Win at all costs: The political industrial complex wrings profits from democracy
BY DAVE HELLING AND SCOTT CANON
The Kansas City Star
On July 14, a Sunday, Jeff Roe picked up the phone.
The high-profile political consultant had worked quietly with Kansas City’s business elite for weeks on a nervy plan to pay for breakthrough medical research.
One not-so-small hurdle stood in the way. The corner office guys needed to persuade Jackson County’s voters, in just 90 days, to support a half-cent sales tax hike for something called translational medicine.
It was doable, Roe told them. An early poll suggested support for the concept, but he’d need $1 million for a successful campaign. They didn’t blink.
So he started calling other consultants. Video makers and media buyers. A pollster. Public relations specialists. Graphic artists and direct mail wizards.
The political industrial complex rumbled to life.
Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/2013/11/30/4660912/win-at-all-costs-the-political.html