AR-News: 'Beef guy' weathers mad-cow scare

[Andrew Gach]

All hell broke lose for the beef industry Dec. 23. A cow in Washington state
had tested positive for mad-cow disease, the degenerative neurological
disorder that had demolished the beef industry in parts of Europe but had
not, until then, appeared on U.S. soil.

Chandler Keys, chief lobbyist for the beef industry, was one of only a
handful of staff at the Washington office of the National Cattlemen's Beef
Association (NCBA) who hadn't yet left for the holidays. He swung into
damage control.

"I think this is one of those times when an industry and an association are
tested," Keys said. "The minute it breaks, [the public] turns and says, 'Now
what have you done? What are you doing? What are you gonna do?'"
erica lusk
G. Chandler Keys III, chief lobbyist for the National Cattlemen's Beef
Association, talks tough with policymakers but harbors a sentimental side.

Keys became the voice of the beef industry not only among Washington
policymakers but also across the country.

"This is an animal that came from a foreign land into our country," he
intoned to ABC's "World News Tonight" Dec. 27, referring to the diseased cow
's importation from Canada. "And so we're back on track to be [mad
cow]-free."

"I went to CNN so much that the cameramen would say, 'Here's the beef guy,'"
he recalled.

The mad cow scare threw a spotlight on the 43-year-old Keys, whose direct,
no-nonsense style has so far helped the industry steer clear of a public
backlash.

According to the association's polling, Americans actually are more
confident about the safety of beef now than they were before the scare.

Keys has a reputation for taking the bull by the horns. In fact, he usually
takes the bull by the horns, wrestles it to the ground and sends it away
whimpering.

"He's not subtle," said a former co-worker at NCBA. "People are either
Chandler-lovers or Chandler-haters. There's no gray area."

During an interview with The Hill, Keys was interrupted by a phone call from
the White House. Upset by what he was hearing about an ongoing policy issue,
Keys barked into the receiver, "You're giving us shit sandwiches! Shit
sandwiches!" He quickly apologized, but the message was clear: Don't mess
with the cattlemen.

http://thehill.com/business/020304_profile.aspx