When Ehud Barak decided to run for prime minister of Israel, he knew whom to call. When former South African President Nelson Mandela fought to preserve democracy in his apartheid-free nation, he knew whom to call. And when a charismatic but little-known Arkansas governor ran for president in 1992, he, too, knew whom to call.
It was Stanley Greenberg.
Greenberg mastered the art and science of political consulting, and took it global. Thanks to him, focus groups and internal polling are now part of a new international political language, one in which he is fluent in several dialects.
His political consulting has taken him to locales such as Serbia and Germany and Bolivia. He describes himself as “the short, bespectacled Jewish guy with bushy hair who speaks in numbers,” and as a member in good standing of “the pollster-consultant industrial complex.”
Greenberg’s latest book, “Dispatches from the War Room,” chronicles his life and experiences consulting for world leaders, among them President Bill Clinton, Mandela, Barak and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair.
Now on a national book tour, Greenberg will speak at San Francisco’s Commonwealth Club on Monday, March 16.
Though an academic for much of his career, Greenberg only superficially resembles a dispassionate man of science. He has devoted his professional life to progressive causes and like-minded politicians.
“The leaders I wrote about in this book were all left-of-center reformers,” he says, “modernizers that followed what I try to do politically.”
Greenberg came aboard the Clinton Express before the 42nd president even declared his candidacy in 1992. He describes Clinton as an intensely intelligent and curious politician, eager to apply Greenberg’s findings. The same is true for Israel’s Barak, who comes off in Greenberg’s memoir as far more complex than most people know.
In addition to being the most decorated solider in the history of modern Israel, Barak is also a gifted classical pianist who almost never plays in front of others, Greenberg mentions in his book.
“I had been involved in Israel, but not electorally,” recalls Greenberg, “but I jumped at the chance when he sent his people to talk to me. In that race, I learned more about myself, about my Jewishness and how important it was for me to address Israel’s survival and sustainability.”
Raised in Washington, D.C., Greenberg describes his parents as FDR/Harry Truman Democrats. He remembers their activism with the local synagogue, for which his father served as president and his mother as sisterhood president.
Early on, he developed a keen awareness of the racial prejudice then endemic in society. By his college years, he was a dedicated protester for civil rights and against the Vietnam War. After earning an advanced degree at Harvard, he taught at that institution and at Hebrew University in Jerusalem.
Greenberg knows that the public does not always hold pollsters and political consultants in the highest regard. But he believes his work helps good politicians become better, sometimes even great, by paying closer attention to the voice of the people –– or, more accurately, the voice of the focus group.
“Being in touch with people is a part of strong leadership,” he says. “Contrast that with George Bush, who said he never got ideas from focus groups. He was also indifferent to public opinion.”
Having a seat at the table with towering leaders like Clinton, Blair and Mandela, did Greenberg ever find himself growing chummy with them?
“If anything, I’m a pain in the ass,” he says. “I’m nobody’s buddy. Usually I’m pretty brutal, basing [my consulting] on data and science.”
Stanley Greenberg will speak at 6 p.m. Monday, March 16, at the Commonwealth Club, 595 Market Street, S.F. $15; free for members. Information: (415) 597-6700 or www.commonwealthclub.org.