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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On the GOP YouTube Debate

1. Playing Devil's advocate for a minute, why is it such a big deal that a Hillary operative got to ask the Republican candidates a question without disclosing his affiliation? Why does this render his question worthless? Should we exclude anybody who's aligned with a campaign?

2. Some of the questions were silly—the introductory song, the Bible, the Confederate flag—but I actually thought many of them were excellent: Specific, pointed and interesting.

3. Anderson Cooper did a poor job moderating: He failed to stop Rudy and Romney from monopolizing the debate's first five minutes; he allowed McCain to attack Ron Paul on foreign policy during a question about the fair tax; and, by deciding which candidates got which questions, he turned potentially hard-hitting questions into softballs (Huckabee, the former minister, on the Bible; Duncan Hunter, whom the NRA rates an A+, on gun control; Thompson, a self-declared federalist, on banning abortion at the federal level).

4. On Fred: (1) Interesting video, but surely it speaks poorly of him that he used his time to attack others instead of even mentioning—let alone touting—himself. (2) ATR documents his hypocrisy in taking an anti-amnesty pledge—during the debate—but refusing to take a no-new-taxes pledge. (3) It's inexcusable that a self-proclaimed federalist couldn't name three government programs he'd remove or reduce.

5. Why can't CNN enlarge the videos on its big screen?

Update: Ed Morrisey fleshes out my first point:

Bad journalistic practices? Definitely yes. But does that negate the questions themselves? I don't think so. The CNN/YouTube format closely parallels that of the traditional town-hall forum. For the most part, attendees do not get vetted at these events either, nor should they. After all, while a primary usually involves voters of one party, the entire nation has a stake in the selection of the nominees. If Hillary Clinton held a town hall in my community, I should have an opportunity to question her about her positions on issues without pledging a loyalty oath to do so.

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Fred Thompson: He's Real. And He's Spectacular

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The Daily Digest

Jonah Goldberg explains why he's pro-life: "In death-penalty cases, 'reasonable doubt' goes to the accused because unless we’re certain, we must not risk an innocent’s life. This logic goes out the window when it comes to abortion, unless you are 100-percent sure that babies only become human beings after the umbilical cord is cut. I don’t see how you can be that sure, which is why I’m pro-life—not because I’m certain, but because I’m not."

Anheuser-Busch boasts one of the best MySpace profiles I've seen. The reason: It looks nothing like MySpace.

Reason's Michael Moynihan takes on Jon Stewart.

Rudy and Fred offer fiscal conservatives much to like.

Jon Henke, Fred Thompson's new-media consultant, live blogs Fred's first debate with his fellow Republicans. Jon employs just enough Dave Weigel and Ana Marie Cox wit to keep things interesting, without degenerating into Wonkette.

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Fred on Flickr

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

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Quote of the Day

"If you don't like what's going on, don't get in your car and drive by your school board and maybe drive by the capitol and get on an airplane and fly to Washington and say, 'I don't like the way the school down the street is being run.'"

—The ever-quippy Fred Thompson, on why education should be a state rather than a federal issue—even though he voted to do the exact opposite in 2001 via No Child Left Behind.

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Admitting Ignorance Is Admirable

But not when the questions concern policy and you're running for president of the United States. Jonathan Martin reports on Fred Thompson's visit to the Sunshine State:

Taping a television interview for a Tampa-area news channel after his appearance at the Villages, a still-sweaty Thompson offered little when asked two questions by the St. Petersburg Times’s Adam C. Smith that nearly every presidential candidate who has touched down on Florida soil this year has faced—property insurance and Terri Schiavo.

He effectively punted on both, saying that he knew that the hurricane-induced insurance crunch is “an issue,” but that he didn’t “know enough about it yet.”

The matter of whether Congress was right to intervene to save the life of Schiavo was even worse, as Thompson said didn’t “know all the facts surrounding that case.”

“That's going back in history,” he added of the 2005 controversy, forcing his campaign to later plead with the Associated Press to change their characterization of Thompson’s answer from not having an opinion to not offering one.

