There’s no doubt that the political career of President Clinton has been enriched by Dick Morris.
There can now be no doubt, either, that Morris is being enriched, quite literally, by Clinton.
You won’t find most of the figures in federal files or databases, but Dick Morris is Clinton’s best-compensated consigliere. Brainy, secretive, often effective, reviled by some, envied by lots, he’s a million-dollar Machiavelli.
Figure he’ll take in at the very least $1.5 million this year for his “unpaid” counsel to the president. That’s probably conservative.
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As the political scene shifts to Chicago for the Democratic convention, the whispering will continue about the influence of the consultant, raised in New York City, upon the Southern politician.
Morris, 48, who is dubbed “the Rasputin of Pennsylvania Avenue” by the Clinton-bashing Wall Street Journal, is a prime example of the modern cult of the consultant. They are often mercenaries whose roles, whether in victory or defeat, increasingly are spotlighted, at times exaggerated, by a political press quite taken with tactics and strategy.
Morris is renowned, and derided, for uncommon dexterity, namely working for Republicans and Democrats. His link to Clinton dates to the late 1970s when he assisted the young politico in overcoming several dark periods in Arkansas, most notably in rebounding from a 1980 loss of the governor’s mansion after his first term.
In a somewhat iconoclastic turn, he convinced the vanquished Clinton to announce his bid for his old office in a TV commercial that apologized to voters for screwups. It worked. And so at times has Morris’ poll-driven, pragmatist’s notion of “triangulation,” a nautically inspired gambit, meaning that to get from point A to point B, Clinton may have to tack first to point C. Ideological consistency can be cast overboard.
Throughout his on-and-off relationship with Clinton (dismissed, once even punched, by Clinton), he has had the strong support of Hillary Rodham Clinton. He is said to appeal not only to the more moderate ideological side of Bill Clinton but also to Clinton’s obsession with the intricacies of the political process and winning at virtually any cost.
No surprise, when Clinton was down in the dumps after the Republicans’ dramatic congressional victory in November 1994, that Clinton beckoned a man who has worked for Sen. Jesse Helms (R-N.C.) and Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-Miss.), among others.
Commuting regularly from his Connecticut home, Morris and his presence at the White House has angered some, notably more liberal folks who see Morris as bright but amoral.
For sure, there’s probably some jealousy. But Morris has left himself open to criticism. His track record is bumpy. Some colleagues believe he hasn’t always played straight in analyzing polling data. Others note his creation of very harsh ads attacking immigrants in one Southern campaign. Then there’s his reputation of being willing to forsake one client for his opponent overnight.
One of the well-publicized recent battles at the White House involved welfare reform. Morris urged Clinton to sign a bill that includes potentially onerous curbs on legal immigrants and cutbacks on food stamps. Many Cabinet members disagreed. Morris’ view won.
Even if his advice proves errant, and Clinton squanders his current lead, Morris himself won’t need food stamps or job training.
On the surface, he doesn’t get a penny for his work at the White House. Technically, he’s a consultant to the Democratic National Committee at $14,000 a month, or just under $170,000 a year. In itself, that’s not bad, putting him above Cabinet members ($148,400) and on a par with the vice president and chief justice of the United States ($171,500). Clinton gets $200,000.
But that’s chump change compared to what he’s quietly taking away these days.
To understand how much, start with the figure of $55 million.
That’s what has been spent on television advertising on behalf of Clinton since June 1995. Most of it has come in ads under the aegis of the Democratic National Committee and Democratic state committees nationwide, while an increasing amount of late is sponsored by the Clinton-Gore re-election committee.
The sum of $55 million is small potatoes if you’re Shaquille O’Neal or other members of pro basketball’s new high-fiving plutocracy. But, in the political realm, it’s gargantuan.
Consider: $55 million is more than Clinton spent on radio and TV during the entire 1992 campaign, both in the primaries and the general election versus George Bush. And the really big spending this year won’t happen until the fall.
Among those who led the way in urging Clinton to undertake the unprecedented early use of TV ads was Morris, who benefits handsomely. In a realm in which consultants are generally paid a flat fee, Morris’ arrangement with the president is unusual.
According to White House sources, who confirmed the $55 million in TV buys, Morris has not left much of a paper trail. It works like this, say those familiar with the deal:
A Washington firm, Squier Knapp & Ochs, whose best-known partner is media consultant Robert Squier, handles all the TV ads, with Morris (and usually Clinton himself) helping to conceive the ads and write the actual copy.
Squier buys the air time from TV stations and, as is customary in his field, gets a percentage of what the stations charge to play the ads. Since the Democratic National Committee picks up Squier’s production costs, the percentage of the so-called “buy” is pure profit.
According to sources, Squier started out last year by taking the frequently standard 15 percent. Under apparent prodding from some in the White House, who were chagrined over how much money was going into consultants’ pockets on behalf of a candidate running unopposed in his party’s primaries, that percentage was bargained down to 10 percent. It has since dropped further, to 7 percent.
The money gets to Squier in various ways, some directly from the DNC but, so far, most from state organizations in a gambit that just skirts federal election law.
It lets the DNC funnel so-called “soft money” contributions from corporations, bigshots and unions to the state groups, for use in creating and airing ads. Under federal election law, the DNC would face restrictions if it used such money to directly produce and air the same ads.
The DNC pays the state groups but they quickly dispatch the money to Squier. For example, the Pennsylvania state party got $2.8 million from the DNC between July 1995 and April 1996 and then paid $2.7 million to the Squier firm. As an insightful May article in the small-circulation National Journal put it, the state groups operate “as little more than a pass-through for the DNC to pay for the production and broadcasting of ads by Squier Knapp & Ochs.”
After the money goes to the Squier firm, it is split among Morris, the Squier firm and Clinton’s New York pollsters, Penn & Schoen. It started out as one-third for each, say White House sources.
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Morris, Squier and Mark Penn did not respond to calls specifically inquiring about their fees from the TV buys. But remembering that the percentage has at times been 15 and 10, a conservative estimate of the consultants’ take from the $55 million in TV buys is $4.25 million.
Say Morris has taken a third–even top White House officials are in the dark on the exact slice, and some assume it’s now higher. That means that since June 1995, he’s made at least $1.4 million (plus the tipping money from the DNC). And, again, the big spending is around the corner, not to mention his take from direct mail and phone bank operations.
Some people claim it can be better being Clinton’s enemy than friend, given an inclination to please everybody.
Nah. You’re better off being an “unpaid” strategist.
Cokie watch
With so many reporters descending on Chicago, there’s so much moonlighting to do, so little time to do it.
For example, the good folks of the City Club of Chicago and City Club of San Diego team to offer CNN’s “Capital Gang”–Mark Shields, Robert Novak, Al Hunt Jr. and Margaret Carlson–at a Wednesday breakfast forum.
The gang gives the civic-minded bastions a break: Only $15,000 for this performance.
The clubs also sponsor a Friday lunch at the Metropolitan Club with Sen. Alan Simson (R-Wy.). Of course, he’s precluded by ethics rules from taking a penny.