With the general elections in June, Prime Minister Jiří Paroubek's party finds itself now in a statistical dead heat with the senior opposition Civic Democrats (ODS). The ČSSD were behind the ODS — at one time by as much as 20 percentage points — in national polls for most of last year.

The ČSSD now trails the ODS 28 percent to 27 percent in the most recent CVVM polls released this month, and analysts say ODS support is waning. Two reasons for the comeback, analysts say, is an unfocused ODS platform and its apparent inability to channel money to advertising.

But there could be another reason.

For the past two months, the ČSSD has been working with U.S. public relations firm Padilla Speer Beardsley (PSB), which shaped communication strategies for Clinton's two successful election campaigns in the 1990s.

Last May, PSB worked on British Prime Minister Tony Blair's re-election campaign, which saw his Labour Party win out over the opposition Conservative Party.

"We have definitely chosen this company for its renown and professional experience," says Anna Veverková, a member of the ČSSD's Central Election Committee. "We are hoping to make the most of their professional experience and present the ČSSD as a modern and dynamic Social Democratic Party."

But so far, the specific work PSB is doing for the Social Democrats is hush-hush. While the company does not have a permanent branch in Prague, Veverková confirmed that there is now one company representative based here.

Reached for comment, the consultant — who spoke on the condition of anonymity, citing an agreement between PSB and the ČSSD — said the company is involved in the party's campaign because of the strong resemblance between the situation here and in the United Kingdom leading up to the Labour Party's bid to retain power in 2005.

"Similarly to the Labour Party, the Czech Social Democrats are trying to win the election and form a government for the third time," the consultant said.

The consultant described PSB's role, but only in general terms: strateegy planning and polling.

PSB often conducts its own polling for clients. In this case, it is carrying out polls specifically for the ČSSD, instead of relying on polls from Czech bodies such as STEM/MARK. This is problematic, analysts say.

"The ČSSD is presenting these results as official poll results. ... I find it immoral and indecent as any such polls conducted for a political party are shaped to fit the image of this party," says Bohumil Doležal, a political analyst.

The ČSSD plans to spend 100 million Kč ($4.2 million) on this year's campaign.

Veverková says the party is going to focus on a message of reliability and prosperity. More than 300 billboards recently went up nationwide extolling these virtues, and more are coming, she says. New television commercials are also in the works.

The party's official campaign platform focuses on tax cuts and a goal of reducing nationwide unemployment to 6 percent and creating 150,000 new jobs.