Campaigns & Elections articles from July 2005

Campaigns & Elections archives from July 2005

Gubernatorial politics 2006.(ON THE RECORD)
July 1, 2005... Over the next 16 months, America will elect 38 of its 50 state governors. Two of them--open seats in New Jersey and Virginia--will be elected this November. Between 2005 and 2006, Republicans will have 22 of their 28 total governorships on the...

Ban taped political calls? Don't bet on it.(INSIDE POLITICS)
July 1, 2005... One freshman member of Congress has begun what will likely be a long, uphill campaign to limit tape-recorded political calls that flood home phones during election season. U.S. Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-N.C., said she heard repeated complaints...

Institute of politics in woman's hands.(INSIDE POLITICS)(Jeanne Shaheen)
July 1, 2005... Attracting more young women to Harvard University's Institute of Politics (IOP) is a priority for its incoming director, Jeanne Shaheen. The former New Hampshire governor becomes the prestigious institution's first female director when she...

Play political trivia.(INSIDE POLITICS)
July 1, 2005... 1. Which presidential candidate had whiskey bottles in the shape of log cabins made for him? 2. Which presidential candidate was the first to use a popular entertainer in his campaign? 3. What political party fielded a presidential...

2005: America elects its mayors.(INSIDE POLITICS)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2005... This year is a big mayoral election year, with cities such as New York, N.Y., Boston, Mass., Atlanta, Ga., and Minneapolis, Minn., going to the polls to elect their town leaders. [GRAPHIC OMITTED] So far mayoral elections already have...

The Public Advocacy Group.(NEW FIRMS)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2005... The Public Advocacy Group, a political consulting and lobbying shop, opened recently in New York. Democratic activists and corporate attorneys Chad Marlow and Christina Daigneault head the firm. "Our economic goal is to be a force in New...

Lake Snell Perry Mermin & Associates, Inc.(NEW FIRMS)(acquires Decision Research Corp.)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2005... Democratic polling firm Lake Snell Perry Mermin & Associates, Inc., acquired Decision Research. Pollsters Bob Meadow and Heidi von Szeliski will join the firm, which has offices in Washington, D.C., San Diego and Oakland, Calif. The firm is now...

DC Democracy Fund.(NEW FIRMS)(S. Gina Trippi appointed as an executive director)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2005... S. Gina Trippi was named executive director of the DC Democracy Fund, a PAC designed to help elect federal candidates who support voting rights for District of Columbia residents. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Trippi previously served as...

Theo Yedinsky has joined NDN to be the director of the New Politics Institute.(NEW FIRMS)(New Democrat Network)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2005... Theo Yedinsky has joined NDN (formerly New Democrat Network) to be the director of the New Politics Institute (NPI). He will be based in San Francisco, Calif. NPI recently launched as a think tank devoted to politics. It focuses on how to make...

Fako & Associates, Inc.(appointed Steve Leopoldo)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2005... Steve Leopoldo joins Fako & Associates, Inc., the Chicago-based Democratic polling firm, as an associate. He will act as project manager and interpret polling data. Leopoldo is a former field team leader with the League of Conservation Voters.

National Republican Senatorial Committee.(appointed Dennis Shea )(Brief Article)
July 1, 2005... Dennis Shea became the senior advisor to National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) Chair Elizabeth Dole, R-N.C. Shea recently served as assistant secretary of the Housing and Urban Development Department for the Office of Policy...

Hawaii Republican Party.(appointed Sam Aiona )(Brief Article)
July 1, 2005... State Rep. Sam Aiona assumed the chairmanship of the Hawaii Republican Party. Aiona is the brother of Hawaii Lt. Gov. James Aiona Jr. (R). Outgoing Chairman Brennon Morioka accepted a job with the state's Department of Transportation.

Missouri House Democratic Campaign Committee.(appointed Ronny Richardson )(Brief Article)
July 1, 2005... Ronny Richardson is the new executive director for the Missouri House Democratic Campaign Committee. Richardson worked in state legislative campaigns in Illinois, Virginia and North Carolina. In 2004, he was operations director for the North...

The Florida Democratic Party.(PARTY LINES)(appointed Karen Thurman)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2005... The Florida Democratic Party named former U.S. Rep Karen Thurman to be chairwoman. She replaces Scott Maddox, who leaves after two years to run for statewide office. After serving five terms in Congress, Thurman lost to U.S. Rep. Ginny...

Minnesota Democratic Farm-Labor Party.(appointed Brian Melendez )(Brief Article)
July 1, 2005... Minneapolis attorney Brian Melendez was elected chairman of the Minnesota Democratic Farm-Labor Party. Melendez was chairman of the Minneapolis DFL. He replaces Mike Erlandson, who served for six years. Erlandson will continue to serve as chief...

Minnesota Republican Party.(appointed Ben Golnik)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2005... Ben Golnik becomes political director for the Minnesota Republican Party. He previously was the Vermont GOP executive director.

GOP picked Rob Capehart to be the new chairman.(PARTY LINES)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2005... In West Virginia the state GOP picked Rob Capehart to be the new chairman. He was a gubernatorial candidate in 2004. And Hiram Lewis IV resigned as treasurer, to seek the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate.

Michigan Republican Party.(appointed Jeff Timmer )(Brief Article)
July 1, 2005... Jeff Timmer was named executive director of the Michigan Republican Party. He left his position as vice president at the Sterling Corp., where he worked with political and corporate management clients.

