One lobbyist, on Martin: ‘ Underestimate him at your peril’

forcing any concessions fromthemerger partners. The Democratic commissioners sought requirements to protect competition. In long negotiations, Martin brokered pacts that appeased the companies and the Democrats.

“ Most of the time people are raising legitimate issues, and if you can 1 nd a way to incorporate those, it onlym akes the ultimate decision stronger,” Martin, a

seasonedWashington lawyer with close

ties to the White House, told USA TODAY.

Says Bruce Mehlman who worked

with Martin when both were young lawyers, “ Kevin’s a master of 1 ndingways to structure deals that have everyone feeling satis 1 ed.”

Some public- interest advocates remain waryof Martin’s leadership, fearful of a pro- business agenda that could limit choice and price

competition for phone and Internet services. Mark Cooper of the Consumer Federation of America worries that Martin’s political agility could gain bipartisan support for rulings that only appear consumer- friendly.

“ Powellmanaged to irritate people andwas an easier target,” Cooper says. “ The fact that ( Martin) ismore astute politicallyis going tomake our job harder.” A disarming style

Martin is hurtling his agenda through an FCC that used to move at a glacial pace and to split along partisan lines. He’s done so with a shrewd political antenna, sharp intelligence and a pragmatic streak, all cloaked in a disarming style. “ He’s very gentlemanlya nd lowkey, which belies a very keen mind,” says Richard Wiley, a lawyer who lobbies Martin on behalf of big telecom and media companies. “ Underestimate him at your peril.”

Martin’s knack for consensus- buildingwill be tested evenmore rigorouslyi n comingmonths, as the phone, cable and media industries increasinglyove rlap and compete. His challenges include steering the nation’s transition to digital TV; reforming the shrinking subsidys ystemthat keeps phone service affordable in rural areas; and maybe passing rules that could expand the reach of big media companies.

He’s also expected to be even tougher on broadcasters that violate indecencyr ules than was Powell, whose FCC socked TV and radio stations with a record $ 7.7 million in 1 nes last year.

Martin is unapologetic about a deregulatoryst ance that favors easing constraints on big phone, cable and media 1 rms. “ We prefer markets over regulation,” he says in an interview in his bright corner of 1 ce.

At the same time, Martin has been willing to subtly bend his free- market principles to satisfy FCC Democrats. “ I’ll try to identify what seems like a fair way to reach a compromise, but I’ll base it on some standard,” fromwhich hewon’t veer.

Martin and Powell share similar views. Yet their styles clash. Powell was a charismatic chairman who voiced his free- market ethos in eloquent bursts of rhetoric. Yet his plans to deregulate the regional phone giants and big media companies were largelyd erailed byf ellow commissioners, the courts or Congress.

Powell drewcriticism that he failed to anticipate political resistance tohis proposals andmade scant effort to build coalitions at the FCC.

Martin is a mild- mannered, self-effacing Southerner whose youthful looks and round, wire- rimmed glasses remind some of a grown- up Harry Potter. He favors dark pinstriped suits and speaks in gentle tones. His sentences are often broken by long pauses as he weighs hiswords. And revels in consensus- building.

“ It’s like a Rubik’s cube where you’re trying to look at all different sides,” he says.

Powell set the stage for the deregulation of the traditional phone industrya nd the emergence of Internetbased phone and wireless broadband alternatives. But manyv iew Martin as better suited to the trench work needed to complete that transition.

“ People share the view that he’s a far more effective politician and tactician than Michael Powell,” says Andrew Schwartzman of the Media Access Project, which has fought deregulatoryef forts.

AmongMartin’s victories:

uHe drew unanimous FCC support to require Internetbased phone services to offer full- featured 911 service. He fended off potential opposition from industry players by humanizing the issue. He invited families who’d had trouble reaching an emergency operator— including amother whose infant died because of the delay — to speak at the FCC meeting.

