Seeking to shore up its flagging public image, the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers has turned to veteran political advisors from both sides of the aisle to guide its public relations battle with Hollywood's striking writers.
The alliance announced today that it had retained Mark Fabiani and Chris Lehane, who have served as senior aides and advisors to President Clinton and Vice President Al Gore and other Democrats across the country.
Lehane is a longtime Clinton surrogate. The Clinton campaign uses him periodically to put out negative information on Obama, as he did in June when commenting on Tony Rezko, a controversial and corrupt donor to Obama.
Campaign consultant Chris Lehane, who worked in the Clinton White House and for Al Gore in 2000, said it shows voters that Obama "puts his pants on the same way as any other politician" - something that "undermines the core Obama brand, that he is a different kind of leader."
Lehane's a Clinton machine guy. He worked with former Glover Park partner and current Clinton communications director Howard Wolfsen to promote Michael Moore's films, through the Weinstein company that is controlled by major Clinton backer Harvey Weinstein.
Lehane has long been an unofficial surrogate for the campaign when it needs something out into the press. His quotes leave no doubt of that. Here he is on possible electability problems in 2005:
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