What Do Campaign Staffers Do After the Campaign Folds?

A couple days ago, Matt Bai observed (hat tip: TechPresident),

For all the people who work on a campaign, who share cramped apartments with other true believers and keep most of their belongings in a car, the end really does feel like The End. . . . When a campaign ends, the candidate goes on to campaign for someone else or to the lucrative life he had before, but the staff is left to figure out the numbing logistics of leases and U-hauls and W-2 forms. Those of us who cover campaigns never write about that part of the process; we check out of hotels and turn our attention elsewhere. For the people who work on losing campaigns, moving on takes longer.

Indeed. And what better way to capitalize on all that suddenly free time than to pen a retrospective? Here are two of my favorites; I'll update the post as I come across more.

1. Fred Thompson

• Michael Turk, "Fred08.com: An Outside Insider’s View," January 24, 2008.
• Todd Zeigler, "Why Did the Fred Thompson Blog Work?," February 1, 2008.
  

2. Mike Huckabee

• Joe Carter, "The Short Fast Ride: My 30-Day Crash Course in Presidential Politics," January 2, 2007.

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Run for President? You Gotta Be Crazy

Take it away Andrew Ferguson:

It's not pleasant to think of the life they lead, these Americans who would be president, from the first hints of dawn to well past midnight, this life of endless demands, this succession of superficial sociability, in which you smile and smile and pop your eyes wide open in delighted wonder at the ever-shifting kaleidoscope of faces and places that circles before you, and you haven't the time or leisure to settle on a single one. Charming countryside, pretty little towns, sprawling centers of commerce and industry fly by and you haven't a moment to enjoy them or learn their tales. You rush to meet hundreds of people a day and never have a meaningful exchange of words with any of them.

From the backseats of freezing cars and vans you're hustled into overheated coffee shops and those packed school gymnasiums with the stink rising to the rafters and then the oppressive hush of corporate meeting rooms, where your nose starts to run and a film of sweat forms under your wool pullover, and you press the outstretched hands that carry every bacterial pathogen known to epidemiology. You open your mouth and you release the same cloud of words you recited yesterday and the day before. And in the Q&A, when you stop to listen, you hear the same questions and complaints from yesterday, the same mewling and blame-shifting, all imploring you to do the impossible and through some undefined action make the lives of these unhappy citizens somehow edifying, uplifting, and worth living. And you always promise you will do that; you have no choice but to tell this kind of lie.

There's no rest, because there's not a moment to waste: The handful of minutes away from the kaleidoscope are spent chatting with the scorpions of the press, the ill-dressed, ill-mannered reporters from the prints and the pretty, preening peacocks of TV, each of them either a know-it-all or a cynic or a dope, take your pick, and each of whom, for professional and other reasons, will deploy all his energies and cleverness to the task of trapping you into a misstatement or ungenerous remark or expression of irritation so he can convey to his editors and the world that—at last!—you've made a gaffe; and if you won't make a gaffe then he will convey to his editors and the world how "scripted" and "over rehearsed" you sound; kind of slick, almost robotic, inauthentic.

When the scorps are dismissed, in the seconds before you pass from the freezing van to the overheated gym or boardroom, a sycophant whose name you can't remember hands you a cell phone that connects you to a rich man whose face you dimly recall from another boardroom last summer and you beg him to give you money, or more often—considering the grinding pressure you feel for cash, always for cash—you beg him to assemble a circle of other rich men that he can beg on your behalf, and when you sign off you don't have time to be grateful. There will be more calls before dinner and after dinner, and dinner is a cold thigh of chicken in a sump of clotted gravy served from a steam table in a freezing cinderblock banquet room at the Lions Club, and a hundred pairs of eyes fix themselves on you—a celebrity, someone they've seen on TV—as you dribble the gravy on your shirtfront. And after you release the same words and hear the same complaints you go to bed in a Hampton Suites for five hours of sleep on starchy sheets with dimly visible stains whose origins are impossible to discern, and from the corner the digital display on the microwave flashes 12:00 12:00 12:00 . . .

And you do all this so you can wake up the next morning and do it again.

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Who's the Reaganiest?

More laugh-out-loud political satire from the Red State Update duo:

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Why Can't Ron Paul Come Up With Something This Good?

