What can Bill Clinton, Tony Blair, Gerhard Schroeder, Nelson Mandela and Kyriakos Mitsotakis have in common? The same man who advised the four leaders in the past has become a partner in recent years, regularly offering his services to the Greek prime minister. Reason for it Stan Greenbergone of the most famous political analysts, communicators and sociologists on the other side of the Atlantic, who had a significant clientele in his career, as evidenced by the aforementioned leaders who trusted his hands – or rather, in his mind – their political luck.

Greenberg was born in the turbulent 1940s in Philadelphia, just as World War II was ending. A Harvard graduate and Yale professor, his career began about 30 years ago when he found himself on the staff of Bill Clinton, in one of the most successful campaigns in US history, which led him to the White House many years later.

This is not the first time Stan Greenberg has been involved in Greek affairs. He received his baptism of fire in 2000 when he began offering his strategies and communications advice ahead of the 2004 Olympics, working with Gianna Angelopoulou, whom he was friends with Bill Clinton. Greenberg made an excellent impression at the time, as he greatly helped Athens 2004, mainly in fending off the negative publicity that existed in the international media at the time.

His involvement with New Democracy is unclear when it begins. The information says that the first contacts with the then official opposition began in 2016, a year after Kyriakos Mitsotakis came to power. Yannis Oikonomou hinted at this when asked last September about Mr. Greenberg’s visit to Thessaloniki, where he accompanied the prime minister to a routine press conference. “Stan Greenberg is a longtime acquaintance of the Prime Minister, this is not the first time he has visited TIF, the Prime Minister speaks with him regularly,” he said, “revealing” the American’s advisory role. However, the usefulness of Mr. Greenberg has been noticed since N.D. it was the opposition. A skilled communicator is considered a guru in negative strategies as well as in approaching a special constituency – two skills that New Democracy needed to, on the one hand, reap the benefits of anti-SYRIZA in public opinion, and on the other hand, be able to speak to special audience. His contribution to winning the 2019 election is seen as decisive and the partnership has been strengthened.

Office in Maximos

An American communications expert insists that large reservoirs for N.D. they are still in the centrist space and the ruling faction is not in danger from the right.

Those in the know say that Stan Greenberg visited Greece about once every two months. His “job” has always included meetings with the prime minister himself, who is also his main interlocutor, as well as with his inner circle. American Communicator’s bankers were Giorgos Gerapetritis, Akis Skertsos and Thodoris Livanios – domestic polling gurus – and earlier Grigoris Dimitriadis. Mr. Greenberg usually came with three or four of his assistants, and the information says that there is always an office waiting for him in Maximos. There he receives all the qualitative and quantitative survey data, and his main job is to prepare strategies aimed at “special audiences”, which is also his specialty.

“He’s doing what’s called poll distortion,” a government official with knowledge of the work Mr. Greenberg has taken on tells K. Moreover, already in the 1990s, he was a pioneer in the methodology of focus groups (“focus groups”), which allow party headquarters to immediately identify traces of a change in public opinion and “surgically” adjust their strategy. The same sources say that every time he visits Greece, he also conducts his own investigations, which help him crystallize the opinion before making final recommendations and formulating the final strategy with the rest of the Prime Minister’s staff.

Compass in the center

Mr. Greenberg’s key proposal, which fits perfectly with the philosophy of Kyriakos Mitsotakis, is his strong commitment to centrist voters. Well-informed sources say that it was a former associate of Bill Clinton who called on the ND president during the pre-election period. Kyriakos Mitsotakis to “ignore” Alexis Tsipras and focus on the centrist, liberal agenda that analyzes have shown Greece needs. This was also the reason why after the European elections and the triumph of ND. Kyriakos Mitsotakis asked him to stay in Athens until the 7 July parliamentary elections.

Today, Mr. Greenberg, who will be visiting Athens more and more often before the national elections, insists, the same sources say, that the big reservoirs for New Democracy are still at the center and that the ruling party is not in danger of its right. In fact, the experienced and intelligent American is so familiar with the Greek political scene that whenever he is told about leaks from the right, he opposes Euros and what the Greek government did in February 2020, as well as the arms program, which he believes that defended N.D. on right.

Of course, a good question is: what do we mean by centrist audience? The one that votes for the center party or something else? The answer was given by Kyriakos Mitsotakis, noting on this occasion that N.D. she wants to appeal to those citizens who are not strongly party, at least not fanatics and choose the party depending on how their personal life develops and how safe they feel. According to the information, this opinion is shared by Mr. Grinberg.

His imprint is also in the speeches

Few see the influence of the American communicator in other elements introduced by the ND. and its president is on their agenda. Laid-back interviews and much more human-faced touring shots are elements that are enjoyed on the other side of the Atlantic, and it’s very likely that Mr. Greenberg, whose work doesn’t stop there, had a hand in it. According to information, he often watches key speeches of the prime minister on sensitive issues. A typical example is his speech before Congress, which, according to experienced analysts, was cut and sewn in order to touch a specific audience. And although the Prime Minister himself knows American reality very well, it is considered very likely that Mr. Greenberg also knew the speech, adding his touches.