Ryan Sager elaborates:

"Local matters generally speaking should be left to the locals," he told the Times. "I think Congress has got an awful lot to keep up with. ... I don't know all the facts surrounding that case, I can't pass judgment on it. I know that good people were doing what they thought was best. ... That's going back in history. I don't remember the details of it". . . .

On the way to the next location, I asked the Thompson campaign to clarify. A campaign spokesman, Jeff Sadosky, offered this: "While he believes in the sanctity of life, he also believes that it was a decision for the family to make under state law, so there was no role for the federal government to play." Later, on the bus, he added: "Congress has better things to do with their time."

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Fred Thompson Update

It's that time again.

1. Bob Novak reports that "Thompson's decision to announce his presidential candidacy with a video was suggested by Newt Gingrich."

2. Why did Thompson, who in the winter of 1997 was considering quitting the Senate, agree instead to chair the committee investigating Clinton fund-raising scandals? Because he hoped the investigation would "galvanize support" for his then-hobbyhorse, now-bugbear, campaign finance reform, which was then stalled in Congress.

3. Jonathan Martin reports on the state of the campaign:

A Thompson source, requesting anonymity to speak candidly, voiced concern that Team Fred is still not ready for a the pressure cooker of a presidential campaign.

"There is no question that from a political standpoint, the testing-the-waters committee is right where it needs to be,” this person said, “but from a personnel standpoint, it's a completely different story."

"You have some gaping holes in the communications shop and in the overall management at the committee.”

Thompson fired his communications director Linda Rozett, a former chamber of commerce official, last week, displeased by her lack of campaign experience. Thompson’s spokeswoman, Burson Snyder, resigned two weeks ago, unhappy with a diminished role and uneasy about the disorder in the campaign structure. And Thompson's first campaign manager, Tom Collamore, was viewed as lacking the necessary political chops for a White House run and forced out.

Asked if the installation of Bill Lacy, Thompson’s close friend and the strategist from his first Senate race, had brought order to the operation, the Thompson source said, “It hasn’t yet.”

One person familiar with the day-to-day operation indicated that there could be belt-tightening measures taken to curb the outbound flow of cash from Thompson’s testing-the-waters committee.

After raising just under $3.5 million in June—about a million-and-a-half less than his advisers initially predicted they’d haul in—Thompson indicated that the financial report he’ll file along with the other presidential hopefuls at the end of third quarter in September may not dazzle the doubters.

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Matthew Scully Joins Team Thompson

Michael Shear has the scoop:

Thompson spokeswoman Linda Rozett confirmed Thursday that Scully has joined Team Thompson, but wouldn't say what, specifically, he is doing for the non-campaign. . . .

Word on the street is that Scully is busy writing Thompson's announcement speech.

Related: "Scully, Gerson and McConnell."

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Politicians Are People, Too

They have a sense of humor.

Romney: "I asked Ann, my wife, 'Did you ever in your wildest dreams believe I would be running for President?' She told me, 'You weren't in my wildest dreams.'"

Rudy: "To have a description of my mistakes in 30 seconds?"

Fred Thompson: "I am sitting here with a long face and broken heart as I contemplate sunsets on the Mediterranean, which I will not see. . . . We must remember the unspoken vow that all United States senators take upon entering the Senate: I shall have no money, and I shall have no fun. I, of course regarding myself as an unconquerable soul, am still determined to break the second part of that vow."

Karl Rove: When his resignation from the White House was announced, some staffers at a Seattle Times news meeting cheered. Rove responded by sending a basket of cookies to the newsroom, with a note saying, "My wife shares in your enthusiasm."

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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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The Daily Digest

Steve Chapman picks apart the straw men in Rudy Giuliani's foreign policies.

Leona Helmsley, the millionaire businesswoman who was convicted in 1989 of tax evasion, died today. In April, I faulted her prosecutor—Rudy Giuliani—for "trumpet[ing] this indictment on par with his going after Tony Soprano. . . . [P]rosecutors wield enormous discretion as to which cases they prosecute, and it's unfortunate that Rudy made his bones on Leona Helmsley's back."