David All alerts us to another anonymous, online political ad. Following the example set by Patrick Ruffini, since the ad wasn't on YouTube, I uploaded it there:



The ad's argument: As many others have pointed out, electing Hillary Clinton president would be strikingly similar to giving George W. Bush a third term. Ergo, vote for a real change candidate: Mike Bloomberg.

Headline explanation here.

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New Magazine Blogs for '08

1. Campaign Standard. Hosted by the Weekly Standard and edited by Matthew Continetti.

2. The Stump. Hosted by the New Republic and written by Michael Crowley and Noam Scheiber.

Related: Newsweek unburdens itself from the sluggish msnbc.com, and unveils a Time.com look-alike at newsweek.com.

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The Daily Digest

Quin Hillyer elucidates Rudy's success vis-a-vis the religious right.

Kos traffic number inflated by 60%, reports Patrick Ruffini.

Google's growth is prompting the usual antitrust hysteria: "[B]y acquiring DoubleClick, Google will jump so far ahead of the pack with the technology and knowledge to be the only place marketers have to go to reach you and just about anybody else."

Clark Hoyt, the NYT's ombudsman, details how good journalists can and should call someone a "lair" without employing that epithet.

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God-o-Meter

It's a good idea, which even garnered a short article in PR Week, but in practice, Beliefnet's God-o-Meter is disappointing (especially compared to Slate's Iraq Position Locator):

1. The chart is low on interactivity.

2. It's not embeddable.

3. Is this supposed to be serious or funny?

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The Daily Digest

Maureen Dowd reviews Rudy's performance at the recent NRA conference.

Shorter David Broder: Newt is good for America. Shorter Debra Saunders: But not as a politician.

Yesterday, the Council for National Policy issued a resolution that “if the Republican Party nominates a pro-abortion candidate [i.e., Rudy] we will consider running a third party candidate.” The NYT's David Kirkpatrick reports (see also WorldNetDaily and Salon), "The group making the threat . . . includes Dr. James Dobson of Focus on the Family, who is perhaps the most influential of the group, as well as Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council, the direct mail pioneer Richard Viguerie and dozens of other politically-oriented conservative Christians, participants said. Almost everyone present expressed support for [the] written resolution."

George Will poses 17 questions for Obama. For example: "You advocate leaving in Iraq 'some' U.S. forces for three missions—fighting al Qaeda, training Iraqi security forces and protecting U.S. forces conducting those two missions. . . . What is your estimate of the numbers required by your policy? How, and in consultation with whom, did you arrive at your estimate? As to fighting terrorists but not insurgents—how would soldiers and Marines tell the difference? If, while searching for terrorists, they make contact with insurgents, would your rules of engagement call for a full-force response? You say all 'combat brigades' should be out of Iraq 'by the end of next year.' Even if al-Qaeda is still dangerous? Who, after the end of next year, will protect U.S. noncombat forces that you say 'will continue to protect U.S. diplomats and facilities' and to 'train and equip' Iraqi forces?"

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Crowdsourcing: The Next Big Thing

Here's the winning entry of Mitt Romney’s ad contest:



I agree wholeheartedly with Patrick Ruffini, who calls this

the best television ad for any candidate of any part so far this election. And it was created not by some big media consultant by Ryan Whitaker, a 23-year old student from Provo, Utah.

The raw footage, music, and speechifying was provided by the Romney media team. But it’s mixed together better than anything the campaign has released so far. It’s also head and shoulders above most of the other entries, showing that Ryan has a real eye for this kind of stuff—something that only an initiative like this could have brought out.

This is the spirit of crowdsourcing taken to a new level. Most organizations do user-generated content to get some free press or motivate supporters—but don’t expect the end product to be anything they can use in any strategic way. This is different, and a bar-raiser.

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It's Official: Newt Won't Run

Mike Allen grabs the scoop:

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-GA) decided Saturday morning not to run for president just as his staff was preparing to launch a Web site to seek $30 million in pledges, his spokesman told the Politico.

Well, duh.

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The President, Candidates, Pundits and Reports on Iraq

Slate keeps innovating:

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Fred on Flickr

Fred's new-media team is making terrific use of Flickr.

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The Daily Digest

At the end of the day in one of the Swedish Riviera's tranquil nature reserves

Senator Tom "Coburn feels about pork spending the way liberal environmentalists do about greenhouse gases," writes Stephen Moore: they're both a gateway drug, to deficits and global warming, respectively.

