm, which has received at least $ 10,000 in consulting fees from the Gore campaign, has lobbied for Visa, MasterCard and Northwest Airlines," reported The Nation (Nov. 15, 1999).

It's common practice for corporate lobbyists to work with political campaigns, writes the Washington Post, since "heavyweight lobbyists are often made or broken by their performance as consultants to major-party candidates. Winning the White House is not essential; merely playing at the top level is credential enough." [20]

Ties with 527 Groups

DSG "consults for two of the big Democratic 527s while top officials - walled off from that work, the firm says - play key roles for Kerry and the Democrats."[21] According to the San Jose Mercury News (Sept. 5, 2004), the closest DSG-Kerry-527 connections are through the 527 group America Coming Together. DSG has served as a paid consultant for both the Kerry campaign and ACT; DSG partner Minyon Moore "has advised the Kerry campaign and is on the executive committee of [ACT]." According to the Washington Post (Jul. 30, 2004), ACT "hired a phone-bank operation owned by the Dewey Square Group."

These ties have prompted criticism that the 527 groups, which cannot by law coordinate with candidates' campaigns, are in effect doing so through shared personnel. But Roll Call (Aug. 30, 2004) notes, "When Republicans were drawing up an FEC (Federal Election Commission) complaint against ACT... they decided to keep Dewey Square out of it because when GOP officials looked into it, they found that the firm did 'have the proper firewalls set up.'"

According to the Center for Public Integrity, DSG has received payments from four different 527 groups since 2000: The Partnership for America's Families (now associated with Americans Coming Together), Communications Workers of America Non-Federal Separate Segregated Fund, the Gore/Lieberman Recount Committee, and the National Conference of Democratic Mayors. [22] The same database shows DSG contributing $2,500 in 2003 to another 527 group, the Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund. [23]

Political Donations

"In 1999 and 2000, people working for Dewey Square donated $58,000 to Democratic political candidates, from Gore to Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, Senator Edward M. Kennedy, and five of the 10 U.S. House members in Massachusetts," reported the Boston Globe. In 2003 to May 2004, "donations from Dewey Square employees ballooned to $124,000. They were spread across seven of the 10 Massachusetts House members and four of the 10 contenders for the Democratic nomination, as well as party candidates throughout the country." [24]

Other Activities

Lobbying for Dead People

On August 23, 2001, the Los Angeles Times reported, "Letters purportedly written by at least two dead people landed on the desk of Utah Atty. Gen. Mark Shurtleff earlier this year, imploring him to go easy on Microsoft Corp. for its conduct as a monopoly. The pleas, along with about 400 others from Utah citizens, are part of a carefully orchestrated nationwide campaign to create the impression of a surging grass-roots movement." ("Another letter came from 'Tuscon, Utah,' a city that doesn't exist," noted the Times.)

The letter drive was carried out by two Microsoft-funded front groups, called Americans for Technology Leadership (ATL) and Citizens Against Government Waste. According to the Los Angeles Times article, "To assist it in the grass-roots campaign, Microsoft turned to two of the nation's top political advocacy groups: Boston-based Dewey Square Group, co-founded by Al Gore campaigner Michael Whouley, and Phoenix-based DCI/New Media, led by Republican strategist Tom Synhorst."

Even some actual residents asked to send letters as part of the pro-Microsoft campaign said they were misled: "Some residents who fielded ATL's calls believed the states themselves were soliciting their views, according to the attorneys general of Minnesota, Illinois and Utah. When a caller started asking Minnesotan Nancy Brown questions about Microsoft, she thought she was going to get help figuring out what was wrong with her computer," reported the Los Angeles Times. When told about the Microsoft-funded campaign, one Minnesota resident who sent a form letter to the state's attorney general told him, "I sure was misled."

Anti-People Meter People

In 2004, DSG was hired by Rupert Murdoch's Fox News Corp for their "campaign to block Nielsen Research from changing the TV ratings system," according to the National Journal (Sept 13, 2004). DSG worked with the Glover Park Group and Grassroot Enterprises on the "lobbying, advertising and grassroots campaign designed to persuade black and Hispanic lawmakers to pressure Nielsen to scrap the new ratings system." DSG's Minyon Moore and Esther Aguilera "coordinated the Congressional Black Caucus and the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, respectively," for the campaign against Nielsen's updating their handwritten media log system. The argument given was that "African-American and Latino viewers in New York would be undercounted by electronic People Meters," according to New York Daily News (Apr. 8, 2004). But Roll Call (Apr. 7, 2004) reported that News Corp. "fear[ed] the loss of millions of dollars in advertising revenue under the new ratings system." ("Nielsen," noted Roll Call, "counters that the new system increases ratings for black and Hispanic households.")

