Brian Donahue is a founder and partner of CRAFT | Media / Digital, an integrated political and public affairs consulting firm, specializing in television media advertising, online media, direct mail and strategic communications.

Prior to starting CRAFT | Media / Digital, Brian was a partner with Jamestown Associates.  He managed four federal election campaigns, served on two presidential election staffs and consulted on numerous political and public affairs campaigns.

After serving as a target state Executive Director for Bush-Cheney’04, Brian headed the National 72-Hour Task Force for the Republican National Committee, directing grassroots programs, vote analysis and GOTV operations.

Brian has presented campaign strategy and tactical seminars at numerous campaign schools and is sourced in several national news and political publications.

National Journal – Consultant Candid

For more colorful information about me, you can read the recent National Journal’s Hotline feature, Consultant Candid interview below:

Brian Donahue is Senior Vice-President with Jamestown Associates, a nationally acclaimed political and public affairs consulting firm specializing in media advertising, direct mail and strategic communications. Prior to joining Jamestown Associates, Donahue managed four federal election campaigns, served as a target state Executive Director for Bush-Cheney ‘04 and headed the National 72-Hour Task Force for the Republican National Committee.  In 2006, he was named a Rising Star by Campaigns & Elections Magazine.  Donahue teaches Political Marketing as an adjunct faculty member at the George Washington University Graduate School of Political Management. And today, he is our “Consultant Candid.”

What was your first job?
Golf caddy “surprising, considering how horrible I am at the game of golf.

What is your proudest moment professionally?
I am proudest when I am asked to teach to others what I do professionally.  It is deeply profound to realize that I not only have things to learn, but I have important skills to teach.   Being considered a teacher is being paid the highest compliment.

If you could be in any other line of work, what would it be?
Lead singer of a band (think: Rolling Stones, Motley Crue, Poison)

What campaign (past, present or future) would you most like to be a part of?
I would like to create a political style campaign for the marketing of a major consumer product.  I would enjoy showing the big multi-billion dollar corporate Ad Agencies how a branding, marketing and persuasion campaign can be done more effectively on a smaller budget with smart communications techniques learned from the trenches of political warfare.

What firm/individual who does your kind of work for the other party do you respect the most, and why?
I recently met Liz Chadderdon, Direct Mail Consultant, with the Chadderdon Group and Michael Bassik, new media consultant, of MSHC Partners.  Both are very smart and talented.  Like me, they are a younger generation of consultants and they are very formidable in their respective disciplines.

Where is your happy place?
The Soggy Dollar Bar on Jost Van Dyke

Negative campaigning — good or bad?
Neither good or bad.  Important.  Creatively comparing and contrasting ideas and records is what makes this democracy great.  However, I would love nothing more than to see gratuitous personal muckraking disappear from the political realm altogether.  Perpetuating false claims, rumor and innuendo takes us away from the real issues we need to address and solve in our country.

What one event in a candidate’s past would pose the biggest problem in a campaign?
The concept of what is considered a problem for candidates running for office is a moving target and depends on a multitude of factors.  For instance, drug experimentation and marital affairs were once very taboo and now are more accepted, except when a candidate masks their foible in deceptive way.  The point is, apart from widely unacceptable behavior, a candidate’s problem is judged based on how it is presented and how that problem aligns with the social mores of the time and particular place.

What is the ideal number of clients to have at one time?
One is the ideal “but that isn’t reality.  As many as a consultant and a firm can handle with proper attention and the best possible counsel.  Client relationships, and the amount of those relationships in a cycle, must be based on the consumption of time and energy.

What is your favorite restaurant to meet clients?
Hook restaurant in Georgetown.

What is the first section of the newspaper you read?
My Horoscope, the perfect dose of self fulfilling prophecy.

If you could only watch one news show, what would it be?
None. “I can’t stand the amount of ignorance and lack of deep intellectual reporting coming out of any of the current news programs.  It’s all pack mentality.  I only watch news shows for tracking the media’s issue du jour.  I tend to watch television for entertainment “Mad Men, The Real World and The Office.

We’re ending this feature with a question posed by the last interviewee. If you could see one person or band in concert, living or dead, who would it be?
The Grateful Dead, 12/31/78 Winterland Arena, San Francisco, Ca.  New Year’s Show and final show ever at the Winterland.

(Please pose a question for the next interviewee.)
What is the best or funniest analogy you can think of to describe what we do professionally?