Front-runners are cautious, which is probably why Rudy has yet to setup a blog. Yet for whatever criticism his reluctance generates, the fact remains, He's winning. On the other hand, his continued frankness on the war is beginning to alienate his supporters.

Howard Kurtz names an unpleasant truth: "Everyone who is defaulting on a home mortgage is not necessarily a victim. I feel sorry for anyone in that situation. Losing a home is an awful thing. Some were undoubtedly pressured into buying by unscrupulous lenders. Too many greedy players on Wall Street got away with making shaky loans for too long. They sliced and diced mortgage debt into increasingly exotic paper and lost sight of the risks involved, figuring the Fed would bail them out if things got out of hand. But let's face it: Most of the people who took out home mortgages for no money down knew that this was a roll of the dice. Who gets to buy a house without a down payment? And most of those who took out adjustable-rate mortgages knew that their rate would balloon in a couple of years, and could do so at a level that would be hard to afford. They took the risk anyway. No one forced these folks to take on big mortgages they could barely handle."

Why do we call those who write about the media and movies "critics" instead of something more neutral-sounding, like "observer," "analyst" or "reviewer"?

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The Daily Digest

The Washington Post recently reported that a clutch of PACs founded by Linda Chavez serve mainly to enrich the Chavez family. Of the $24.5 million raised by four Chavez PACs (above) from 2003 to 2006, $242,000—or 1 percent—was passed on to politicians. Even less—$151,236—was spent on independent political activity, like mailing pamphlets. For comparison, David Freddoso, a newly named staff reporter for NRO, reports that in 2005 and 2006, the National Right to Life PAC raised $3.1 million and spent $2.7 million on independent expenditures and candidate contributions, while the Susan B. Anthony List PAC raised $292,000 and spent $248,399 on such activities. In the same period, the Pro-Life Campaign Committee (PLCC), a PAC run by Chavez's husband, raised $1.95 million and spent $14,432.

Why don't Democrats have an Ames straw poll?

Time for some tough love toward Korean peninsula: let's end Seoul's military dependence on America, recommends Doug Bandow. Counterargument: independence would spur an arms race between the South and North. Do we really want another country to go nuclear?

Mitt Romney today became the fifth Republican presidential candidate to undergo the scrutiny of the Club for Growth. The Club's conclusion: "His record on trade, school choice, regulations and tort reform all indicate a strong respect for the power of market solutions. At the same time, Governor Romney’s history is marked by statements at odds with his gubernatorial record and his campaign rhetoric." Given this mixed assessment, Jonathan Martin induces that "unless [Fred] Thompson tells them what they want to hear, it seems like Rudy [my link] has the inside track on getting the Club's support."

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Obamamania

The latest pol in Ryan Lizza's hot chair—and the first to grace the cover of Esquire in 15 years—is Barack Obama, the "perpetually second-place Dem optimism junkie," as Wonkette puts it. Here are the key passages:

Why he's an anti-populist:

As he listens to their concerns and gently corrects them, or offers a contrasting view, it’s apparent that one of the biggest challenges for Obama in winning over voters like these is that there isn’t an ounce of populism in him. He is in many ways an antipopulist—measured and rational rather than fiery and demagogic. He never rails against big corporations or fat-cat lobbyists or George W. Bush, even though his stump speech is filled with critiques of all three. Most recent reform candidates have been populist reformers, and both John Edwards and, to a lesser extent, Hillary Clinton are hitting populist notes in Iowa. But Obama seems to willfully resist the temptation to change his cerebral, sometimes off-putting style.

His primary challenge:

When they [Obama's pollsters] compared the percentage of Democrats who said they strongly approved of Obama with the percentage who said they would vote for him, they found that the latter number was significantly lower than the former. Inside the campaign, aides dubbed this “the Gap.” It was a sobering, hard number that quantified the difference between vague enthusiasm and actual votes. For Hillary Clinton, the gap is much smaller. The majority of voters who strongly approve of her also say they will vote for her.

His general challenge:

Pollsters are beginning to talk about Obama’s “beer problem.” Survey after survey shows that he appeals to the college-educated, “wine sipping” Democrats but isn’t reaching less educated “beer drinkers.” His aides explain away the polls, insisting that voters with more education are just paying closer attention to the campaign, and so therefore these numbers are actually good news—the more voters tune in, the more they will move to Obama.