At a meeting of Black and Hispanic members of Congress organized by Moore, "Rick Ramirez of Fox Entertainment News told the minorities that the new system could cut in half minority ratings for some shows. The next day, the CHC wrote a letter to Nielsen to 'express our concerns about the potential impact that the implementation of Local People Meters would have on ratings for minority-focused television programs.' A day after the letter from the Hispanic lawmakers was delivered, 17 members of the CBC sent their own letter to Nielsen charging that the new ratings system would 'disproportionately undercount minority viewers' and lead to the 'wholesale cancellation of minority programming'," reported Roll Call.

Aiding an Ailing Arthur Andersen

In early 2002, following the collapse of Enron and the accounting firm Arthur Andersen's (now called Accenture) federal indictment for obstruction of justice, in connection with its audit of Enron, Arthur Andersen "hired Dewey Square Group of Boston, a public relations company, to help it organize its efforts to lobby support from Congress and other high-ranking leaders," reported the Washington Post (Mar. 29, 2002).

Of the Andersen campaign, the Post wrote, "The Justice Department is so bombarded with calls from Arthur Andersen LLP employees and their families that it has set up a hot line to take messages. ... The accounting firm's employees aren't just organizing rallies and printing T-shirts expressing their indignation at the indictment. They are also ginning up a grass-roots protest campaign that includes e-mails, letters and phone calls to anyone in government they think might listen. ... Andersen officials estimate that the firm's partners, employees and families have sent more than 20,000 letters and e-mails to Congress alone and are working to set up meetings or have scheduled meetings with 23 members of Congress."

The Washington Post article describes one letter "written by a 10-year-old to his father," an Andersen partner, which read in part, "Dear Dad, I hope that you will be able to find a new job if your business is shut down. . . . Please let me know when you know what is going on with Andersen v. the Justice Department." The letter was forwarded to President Bush and the head of the Justice Department's criminal division, Michael Chertoff.

Against Amendments Banning Same Sex Marriage

Also in 2004, the Washington Post (Jul, 26, 2004) reported that DSG was working for a new organization, the Campaign to Protect the Constitution (with funding from Human Rights Campaign), to organize "grass-roots efforts against constitutional amendments [banning same sex marriage] in key states."

For Tort Reform

Also in 2003, Business Week reported that DSG "is leading the grassroots mobilization in states such as Washington, Connecticut, Louisiana, Nevada, and Rhode Island, where there's a shot at swaying fence-sitting Dems" in favor of the Class Action Fairness Act, a bipartisan measure supporting limited tort reform.[25]

Miscellaneous

The Public Affairs Council website lists DSG as a past participant in its "National Grassroots Conference."[26]

DSG staffer Mary Anne Marsh has appeared on the Fox News show "The O'Reilly Factor" as a Fox News Political Consultant. Boston Magazine (May 2003) called Marsh a "Democratic political pundit with a hotshot national rep, this spin doctor gets quoted on issues in papers all over the country, and she's appeared on Fox News, CNN, NBC, and MSNBC."

Clients

The Lobbyist.info database lists the following as DSG clients in 2004: AARP (American Association of Retired Persons), Allegiance Healthcare Corporation, American Insurance Association, Americans for Technology Leadership (ATL), Blue Cross Blue Shield, Coca-Cola Enterprises, Collegiate Funding Services, Countrywide Mortgage Corporation, Diageo, DuPont, General Motors Corporation, Grocery Manufacturers of America (GMA), Internet Tax Moratorium Coalition, Mortgage Insurance Companies of America, National Education Association of the U.S., Purdue Pharma, Starbucks Coffee Corporation, United Health Group, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. [27]

According to the San Francisco Business Times, in 2003 DSG helped the San Francisco Unified School District "to overcome its self-esteem problems by telling its story."[28]

The Center for Responsive Politics' lobbyist database lists the following DSG clients by year (lobbying contract amount listed in parenthesis, when available): [29]

The U.S. Senate Office of Public Records also lists the International Fund for Animal Welfare as a DSG client in 2001-2002, for "grassroots and public affairs consulting." The Senate records also indidate that DSG lobbied for the Digital Equipment Corp. on "regulatory issues," for MasterCard and Visa on "bankruptcy reforms," for AT&T on "telecom and telecom related issues," for Stone & Webster on "amendments prohibiting commercial lightwater [nuclear] reactors from producing tritium and related matters," for the Uniform Standards Coalition on the "establishment of uniform standards for securities litigation," and for Northwest Airlines on the "U.S./Japan Air Passage Agreement." [30] The Boston Globe (Dec. 8, 1999) wrote that AT&T had retained DSG for lobbying on the issue of internet service providers seeking "'open access' to the Internet through broadband cable television systems."

