The New Yorker Magazine article - New KochNew Yorker writer Jane Mayer has authored 7,157 words on moves by Charles and David Koch to craft new images for themselves and the GOP. Quotes are included from O’Dwyer’s and O’Dwyer contributors Fraser Seitel and Mike Paul.

The article, in the Jan. 25 issue published today, is headlined, “New Koch” and has the subhead: “The billionaire brothers are championing criminal justice reform. Has their formula changed?”

Mike PaulMike Paul

Mayer describes recent behavior of the brothers aimed at changing their image but she remains doubtful that it will succeed.

A concluding quote is given to Paul:

Jon GingerichJon Gingerich

“Mike Paul, the head of Reputation Doctor, isn’t surprised that the Kochs’ rebranding has encountered troubles. ‘You can’t just use spin to make it look like you’re doing the right thing,’ he says. ‘Ultimately, the currency that the Kochs are after is trust. And it’s won only by showing consistency, transparency, and evidence of real change.’”

O’Dwyer senior editor Jon Gingerich is quoted as follows:

“Normally, when corporate executives are under attack, accountability and transparency are the crisis hallmarks. ... With the Kochs, it’s resembled something like Ted Cruz’s recent TV spot, where he’s sitting at the dining-room table with his family. Everything is heartland and roll-up-your-sleeves populism. The message, to me, anyway, seems to be: We’re normal people, too.”

Fraser SeitelFraser Seitel

Seitel, identified as president of Emerald Partners, co-author of Rethinking Reputation: How PR Trumps Marketing and Advertising in the New Media World as well as a spokesman for more than two decades for the Rockefeller family, told Mayer that Third-party endorsements are “what the practice of public relations is based on…you can try to tell people how good you are but they won’t believe it until a third party acknowledges the goodness of your actions.”

The Kochs are about to launch “the most ambitious political effort of their lives,” writes Mayer. They have assembled a war chest of nearly $900 million for political campaigns and advocacy which is more than two times the amount put together for this purpose by the 2012 GOP national campaign.