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Sunday, February 6, 2011

One DC trip and 3 Reed Awards later…


Dashing back to the Marriott after meeting tweeps Lovisa Williams and Dr. Mark Drapeau to catch up with Larry before heading to the awards dinner, I realized I was more excited for this event than any Christmas or New Year’s Eve… it was almost better than election night!

You know the saying that in West Virginia everyone knows everyone? Well who should be sitting to my right during the awards dinner but none other than John Perdue’s campaign media strategist, Ben Chao. Beside Ben sat Tom Rossmeissl from Trippi & Associates who was up for a Reed against Struble Eichenbaum Communications for Senator Joe Manchin’s “Dead Aim” TV spot.

Rainmaker won three Reed Awards from Campaigns and Elections Magazine: Toughest Newspaper Ad, Toughest Radio Ad, and Best Direct Mail- Democratic County, Local, and Judicial Candidate. To see all Rainmaker’s 2010 political work, click here.

To see all the Reed Award winners, click here.

Just a little FYI...Trippi & Associates TV spot for Jerry Brown’s campaign beat “Dead Aim.” In fact, the spot won two Reed Awards!

But the evening got more interesting…

Whether or not Secretary of State Natalie Tennant can raise money for her gubernatorial campaign this year has been a topic of discussion for over a week now. Several mentioned that Emily’s List, a fundraising group for female gubernatorial and congressional candidates, could raise her several hundreds of thousands of dollars. After investigating a little, it appears this is not the case. Last year, Emily’s List only contributed approximately $65,000 for their top targeted House race. Their fundraising power is not what it has been in the past, so where will Tennant turn for funds?

I find it odd that most national political consulting firms only specialize in one type of campaign effort: e.g. direct mail, website design, media, etc… My favorite thing about Rainmaker is we are a full-service political consulting firm, doing everything from logos and social media to direct mail and TV and radio spots. Our clients choose what services they want us to do. Chao told my boss and me that in order to branch out into other states, we should distinguish ourselves in one category. If you know me at all, I like to have my stilettos and wear them too, so sticking to one category is not something I’ll be doing. Chao will be in Charleston on Monday, February 7th.

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

The battle for the Governor's Mansion begins!



UPDATED!

Rainmaker,Inc. speaking with independent expenditure against major 2011 gubernatorial candidate!


With the West Virginia GOP announcing they chose a Georgia real estate developer to run their party, and Senate President acting as Governor Earl Ray Tomblin hiring all of Senator Joe Manchin’s DC political and media consultants, I realized I hadn’t posted much lately.

Since I love political campaigns more than shoe shopping…

Natalie Tennant is officially kicking off her gubernatorial campaign tomorrow at 11am at Colasessano’s Pizza located in Fairmont. This Marion County native hired former Rockefeller state director Lou Ann Johnson to handle all the Secretary of State’s media relations. That being said, will Rockefeller endorse Tennant?

Rick Thompson hired Mike Plante as his campaign manager, and chose Michael Perry and Bob Shell to serve on his finance committee. For more on those two, check out Alison Knezevich’s post.

Treasurer John Perdue chose Chuck Smith, former state Democratic Party chairman, as his campaign manager.

Looking at a much larger campaign in 2012… I cannot help but wonder if Supreme Court Justice Robin Davis will choose the same person who ran her previous campaigns to run her United States Senate campaign, Linda Arnold.