Reid creates Democratic war room

Benjamin Grove

Tuesday, Nov. 30, 2004 | 9:39 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., plans to launch a high-profile Democratic communications "war room" in an effort to put the party's agenda in front of voters.

After an Election Day trouncing, Democrats led by Reid, their newly elected Senate leader, have been looking for new ways to engineer future election wins. Reid said the party needed creative outlets to deliver its message.

The new communications office will seek new ways to engage voters, including outreach to online news operations. The staff may include a staffer who keeps tabs on and responds to Internet "blogs" -- daily web-based journals, a few of which played a role in mainstream news coverage of the campaigns this year.

"We will use every tool and innovative avenue available to us to get our message out," Reid said in a statement. "The Internet is the future, and it is vital to this new communications project."

Reid hired two communications specialists to lead an office of about 15 staffers.

Jim Manley, a Capitol Hill veteran who spent the last 11 years as press secretary for Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., and for the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, will be office director. Phil Singer, a former spokesman for the Kerry-Edwards campaign and for Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., will hold the title of Communications Director.

Tessa Hafen, 28, a Henderson native, who has worked in Reid's press office for six years, will be Reid's Nevada media liaison.

The communications center will design and develop core themes for Reid and the Democrats and put together aggressive strategies to feed those messages to the media, Manley said.

The new office may differ from other Democratic machines in that it will focus more on "rapid response" and efforts aimed at "getting ahead of the news cycle," Manley said.

Democratic strategists have said their party faces a real challenge because Republicans strengthened their hold on the bully pulpits of the White House and the majority leadership posts in the House and Senate.

"It will be incumbent on the Republicans to prove that they have the ability to lead," said Manley, 43, who is originally from Minnesota. "With power comes responsibility."

The communications operation will be based in Reid's Democratic Leader suite in the Capitol. The office officially opens Jan. 4, when Congress begins a new session.

Republicans were not impressed with the new Democratic operation.

"You can hire all the personnel you want, but you can't put a pretty face on obstructing the president's agenda," said Dan Allen, communications director for the Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee. "The real problem for the Democrats is that the American people rejected their obstructionism."

As Reid himself prepares for a more high-profile role in the next Congress, he is scheduled to appear on NBC's "Meet the Press" Sunday morning.

In other news, Reid has made two other hires recently. Randy DeValk, a former top adviser to Sen. Tom Daschle, D-S.D., will be Reid's new senior policy adviser. Kevin Kayes, formerly Democratic staff director for the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, will be Reid's new chief counsel.