Cliff Brown's discussions about money and politics combine the disinterest of the academic and the passion of the insider.
That's because this associate professor of political science has also been a strategist in campaigns for the U.S. Senate and the presidency.
Brown's newest book, Serious Money: Fundraising and Contributing in Presidential Nomination Campaigns (cowritten with Lynda Powell and Clyde Wilcox), illustrates that combination. David Warsh, of The Boston Globe, in a column discussing Brown's ideas, wrote, “A somewhat less wild and woolly primary season
would be the result-and perhaps a somewhat steadier course for the Republic as a whole.”
A native of Rhode Island, Brown worked on his first campaign-George Cabot Lodge's unsuccessful bid for a seat in the Senate-while he was a sophomore at Harvard University. A couple of years later, he worked for Henry Cabot Lodge and William Scranton in their unsuccessful attempt to keep Barry Goldwater from the 1964 Republican nomination. In 1968 he worked for George Romney's campaign, which was eventually thwarted by Richard Nixon, and in 1988 he supported Michael Dukakis.
Perhaps his most intense involvement came in 1980,
when he was the national issues director for independent presidential candidate John Anderson. Brown, who came to Union in 1978, would teach an early morning class, catch an 11:30 a.m. flight to Washington, D.C., and spend the afternoons working on the campaign.
Brown says that he greatly admires most of the politicians he's supported and has enjoyed working on the campaigns. He jokes that not being involved in this year's election means he won't be able to build on his “world record” of serving in eight election campaigns without ever working on the winning side.
His work in politics-from participating to analyzing has led to several publications,
including a book on the Anderson campaign, A Campaign of Ideas: The Anderson/Lucey Platform (1984), several articles, and chapters and introductions to several books. Most recently he has been analyzing survey results for Michael Dukakis in 1988 and Paul Tsongas in 1992 for a polling firm in Boston.
This year, Brown is stepping back, watching and taking notes for his book-in-progress, which will propose a complete overhaul in election law. And he brings a special expertise to two of his classes this term, “Introduction to American Politics” and “Presidential Politics.”