Rick Davis (politics)

Infobox Officeholder
name =Rick Davis


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office =Chief Executive Officer of McCain 2008
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Richard H. Davis (b. 1959) is the chief executive officer of the John McCain 2008 presidential campaign. An American lobbyist, he is currently on leave from Davis, Manafort & Freedman, a political consulting firm in Alexandria, Virginia.cite article|url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/06/25/AR2008062502858.html |title= Top McCain Adviser Has Found Success Mixing Money, Politics |accessdate=2008-08-11|author=Matthew Mosk |publisher= The Washington Post|date= June 26, 2008]

Career

Born to a Navy family, Davis studied at the University of Alabama. After learning the campaign business in Alabama and Mississippi, he became national field director for the College Republican National Committee during Ronald Reagan's 1980 presidential bid.

He left the Reagan White House to work with longtime lobbyist Paul Manafort, founding the lobbying firm Davis, Manafort. Between 1998 and 2008, the firm was paid at least $2.8 million for lobbying Congress. [cite news |title=Ex-reformer McCain depends on lobbyists |author= Lisa Lerer |date=July 11, 2007 |publisher = "The Politico" |url=http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0707/4900.html ]

2000 Presidential campaign

Davis served as Manafort's deputy in orchestrating the 1996 Republican National Convention; both would later join Bob Dole's presidential team. While working for Dole, Davis told a reporter that he was "blown away" by McCain's unconventional politics. He joined McCain's first election bid in 1999, as campaign manager. [ [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/23/AR2006082301586.html "The McCain Makeover"] Glenn Frankel, "The Washington Post", August 27, 2006]

Homeownership Alliance

In 2000, Davis became the head of a group called the Homeownership Alliance, a Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac advocacy group. Its website said that the organization was dedicated to "exposing and defeating trends that would harm consumer access to the lowest-cost mortgage option." [cite news |title=McCain's Campaign Manager Was for It Before He Was Against It |date=September 19, 2008 |first= Liz |last=Wolgemuth |publisher="US News and World Report" |url=http://www.usnews.com/blogs/the-inside-job/2008/9/19/mccains-campaign-manager-was-for-it-before-he-was-against-it.html ] He was head of the group for five years, being paid more than $30,000 per month. At the end of 2005, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac decided that Homeownership Alliance had outlived its usefulness, and it was closed. [cite news | title=Loan Titans Paid McCain Adviser Nearly $2 Million |author=David D. Kirkpatrick and Charles Duhigg |date= September 21, 2008 |publisher="New York Times" |url=http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/22/us/politics/22mccain.html ]

Reform Institute

When McCain started the Reform Institute in 2001 to promote campaign finance reform, he involved Davis.cite article|url=http://harpers.org/media/slideshow/annot/2008-05/|title=My Lobby, Myself: How John McCain's hypocrisy is laundered as reform |accessdate=2008-08-11|author=Ken Silverstein |publisher= Harper's Magazine|date= May, 2008 ] In 2002, Davis was paid $120,000 as an institute consultant; in 2003, he was paid $110,000 in fees. In 2004 and 2005, when he was president of the non-profit institute, his salary totaled $165,000. Tax forms said he worked five hours a week or "as needed."

2008 Presidential campaign

Role

In 2006, Davis helped plan McCain's next White House run, envisioning a corporate-style campaign modeled after President Bush's 2004 bid. He began McCain's 2008 presidential election campaign as the chief executive. In July 2007, with the ouster of campaign manager Terry Nelson and chief strategist John Weaver, he took the position of campaign manager. In July 2008, a reorganization placed Steve Schmidt in charge of the campaign, although Davis retained the title of campaign manager.cite news | url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/02/AR2008070203038.html | title = "McCain Puts New Strategist Atop Campaign" | author = Dan Balz and Michael D. Shear | work = The Washington Post | date=2008-07-02 | accessdate=2008-07-02] [cite news|url=http://www.politico.com/blogs/jonathanmartin/0708/Schmidt_takes_control_of_daytoday_operation.html|title=Schmidt takes control of day-to-day operation|last=Martin|first=Jonathan|date=2008-07-02|publisher=Politico.com|accessdate=2008-09-07]

Payments

In 2006,cite news |url=http://online.wsj.com/article/SB118515181783374359.html|date= July 23, 2007 |title=McCain Manager Roils Campaign: Davis Returns After Ouster Amid Questions on Spending, Ties |work=Wall Street Journal |author=Jackie Calmes ] Davis and Manafort formed the company 3eDC, an Internet firm, [cite news |url=http://www.usnews.com/usnews/news/articles/070520/28mccain.b.htm |title=Troublesome Résumés |author= Edward T. Pound |work=U.S. News and World Report |date=May 20, 2007 ] which the McCain campaign selected to oversee the campaign's Web site and online fund raising. The company was paid $340,000 before the contract's cancellation in April 2007; in mid-June, the campaign reported that it still owed the company $721,000. cite news |title=A Well-Connected Campaign Firm Resurfaces |author=Matthew Mosk |work=Washington Post |date= June 6, 2008 |url=http://blog.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2008/06/06/a_well-connected_campaign_firm.html ] In all, the McCain campaign paid $971,860 to the company. In June 2008, Campaign Money Watch, a 527 independent political group, filed a federal complaint that the company had improperly reduced the amount the campaign owed it by $107,000. [cite news |title= McCain Faces Challenge Over Campaign Links to Lobbyists |author=Mary Jacoby |work=Wall Street Journal |date= June 10, 2008 |url=http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121305682775559307.html?mod=googlenews_wsj ]

In April 2008, after McCain became the presumptive Republican nominee, 3eDC was paid $20,000 by the Republican National Committee (RNC). In June 2008, the RNC and 3eDC were negotiating a larger contract that could be worth $2 million or $3 million.

