O'Donnell taps Davis for ad magic

DAVID CATANESE
September 24, 2010

She's tapped GOP ad veteran Fred Davis to produce commercials for her underdog Senate campaign.

The U.S. Senate candidate who once "dabbled in witchcraft" has brought onto her campaign team an ad man infamous for making demons out of sheep.

Delaware GOP Senate nominee Christine O'Donnell has tapped the California-based Fred Davis and his Strategic Perception Inc. to produce commercials for her underdog battle against Democrat Chris Coons, her campaign has confirmed to POLITICO.

Reached while shooting an ad for Arizona House candidate Ben Quayle, Davis said working for O'Donnell will be an "interesting challenge."

"A great campaign team and people I know who know O'Donnell well think the world of her," Davis said.

In addition to Quayle and O'Donnell, Davis is working for California GOP Senate nominee Carly Fiorina, whom he produced a "demon sheep" Web video for during the primary that went viral on cable news and in political circles. The ad featured a man dressed in a sinister sheep costume to drive home the point that Fiorina's primary challenger, Tom Campbell, was a wolf in sheep's clothing on fiscal issues.

A spokeswoman for O'Donnell also said the campaign has also hired conservative Washington lawyer Cleta Mitchell to serve as the team's attorney. A former state representative in Oklahoma, Mitchell has advised candidates, corporations and nonprofits on election and campaign finance law for more than three decades.

"She works with some of the biggest organizations in the movement," said O'Donnell spokeswoman Diana Banister.

Banister would not confirm whether any other hires were imminent: "No big names but a lot of volunteers and supporters making their way to Delaware to help whatever way possible."

O'Donnell heads into the general election facing a double-digit deficit, according to polls taken since her stunning Sept. 14 victory over nine-term Rep. Mike Castle. This week, Castle left on the table the possibility of mounting a write-in campaign, a prospect he will poll before settling on a final decision, according to a Republican with knowledge of the plan.

For his part, Coons has mostly stayed out of the fray when it comes to O'Donnell and her litany of controversial statements and financial woes. His campaign went up with a new 30-second TV ad Friday that says Coons will "end the bailouts," halt tax breaks for companies that ship jobs overseas and work to impose a lifetime ban on senators becoming lobbyists.