Inner workings of Campaigns, Inc. Generally, Whitaker and Baxter worked on political and policy questions, though they also aided firms with corporate
public relations, such as improving the image of
cottonseed oil or imitation
ice cream. Their political clientele was mostly Republicans of the 1940s and 1950s, including Governor
Earl Warren, Governor
Goodwin Knight, and
Dwight Eisenhower's California
Presidential campaign. Though Whitaker and Baxter ostensibly helped all those who approached their firm, in practice they were committed to small-government
conservatism and forestalling or rolling back the
New Deal. One of their most influential campaigns was helping the
American Medical Association fight off the
national health insurance plans of
Franklin Roosevelt and
Harry Truman. Though unmentioned in the film, much of the archival anti-national health care
propaganda seen in
Michael Moore's
Sicko, including Ronald Reagan's
phonograph speech on how national health care is the first step towards socialism, was produced in 1949 under the direction of Whitaker and Baxter. Whitaker and Baxter directed and framed messages to the public in a completely new way. They understood the average American voter to be most receptive to simple, repetitive, and easy-to-read messages. They simplified issues relevant to the campaign at hand and disseminated their message through mass media outlets. One of their main principles was, "Never explain anything", because the more details provided to the public make support far more difficult to receive.
Precepts Whitaker and Baxter developed several precepts to justify their tactics with Campaigns, Inc. They included adages such as: • "Never wage a campaign defensively! The only successful defense is a spectacular, hard-hitting, crushing offensive. You can't wage a defensive campaign and win." • "Attempt to create actual news instead of merely sending out publicity." • "More Americans like corn than caviar." • "The average American doesn't want to be educated; he doesn't want to improve his mind; he doesn't even want to work, consciously, at being a good citizen. [But] most every American likes to be entertained. He likes the movies; he likes the mysteries; he likes the fireworks and parades…so if you can't fight, put on a show!" • "The more you have to explain, the more difficult it is to win support."
Tactics Unlike the parties of the day, Whitaker and Baxter could and insisted on emphasizing pace, control, and rhythm in a campaign.They did not trust enthusiastic local volunteers to run an effective campaign, and thus made judgments for themselves on how to allocate resources, relying also on their employed Field Men to check up on district offices. They were not above
dirty tricks, as seen in their work for the 1934 re-election campaign of Governor
Frank Merriam in his push to defeat social reformer
Upton Sinclair. The major thrust of their work was a
smear campaign against Sinclair, alleging in newspaper stories that he seduced young girls, and placing film reels that depicted Sinclair's supporters as
socialist pro-Soviets.
Fundraising Whitaker and Baxter also specialized in fundraising, and maintained a massive web of operations throughout California, representing a range of industries, ethnic groups, and special interests. They developed early models of campaign finance and expenditure, including spending money early to drive out challengers (as in Goodwin Knight's
1954 gubernatorial campaign) or holding as much as 75% of their total funds to the end of the campaign (typically, the last three weeks), when voters were paying attention.
California Features Service In addition to the core of Campaigns Inc., Whitaker and Baxter had two side businesses which helped them satisfy their client's needs. Clem Whitaker Advertising Agency was the advertising arm of Campaigns Inc. With this, Whitaker would plan and design all advertising efforts for his clients in accordance with the campaign strategy he developed with Campaigns Inc. The California Feature Service was a newspaper wire service which delivered articles and editorials to about 300 local newspapers in California. Whitaker and Baxter would create these releases to mimic editorial copy. Editors looking for quick content to fill their papers often would not notice that the copy was from an advertising service. ==Contributions to public relations==