first all out public relations Blitzkrieg in American Politics, while Sidney Blumenthal considered it a landmark in the development of the political consultant. For the time, their work was groundbreaking. However, the tactics they used to attack Sinclair are still a widely used campaign strategy today. Strategies against Sinclair Prior to the election, Sinclair was a renowned writer. I, Governor of California, and How I Ended Poverty was a work of Sinclair's set in the future. The basic scenario of the book was that Sinclair had been elected governor, and his EPIC plan had succeeded in one-hundred percent employment for California. However, his other writings did not help him achieve these lofty goals. Using oppositional research tactics, Whitaker and Baxter pored through all of Sinclair's writings, finding quotes that they could use against him. The Los Angeles Times began putting quotes from Sinclair on their front page six weeks before the election. Sinclair ultimately attributed his loss to Whitaker & Baxter, who were named only as "The Lie Factory" in his post-election book, "I, Candidate for Governor, and How I Got Licked." For their part, Whitaker and Baxter's oppositional research was not entirely factual. The following quote, which appeared in the L.A. Times reflecting Sinclair's opinion on marriage, was taken from a fictional character's dialogue in Sinclair's book Love's Pilgrimage: The sanctity of marriage. ... I have had such a belief ... I have it no longer." However, Whitaker believed that any quotes which could be attributed to his campaign were fair to use against him. In short, Whitaker believe Upton was beaten because he had written books. California League Against Sinclairism Aside from oppositional research, Whitaker and Baxter used a variety of other tactics against Sinclair. They decided to organize a bipartisan front group known as the California League Against Sinclairism. Whitaker and Baxter used this group to disseminate information regarding Sinclair's "socialist agenda." Media Additionally, media was a key part of the Whitaker and Baxter campaign strategy. They believed in the extensive scripting of candidates to keep them on message in the media, rather than allowing ragtag bands of volunteers to handle branding their candidate. They pursued earned media, meaning that they encourage candidates like Merriam to create news rather than simply sending in press releases. The team would go so far as to trade paid advertising for editorial space. However, if news could not be legitimately created,