Ira Sockowitz.(MOVERS & SHAKERS)(President of Phoenix Consulting Group, Inc.)(Interview)
July 1, 2005... President of Phoenix Consulting Group, Inc., a full service communications, public affairs and event planning firm based in Washington, D.C. Previously a New York administrative law judge, he moved to Washington, D.C., in 1993 to serve as...

Gordon C. James.(MOVERS & SHAKERS)(Owner, Gordon C. James Public Relations)(Interview)
July 1, 2005... Owner, Gordon C. James Public Relations. The firm focuses on event management, mediarelations and government affairs. It has offices in Washington, D.C. and Phoenix, Ariz. James previously did advance work for the White House under George H.W....

Inside the old boys' club: why the party committees hire the same consultants over and over.(FEATURE)
July 1, 2005... It is a long-standing truism that all politics is local. But an increasingly vocal faction within the Democratic Party is grousing that their national leadership follows it too literally, that in mapping out election strategy, they have failed...

Playing in the major leagues: Elizabeth Dole works to increase the Republicans' Senate majority.(FEATURE)
July 1, 2005... Just six months into her chairmanship of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole of North Carolina paints a strikingly sanguine picture of her party's prospects in 2006. Given the Senate numbers as they currently...

Looking for voters in all the new places: Hispanic immigrants are settling in unexpected spots, and pols scramble to enlist their support.(FEATURE)
July 1, 2005... A voter registration drive for Hispanics wouldn't be a surprise in states close to the U.S.-Mexican border. After all, one would expect to find large numbers of Hispanic voters there. But such a drive in North Carolina might be more surprising....

Will big money corrupt online politics?(CAMPAIGNLAND)
July 1, 2005... This fall, the Federal Election Commission will comply with a U.S. District Court ruling (Shays v. FEC) that tossed out the agency's hands-off-the-Net interpretation of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act. Online communications, said the court,...

Re-votes hard to come by.(VOTING MATTERS)
July 1, 2005... Considering the complexities of voter registration, the challenges of recruiting a one-day work force of hundreds of thousands of people, changing rules for election administration and the mad dash to find out results, mistakes on Election Day...

Finding the unregistered voter.(OPINION)
July 1, 2005... In 2004, more money was spent registering voters than ever before. The results were impressive. In Arizona, almost 800,000 new voters registered for the first time, swelling the voter rolls by 37 percent. In Ohio, new registrants help grow...

Model campaign USA: prepping a new generation of candidates and political consultants.(Column)
July 1, 2005... An educational outreach program developed at Allegheny College's Center for Political Participation may turn out to have as big an impact on teachers and campaigners as it has had on its young participants. Model Campaign USA (MCUSA) at...

The seven qualities of effective direct mail.(OPINION)
July 1, 2005... Get noticed. Get read. Win votes. Those are the goals of every piece of political direct mail. You start with good research, solid targeting and a message that resonates with your specific audience. Yet those are not enough to ensure that...

The British Conservatives' path back to power.(INTERNATIONAL POLITICS)
July 1, 2005... The outcome of the British General election in May was never really in doubt. The question was not whether Tony Blair would remain in power, but how much backing he would have because of his support for the Iraq war. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]...

Divided We Govern: Party Control, Lawmaking and Investigations, 1946-2002, second edition.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
July 1, 2005... Divided We Govern: Party Control, Lawmaking and Investigations, 1946-2002, second edition, by David Mayhew, Yale University Press, 267 pages. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Studies the effects of divided party control of Congress and the...

Wilson's War: How Woodrow Wilson's Great Blunder Led to Hitler, Lenin, Stalin and World War II.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
July 1, 2005... Wilson's War: How Woodrow Wilson's Great Blunder Led to Hitler, Lenin, Stalin and World War II, by Jim Powell, Crown Forum. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Argues that Wilson unintentionally made a terrible mistake by committing the U.S. to...

Stick Your Neck Out: A Street-smart Guide to Creating Change in Your Community and Beyond.(RON'S PICKS)(Brief Article)(Book Review)
July 1, 2005... Stick Your Neck Out: A Street-smart Guide to Creating Change in Your Community and Beyond, by John Graham, president of the Giraffe Heroes Project, Berrett Koehler Publishers, Inc. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Provides advice on how to...

The California governor Reagan beat.(Edmund G. Brown Sr.)(California Rising)(Book review)
July 1, 2005... Former California Gov. Edmund G. "Pat" Brown is best known as the guy Ronald Reagan beat to launch his career in elected office. According to an important new biography, Brown also left a legacy of improving the Golden State's finances and...

Clintonism and its aftermath.(Bill Clinton)
July 1, 2005... Bill Clinton came to the White House in 1993 aiming to govern neither from the left nor right. In many ways, he succeeded, pushing through a deficit reduction package that raised taxes on the wealthiest Americans, while signing a welfare reform...

Telephone services.(BUYER'S GUIDE)(Buyers Guide)
July 1, 2005... All information was provided by the companies listed. They are responsible for its accuracy and completeness. For updates, see the Campaigns & Elections Web site at www.campaignline.com. Organized by major office location. FUTURE CALL ...

Targeting ethnic donors: crucial tools for tight campaigns with limited budgets.(CAMPAIGN DOCTOR)
July 1, 2005... What do you think about the practice of targeting donors of the same ethnic derivation as the candidate? Successful fund-raisers do it all the time. In 1988, according to just one example cited by The Washington Post, Massachusetts Gov....

Off the record.(John Ford)
July 1, 2005... "There's a rumor Dick Cheney may run for president in 2008. If he wins, that would make him the first three-term president since Franklin Roosevelt." --Fay Leno "The army announced that recruiting is down for the fourth straight...