The Gadfly: Tuesday Night Fever

[Note: This article is one of the most-accessed in the history of The McCarville Report. Published earlier this year, it is repeated here for our many new readers.]

Mike McCarville

Sometimes, in the wee hours, the memories come flooding back to me, and one memory triggers another. It was my political magic era, that time when a handful of us young Republican consultants struggled to build the minority party in a state dominated by Democrats. Our victories, in the beginning, were few. Tuesday nights were our final exams, pass or fail with not much in between. We lived for election results. We had Tuesday Night Fever.

It was a time of hard-fought victories and some crushing defeats, the era that spanned 1972 to 1985; we shared agony and ectasy in the school of political hard knocks, learning more from the former than the latter. And in the process, we forged lasting, lifetime friendships.

It was my unique experience to work with some of Oklahoma’s most talented Republicans and I want to share their histories with you:

Joe Allbaugh ~ Arguably one of the most successful Republicans from Oklahoma on the national political scene, Joe was an OSU student, a driver for Henry Bellmon, when I first met him. Joe, a Blackwell native and self-described “wheat farmer,” joined the Republican State Committee and, in 1978, I hired him as the director of organization in Bob Kamm’s ill-fated campaign (which I managed) for the U. S. Senate. Joe later became Bellmon’s gubernatorial campaign manager, then George Bush’s gubernatorial campaign manager in Texas, then was national campaign manager of Bush’s first presidential campaign and, after Bush’s election, director of the Federal Emergency Management Authority. In 1980, Joe was part of President-elect Ronald Reagan’s transition team. Joe was a pioneer in the use of cable television to reach target audiences, to the best of my knowledge one of the first to utilize cable’s potential. One night, in a later year, as Ann and I watched the nightly television news, we saw a sleek FEMA jet land in Seattle and down the folding steps comes Joe; we looked at each other and smiled those silly “is this a great country or what?” smiles. Joe and I now share our connection to the National Rifle Association; he’s on the NRA Board of Directors and I’m on the NRA broadcast team. Joe lives in Austin and heads his international consulting firm. This year, he joined Texas Governor Rick Perry’s presidential campaign to try to salvage it but it was too far gone by that time.

Gean B. Atkinson ~ “Arknfarg,” as some of us call him, is one of the state’s most veteran campaign advertising experts. For years, he’s headed his own advertising agency and served two terms in the Oklahoma House. He’s also a novelist and nonfiction author; I worked with him on several of his book projects, including his family history, Pilots Of My Soul.  During my magic era, Gean was almost always a player. His agency and Cogman & Associates (see Don Cogman, below) were suite-mates in northwest Oklahoma City for several years. Gean was one of the first to realize the potential of computers. He purchased one of the first Radio Shack word processors on the market, a device which was a marvel to me, who thought the IBM Selectric II was the pinnacle of such technology. Gean, a Marine Vietnam veteran who completed his service in the Naval Reserve, encouraged me to begin The McCarville Report in 1980. Today, we continue to work together on behalf of a mutual client.

Don V. Cogman ~ “DVC,” as he is known to many of us, was an OU student when I first met him in 1970 and if there’s such a thing as a prototype for success in life and vocation, it is Don. Don, from Ponca City and the son of a World War II British Spitfire pilot, worked for then-Republican State Chairman Clarence Warner when his political skills became obvious to many of us. In 1972, when I joined Dewey Bartlett’s struggling campaign for the U. S. Senate as his press secretary, it became immediately obvious the campaign was rudderless. It had a “manager” who knew nothing of politics. I pressed for the addition of Don to Bartlett’s campaign (culminating in a hotel room meeting in Miami Beach, Florida) and, to avoid turmoil with the “manager,” he was named director of the “Victory Squad,” or Bartlett’s get-out-the-vote effort. In effect, Don became the campaign manager and almost immediately, hired young Norman novice politico Marc Nuttle as our youth director. I attribute Bartlett’s victory, in large part, to Don and Marc. Don became Bartlett’s administrative assistant, and in a few years, left to form his own consulting company. Later, I joined him and we criss-crossed the U. S. together, logging more air miles than I care to remember. We shared the Plaza, the Del Coronado, Camelback Inn and other hotels from Colorado to Florida to Wisconsin to California. Don was instrumental in the formation of the National Association of Business Political Action Committees (which I later headed as executive director). In 1980, Don became vice president of government affairs for MAPCO, Inc. in Washington. He quickly became known as one of Washington’s most effective net-workers, an attribute I had noted years earlier. Don later wound up in New York as head of the one of the country’s leading international public relations firms and retired at an early age, thanks to a company buy-out that made him a wealthy man. He “retired” to Scottsdale, Arizona to head his own property firm and before long, he and wife Sue (Thompson) were pillars of that community. Don remains a player in national politics. Don and I became close friends and remain that today, for which I am thankful; if I had a brother, he would be Don Cogman.

Tom Cole ~ Of those in my magic era, Tom is one of only two who made the transition from political operative to elected official. Now the 4th District Congressman and a former state senator and former secretary of state, Tom is another of those smarter-than-he-should-be molders of the Oklahoma Republican Party as it is today. Tom was Republican State Chairman and founder of the successful Cole Hargrave Snodgrass And Associates political consulting firm that dominated for years. He later was a leader for the National Republican Congressional Committee and the Republican National Committee. We worked together in numerous campaigns and I was Tom’s news release writer when he was party chairman. Tom and I shared many a tough decision, many a victory and many a defeat, and numerous coffee breakfasts and after-hours “war room” drinks.

