lily
05-10-2008, 10:24 PM
Hmmmmmmm... (http://www.newsweek.com/id/136321)
A Convention Quandary
John McCain's choice to manage the GOP convention this summer is lobbyist
Doug Goodyear, whose firm once represented Burma's repressive regime.
Rick Gershon / Getty Images
Questions of Perception: Some McCain allies worry about his convention
manager choice
By Michael Isikoff | NEWSWEEK
May 19, 2008 Issue
After John McCain nailed down the Republican nomination in March, his
campaign began wrestling with a sensitive personnel issue: who would manage
this summer's GOP convention in St. Paul, Minn.? The campaign recently
tapped Doug Goodyear for the job, a veteran operative and Arizonan who was
chosen for his "management experience and expertise," according to McCain
press secretary Jill Hazelbaker. But some allies worry that Goodyear's
selection could fuel perceptions that McCain-who has portrayed himself as a
crusader against special interests-is surrounded by lobbyists. Goodyear is
CEO of DCI Group, a consulting firm that earned $3 million last year
lobbying for ExxonMobil, General Motors and other clients.
Potentially more problematic: the firm was paid $348,000 in 2002 to
represent Burma's military junta, which had been strongly condemned by the
State Department for its human-rights record and remains in power today.
Justice Department lobbying records show DCI pushed to "begin a dialogue of
political reconciliation" with the regime. It also led a PR campaign to
burnish the junta's image, drafting releases praising Burma's efforts to
curb the drug trade and denouncing "falsehoods" by the Bush administration
that the regime engaged in rape and other abuses. "It was our only foreign
representation, it was for a short tenure, and it was six years ago,"
Goodyear told NEWSWEEK, adding the junta's record in the current cyclone
crisis is "reprehensible."
Another issue: DCI has been a pioneer in running "independent" expenditure
campaigns by so-called 527 groups, precisely the kind of operations that
McCain, in his battle for campaign-finance reform, has denounced. In 2004,
the DCI Group led a pro-Bush 527 called Progress for America, which was
later fined (along with several other 527s on both sides of the political
divide) for violating federal election laws. Goodyear, however, says that
DCI is "not in the 527 business anymore."
Ironically, Goodyear was chosen for the post after the McCain campaign nixed
another candidate, Paul Manafort, who runs a lobbying firm with McCain's
campaign manager, Rick Davis. The prospect of choosing Manafort created
anxiety in the campaign because of his long history of representing
controversial foreign clients, including Philippine dictator Ferdinand
Marcos. More recently, he served as chief political consultant to Viktor
Yanukovich, the former Ukrainian prime minister who has been widely
criticized for alleged corruption and for his close ties to Russia's
Vladimir Putin-a potential embarrassment for McCain, who in 2007 called
Putin a "totalitarian dictator." "The Ukrainian stuff was viewed as too
much," says one McCain strategist, who asked not to be identified discussing
the matter. Manafort did not return calls for comment.
A Convention Quandary
John McCain's choice to manage the GOP convention this summer is lobbyist
Doug Goodyear, whose firm once represented Burma's repressive regime.
Rick Gershon / Getty Images
Questions of Perception: Some McCain allies worry about his convention
manager choice
By Michael Isikoff | NEWSWEEK
May 19, 2008 Issue
After John McCain nailed down the Republican nomination in March, his
campaign began wrestling with a sensitive personnel issue: who would manage
this summer's GOP convention in St. Paul, Minn.? The campaign recently
tapped Doug Goodyear for the job, a veteran operative and Arizonan who was
chosen for his "management experience and expertise," according to McCain
press secretary Jill Hazelbaker. But some allies worry that Goodyear's
selection could fuel perceptions that McCain-who has portrayed himself as a
crusader against special interests-is surrounded by lobbyists. Goodyear is
CEO of DCI Group, a consulting firm that earned $3 million last year
lobbying for ExxonMobil, General Motors and other clients.
Potentially more problematic: the firm was paid $348,000 in 2002 to
represent Burma's military junta, which had been strongly condemned by the
State Department for its human-rights record and remains in power today.
Justice Department lobbying records show DCI pushed to "begin a dialogue of
political reconciliation" with the regime. It also led a PR campaign to
burnish the junta's image, drafting releases praising Burma's efforts to
curb the drug trade and denouncing "falsehoods" by the Bush administration
that the regime engaged in rape and other abuses. "It was our only foreign
representation, it was for a short tenure, and it was six years ago,"
Goodyear told NEWSWEEK, adding the junta's record in the current cyclone
crisis is "reprehensible."
Another issue: DCI has been a pioneer in running "independent" expenditure
campaigns by so-called 527 groups, precisely the kind of operations that
McCain, in his battle for campaign-finance reform, has denounced. In 2004,
the DCI Group led a pro-Bush 527 called Progress for America, which was
later fined (along with several other 527s on both sides of the political
divide) for violating federal election laws. Goodyear, however, says that
DCI is "not in the 527 business anymore."
Ironically, Goodyear was chosen for the post after the McCain campaign nixed
another candidate, Paul Manafort, who runs a lobbying firm with McCain's
campaign manager, Rick Davis. The prospect of choosing Manafort created
anxiety in the campaign because of his long history of representing
controversial foreign clients, including Philippine dictator Ferdinand
Marcos. More recently, he served as chief political consultant to Viktor
Yanukovich, the former Ukrainian prime minister who has been widely
criticized for alleged corruption and for his close ties to Russia's
Vladimir Putin-a potential embarrassment for McCain, who in 2007 called
Putin a "totalitarian dictator." "The Ukrainian stuff was viewed as too
much," says one McCain strategist, who asked not to be identified discussing
the matter. Manafort did not return calls for comment.