The Political Life

Founded in 1966 by legendary political consultant Joe Cerrell, Cerrell Associates is ranked as one of the nation’s largest independent public relations firms, providing its diverse client base with a full range of public affairs, political consulting, issues management, land-use and advocacy services. Cerrell Associates works with many of the country’s most high-profile corporate, non-profit, political, environmental and trade associations.

Omar Vargas is the Global Head of Government Affairs at 3M.   3M is a global science company with $32 billion in sales, operations in 71 countries, and 91,000 employees connecting with customers all around the world.

Today we sit down with Jessica Duboff, the Vice President of the Center for Business Advocacy at the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce.  The Chamber represents the interests of more than 235,000 businesses in L.A. County, more than 1,650 members, more than 650,000 employees, small, medium and large-sized companies, and businesses from more than 35 industry sectors

Stateside combines the core services of advocacy experience, strategy development, intelligence and execution. They help their clients shape the state and local public policy environment by knowing what is happening, who is involved and what tools are needed to influence the process. They also help their clients sell products and services to state and local governments, build key relationships and better understand the regulatory environment.

Michael Bloomfield is the Executive Vice President and Managing Director of The Mellman Group, which has provided opinion research and strategic advice to political leaders, public interest groups, Fortune 500 companies, and government agencies for over twenty years.

Noëlle Porter is the Congressional Relations Specialist at the National Alliance to End Homelessness, and is responsible for Congressional relationship development and execution. She works closely with NAEH's program and policy analysts to lead legislative and appropriations strategy for key federal programs that advance the goal of ending homelessness.

Jeff Taylor is the managing partner of U.S. Government Relations Intl., LLC (USGRI), a government affairs firm based in Washington, DC. He is also a principal in Falcontree Capital, LLC, a financial development firm, and a contributing writer for POLITICO’s “The Arena” section, a cross-party forum where elected officials and opinion leaders discuss current political and policy issues.

Diane Randall is the Executive Secretary of the Friends Committee on National Legislation. Diane leads FCNL’s staff to effectively educate and lobby for the policies and legislative priorities established by FCNL’s General Committee. A lifelong advocate for peace and social justice, Diane is a fierce proponent for citizen engagement that advances policies and practices to create a better society for all.

John Raffaelli is the founding partner of Capitol Counsel LLC. He has more than 30 years of experience in federal policy and policymaking, with an emphasis on taxation, finance, health care, international trade, and general business matters. In addition to being called a “big-name lobbyist” by the Washington Post, he has been nationally recognized as one of the most effective lobbyists in Washington, D.C.

This week, we interviewed Vlad Cartwright of 720 Strategies. Vlad leads and develops national, regional and local campaigns and public awareness programs for some of America’s largest trade associations and political action committees. SevenTwenty Strategies is a public relations and public affairs firm based in Washington, DC with an 18-year track record of service to its corporate and trade association clients. 

Carl Szabo is the Vice President and General Counsel of NetChoice. NetChoice is a trade association of eCommerce businesses and online consumers all of whom share the goal of promoting convenience, choice, and commerce on the net. Carl is also an adjunct professor at George Mason University Antonin Scalia Law School.

In this week's episode we speak with Eric Tanenblatt, who is the Global Chair of Public Policy and Regulation of Dentons, the world's largest law firm.  In our conversation, we discuss Eric's career in politics at the state and federal levels, as well as the work Dentons does in the government affairs space for clients all over the world.

Matthew Guilbault is Associate Director, State Government Affairs at Novartis. In this wide ranging interview, we discuss how he got into lobbying, the pros and cons of being a contract lobbyist, racing motorcycles, and more.

This week we were at NCSL in Los Angeles, and caught up with Kevin Callahan - Director, State Government Affairs - Northeast for CompTIA. CompTIA is the world's leading tech association. They also develop certification programs for the industry. 

Eric Schuller is the Director of Government and Community Affairs at Oasis Financial, and serves as President of the Alliance of Responsible Consumer Legal Funding. He’s also a veteran, with 22 years of service in the U.S. Army and the National Guard. Like many government affairs professionals, Eric got into the industry in a roundabout kind of way, beginning with the Lt. Governor’s office in Illinois. I enjoyed our conversation, and hope you will too.