for January 17, 2007

BIP Winners: Political Consultant of the Year

2006 Political Consultant of the Year
Tom Ingram

It was late in the night when Tom Ingram got a call. The well-respected Chief of Staff to U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander was no where close to going asleep. U.S. Senate candidate Bob Corker, who was five weeks away from Election Day and losing ground in the latest polling, was on the line. It's not hard to imagine the tone of the call. Corker was calling in a desperate plea for help. The Republican National Committee, several high-level United States Senators, leading donors, and reportedly Karl Rove himself had called on Corker to shake up his campaign staff in the face of the declining polling numbers.

Corker's opponent, the media-savvy Congressman Harold Ford, Jr. from Memphis, had been garnishing huge amounts of national media attention with the prospect that he would become the first black Senator from the South. Corker's campaign had been ducking media appearances that featured Ford and scheduled only a modest number of debates between the two candidates out of fear that the attractive and articulate Ford would continue to make gains among swing voters. But Corker had problems in his own base as well. The campaign had not done a particularly good job patching things up with primary opponents Ed Bryant and Van Hilleary, both who ran quality campaigns and garnished loyal supporters. The more conservative wing of the party was reluctant to back Corker because of the barbs thrown during the primary that called into question his conservative credentials. In addition to all these challenges, Ford was starting to step up his tough rhetoric against Corker, which was threatening to cut into Corker's lead in the only major demographic category he was winning at the time - white males.

Ingram reluctantly agreed to leave his work lining up votes for his boss Lamar Alexander's bid to become the next GOP Whip in order to help Corker get things back on track. Ingram's entrance to the campaign was felt immediately. Within the first few hours, he had lined up several staff changes, including several reliable staff members from Alexander's other offices and set plans to open a new campaign headquarters more centrally located in Nashville. More importantly, Ingram set his sights on an image and tactical overhaul for Corker.

Seeing the opportunity to win despite the cloud hanging over the campaign, Ingram told the Capitol Hill paper Roll Call, "We set up a new shop here and it’s humming and we’re rocking and rolling and expecting to win," after being on the job for less than week. Instead of hiding from the national media attention to humble Tennessee, Ingram encouraged Corker to jump into the spotlight, even with the risks. By then, the media was anxious to get their first looks at the man they only knew as the guy running against Harold Ford, Jr. Corker got on message - a positive message less focused on divisive social issues and more about Corker's record as a good fiscal manager. More importantly, Corker began going on the offensive against Ford, after quietly stepping away from an earlier promise not to bring Ford's family into the campaign. Corker cited Ford's father's involvement as a lobbyist for Fannie Mae, which had business before a committee on which Ford was a member.

To cut into Ford's lead among women, Ingram ingeniously brought to the campaign the one thing that Harold Ford couldn't bring to his - the candidate's family. Getting back to the fundamental contrasting points between Corker and Ford that had eluded the Corker campaign, Ingram drafted Corker's wife Elizabeth and daughters to all create TV spots for their favorite dad. Ingram's team even ordered an overhaul of Corker's website from bright flashy red-whites-and-blues to more humble earth tones and with issues such as education and economic issues instead of abortion to soften the edges.

When he was set to give a press conference on the Ingram-generated issue of ethics reform on lobbyists lobbying family members, Corker was given his opportunity to shift momentum in the campaign. Ironically, the lack of joint media appearances may have frustrated Ford, because he made plans to crash the Corker party. The combative Ford came across as immature as the now more media-confident Corker held his ground. Clips of the "Memphis Meltdown" sprung up on YouTube and were syndicated on news stations across the state and suddenly Ford's lead began to diminish, as positive-generating media spots reminded Tennesseans of their record of sending statesmen to the U.S. Senate with the voice of Fred Thompson.

A late campaign ad featuring Ed Bryant helped bring into the fold the remaining Republican faithful who were skeptical of Corker - and helpful but controversal third-party ads by the Republican National Committee (See Political TV Spot of the Year Below) and other organizations served as the one-two punch against Ford's ascendancy, even though the campaign officially denounced them - another Ingram tactic.

On Election Night, Tom Ingram was the toast of Republicans nationally, as Bob Corker was the only Republican candidate nationwide to endure the flood of Democratic wins - even in red states like Montana and Virginia. The one bright spot on the map was Tennessee, where Tom Ingram had guided what looked like another GOP loss to a surprise turn-around victory. One Republican operative, toasting Ingram referenced an entry posted on Ingram-student and Democratic operative Mike Kopp's blog that claimed Ingram couldn't turn Corker's campaign around because only God himself could do that. "Ingram's my god," he said with awe only half-joking. It's no wonder that we award him with the title of Political Consultant of the Year for 2006.

Posted by Adam Groves | Email This |