Scott Howell

Herbert Weston Scott Howell III, an American conservative political consultant, considered a pupil of the methods of political strategist Karl Rove. He was hired on August 24, 2007 by the Rudy Giuliani presidential campaign. ["In Rove's Footsteps, They Learned From The Master," "Newsweek," October 2, 2006] ["The Buzz: Giuliani hires team behind ‘Harold, call me’ ads," "Kansas City Star," August 24, 2007 http://www.kansascity.com/news/nation/story/246784.html] ["The Buzz: Giuliani hires team behind ‘Harold, call me’ ads," "Kansas City Star," August 24, 2007 http://www.kansascity.com/news/nation/story/246784.html]

Personal

Married in 1994 to Julie L. Feaster). The two live in Arlington, Texas.

Career

He has run successful United States Senate campaigns for Republicans such as:
*John Thune of South Dakota, who defeated incumbent Senator Minority Leader Tom Daschle
*Saxby Chambliss of Georgia, who defeated incumbent Senator Max Cleland
*Tom Coburn of Oklahoma, who defeated Brad Carson
*Bob Corker of Tennessee, who defeated Harold Ford, Jr. [Grant Perry, "Rudy - Call Me," Yahoo News - opinion column, August 25, 2007 http://news.yahoo.com/s/huffpost/20070825/cm_huffpost/061795]
* Norm Coleman of Minnesota Cris Cillizza, "Insider Interview," Washington Post, February 13, 2006 http://voices.washingtonpost.com/thefix/2006/02/insider_interview_scott_howell.html]

Other less successful clients have included:
* former Virginia Senator George Allen, defeated in 2006 by Jim Webb
*Jerry Kilgore, defeated in 2005 by Tim Kaine in Virginia governor's race
*Rudy Guiliani who withdrew from the 2008 presidential primary season.

Current clients (2008) include:
* Norm Coleman of Minnesota, also his client in 2002. [Todd J. Gillman, "Giuliani enlists Dallas ad strategist," Dallas Morning News, August 26, 2007 http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/nation/stories/DN-texwatch_26nat.ART.State.Edition1.42cc173.html]

Controversies

Opponents compared to Osama Bin Laden

His early positive political advertisements, in which the candidates' children often appeared, gave way to his later aggressive campaigns, media ads based on opposition research, in which opponents have been compared to Osama Bin Laden. [Grant Perry, "Rudy - Call Me," Yahoo News - opinion column, August 25, 2007 http://news.yahoo.com/s/huffpost/20070825/cm_huffpost/061795] [Max Blumenthal, "Hitler in Virginia," "The Nation" online ed., October 26, 2005 http://www.thenation.com/doc/20051107/blumenthal]

2006 Tennessee Senate Race

In October 2006, Howell was revealed as the producer, with Terry Nelson, of the "Harold, Call Me" attack ad used against democratic Tennessee Senatorial candidate Rep. Harold Ford Jr. in which a white woman said that she had met Ford at a Playboy party. The ad concludes with the woman speaking to the camera and saying to Ford "Call me." [CBS News/AP, "Rove Protegé Behind Racy Tennessee Ad," October 26, 2006.]

Coverage of the controversy characterized Howell as a "protegé" of Karl Rove. [David Miller, "Pure Horserace: Rove's Mixed Legacy: Bush's Political Guru Rewrote The Electoral Playbook, But Couldn't Implement Policies," CBS News August 13, 2007 http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/08/13/politics/purehorserace/main3162644.shtml]

References

External links

* [http://www.campaignmoney.com/political/contributions/texas_dallas_75247.asp?cycle=02 2002 contributions by Scott Howell and Julie Howell to Oklahoma campaign of Republican Tom Jeffrey Cole] .
* [http://www.campaignmoney.com/political/contributions/julie-howell.asp?cycle=06 2006 contribution by Julie Howell to "Friends of George Allen - Republican"] .
* [http://ftp.rootsweb.com/pub/usgenweb/tx/tarrant/vitals/marriages/1994/tarrm94f.txt 1994 Tarrant County, Texas, marriage record for Herbert W. Howell III and Julie L. Feaster] .
* [http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/10/26/politics/main2125324.shtml CBS News/AP, "Rove Protegé Behind Racy Tennessee Ad," October 26, 2006] .
* [http://www.scott-howell.com/ Scott Howell & Company] .