The Boston Herald (Jan. 17, 2000) reported that DSG's Michael Whouley "set up two special meetings with administration officials for Northwest, which was engaged in a high-stakes battle with other airlines over lucrative Japanese trade routes." The article mentioned several other DSG campaigns:

"Dewey Square earned $ 513,000 for a seven-week lobbying blitz focused on building grass-roots support for USA-NAFTA, group pushing for congressional approval of the North American Free Trade Agreement. In 1995, Dewey Square was paid $ 892,017 lobbying for The Accounting Coalition, an industry group of accounting professionals seeking help in the huge legislative battle over securities litigation reform, another Clinton priority. Other Whouley clients included an accountants trade group and a business industry association seeking to make permanent the most-favored nation status enjoyed by China."

"Under previous Mayor Emanuel Cleaver, [Kansas City, Missouri] paid the Dewey Square Group about $75,000 in 1998-99 for Washington lobbying," reported the Kansas City Star (Jul. 15, 2000).

The Boston Herald (Nov. 20, 1997) explained in more detail DSG's work for the following clients:

  • Puerto Rico Federal Affairs Administration
    • Fee: $ 120,000 for 1996. $ 20,000 for first half of 1997.
    • Issue: Congress last year voted to phase out a tax credit that gave billions of dollars in subsidies to large drug, electronics and soft-drink companies investing in Puerto Rico.
  • Emergency Committee For American Trade
    • Fee: $ 202,000 in 1996.
    • Issue: The Emergency Committee is comprised of U.S. business groups seeking to give China permanent most-favored-nation trade status.
  • The Accounting Coalition
    • Fee: $ 892,017 for 1995. (Whouley's personal salary was $ 100,000 for a March-to-December grassroots lobbying effort in various states, records show.)
    • Issue: The coalition was an industry group of accounting professionals seeking a say in the huge legislative battle over securities litigation reform.
  • USA*NAFTA, The Wexler Group and G.E. Corp.
    • Fee: $ 513,000 for a seven-week lobbying blitz focused mainly on building grassroots support on the state level.
    • Issue: The North American Free Trade Agreement

In 1997, DSG's Florida office worked for Tampa General Hospital, "to reach 'grass-roots' constituencies" concerned with plans to turn the public hospital "into a private medical facility," reported the Tampa Tribune (Apr. 17, 1997). DSG's staffer on the hospital account, Karl Koch, said the community "would suffer if Tampa General failed but benefit if it survives, even if private." The Tribune story noted that DSG also assisted Wal-Mart "in overcoming local opposition to a construction of a store in Plainville, Connecticut."

The Hartford Courant (Jan. 12, 1995) further described the DSG-organized "Citizens For Wal-Mart" campaign: "A group of Wal-Mart supporters emerged from a shy silence Wednesday and vowed to fight for what they say will be a 'golden opportunity' to give Plainville tax dollars and jobs. While Wal-Mart opponents wielded Stop-The-Wal signs in the snow, 26 residents met at the local Howard Johnson Lodge to plot strategy, urging each other to write letters to newspapers and speak up at meetings in favor of the huge discount store. ... 'Open support is contagious,' said Joe Ricca, whose development consulting firm, Dewey Square Group, was hired by Wal-Mart's developer to organize support for the store, proposed for Northwest Drive, off Route 177."

"The Wampanoag Tribal Council has confirmed the selection of Charles Campion and his firm, the Dewey Square Group, as lead consultant on the continuing effort to build a casino in New Bedford," Massachusetts, reported the Boston Herald (Sept. 20, 1996).

The Legal Times (Apr. 6, 1988) listed DSG's Jon Patrick Baskette, Charles Campion and Michael Whouley as lobbying for the "Visa coalition to reform bankruptcy system" on "Bankruptcy reform."

Senior Staff

From their website:

Contact Info

http://www.deweysquare.com/Home.htm

With seven offices in Washington DC, Boston MA, Tampa FL, Sacramento CA, San Francisco CA, Los Angeles CA, and London, England.

External Links

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