March 29, 2005

Strayhorn Hires Big Guns for 2006
Race that Could Be for Governor

Creator of Famous `Rats' Ad Joining Forces
with Schwarzenegger Pollster for Texas Race

By Mike Hailey
Capitol Inside Editor

Texas Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn smells a rat in some of the things that have happened since she went on the attack against Governor Rick Perry a couple of years ago. So it may be no coincidence that she's turned to Alex Castellanos to be her media consulting for a possible campaign against Perry if she opts to run for governor instead of re-election, lieutenant governor or something else unforeseen at this point in 2006.

Strayhorn announced Tuesday that she's enlisted the high-dollar services of Castellanos and John McLaughlin to provide the primary consulting for her campaign for whatever office she chooses to seek next year. The decision to hire Castellanos and McLaughin - two of the nation's most celebrated political pros - suggests that Strayhorn is still toying seriously with a potential governor's race despite recent predictions in some GOP political circles that she won't challenge Perry even if U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison decides not to jump in the governor's race.

Castellanos is a Cuban native who's been the media consultant for a handful of White House campaigns including last year's re-election bid by President George W. Bush. A mastermind strategist who's considered to be one of the most innovative political minds in America, Castellanos triggered a firestorm in 2000 when he produced a Republican National Committee ad that flashed the word "RATS" for a fraction of a second during an attack on Democrat Al Gore. The ad not only sparked protests from Democrats but set off a chain reaction of gaffes that culminated when Bush fumbled the pronunciation of the word "subliminal" when attempting to answer a question about the commercial.

Castellanos most recent client was the Bush re-election campaign - and his company, National Media, produced the ads that framed Democrat John Kerry as a flip-flopping senator who'd voted for an $87 billion supplemental appropriation bill for the Iraq mission before he voted against it. The firm also cut the commercials that suggested that the United States would be more vulnerable to attacks if Kerry and the Democrats took over the White House.

Strayhorn's re-election campaign paid Castellanos' firm almost $5 million for television advertising in 2002 when received more votes than anyone on the ballot in Texas.

McLaughlin has operated on the same major level as the pollster for more than a half dozen U.S. Senators, more than two dozen Congressional members and other political celebrities such as California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and U.S. Senator Jesse Helms. His firm, McLaughlin & Associates, helped elect former House Speaker Dennis Hastert and Virginia Governors Jim Gilmore and George Allen and did the polling for Allen's U.S. Senate race. McLaughlin clients include U.S. Senators John Warner, Richard Lugar, Richard Shelby, Connie Mack and others on the national level.

The hirings that Strayhorn announced ensure that the governor's race will have a national flavor if she or Hutchison decide to enter it. Castellanos and McLaughlin are both based in Alexandria, Virginia. While Perry's general consultant lives in New Hampshire, the Republican incumbent has been been planning to use Texas homegrown talent such as Abilene native David Weeks for his media needs next year. The governor's campaign manager is South Texas native Luis Saenz, who'd been assistant secretary of state before moving over to the political shop.

Hutchison has signed up Scott Howell, a Dallas-based media consultant who was on the same team with Castellanos last as an adviser to the Bush/Cheney campaign. Terry Sullivan, who's also a major player on the national level, is Hutchison's new campaign manager for a possible governor's race or whatever campaign she pursues eventually in 2006.