WEINER FOR MAYOR 2005 LOBBYIST/STAFFERS

Michael Whouley is Anthony Weiner's field manager for his petitioning effort.
The lobbying firm he founded, the Dewey Square Group, is prominent nationally, and Whouley is - like many of the staffers at DSG - a veteran of many major Democratic electoral campaigns. But an affiliate of the firm said privately that roughly 90 percent of its profits come from work with corporations and nonprofit groups (1). He was known by Gore as "the Brain" (2), and considered "the magical Michael Whouley" by Kerry (3). His name was among those mentioned in an Enron lobbying strategy memo as having Mr. Gore's ear (4). Whouley was also an advisor to President Clinton.

Whouley has been a registered lobbyist for Visa, Mastercard, AT&T, and Northwest Airlines, among others. DSG has been registered for lobbying in New York, lobbying for General Motors over CO2 emissions legislation, and for Barnes and Noble.

DSG is now a multinational, allowing European clients "to penetrate further into the US market." (7).

At a dinner hosted by Enron and attended by about 20 people during the Gore 200 campaign, Mr. Whouley -introduced by Richard S. Shapiro, Enron's top lobbyist - gave presentations about the campaign and took questions. While Whouley said he "couldn't speculate on what their motives were, except the usual Washington meet-and-greet," (8) he did note that the company was highly regarded at the time (9).

Whouley opened White House doors for wealthy lobbying clients while serving as one of Vice President Al Gore's top political strategists. While he formally became Gore's campaign manager Aug. 2, 1996 - and took a leave of absence from lobbying until November - shortly before arranging one of the White House meetings, he accompanied Gore on a late May campaign swing to New Hampshire. He returned for a few days in June to talk to high-ranking party officials and begin laying the groundwork for the Gore presidential campaign (10).

In 1993, Whouley was in charge of in charge of patronage hiring. "People who helped us were the priorities. You make sure you take care of the people who took care of you," he said (11). Though such lists have long been common practice in past White Houses, critics cited the scope and intensity of the Clinton administration's aggressiveness in rewarding supporters (12).

DSG specializes in grasstops and grassroots lobbying. They don't actually lobby public officials themselves - they find other people to do it. Using a strategy of "thinking globally and acting locally," says Minyon Moore, Head of State and Political Practice at DSG, they "go into communities and find people of influence" to make DSG's clients points for them (13).

"The best person to bring to a national official is a credible community member," says Brian Mccabe, a partner at DCI group, a Republican consulting firm that frequently works in tandem with DSG for their corporate clients (14).

Karen Skelton, a Principal at DSG, tells a story of working with Starbucks, who wanted to open a store in San Fransisco. "We went to community meetings at people's homes to identify influential community members." And through these people, they shined a light on the positive side of Starbucks - like the fact they provide health coverage to part-time workers (15).

A grasstop lobbyist is an "influencer". One could be considered a campaign donor, an advisor, or someone who has helped the candidate out of tough bind - generally someone "who can call in a favor" or somebody "the candidate can't say no to" (16).

Mccabe says the first step he takes when looking for people of influence is to look into his client's staff and their vendor's - or any organization that is dependent on the client's economic status (17).


Also working for the Weiner campaign, Is Mark Benoit, the campaign manager. In between the Weiner campaign, and his involvement in the Clark 2004 Presidential campaign as NY State Director, he has been working with the influential Ken Sunshine Public Relations firm. Ken Sunshine has recently been the state Senate payroll, for Minority Leader David Paterson, at the same time he was a registered lobbyist for the Jets (18). Benoit is also working For Betsy Gotbaum's bid for re-election for Public Advocate.










(1) The Boston Globe, July 28, 2004, DEWEY SQUARE QUIETLY FLEXES ITS POLITICAL MUSCLE, Glen Johnson
(2) Los Angeles Times, November 17, 2000, DECISION 2000 / AMERICA WAITS, ELIZABETH MEHREN and JEFFREY GETTLEMAN
(3) ibid, Johnson
(4) The New York Times, February 18, 2002, Enron Pursued Plan To Forge Close Ties To Gore Campaign, RICHARD L. BERKE
(5) Dewey Square Group Press Release, September 22, 2003
(6) The Boston Herald, November 20, 1997, Bay State lobbyist opens doors to Gore, Andrew Miga
(7)The Washington Post, January 21, 2000, Iowa Ground WarTests the Generals, Thomas B. Edsall
(8) The Boston Herald, April 15, 1997, Clinton donors 'considered' for job, perks, Andrew Miga
(9) Ibid, Berke
(10) Roll Call, February 18, 2002, Enron Courted Gore;
Sought Ties to Veep's Hill Allies, John Bresnahan
(11) Millen Institute Panel: The New Government Relations: Think National, Act Local,
(12) ibid, Milken
(13) ibid, Milken
(14) ibid, Milken
(15) ibid, Milken
(16) Daily News, March 6, 2005, Dem pol flags Jets PR guru on state dole, Joe Mahoney