“ There was no chance that anybody would have anything negative to say,” says Robert Quinn, vice president

of AT& T, which offers an phone service. “ He got the job done.”

uMartin took quick action after Hurricane Katrina, granting permits so makeshift communications and broadcast systems could get up and running.

uHe won a unanimous vote in August to free the regional phone companies’ broadband DSL networks of rules requiring them to share their lines with competing Internet service providers.

The two Democrats on the FCC had opposed that move. Theys aid it would harm consumer choice. But Martin knew he could pass the item quickly by bargaining with the Democrats, who, in turn, realized theyco uld strike a better deal before a third Republican joins the FCC.

So Martin addressed the Democrats’ fears that phone companies would use their broadband lines to block consumers from accessing Internet- based phone services or rival Web sites. He crafted a policyst atement encouraging phone and cable companies to provide unfettered access to

all parts of the Web. Thus could Democrats claim a partial victory.

“ He thread the needle,” says FCC Democratic commissioner Internet- based Jonathan Adelstein, who adds, “ We’re communicating better, we’re going back and forth.”

Yet some consumer advocates sayt he policyst atement contains little substance. “ It’s not enforceable,” says Cooper, director of the Consumer Federation of America. “ It’s almost embarrassing.” Roots in North Carolina

The fourth of 1 ve children, Martin grew up in tiny Waxhaw, N. C., outside Charlotte. He says he inherited his consensus- building talents from his mother, “ a great listener,” and his deregulatoryb ent from his father, who owned an insurance 1 rmand didn’twant to “ burden small businesseswith . . . red tape.”

Martin says his asthma forced him to “ stay inside and spend a lot of time reading and interacting with adults while all the other kids were out playing.”

He got his 1 rst whiff of politics at the University of North Carolina, where he was elected student body president byr unning on cafeteria and parking concerns even as the campus was roiled by racial issues. “ All politics is local in the end,” he explains.

After Harvard Law School and stints at a Washington law 1 rm and as an advisor to an FCC commissioner, Martin joined Gov. George W. Bush’s presidential campaign. When the Florida vote threw the outcome into doubt, Martin K ew to Miami. Working around the clock, he helped oversee the legal battle and could be seen on TV peering over ballot counters. Sometensionwith Powell

Martin, whomBush appointed an FCC commissioner in 2001, broke ranks with Powell on key issues, sparking tension between the two men. Notably, Martin backed the Democrats to help kill Powell’s plan to free the regional phone giants from having to lease their local networks to rivals. “ I tried to do . . . the right thing on themerits,” Martin says.

So far, Martin hasmanaged to draw praise fromdiverse factions. “ I think there might be some areas where we can work with him,” says Consumers Union’s Gene Kimmelman. “ He’s a straight shooter.”

Martin often “ will try to disarm you by asking what seems a dumb question, but 10 minutes later you ( realize) he knows all about this thing,” says SBC Senior Vice President JimSmith. “ If he doesn’t agree with you, he gives you a chance to change hismind.”

He recentlym et in his of 1 ce Earl Comstock, CEO of CompTel, which represents small phone rivals that opposed the two big phone company mergers. For several minutes, Comstock argues that the FCC should cap the prices of the companies’ business lines, even if the Justice Department requires them to sell off some of the lines to preserve competition, as it did lastweek.

Martin listens to their arguments intently, legs crossed, head cupped 1 rmlyi n hand. Finally, he asks: “ If there’s some kind of ( sales), doesn’t that obviate the need for a cap on pricing? What I’m asking is— I’m not sure how you can argue for both.”

Comstock later says, “ He’s good at drilling in to the heart of a matter, as he sees it, in a veryp leasant way.”

Outside the of 1 ce, Martin and his wife, Catherine, who is deputyas sistant to Bush, are expecting their 1 rst child in November.

A UNC basketball fan, he’s also made a hobbyo f arguing sports and politics. He and Baines have had a 20year debate over free agency in baseball: Baines is for it; Martin has criticized it as harmful to fan loyalty. And Martin’s taken up golf.

“ He doesn’t hit it real long,” says Justin Lilley, a friend. “ But it’s prettymuch down the middle.”