Media Consultant

David Doak helped define the modern era of Democratic political television advertising. The son of a Missouri teacher, he trained as a lawyer and served as both prosecutor and public defender before entering politics as a campaign worker and manager.

Doak got his start working for President Carter in 1976 and 1980. He managed Charles Robb’s successful 1981 campaign for Governor of Virginia and Mark White’s 1982 upset victory in the Texas gubernatorial race, two wins that established him as a rising force in Democratic campaign management.

After learning the media business with Bob Squier, Doak co-founded a political consulting firm in 1985 with Pat Caddell and Bob Shrum. The partnership became a dominant force in Democratic politics, crafting strategy and advertising for Bob Casey’s campaign for Governor of Pennsylvania, Barbara Mikulski’s historic Senate victory in Maryland, David Dinkins’s election as Mayor of New York City, and Dick Gephardt’s surprise victory in the 1988 Iowa caucuses. After Caddell’s departure, Doak and Shrum continued as Doak, Shrum and Associates for nearly a decade.

He later founded Doak Carrier O’Donnell, which scored major victories including Governor Gray Davis in California and Senator Sherrod Brown in Ohio, and helped launch the congressional career of Senator Chris Van Hollen. Known for his cautious, deliberate approach to the craft and an encyclopedic command of writing, producing, and placing television advertising, Doak earned the respect of colleagues and competitors across four decades at the top of Democratic media consulting.