Essential Estrogen

Just five short months ago, Iowa native Sara M. Taylor bowed out of her appointment as White House political director, a position in which she answered directly to Karl Rove. Back then she said she was searching for normalcy. Yet, according to a document filed with the federal government at the end of August, Taylor intends to begin lobbying for Ames-based Renewable Energy Group, Inc. Specifically, she will seek to influence in the areas of energy and agriculture with the registration documents highlighting the Energy Savings Act of 2007, Renewable Energy and Energy Conservation Tax Act of 2007, Farm, Nutrition, and Bioenergy Act of 2007, Energy and Advancement Act of 2007 (no link found), and Renewable Fuels, Consumer Protection, and Energy Efficiency Act of 2007.

Given that Taylor was in Washington, D.C. during the month of July, testifying before a Senate panel that was investigating the firings of several U.S. attorneys, her search for a life outside of the beltway was extremely short-lived.

That same month, Taylor was announced as a partner in BlueFront Group, a private sector advertising and public relations firm. Other firm partners are:

• Sam Dawson -- former National Republican Congressional Committee senior consultant and former senior political adviser to both President George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush.
• Patrick McCarthy -- former deputy communications director for the National Republican Senatorial Committee and former communications consultant to Sen. Strom Thurmond's reelection campaign. He also served as a senior staff member for Minnesota Gov. Arne Carlson.
• Mike McElwain -- former political director for the National Republican Congressional Committee.

Jon Downs, an executive director in two states for Bush-Cheney 2000 and previous member of the Office of Congressional and Public Affairs at the U.S. Department of Justice, serves as BlueFront's creative director.

While all of this may seem more than enough for any one person, the Washington Post reported just days ago that Taylor has signed on with "Designated Market Media, a leading Republican media consulting firm." Although this firm touts the same players as BlueFront, this agency handles political advertising. (BlueFront limits itself to corporate and nonpolitical contracts.)

There continues to be speculation about this new venture, which the Post credits with wins in "closely contested House races in Ohio, New Mexico and New York last cycle." Some believe that the company is the newly resurrected phoenix of Dawson McCarthy Nelson Media and that Taylor is taking over the reins for Terry Nelson, who was implicated during both a New Hampshire phone-jamming scandal in 2002 and as an unindicted co-conspirator in Tom DeLay's money-laundering scheme.

Nelson was since hired by Working Families for Wal-Mart and John McCain's Straight Talk America PAC. He was subsequently fired from the Wal-Mart organization after he was found to be connected with a controversial ad that ran against Harold Ford Jr. in Tennessee. In July, Nelson left the McCain campaign following a second quarter of weak fund raising.

A connection between the two marketing groups is further forged by an Associated Press article that announces Taylor's recent registration as a lobbyist. In the article, Randy Skoglund, a person described as a "principal with Revere Strategy Group LLC," is quoted as saying that Taylor is an employee of Renewable Energy Group. Skoglund was found during 2002 Minnesota court proceedings to be only playing the part of an independent contractor for Dawson McCarthy Nelson Media.

To complete the connection, however, the information provided by the Post about the successful House races must be followed. Two of these are extremely easy to track down:

Deborah Pryce, R-Ohio, spent several thousand dollars with Dawson McCarthy Nelson Media. Pryce garnered 110,712 votes. Her challenger, attorney Mary Kilroy, received 109,657 votes.

In an article listing what he believes are the best ads of the 2006 campaign cycle, the Washington Post's Chris Cillizza highlights an ad for Heather Wilson, R-New Mexico, and notes that Dawson McCarthy Nelson "made the ad and all of Wilson's spots -- some of the best commercials of the cycle." The final vote for the seat was 105,986 to 105,125. In addition, Wilson paid Dawson McCarthy Nelson at least $50,000.

The New York contest is much more difficult to come by. The closest race with a Republican victor was that of Jim Walsh. He defeated challenger Dan Maffei by a vote of 105,235 to 101,322. There are no campaign expenditures to Dawson McCarthy Nelson, but Walsh did pay nearly $1 million to Cookfair Media Inc.

Additional research turned up that Dawson McCarthy Nelson Media represented a total of 11 candidates during the 2006 election cycle -- none of which were running in the state of New York. Three of the candidates the firm represented -- David Kramer (Nebraska, U.S. Senate), Will McBride (Florida, U.S. Senate) and Bill Dix (Iowa, U.S. House) -- lost their bid during the primary contests. Of the remaining eight, the firm split with half winning and half losing their contests. Winners were Wilson in New Mexico, Pryce in Ohio, Peter Roskam in Illinois (House District 6) and Thelma Drake in Virginia (House District 2).

Since it might be of interest to Iowans, I'll note here that the firm represented Jeff Lamberti in his unsuccessful bid for House District 3. Other losses came in Colorado (Rick O'Donnell) and Wisconsin (Mark Green). The final candidate the firm represented was Texan Tom DeLay, who dropped out of the race following a successful primary.

There were three house races in New Mexico. Of those, Republicans won two. The only close race was Wilson's. In Ohio, 11 of the 18 Congressional seats were won by Republicans. Of those, only two were close races. Payne hired Dawson McCarthy Nelson while the other close winner, Jean Schmidt, worked with Wenzel Strategies out of Toledo, Ohio along with other smaller firms. The races in both Illinois and Virginia were equally close, 51 percent victories.

Given all of this I can only conclude that the Washington Post was incorrect when it stated that the states were New Mexico, Ohio and New York, and that Dawson McCarthy Nelson Media has been reborn as Designated Market Media.

What Taylor will or won't do next isn't going to be nearly as easy to figure out.