Ben Goddard

Ben Goddard (born 1942 in Idaho) is a founding partner of the public affairs firm Goddard Gunster. He is widely regarded as the godfather of issue advocacy advertising and is credited with creating the genre of national issue advocacy advertising with the Harry & Louise campaign in the early 1990s.

He was president of the International Association of Political Consultants, and was a featured columnist in The Hill newspaper. Titled “On Message,” his column reviews and comments on campaign message and strategy.

Notable Goddard campaigns include Harry & Louise, the Pacific Life Whales, and Prop 187 in California. According to the Goddard Gunster website, Goddard has received dozens of awards for creativity, including a television Emmy, and his commercials are part of the Smithsonian Institution permanent collection.

In the 1970s and '80s Goddard served as a media consultant to candidates for state and national office including Jimmy Carter, Gary Hart, Mo Udall and Bruce Babbitt.

In addition to his work in the United States, Goddard also created the first political advertising in the Soviet Union to preserve Boris Yeltsin's free-market reforms.

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