Herb Johnson ~ The late Herb Johnson was the Godfather to some of us. Head of Oklahomans For Right To Work, he was a close ally of Jim Inhofe and was the “go-to” guy for conservatives seeking office. A Navy veteran, Herb once called me to his northwest Oklahoma City office to meet a candidate for the Legislature; her name was Mary Fallin. In later years, Herb became Inhofe’s chief of staff. In 1996, Herb was the first to alert me that the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building had been bombed. We talked frequently by phone, especially during the time when Herb began experiencing heart problems. Those problems later claimed his life as he exercised in the Virginia apartment complex he and his wife shared.

Clinton Key ~ Young Clinton Key became Republican Party Chairman during the time the party was struggling to gain strength. I worked with Clinton as his news release writer.  He subsequently became executive director of the Republican Governors Association. Today, he is president at Key & Associates and is a super-succcessful fundraising consultant; he works and lives in the Washington area where one of his chief clients is his mentor, Tom Cole.

Rick J. Neal~ Rick and I at first were antagonists. Like several others listed here, he was part of Congessman Mickey Edwards’ first campaign in 1976. I managed the campaign of Edwards’ opponent, former Attorney General G. T. Blankenship, a job Don Cogman helped me get. Rick followed Cogman as public affairs and government relations guru for MAPCO, Inc. in Tulsa and I worked with him, writing the company’s political action committee newsletter. I “lived” with Rick and Susan in their Tulsa home in 1986 as I consulted fulltime in Bill Calvert’s unsuccessful campaign for C0ngress. Rick later joined Joe Allbaugh as vice president of Joe’s company in Washington, a commute-from-Tulsa job.  He was appointed as a member of the National Advisory Committee on Oceans and Atmosphere by President Reagan. He served at the White House as Deputy Assistant to the President for Intergovernmental Affairs (1983 – 1985) and Special Assistant to the President for Intergovernmental Affairs (1981 – 1983).  I have fond memories of breakfasts and lunches in the White House Mess thanks to Rick during his tenure there. Prior to joining the White House staff, he ran his own consulting firm, Rick Neal Co. In 1976 – 1978 he was administrative assistant to Edwards. Following  Herb Johnson’s death, Rick served as Jim Inhofe’s chief of staff for a year until a full time replacement was found. Rick was president of NABPAC in 1988. In this year’s presidential race, Rick worked with Joe Allbaugh in Texas Governor Rick Perry’s campaign.

R. Marc Nuttle ~ One of the most brilliant individuals I’ve ever known, Marc and I first met in Dewey Bartlett’s 1972 U. S. Senate campaign when Don Cogman hired him as our youth coordinator. Known for his perpetual dark suit and white shirt, attorney Marc, now a book author, became an adviser to the Reagan Administration and traveled the world as an economics/finance expert, advising individuals and nations. He remains that today, continuing to live and work in Norman.

Rick J. Shelby ~ I worked with Rick as his news release writer when he was Republican State Chairman. To this day, trusted friend Rick calls me “Michael,” which I am certain my late Mother would appreciate. Rick and I logged a few miles together and closed a few bars; I especially remember leaving The Monocle on Capitol Hill early one snowy winter morning with Rick…and that’s all I remember of that event. Rick was Executive Vice-President of the American Gas Association in Washington and is now semi-retired,  working as a consultant for the AGA and as a consultant to former Congressman Bill Brewster’s consulting firm, Capitol Hill Consulting Group.

Paul E. Thornbrugh ~ Though never a consultant like the rest of us, Paul “Thornburger” (so nick-named by Don Cogman) played a large role in most of our lives, opening doors and providing opportunities. As head of government relations for MAPCO, Inc. in Tulsa, Paul was a major player in Tulsa GOP politics. I first met Paul way back in the day, in my earliest days as Dewey Bartlett’s press secretary. I worked with him in Bartlett’s 1970 and 1972 campaigns, in Jim Inhofe’s campaigns of 1976, 1978, 1980, 1982 and 1984, and in Bill Calvert’s campaign for Congress in 1986, and in a Kansas congressional campaign. I helped Paul produce the MAPCO Employees Political Action Committee newsletter and worked with him in the formation of the National Association of Business Political Action Committees, which I later headed as executive director. We worked together as well in Bill Price’s 1990 campaign for governor, my last campaign. Paul and I closed many a bar together, including the one in the Mayflower Hotel, one of my favorite DC haunts back in the day. Paul’s son, Tom, is a district judge in Tulsa; son Michael, a former House member, is an official with Quik Trip in Tulsa.

There are others who were part of these years, though not so intently as those listed here. Among them are Neva Hill (later my partner in The McCarville-Hill Report and then publisher of The Hill Report, her late husband Harry, David Russell (now U. S. District Judge), Marshall Snipes (successful businessman), Matt Seward, the late Betty Brake, John Cox (established PR practitioner), Karma Robinson (executive with the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs), Susan Reiger, Trey Richardson (national fundraising consultant), Randy Swanson (now Congressman James Lankford’s chief of staff) and others whose friendship I value.

The memories I share with these folks come back to me from time to time, sometimes in the wee hours….