In the House, Sandlin represented the First Congressional District in Texas for four terms, but was defeated for re-election in November 2004. He was chief deputy whip to Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., the current speaker, when she served earlier as Democratic whip. Sandlin also served on the Ways and Means, Transportation and Infrastructure and Financial Services committees.

Mercury is an arm of Omnicom Group, a global marketing and corporate communications company. Mercury's partners include Terry Nelson, a top strategist to Sen. John McCain's presidential campaign last year and national political director for Bush-Cheney 2004. Another Mercury partner, Steve Schmidt, served as a senior adviser to McCain's recent presidential campaign.

                                                                                                          -- Edward T. Pound