Controversies

Payments from Freddie Mac

On September 24, 2008, the "New York Times" reported that Rick Davis' firm, Davis Manafort, had been paid $15,000 per month by Freddie Mac, for "consulting", from the end of 2005, when Davis stopped being head of the Homeownership Alliance, until August 2008. Payments stopped when Freddie Mac was taken over by the federal government. The "Times" said that "Davis took a leave from Davis Manafort for the presidential campaign, but as an equity holder continues to benefit from its income."

The McCain campaign responded on September 24 with a statement that Davis had separated from Davis Manafort in 2006, and that "As has been previously reported, Mr. Davis has seen no income from Davis Manafort since 2006. Zero. Mr. Davis has received no salary or compensation since 2006. Mr. Davis has received no profit or partner distributions from that firm on any basis -- weekly, bi-weekly, monthly, bi-monthly, quarterly, semi-annual or annual -- since 2006. Again, zero. Neither has Mr. Davis received any equity in the firm based on profits derived since his financial separation from Davis Manafort in 2006." [cite url |url=http://www.johnmccain.com/mccainreport/Read.aspx?guid=74063c9d-7cb5-47c9-acf6-53c0c2d88376 |title=Statement by McCain Campaign: A Partisan Paper of Record |accessdate= 2008-09-24|date=September 24, 2008 |author= Michael Goldfarb ] On September 28, "Newsweek" reported that Davis had joined the campaign in January 2007, not in 2006, and that he specified that his $20,000-a-month salary be paid directly to Davis Manafort.cite news |title=A Freddie Mac Money Trail Catches Up With McCain |author= Michael Isikoff and Holly Bailey |work=Newsweek |date=October 6, 2008 (newstand date) |accessdate=2008-09-28 |url=http://www.newsweek.com/id/161218/output/print]

The "Times" reported that "No one at Davis Manafort other than Mr. Davis was involved in efforts on Freddie Mac’s behalf, the people familiar with the arrangement said." "Newsweek" reported that during the period of the payments, Freddie Mac had no contact with Davis Manafort other than receiving monthly invoices from the firm and paying them. [cite news |url=http://www.newsweek.com/id/160561 |title=Freddie’s Friend: Freddie Mac continued checks to McCain campaign chief's firm |author=Michael Isikoff |work= Newsweek |date=September 23, 2008 ] The only thing that Freddie Mac officials could recall Davis doing for the company, the "Times" said, was speaking at an October 2006 forum attended by midlevel and senior executives who contributed to Freddie PAC, the company’s political action committee.cite news |url=http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/24/us/politics/24davis.html?scp=1&sq=rick%20davis&st=cse |title=McCain Aide’s Firm Was Paid by Freddie Mac |author=Jackie Calmes and David D. Kirkpatrick |date= September 23, 2008 |work=New York Times]

Involvement with Oleg Deripaska

In 2006, Davis helped set up the encounter between McCain and Russian aluminum magnate Oleg Deripaska in Switzerland during an international economic conference. Deripaska's suspected links to anti-democratic and organized-crime figures are so controversial that the U.S. government revoked his entry visa in 2006.cite article|url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/24/AR2008012403383_pf.html |title= Aide Helped Controversial Russian Meet McCain|accessdate=2008-08-11|author= Jeffrey H. Birnbaum and John Solomon|publisher= The Washington Post|date=January 25, 2008]

At the time, Davis was working for a lobbying firm and seeking to do business with the billionaire. Later that month, Deripaska wrote to Davis and his partner, political consultant Paul J. Manafort, to thank them for arranging the meeting. "Thank you so much for setting up everything in Klosters so spectacularly," he wrote. "It was very interesting to meet Senators Chambliss and Sununu in such an intimate setting."

DHL

In 2003, Davis and his lobbying firm were hired by German logistic company DHL and Airborne Express, to lobby Congress to approve a merger between the two firms. DHL Holdings was eventually successful in acquiring Airborne Express. [cite article|url=http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-campaign8-2008aug08,0,2797540.story?track=ntothtml |title= DHL deal gone sour haunts McCain in Ohio|accessdate=2008-08-11|author=Bob Drogin |publisher= Los Angeles Times|date=August 8, 2008]

McCain and Davis have come under attack by the AFL-CIO for facilitating the deal, as DHL is now planning to quit using the Wilmington, Ohio freight airport as a hub. The airport and package-sorting facility in Wilmington was previously owned by Airborne Express. The move by DHL would cost an estimated 8,000 jobs at the Wilmington air park. [http://blog.cleveland.com/business/2008/08/200_jam_legislative_dhl_meetin.html 200 jam legislative DHL meeting] , "Associated Press" August 20, 2008] cite article|url=http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/news/1218011630135640.xml&coll=2 |title= John McCain had role in original Wilmington DHL deal|accessdate=2008-08-11|author=Stephen Koff |publisher= The Plain Dealer|date=August 6, 2008] At the time of the merger, the deal created an estimated 1,000 jobs for the Wilmington area.

References

External links

* Jules Witcover, [http://www.buyingofthepresident.org/index.php/interviews/rick_davis Interview with Rick Davis] , June 25, 2007