Republican strategist Tom Morgan, political director of GOPAC from 1987 to 1991, and his wife, Alison Morgan, who worked as a GOP fundraiser until 1999, are back in the game this cycle. [IMGCAP(1)]

The couple are serving as volunteer advisers to Iraq War veteran Matt Salisbury, who is running against freshman Rep. Bill Sali in Idaho’s 2008 1st district Republican primary.

Tom Morgan ran his own political communications and consulting firm from 1991 to 2001 and has been working for the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment since 2001.

Alison Morgan, who has worked at the Colorado Department of Corrections since 1999, served as then-Washington state Congressional candidate George Nethercutt’s (R) finance director in the 1994 campaign that saw him oust then-Speaker Tom Foley (D-Wash.).

She helped Nethercutt raise $700,000 in the final five weeks of that race.

This is Salisbury’s first run for political office.

On the Markey. Betsy Markey (D), positioned to claim frontrunner status in Colorado’s 4th district Democratic primary, has a trio of consultants advising her campaign.

Handling media is Envision Communications, a Washington, D.C.-based firm founded earlier this year by veteran Democratic consultants Jennifer Burton, Peter Cari and Maura Dougherty.

In charge of direct mail is Mission Control, a Democratic firm with offices in Washington, D.C., and Manchester, Conn. Ed Peavy and Adnaan Muslim are partners at the firm, while Amy Pritchard directs the D.C. office.

In the previous cycle the firm did independent expenditure work on behalf of a number of Democratic candidates who won seats previously held by Republicans, including now-Reps. Joe Sestak (Pa.), Harry Mitchell (Ariz.), Gabrielle Giffords (Ariz.), Tim Walz (Minn.) and Ed Perlmutter (Colo.).

Meanwhile, Bennett, Petts and Normington, also based in the District, will handle polling. The Democratic firm is run by partners Anna Bennett, David Petts and Jill Normington.

On Wednesday, 2006 4th district nominee Angie Paccione (D) dropped out of the race, putting Markey, a businesswoman and former aide to Sen. Ken Salazar (D-Colo.), in the driver’s seat to secure the 2008 nomination and the right to take on Rep. Marilyn Musgrave (R). The 4th district leans Republican, but Musgrave won re-election last year with just 45.6 percent of the vote.

They Can Hackett. Businessman Chris Hackett (R), hoping to win the Republican nomination in Pennsylvania’s 10th district and earn the right to challenge Rep. Christopher Carney (D-Pa.), has begun assembling his campaign team.

Acting as general consultant is Jon Lerner, of the GOP, Washington, D.C.-based firm Red Sea Media. Nathan Wurtzel, also based in Washington, is directing Hackett’s fundraising outreach to political action committees.

David Madeira, a chiropractor by trade who ran for a Pennsylvania state Senate seat in the previous cycle, is Hackett’s political director.

George Farrell, who is a military veteran but is not a political professional, is the campaign manager.

Heath Bar Crunch. TrueMajority, a liberal grass-roots organization formed by Ben and Jerry’s ice cream co-founder Ben Cohen, announced Wednesday that it was merging with USAction, a left-of-center group that focuses on coalition building.

TrueMajority has specialized in mobilizing grass-roots action via the Internet; USAction and its 24 state affiliates have recently been involved in organizing opposition to the Iraq War and President Bush’s plan to overhaul Social Security.

“This merger will benefit the entire progressive movement by creating a potent voice for our principles with enormous reach online and at the grassroots,” Cohen said in a statement.

Revolution! Revolution Media Group, a national advocacy and advertising firm whose clients include the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the National Republican Congressional Committee and several Congressional Members, has opened a Florida office under the management of Brett Doster.

Doster, formerly of Front Line Strategies, has represented clients such as Bank of America, Wal-Mart, Floridians for Property Tax Reform and Members of the Florida House.

His duties with RMG, which is based in Washington, D.C., will include state and federal lobbying, strategic planning and policy and political consulting services.

Doster served as the Florida executive director for the Bush-Cheney 2004 presidential re-election campaign as well as the Florida political director for the Bush-Cheney 2000 campaign.

A Boone to the Private Sector. Jasaun Boone, who most recently advised now-New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer’s (D) campaign, has returned to Washington as principal and managing partner of Gateway Strategies.

Boone, who formerly served as the late Sen. Paul Wellstone’s (D-Minn.) political director and worked on Sen. John Kerry’s (D-Mass.) 2004 presidential campaign, will focus in his new role on legislative analysis and general lobbying.

This Just In. George Washington University is producing an 18-month program of weekly radio addresses focusing on the 2008 presidential race and the history of American politics.

“Politics: From the Nation’s Capital” airs nationally on XM Satellite Radio’s POTUS ’08 channel (XM channel 130) and on 1500 AM and 107.7 FM in Washington, D.C. The program began airing this week.

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