Jennifer Rubin explains why Fred Thompson's defense of his lobbying for abortion rights rings hollow. "First, he wasn't lawyering; he was influence peddling and not engaging in any legal advice when he was phoning Sununu or speaking to his former congressional colleagues. . . . Second, everyone makes choice[s] about how they want to use their time and make money."

Last week, Team Thompson suffered another senior resignation: spokeswoman Burson Snyder. "I support Senator Thompson fully and plan to assist in any way I can in the future, but I plan to pursue a better professional fit," Synder tells Jonathan Martin. Her gripe echoes that of J.T. Mastranadi, who resigned after less two weeks as research director. According to a friend, Mastranadi was "fed up" with the "lack of structure" and was unclear about his role in the coming campaign. According to sources, as paraphrased by Martin, Synder chafed "at the uncertain lines of authority and chain of command within both the communications team and the broader campaign staff."

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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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Who's an FOF (Friend of Fred)?

"Put your money where you mouth is" is, by now, a cliche. Instead, I prefer a saying from Joe Biden's dad: "Don't tell me what you value. Show me your budget."

It's a brilliant quote, and in this vein, here are three of the most interesting donors to Friends of Fred Thompson (see IRS.gov for a complete list):

• Doug Feith, undersecretary of defense under GWB: $2,300.

• Peyton Manning, quarterback for the Indianapolis Colts professional football team, which won the 2007 Super Bowl, and a former star with University of Tennessee: $2,300.

• Eugene Volokh, law professor at UCLA and proprietor of the Volokh Conspiracy: $750.

Related: Mike Turk today unveiled Fred's redesigned Web site, from which I embedded the above widget. Jennifer Rubin is underwhelmed.

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The Daily Digest: Republicans vs. YouTube

A YouTuber implores the Republican candidates to remain in the YouTube debate

Cato president Ed Crane recently asked if Hillary is a neocon? His libertarian colleague Steve Chapman, of the Chicago Tribune, answers in the affirmative: "A Hillary Clinton presidency promises to unite Madeleine Albright's zeal for using bombs in pursuit of liberal ideals with Dick Cheney's vision of the president as emperor."

Reviewing Milton Friedman: A Biography, by Lanny Ebenstein, Doug Bandow relates a lesson in market-based parenting: "'Once, when the family was traveling across country by train, Milton gave [daughter] Jan and [son] David the choice of a room with berths or the difference in cash between the price of the room and the price of riding in coach. The children chose to sit up in coach for two days.'"

Before there was Freakonomics (2005), the best-selling book that popularized the "dismal science," there was Tyler Cowen, the modern-day cult hero of libertarian economists.

A tipster leaks to Jim Geraghty a selection of Fred Thompson's vocal support for McCain-Feingold, "legislation that tends to a level of support among NRO readers roughly comparable to the Ebola virus."

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Fred Thompson Update

Fred Thompson, Mark Corallo and Ed Gillespie, 2007

Why are Christian conservatives so eager to embrace Fred Thompson, who once lobbied to overturn the domestic gag rule? The answer's complicated, but plausible (hat tip to Soren Dayton): neither Thompson nor Rudy, who's been the consistent Republican front-runner, is a reliable social conservative. But if Thompson wins the nomination, then evangelicals will be able to claim victory. If Rudy wins, they lose their kingmaker status.

The latest hires: HSP for direct mail, Rich Galen and Linda Rozett for communications, and Bill Wichterman and Joe Cella for religious outreach.

Of Thompson's aforesaid lobbying stint, the National Review editors reflect that "Pro-lifers should . . . treat this episode as a regrettable bit of ancient history," because Thompson seems to have changed his mind about abortion. "But the picture is cloudier than it should be, because Thompson has been less than forthcoming about the evolution of his views."

Since 2003, Thompson's PAC has paid his son $176,000 for doing "next to nothing," reports Dick Morris.

Update (7/24): Campaign manager Tom Collamore has resigned, to be replaced by former senator and former energy secretary Spencer Abraham as chairman, and Randy Enwright, a former executive director of the Republican Party of Iowa and the Republican Party of Florida, as the day-to-day manager.

