Randy's Viewpoint

Thursday, June 5, 2008
Hotline

CONSULTANT CANDIDS

Randall Gutermuth is the Dir. of Political Affairs for American Viewpoint, a polling firm where he specializes in political and public affairs research and Perception Analyzer Dial Testing. Gutermuth also worked as a pollster for SWR Worldwide, campaign researcher for the NRA and Chamber of Commerce, and conducted ad testing for Bush-Cheney '04. And today, he is our "Consultant Candid":

What was your first job?
My first job was selling programs outside of the "Dawg Pound" at Cleveland Stadium. Definitely more entertaining personalities than any focus group you will ever see.

What is your proudest moment professionally?
I don't know that any moment is necessarily proud for me, but rather for the candidates themselves. With that said, Senator Talent's victory in 2002 to win control of the Senate was definitely my "happiest moment" professionally.

If you could be in any other line of work, what would it be?
Like George Costanza, I always thought I would be good at being a sports announcer even though I have no training in the field and am not a former professional athlete. Anyone that's ever sat next to me at a game knows I never shut up so they would probably prefer me in the announcer's booth. Either that or a media consultant--they seem to always drive nicer cars than pollsters.

What campaign (past, present or future) would you most like to be a part of?
The easy answer here is Ronald Reagan because you can chart the lineage of successful strategists and strategies from both 1980 and 1984 campaigns. In terms of present campaigns I would have to say my colleague Bob Carpenter's campaign for Chesapeake Beach Town Council (vote early and often).

What firm/individual who does your kind of work for the other party do you respect the most, and why?
I've had the opportunity to work with several Democratic pollsters on bi-partisan projects and unfortunately for us Republicans there are many talented players. I think Keith Frederick does a very good job of balancing the demands of his clients and always offering strong strategic advice. Others that come to mind include Celinda Lake and Andrew Myers.

Negative campaigning -- good or bad?
Everyone says the same thing here because it is true. Informing voters of the differences is the key to any campaign. In an ideal world voters would educate themselves on the differences between two candidates so they can make an informed choice, but that isn't realistic. With that said, there is a point where an ad or mailing can go too far and ends up backfiring.

What one event in a candidate's past would pose the biggest problem in a campaign?
It isn't just one event but rather an event that displays a pattern of hypocrisy. Once you aren't seen as trustworthy it is time to start turning off the phones and packing up the yard signs.

What is the ideal number of clients to have at one time?
It really depends on how difficult the races are. You could have 20 incumbents who are safe and have a lot of free time on Sundays or you could have 5 extremely competitive races that keep you burning the midnight oil on a daily basis. My rule is that if a client hires me, I am the one who will do the work and won't pass it on to someone else.

What is your favorite restaurant to meet clients?
Any restaurant where at the end they hire us.

Where is your happy place?
My happy places are either somewhere saltwater fishing or at a Nats game.

What is the first section of the newspaper you read?
Sports, especially if I'm on the road and have a USA Today.

If you could only watch one news show, what would it be?
Sundays during football season it is a must to watch Fantasy Focus on ESPN News. A late injury could kill your team that week. It runs around the same time as Meet the Press but that's what Tivo is for.

We're ending this feature with a question posed by the last interviewee. This is from James Aldrete of Message Audience & Presentation: How far have you pushed in telling a client what they don't want to hear?
Far enough up until the point where it stops being productive and will only cause further problems. As pollsters it is easier to tell a candidate what they don't want to hear because there is data to back it up. I've found that most candidates realize that is what they are paying you for and even if they don't always follow the advice, they listen to it.

Please pose a question for the next interviewee.
What's the biggest obstacle you've had in building a career as a political consultant?

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