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Former CNN anchorman Lou Dobbs has been publicly musing about the possibility of running for high office - perhaps the Senate seat currently held by New Jersey's Bob Menendez; perhaps the White House. It's not the first time his name has been floated as a candidate, but this time, I think he might be serious, because he's got one of the most powerful PR strategists in the industry shaping his message. If you want to understand what Dobbs might be up to, keep your eyes on Robert Dilenschneider.
First, some background. Dobbs, 64, abruptly left his anchor post at CNN Nov. 11 after months of controversy over his nightly news show, which frequently focused on the problem of illegal immigration as a central cause of many of the United Statea' economic and social ills. Critics charged that Dobbs frequently based his reports on false or distorted information. Reportedly, Dobbs had been admonished by CNN president Jonathan Klein to focus on straight reporting on his television show and save his advocacy for his syndicated radio show.
The news that Dobbs might be considering a run for office came in a radio interview with former Republican presidential candidate and Senator Fred Thompson, according to a Nov. 24 New York Times story. In that story, follow-up questions were being fielded by Dilenschneider, the former CEO of the powerful Hill & Knowlton PR chain. Dilenschneider offered that a run for President would likely be preceded by a run for the Senate. But incumbent Senator Bob Menendez's term ends in 2012 - the same year as the presidential election. That's why Josh Marshall from Talking Points Memo decided that Dobbs shouldn't be taken seriously as a political candidate. It was a misstep, to be sure.
The Dilienschneider connection
However, if Bob Dilenschneider is fielding questions for Dobbs, something is up. Dilenschneider is a big dog in the PR world, and he doesn't make himself available to just anybody. His books, Power and Influence (the 2007 update of the 1991 volume is subtitled: "The Rules Have Changed"), are widely read among public relations practitioners. His consulting firm, The Dilenschneider Group, serves a select, limited, and largely anonymous client roster.
Before he started his own firm, Dilenschneider served as CEO for the global PR firm Hill and Knowlton from 1986 to 1991. While his tenure was marked by notable successes, there was one embarassing, public and fateful failure and egregious ethical lapse. In August, 1990, Iraq invaded Kuwait. That October, Hill and Knowlton arranged for the daughter of a Jordanian ambassador to testify before a meeting of the House of Representatives Human Rights Caucus that she had seen invading Iraqi soldiers storm a Kuwaiti hospital and remove babies from incubators. The young woman, introduced only as "Nayirah" spoke on behalf of a group called "Citizens for a Free Kuwait," which turned out to be a front group created by officials of the exiled Kuwaiti government. At the time, though, her testimony was repeatedly cited as a reason why the US had to go to war.
The caucus chairman, Tom Lantos (D-CA) knew the young woman's real identity, but didn't reveal it. It turned out that Lantos and his committee co-chair, John Porter (R-IL) rented office space at a discount from H&K for the Congressional Human Rights Foundation, an organization they co-chaired that seemed curiously preoccuppied with the welfare of regimes such as Kuwait, not known for their leadership on human rights issues. It also turned out that the Committee for a Free Kuwait made a $50,000 donation to the Congressional Foundation after the US-led invasion of Iraq in early 1991. H&K, it would be revealed, had accepted an $11.9 million contract to gin up US support for an invasion of Iraq.
Hill and Knowlton's role in selling the Gulf War came to light largely because of the investigative reporting of John McArthur, then editor of Harper's magazine, eventually collected in the book, Second Front: Censorship and Propaganda in the 1991 Gulf War. It also became a case study in for students of business ethics. Scholar Robert Van Es wrote that H&K's political advocacy on behalf of Kuwait demonstrated a need for consulting firms to adopt more stringent ethical standards.
Dilenschneider's founding of his consulting firm, along with the publication of Power and Influence, followed his September, 1991
