Democratic defeats.

Amy Sullivan's piece on the status of Democratic consultants ("Fire the Consultants," January/February) was interesting and enlightening. As someone who has worked at the periphery of this business in the Midwest, I am constantly amazed at the number of consultants (primarily D.C.-based) who continue to stay in demand cycle after cycle while piling up horrendous win-loss records.

You mention one excellent consultant, David Axelrod, who, in my view, could be our party's next national superstar in this field. As pollster Peter Hart pointed Out during a stop in the Quad Cities last month, the Democrats' best hope lies in shaping a heartland strategy to move the Midwest into the Democratic column. To do that, our party had better look to the talented young party and policy advisers who live in--and know the values of--the heartland.

The time has come for our party to give a new generation of consultants an opportunity. The fleet of high-priced consultants who have helped our party lose the House, the Senate, and the White House have had their day in the sun.

Porter McNeil

Moline, III.

Thank you very much for your wonderful article about Democratic consultants in the recent issue of The Washington Monthly. I think you hit the nail on the head: The Democrats love to recycle people whose best days were 30 years ago.

As a young adult active in Democratic circles in North Carolina, I'm amazed at how the state and national parties keep picking retreads for candidates and staffs, and how the party really tries to block young talent from emerging.

John Quinterno

Via email

Amy Sullivan's recent piece on consultants is riddled with inaccuracy, innuendo, half-truths, and just plain foolishness. What she fails to report overwhelms in significance what she does write.

Good reporters should have good sources. Sullivan fails that test. Her characterization of my advice is both completely inaccurate and completely unsourced. In connection with another subject of her story, she mentions by name one, and only one, campaign source--a second level operative who was fired by his campaign manager part way through the one Senate campaign on which he worked.

As every serious Senate campaign will attest, Joe Hansen provides an invaluable service helping these operations set up shop and plan intelligently for the rigors to come. The campaigns he has assisted would be far worse off without his wise and experienced counsel. He and his partners also produce outstanding direct mail.

Bob Shrum hardly needs me to defend his illustrious career. Dozens of people here and abroad whose names start with president, prime minister, senator, and governor can provide far more eloquent testimony than can I.

Examples of highly selective reporting abound. Sullivan praises one of my free "winning" colleagues for helping to take back the Oregon state legislature, but fails to mention our role in recapturing the North Carolina House. Nor does she note our work for Brian Schweitzer, who won the governor's chair, in Montana, a state that usually oozes red. Nor does Sullivan report our third winning effort as part of Barbara Boxer's team, this time assisting her in garnering more votes than any other Senate candidate in history.

Perhaps some people hire us because we have helped take away at least one Republican seat in every election cycle but one for over 20 years. Perhaps others hire us because we are the only polling firm never to: have lost an incumbent race for Senate or governor. But I have a business only because people who have far more at stake than Sullivan spend a lot more time, effort, energy, and care thoroughly assessing our strengths and weaknesses.

Mark Mellman

President

The Mellman Group

Washington, D.C.