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Iceland-born Sig Rogich is a public relations and political consultant who advised the campaigns of President Reagan and the first President Bush. A famous ad that Rogich produced for the first President Bush featured Michael Dukakis looking ludicrous astride a tank. The first President Bush appointed Rogich as his ambassador to Iceland, but recalled him in a failed effort to save his 1992 reelection campaign. As part of that effort, Rogich rolled out attack ads that featured five individuals’ testimonials about how Bill Clinton would raise their taxes if elected president. The Boston Globe reported that four of these “real people” had close ties to Republican campaign officials, including a “steamfitter” who was recruited after doing plumbing work on the Wisconsin home of Pioneer political consultant Mark Block. This plumber told the Globe he had no idea how the Bush campaign calculated that his taxes would increase by $1,088, given that Clinton had only proposed tax increases for people earning more than $150,000 a year. Ex-heavyweight champ Mike Tyson also hired Rogich, a former state boxing commissioner, to burnish his image after biting off part of Evander Holyfield’s ear in a match. Pioneer Commerce Secretary advised fellow Pioneer Ken Lay in late 2001 to hire Rogich to help Enron in India, where a state government was refusing to pay for an over-priced power plant. Rogich himself needed a little image polish in 2000 after the Las Vegas City Council ignored the advice of its own lawyer and voted to approve a controversial liquor permit for a property Rogich owned. With the liquor license, Rogich’s property was worth $3.5 million because it could be used as a topless bar; without the license it was worth about $2 million. Rogich worked for the campaigns of several council members who granted his liqour license. Critics said his political influence also induced the council to grant him an exemption from zoning restrictions that prohibit bars from being within 1,500 feet of a school or another bar. Rogich turned out to support Nevada Governor Kenny Guinn in 2002 when he vetoed President Bush’s recommendation to dump federal nuclear waste at Nevada’s Yucca Mountain.
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Of Special Interest
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| Profile last updated
Jan 9, 2004
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