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The Price of a Vote in Ames

USA Today breaks down the numbers:

• Third-place finisher Sam Brownback says he spent about $325,000 to win his 2,192 votes. That’s $148.27 for each vote.

• Second-place finisher Mike Huckabee spent about $150,000 and received 2,587 votes. That’s $57.98 per vote.

• Winner Mitt Romney has not said how much he spent. The reporting in this Washington Post article suggests at least $2 million and possibly more than twice that much. Assuming $2 million for 4,516 votes, that’s $442.87 per vote. But it could top $1,000.

How did Huckabee do it? Soren's guess: Americans for Fair Taxation turned out bodies for him.

"What great irony. The farthest left candidate on taxes 'wins' the straw poll because of his taxes coalition group."

Related: "Huckabee’s Rise Hurts Romney, Helps Rudy."

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Veep Watch

RCP's Reid Wilson thoroughly runs down the various running-mate scenarios. Two of my favorite analyses:

Mike Huckabee for veep! "If the Democratic nominee is Hillary Clinton, who better to serve the role of attack dog than a former governor of a state closely affiliated with her? Huckabee's debate performances have been uniformly strong, and his stump speech—delivered without notes in Ames as others used a teleprompter—makes even some liberals nod along in agreement. He's a conservative from the South, but one who defies stereotypes and whose easygoing manner and message of compassionate conservatism will resonate well beyond Dixie."

Bill Richardson for veep? "Richardson's past raises some question marks. Whether it's the constant rumors (which he claims John Kerry's people tracked down, finding nothing of substance) or inconsistencies in some stories he tells (being drafted by a Major League Baseball team; a quiet conversation with the mother of a slain soldier she denies ever took place), or even his record (security problems at Los Alamos under his watch; a dramatically altered position on Iraq), choosing Richardson would seem to invite danger."

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Fred Thompson Update

ImwithFred.com 2.0 (above) impresses techPresident's Micah Sifry.

Given its high profile, revenues, staff and longevity, is Friends of Fred Thompson violating FEC regulations governing "testing the waters" committees? The NYT reports that Thompson may not use the committee "to explore a candidacy for a lengthy amount of time, or raise more money than is necessary to examine whether to run." Nonetheless, a specific complaint must be filed before the FEC investigates, and Thompson's general counsel is Michael Toner, a former FEC commissioner.

"If Fred Thompson formally announces his intention to run for president, NBC will not schedule any further repeats of Law & Order featuring Mr. Thompson beyond those already scheduled," which conclude on September 1, NBC said in a statement.

Check out Thompson's campaign staff, via techPresident's new StaffWiki.

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Tommy Thompson Calls It Quits

Last week, Tommy Thompson announced that if he didn't finish first or second in Ames, he would end his presidential campaign. On Sunday, after having come in sixth, the former Wisconsin governor promptly did as promised.

Happily, he did so gracefully rather than as a sore loser: "I respect the decision of the voters," he said.

For the record, while I thought Thompson's campaign was embarrassing, he had a proven record and the right ideas on welfare reform and school choice.

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Ames: Instant Analysis

As expected, Romney wins, and does so by a healthy margin, which will sustain his momentum.

Huckabee's second-place finish is the story of the night, especially because he didn't have any buses, and will inject some much-needed adrenaline into his fund-raising.

Brownback spent heavily here, so barely coming in third is a major disappointment.

As promised, Tommy Thompson will drop out (finally!). Duncan Hunter should follow suit.

Update (8/13/07): Ryan Sager has trouble expressing his opinion:

The face of the Republican Party in Iowa is the face of a losing party, full of hatred toward immigrants, lust for government subsidies, and the demand that any Republican seeking the office of the presidency acknowledge that he's little more than Jesus Christ's running mate. The pandering from the stage told the story. Mr. Romney promised not a chicken in every pot, but "a button on every computer" for parents to block obscene material. Anti-immigrant ranter Tom Tancredo nearly brought the house down decrying the fact that Americans sometimes have to "Press 1" for English. Mr. Huckabee earned his second-place finish in part by making the specious claim that farm subsidies safeguard America's food independence. (You think it's bad depending on foreign oil, Mr. Huckabee asked? "Wait until our country messes up and has to depend on foreign food.") Senator Brownback of Kansas, the third-place finisher, declared as he often does in his stump speech: "All for Jesus. All for Jesus. All for Jesus. All for Jesus."

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