World Famous Comics: Alpha Dogs: The Americans Who Turned Political Spin into a Global Business
Alpha Dogs: The Americans Who Turned Political Spin into a Global Business
By: James Harding Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux Average Rating: Binding: Hardcover Label: Farrar, Straus and Giroux Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 272 Publication Date: May 13, 2008 Release Date: May 13, 2008
Alpha Dogs is the story of the men from an enormously influential campaign business called Sawyer Miller who served as backroom strategists on every presidential contest from Richard Nixon’s to George W. Bush’s. David Sawyer was a New England aristocrat with dreams of a career as a filmmaker; Scott Miller, the son of an Ohio shoe salesman, had a knack for copywriting. Unlikely partners, they became a political powerhouse, directing democratic revolutions from the Philippines to Chile, steering a dozen presidents and prime ministers into office, and instilling the campaign ethic in corporate giants from Coca-Cola to Apple. Long after the firm had broken up and sold out, its alumni had moved into the White House, to dozens of foreign countries, and into the offices of America’s blue-chip chief executives. The men of Sawyer Miller were the Manhattan Project of spin politics: a small but extraordinary group who invented an American-style political campaigning and exported it around the world.
In this lively and engaging narrative, James Harding tells the story of a few men whose political savvy, entrepreneurial drive, and sheer greed would alter the landscape of global politics. It is a story full of office intrigue, fierce rivalries, and disastrous miscalculations. And it is the tale of how world politics became American, and how American business became political.
Illuminating Romp Through the Political Landscape Any regular watcher of Jon Stewart and 'The Daily Show' will recognize this author, who made a hilarious appearance there a few days ago to talk about this book. The surprise is: the book behind the author is actually quite good.
It's about the political spinmeisters who brought behind-the-scenes image consulting into its modern form. James Harding bores in on one particular political consultancy, Sawyer Miller. It's an excellent choice. The opening story about Sawyer Miller's counseling of Kevin White, the Irish mayor of Boston, is equal parts funny and insightful. ("Voters don't like you!" the consultant tells the candidate, while devising a strategy that helps him win anyway.) The consultants go around the world -- helping Cory Aquino oust Marcos in the Philippines, another riveting story -- and in and out of countless elections and boardrooms to find ways for candidates to get out the right message. It is not always pretty, what goes on out of view of the camera. From bare-knuckled fighting to seat-of-the-pants improvising, the tactics of a campaign invariably tell a memorable tale.
Harding is a knowing, graceful guide. He has a sensible grasp of politics and the unpredictable dynamics that rule virtually every campaign. His writing weaves subtle observation and sharp insight into the narrative with seeming effortlessness. He always offers just the right amount of historical background to any episode. He never gets bogged down in more policy than you want. Yet I really appreciated his smart, illuminating explanation of the politics in any situation his protagonists wandered into, and they did wander far and wide.
A highly enjoyable book.
outstanding With only a limited understanding of political campaigning, mostly garnered from an appreciation of Josh in the The West Wing, I thought this book was a well-intentioned but ultimately misguided gift from a friend which might, at its most useful, end up being re-gifted. But from the first few pages I found myself completely sucked into this authoritative and beautifully written account of Sawyer Miller, a political consultancy firm which sold the art of American politics to the rest of the world. A must read for anyone who wants to read between the lines of political spin - and about the people who wrote them. Outstanding.
fascinating and suspense filled, and a must read for an election year In the early 1980's, I remember walking into the Manhattan offices of Sawyer Miller on East 60th Street, and wondering what went on beyond its reception desk's wall of television monitors. Were they part Madison Avenue, part CIA and NSC? Who were these green beret alpha dogs who parachuted into campaigns to save the day? How did a Mayflower descendant/son of a shoe company exec (Sawyer) team up with the son of a shoe salesperson (Miller)? How did Miller, the man credited with "Coke is it," "Have a Coke and a Smile," and "Great Taste, Less Filling" end up selling candidates to American and international voters? Now I know. James Harding explains the history of modern political consulting, and gives detailed accounts of the growth of the self confident Sawyer Miller Group, its tactics, clients, successes, speeches, ads, and failures, and its growth around the world and effects on international elections. It is a fascinating read. At times their negative ads turned off voters, but engaged others; some were informative, others were created to "relate" to the voter, and sometimes their clients political and corporate clients lost, proving that ads are not always magic potions. As for going negative: the author tells us that even Thomas Jefferson went negative against George Washington in 1796, and Cicero, in 63 BCE, wrote about how it is delicious to go negative against your opponent when running for political office.
The author writes on how Sawyer Miller's clients ranged from the Dali Lama and Vaclav Havel to Lech Walesa, Shimon Peres, Puerto Rico's Colon, Chile's Valdes, Ecuador's Borja, Bolivia's "Goni,"and Corey Aquino, and from Chris Dodd, Jane Byrne, and Scoop Jackson to Bruce Babbitt, as well as saintly domestic clients and international rogues known for alleged torture tactics. They worked for Amex, Drexel, BAT, Goldman, Resorts Intnl and more. The consultant who penned Newt Gingrich's Contract With America, also penned documents for Tony Blair, Boris Yeltsin, and Silvio Berlusconi. The author explains how politics became tactics instead of ideologies, and candidates were packaged like consumer products. In Harding's hands, we learn about the machinations of Black, Manafort ,Stone; Squier, Napolitan, Garth, Schwartz, Wirthlin, McCleary, Grunwald, Carville, Sawyer, Miller, and more.
Chapter 1 tells the story of the birth and growth of consulting by framing it within an exciting fly on the wall account of consultant Ned Kennan's (aka Nadav Katznelson) meeting with Boston's multi term mayor, Kevin White. Kennan, who focused on the driver's of voter behavior, loved to give bad news to the powerful, which he did to White, who was 20 points behind in the latest polls. In Chapter 2, we watch as Sawyer learns the limits of consulting, polls, personalities when he heads to Venezuela and tries to turn a pussycat of a candidate into a tiger. Chapter 3 relates the story of New Coke, its political-like battle with Pepsi, and the lesson it has for understanding polling results. By far my most favorite chapters were Chapters 4 and 5, which tell the stories of American political consulting in Israel and the Philippines. The account of Mrs. Aquino, the downfall of Marcos, and the roles of Cardinal Sin, Reagan, the U.S. media, certain Senators, and "American" consultants were so enlightening and suspenseful that I read that chapter a second time.
Briefly, to K.I.S.S. and Keep on Message, I recommend this as a lively informative and necessary read in this Presidential election year.
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