Brian Darling
( former General Counsel for U.S. Senator Robert C. Smith)
is a native of Andover, Massachusetts. Although educated in Massachusetts, he has spent a majority of his professional career in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. Brian Darling is licensed to practice law in Virginia, Massachusetts, and the District of Columbia.
Brian Darling is a Partner in a lobbying firm, the Alexander Strategy Group. The Alexander Strategy Group is a full-service lobbying and public affairs firm. Prior to his current position, Brian most served as General Counsel to former Sen. Bob Smith, R-N.H. and was a chief Senate strategist for legislation passed last year that allowed commercial airline pilots to carry firearms in flight. In January 2000, Brian and Senator Smith visited the home where Cuban refugee Elian Gonzales was staying and later crafted legislation to grant him permanent residency. Following the 2000 presidential elections, Brian went to Florida and worked on the Bush-Cheney recount team where he was successful in challenging numerous ballots and protecting the integrity of the election process.
Brian co-chaired the Conservative Working Group, a weekly legislative strategy meeting of conservative staff members in both the House and the Senate. He has continued with another coalition the Citizens for Conservative Government (CCG) which he currently is the co-chairman. He also served as a counsel for the Senate Judiciary Committee and as an aide to former Senators Paul Coverdell, R-Georgia and Steve Symms, R-Idaho.
Brian serves as Director of Government Affairs on the Board of Directors of VOTORS. In his spare time he plays hockey, softball and golf. Brian is also on the Board of Directors of the Airline Pilots' Security Alliance.
http://www.votors.org/content.aspx?ccategoryid=24&acctid=105The Harbour Group, LLC, is a wholly owned subsidiary of SBSF that develops public relations campaigns, crisis communications tactics, and legislative strategies for business clients nationwide. Members of THG have held prominent positions in both houses of Congress and in the White House, and have extensive experience working with the media. They have strong working relationships with key decision-makers in all branches of the government, with the media, and with third-party groups such as consumer advocates and labor organizations. Through this combination of experience and expertise, the group provides a powerful advantage in shaping the development of legislative and policy strategies that impact clients' business objectives. The Harbour Group is uniquely positioned to tackle the most complex policy initiatives and communications campaigns at the national, state, and local level.
http://www.harbourgrp.com/news_pr_013003.html"We have provided access to key Members of Congress and staff and helped the client develop the messaging and materials they need to turn congressional contacts into legislative support."
-- The Harbour Group
http://www.harbourgrp.com/ab_prac_legstrat.html"The fundamental components of each campaign are shrewd thinking to establish the client's strategic direction, persuasive message development, and fast-track implementation to ensure the client is 'first to market" with its story.'
-- The Harbour Group
http://www.harbourgrp.com/ab_prac_pr.htmlTogether, The Alexander Strategy Group and The Harbour Group offer unparalleled access to Washington decision makers on both sides of the aisle. With decades of senior-level experience formulating public policy and legislative strategy, The Alexander Strategy Group/The Harbour Group powerhouse provides the skills and tools needed to succeed in the nation’s capital. The individual members of our firms have built careers tackling complex policy initiatives and intricate communications campaigns.
We offer our clients a rare combination of veteran communicators, tested policy makers, and savvy strategists. Our team includes presidential advisors and high-ranking aides to Congressional leaders. We have worked on political campaigns, represented international governments and corporations, and conducted local, state and federal issue campaigns. Our government affairs work is supported by seasoned public relations counselors with expertise in coalition management, corporate positioning, media relations, merger and acquisition strategy, local and national event staging, product launches and issue advertising.
http://alexanderstrategy.com/alliance.asp.... such as Brian Darling former legal aide to Senator Mel Martinez of Florida(R).
As Senator Martinez said the other day, "The court ordered decision to stop all nutirents and remove her feeding tube was made without any legal represenation of her interests. A federal habeas corpus proceeding will ensure her right to another hearing is followed before the court ordered decision to end her life is followed through."
Brian Darling, Martinez's chief counsel, told Drew Ryun, our Director of Governmental Affairs, that the Republican leadership is taking this bill very seriously. Oftentimes it takes weeks or months to get a piece of legislation to the floor for debate. Darling told the ACLJ that Republican leadership wants this measure on the floor by Monday or Tuesday of next week. There is a full court press going on right now on the legislative side to save Terri Schiavo. Republican staffers have told the ACLJ that this issue is garnering bi-partisan support.
http://www.aclj.org/News/Readwr.aspx?ID=1293Brian Darling with the Alexander Strategy Group also worked on the armed pilots legislation as counsel for former Sen. Bob Smith (R-N.H.).
"We won because we had a strong message, we had a diverse coalition and a great issue," Darling observed. "It provides a good roadmap on how to win on conservative legislation."
http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewPolitics.asp?Page=/Politics/archive/200301/POL20030131b.html(Incidentally CNS is part and parcel of the tax-exempt outfit that handed JeffJames GannonGuckert a "diploma" in journalism for two afternoons worth of work and fifty bucks.)
SBSF (Swidler Berlin Shereff Friedman, LLP) attorneys Martin Siroka, Brian Fitzgerald, Thurgood Marshall, Harold Levy, and Gary Gallant worked with Tony Rudy, Dan Gans, and Brian Darling of the Alexander Strategy Group in securing this critical legislative accomplishment. The team effectively lobbied Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT) and Representatives Christopher Shays (R-CT), Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), and Rob Simmons (R-CT) as the bill's bipartisan champions in Congress.
May 14, 2003
The office along the Georgetown waterfront shared by the Harbour Group and the Alexander Strategy Group might be the only one in Washington with a foosball table and two Segway Human Transporters. But these aren't the only signals that this is not your typical D.C. lobbying outpost.
An even more telling sign is what lobbyists from both firms call "the demilitarized zone"- a six-foot-wide intersection of hallways dividing the territories of the all-GOP Alexander Strategy Group and the die-hard Democratic Harbour Group.
<snip>
The two lobby firms say they routinely pitch clients together and, more often, subcontract work from one shop to the other. The relationship works well because the firms are a good fit. Neither has a big-name former member of congress or high-profile former government appointee. Instead, they reel in business by touting fresh contacts, and pitch clients as the ones who will do the work.
Alexander specializes in reaching the Republican House leadership, while Harbour can call on contacts from the Democratic Senate leadership.
http://www.harbourgrp.com/news_pr_051403.html... and that is how the Schiavo memo got from R to D.