Also, Stephen Rodrick of NY Magazine is the latest journo to accompany Thompson on the trail.

Update (7/25): JT Mastranadi, who less than two weeks ago was brought on as research director, resigned this morning. According to a friend, Mastranadi was "fed up" with the "lack of structure" and was unclear about his role in the coming campaign.

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In Praise of the Boston Globe

Unless RealClearPolitics links to an article there, I don't read the Boston Globe. Three recent articles, however, impressed me that this is a very much a serious newspaper:

"Giuliani Watchers Wonder if He Will Overplay 9/11 Card" examines Rudy's exploitation of our national tragedy.

"Not All Would Put a Heroic Sheen on Thompson's Watergate Role" investigates Fred Thompson's role as minority counsel during the Watergate hearings.

And "The Making of Mitt Romney" is the most comprehensive and fascinating profile thus far of the Mormon from Massachusetts.

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The Daily Digest

Twins

Jennifer Rubin, who recently skewered Fred Thompson, hearts Mike Huckabee.

Onion-esque headline: CIA to Vindicate Conspiracy Theorists. Subtitle: Agency cops to quarter-century of drugging American citizens, opening our mail, and wiretapping and kidnapping us. Serious details in today's Post.

Demonstrating why he was the president's former chief speechwriter, Michael Gerson defends John McCain with eloquence, erudition and pith. "On occasion, Senator John McCain seems like a martyr anxious for the stake, offering his own lighter to get the proceedings started. His flamboyant heresies on campaign finance reform, global warming and immigration have left conservatives suspicious that he has a mild form of Chuck Hagel's disease: an uncontrollable moral exhibitionism designed to please the liberal media. . . . [But] [t]his is not moral exhibitionism; it is just morality. And my respect for McCain, it turns out, is less and less grudging."

Ron Rosenbaum wants to know the last time you read a celebrity profile that was disparaging? While you're thinking, chew on this: "The rules of the game, as established by the glossy magazines and the stars' PR reps, ensure that 'access' (well, a half-hour chat in a restaurant that enables the magazine to proclaim it has an 'exclusive' interview) and the all-important exclusive cover shot are granted only to those magazines and journalists who will refrain from anything but fawning prose. It works out well for everybody. Celebrity journalists who play along get a good payday, magazines get newsstand sales bumps, and the rest of us are inculcated into the received myths of Celebland, the legends that sustain the illusion that it is somehow truly important."

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Fred's Felicity

In 1998, New York socialite Georgette Mosbacher invited then-Senator Fred Thompson (R-TN), who was a single man about town, to accompany her on an overseas trip. Thompson couldn't go, but, as Newsweek's Holly Bailey reports, he summoned the full measure of his Tennessee charm in letting her down.

I am sitting here with a long face and broken heart as I contemplate sunsets on the Mediterranean, which I will not see. . . . We must remember the unspoken vow that all United States senators take upon entering the Senate: I shall have no money, and I shall have no fun. I, of course regarding myself as an unconquerable soul, am still determined to break the second part of that vow.

How can you not like a guy who writes like that?

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The Daily Digest

Scattered around the Capitol, down closed-off hallways and behind nondescript doors marked only with an "S" or a "H" and a number, lurk one of Congress's closeted perks: private offices, or hideaways, where members can catch some sleep, twist a few legislative arms, and invite an eager-beaver constituent at the end of the day.

Mike Turk, who was recently tapped to lead Fred Thompson's e-team, lauds the federalist credentials of his new boss.

The good old choice-championing Rudy is back (and by "choice," I mean the choices of a free-market economy). According to the WSJ, "He envisions a [health-care] system where neither state regulations nor federal tax law push people into expensive plans rich in benefits. Rather, health insurance should be more like car insurance, he said, where people pay out of pocket for minor repairs and maintenance."

Amnesty International's new Eyes on Darfur Web site "leverages the power of high-resolution satellite imagery to provide unimpeachable evidence of the atrocities being committed in Darfur."

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