Rick Davis (political consultant): Difference between revisions
| Line 42: | Line 42: | ||
===Freddie Mac still paying firm longer than stated from Davis and McCain Campaign=== |
===Freddie Mac still paying firm longer than stated from Davis and McCain Campaign=== |
||
Two reports, one from the New York Times and one from Newsweek, conflict with McCain's statement that Davis had no involvement with Freddie Mac for the past few years. [13] |
Two reports, one from the New York Times and one from Newsweek, conflict with McCain's statement that Davis had no involvement with Freddie Mac for the past few years. [13] [[User:Macshill|Macshill]] ([[User talk:Macshill|talk]]) macshill |
||
source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/09/23/freddie-mac-paid-mccain-c_n_128770.html [[User:Macshill|Macshill]] ([[User talk:Macshill|talk]]) macshill |
|||
==References== |
==References== |
||
Revision as of 11:57, 24 September 2008
Rick Davis | |
|---|---|
| Chief Executive Officer of McCain 2008 | |
| Signature |  |
Richard H. Davis (b. 1959) is the chief executive officer of the John McCain’s 2008 presidential campaign. An American lobbyist, he is currently on leave from Davis, Manafort & Freedman, a political consulting firm in Alexandria, Virginia.[1]
Career
Born to a Navy family, Davis studied at the University of Alabama. After learning the campaign business in Alabama and Mississippi, he became national field director for the College Republican National Committee during Ronald Reagan's 1980 presidential bid.[1]
He left the Reagan White House to work with longtime lobbyist Paul Manafort, founding the lobbying firm Davis, Manafort. In their political work, Davis served as Manafort's deputy in orchestrating the 1996 Republican National Convention; both would later join Bob Dole's presidential team. While working for Dole, Davis told a reporter that he was "blown away" by McCain's unconventional politics. He joined McCain's first election bid in 1999.[1]
After running McCain's failed 2000 presidential campaign,[2] Davis became the head of a group called the Homeownership Alliance, a Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac advocacy group. Its website said that the organization was dedicated to "exposing and defeating trends that would harm consumer access to the lowest-cost mortgage option."[3] He was head of the group for five years, being paid more than $30,000 per month. At the end of 2005, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac decided that Homeownership Alliance had outlived its usefulness, and it was closed.[4]
When McCain started the Reform Institute in 2001 to promote campaign finance reform, he involved Davis. Davis earned $395,000 in salary and consulting fees from the Institute, which he headed from 2003 to 2005.[5]
In 2006, Davis helped plan McCain's next White House run, envisioning a corporate-style campaign modeled after President Bush's 2004 bid.[1] Davis has the title of campaign manager for the McCain's 2008 presidential election campaign. A reorganization placed Steve Schmidt in charge on July 2, 2008, although Davis retains the title.[6][7]
Davis, Manafort was paid at least $2.8 million between 1998 and 2008 for lobbying Congress.[8]
Controversies
DHL
In 2003, Davis and his lobbying firm were hired by German logistic company DHL and Airborne Express, to lobby Congress to approve of a merger between the two firms. DHL Holdings was eventually successful in acquiring Airborne Express. [1][9]
McCain and Davis have come under attack by the AFL-CIO for facilitating the deal, as DHL is now planning to quit using the Wilmington, Ohio freight airport as a hub. The airport and package-sorting facility in Wilmington was previously owned by Airborne Express. The move by DHL would cost an esimated 8,000 jobs at an air park in the southwest Ohio city of Wilmington. [10][11] At the time of the merger, the deal created an estimated 1,000 jobs for the Wilmington area.[11]
Involvement with Oleg Deripaska
In 2006, Davis helped set up the encounter between McCain and Russian aluminum magnate Oleg Deripaska in Switzerland during an international economic conference. Deripaska's suspected links to anti-democratic and organized-crime figures are so controversial that the U.S. government revoked his entry visa in 2006.[12]
At the time, Davis was working for a lobbying firm and seeking to do business with the billionaire. Later that month, Deripaska wrote to Davis and his partner, political consultant Paul J. Manafort, to thank them for arranging the meeting. "Thank you so much for setting up everything in Klosters so spectacularly," he wrote. "It was very interesting to meet Senators Chambliss, Sununu, and McCain in such an intimate setting."[12]
Freddie Mac still paying firm longer than stated from Davis and McCain Campaign
Two reports, one from the New York Times and one from Newsweek, conflict with McCain's statement that Davis had no involvement with Freddie Mac for the past few years. [13] Macshill (talk) macshill
References
- ^ a b c d e Template:Cite article
- ^ "The McCain Makeover" Glenn Frankel, The Washington Post, August 27, 2006
- ^ Wolgemuth, Liz (September 19, 2008). "McCain's Campaign Manager Was for It Before He Was Against It". US News and World Report.
{{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ David D. Kirkpatrick and Charles Duhigg (September 21, 2008). "Loan Titans Paid McCain Adviser Nearly $2 Million". New York Times.
{{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ Template:Cite article
- ^ Dan Balz and Michael D. Shear (2008-07-02). ""McCain Puts New Strategist Atop Campaign"". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2008-07-02.
- ^ Martin, Jonathan (2008-07-02). "Schmidt takes control of day-to-day operation". Politico.com. Retrieved 2008-09-07.
- ^ Lisa Lerer (July 11, 2007). "Ex-reformer McCain depends on lobbyists". The Politico.
{{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ Template:Cite article
- ^ 200 jam legislative DHL meeting, Associated Press August 20, 2008
- ^ a b Template:Cite article
- ^ a b Template:Cite article
External links
- Jules Witcover, Interview with Rick Davis, June 25, 2007