Mellman worked on Connecticut congressional candidate Bruce Morrison's ultimately successful 1981 campaign.
As the campaign grew, with advertising and coverage heavy on right-wing media such as Fox News and the Drudge Report, Mellman says he saw in the polls a tide turning against Kerry.
[10] In late 2019, Mellman commented on a speech by Senator and Democratic Party presidential candidate Bernie Sanders to the liberal Jewish group J Street.
Mellman opposed Sanders' suggestion that he would use the $3.8 billion in US aid to Israel as leverage to promote humanitarian policies in the Gaza strip.
"[13] In 2010, Mellman suggested that Rasmussen Reports tended to be the most heavily stacked against Democratic candidates in elections.