PHOENIX - Would you take media advice from a former governor who was sued by his creditors, had to declare bankruptcy and was ousted from office after a criminal conviction - and claims to have actually seen a UFO?
Fife Symington says it's precisely that experience which makes his advice valuable, to the tune of up to $15,000 for a two-day session.
Symington said that as a twice-elected governor, would-be politicians come to him asking how to deal with the media. After giving free advice for some time, he said he's gone commercial, at the urging of his son, Richard.
"It's really kind of a hands-on, no-holds-barred kind of media-training concept," he said.
Symington said it's more than just the basics of telling people that reporters expect the truth and expect their calls to be returned in a timely fashion.
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He said those most in need have never been in the political arena and never been subjected to being questioned by a reporter.
For example, he said, a political neophyte may run into a reporter in a hotel lobby and find himself peppered with questions. Being new to the game, that individual may not have a clue what kind of a story the reporter is writing, what the angle of attack is going to be or how to answer.
"The media is relentless the way it comes at you, usually with fairly negative questions, trying to put you off balance," he said. Symington said his training will do things like help turn a negative question into a positive and just becoming comfortable with the environment.
Symington knows a bit about those kinds of questions.
In the 1990 gubernatorial race against Democrat Terry Goddard, Symington pitched himself to voters as a successful businessman.
Not long after his election, a union pension fund that had lent him money for one of his projects sued him, charging that he lied about his financial condition. That civil suit - and the bankruptcy protection he eventually sought - resulted in reporters' getting access to reams of documents about Symington's finances.
He eventually was indicted and convicted in federal court on charges of defrauding his investors.
That conviction was overturned after an appellate court concluded the trial judge improperly disqualified one of the jurors. There never was a second trial: In one of his last acts in office, President Bill Clinton, whom Symington had saved from drowning as a young man, pre-emptively pardoned the former governor.
Symington said that's precisely why someone should pay him up to $15,000 for a two-day session.
"I've been there," he said. "I've seen the dark and I've been through it."
None of Symington's unpaid help did any good for John Munger, whom he endorsed early on in a bid to become this year's Republican nominee for governor.
Munger left the race relatively early. But Symington said his skill in dealing with reporters wasn't the reason why. It was because Munger had no chance of defeating incumbent Jan Brewer because of the governor's sharp spike in popularity after signing a new law aimed at illegal immigrants.
But Symington said the just-completed election did produce some successes for those he advised, including Rep. Steve Pierce, R-Prescott, and newly selected Republican Congressman Ben Quayle.
Symington said what he will charge depends on the office being sought, whether the client is someone running for local office who just wants some quick pointers or a candidate for statewide or congressional office who needs more intense training, especially in handling one-on-one televised interviews.
He likened his fees to those charged by national firms, which range from $5,000 to $15,000.
What someone would typically get is two four-hour sessions.
"A lot of that would be on camera, in studio, and it would involve role playing," Symington said, with the sessions videotaped, then reviewed to identify flaws, then repeated.
Symington's future doesn't depend on this. After attending the Scottsdale Culinary Institute and working in the kitchens of some major Phoenix-area restaurants, he helped found the Arizona Culinary Institute and remains an adviser to the school.
