Rove and Dowd are getting rich to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars. One of the ways it works is this: For every dollar spent on advertising there's a 15% sales commission that the advertising agency gets.
In this case, the scam is that the consultant is the ad agency.
So if the consultant decides to spend a hundred million dollars on advertising, he's writing a check to himself for $15 million. It doesn't matter whether the candidate wins or loses, and it doesn't matter whether the ads are any good.
Caddell goes on to point out that this practice borders on RICO violations.
Here's a youtube video of Rush Limbaugh 'splaining what Caddell said....
Rush Limbaugh Details Pat Caddell's Hammering GOP Consultant Class at CPAC
That 15% thing has been true since we lived in caves. That’s why smart businesspeople have “in-house” ad agencies.