website statistics

Archive for March, 2007

Faster, Firefox! Click! Click!

Published by William Beutler on March 29, 2007 in NRCC, Netroots, Online Campaigns and Website Design. 0 Comments

I don’t want to sound like a broken record about Republican websites that miss the mark — this time the NRCC’s TheRealDemocratStory.com — and luckily, Mike Turk has already made most of my points already, especially the lack of a blog (though he does offer some fair praise). So let me just add one thing, using as example the main content from the page of Jerry McNerney, the lefty netroots-supported representative from California:

NRCC The Real Democrat Story (confusing)

Not that the supplemental bill was primarily about Homeland Security, but if you read the whole thing, you’ll get where they’re going with this. The left-hand column represents a campaign promise and the right-hand column represents the alleged breach. But you don’t know this until you’ve actually read it (and even then it may not be crystal clear). Now try this:

NRCC The Real Democrat Story (clearer)

I don’t know about you, but if I understand what each column means before I read it, the chances are a lot better I’ll start reading in the first place — and then continue to see how the compare-and-contrast plays out. You don’t need to dumb down your materials, but you do need to organize them with the expectation that your readers lack patience. That’s just the nature of the medium.

P.S. What does it mean when, after the first day the site is public, the most popular site linking to it is an upper-middle tier liberal blog, the second-most popular site linking is a Beltway news site? Just asking.

The Next Lieberman?

Published by William Beutler on March 28, 2007 in Chuck Hagel, Internecine Battles, Lamont v. Lieberman, Primary fights and Republicans. 3 Comments

Nobody would confuse Sen. Chuck Hagel with a loyal Republican. It’s not that he’s a “maverick” like John McCain. It’s worse — he’s a turncoat. What’s more, Hagel has broken with his own party on the same issue as his mirror image in the Senate, the Iraq war’s number one fan, Joe Lieberman.

His ruminations on impeaching President Bush this weekend and decision last night to cross party lines and vote with the Democrats to set a timeline for an American troop withdrawal from Iraq only underscores this perception, and could hasten a process that Swing State Project’s DaveSund envisioned earlier this week:

Like Lieberman, he’s a staple on the Sunday morning talk shows, advocating a war strategy that is diametrically opposed to his own party. But if you lined them up side-by-side, I doubt that you’d find many issues which they’d agree on. Their similarities begin and end with how they are reviled by the rank-and-file of their own party. … So, just kind of picture this: Nebraska Republicans, increasingly upset at Hagel’s continued criticisms of Bush, line up behind Bruning. Not elected Republicans, of course. The Nebraska Republican establishment will be firmly behind Hagel. [Attorney General Jon] Bruning, surprised by the enthusiasm of his supporters, preempts Hagel’s late summer announcement by announcing that he will, indeed, run for Senate regardless of Hagel’s intentions. Hagel decides to run, setting up a showdown in May of 2008.

A lot has to break just right for this scenario to play out. First, Hagel has to decline a presidential bid — it’s hard to see how he could run as a Republican, more plausible but no less quixotic to assume the (still theoretical) mantle of Unity08. Lieberman is Hagel is LiebermanThen he would have to decide to run for re-election, which is not guaranteed. Then Bruning would have to renege on his promise not to challenge Hagel for the GOP nod. And finally, the Nebraska GOP establishment would have to stand by their incumbent. But it sounds like it could happen, even if only because it’s happened before.

Now, I don’t think Hagel is disliked by conservatives as much as Lieberman is disliked by Democrats. For one, conservatives have had their way on the war — except for everything after the invasion, of course — and Hagel has been an irrelevant nag. Until now, of course. Conservatives may be unhappy with the direction of the war, but it’s very unlikely a significant number of them will move in Hagel’s direction, and less likely still they would reward Hagel for being right, even if he is.

Right or wrong, Hagel is a prime target for Republican ire not just in his own state but nationwide: he sold out the party and sold out on the war. If he gets primaried, Bruning could be the next Ned Lamont. Well, almost:

There is one key difference, of course: if Hagel loses the Republican nomination, he can’t run in the “Nebraska for Hagel” party. Nebraska law expressly forbids running for the same office after losing the primary.

If anything, this makes a primary challenge only more likely. If the intraparty fight could extend from May to November, Bruning and other Republicans may decline to prolong the split as the party aims to unify and focus on the presidential election. Assured that no matter what, it would be over well before the national conventions, what’s the downside?

I Want to Work for a 527

Published by Not Paul Begala on March 28, 2007 in 527s, Brick-and-mortar consultants, Congress, Democrats, Elections and YouTube. 6 Comments

Ask any campaign guy/gal who has multiple races/cycles under their belt and they’ll tell you that most candidates suck.

They don’t work hard, they meddle too much, they say dumb things on camera or they’re just insane. The real fun is the shadow groups — the 527s and 501(c)3s.

Here’s why:

Why is Americans United for Change is running TV ads against the Senate Minority leader in Kentucky? There’s no way in hell Mitch loses; he’s one of the smartest elected GOP political minds and he can easily raise money. But, that ’s not the point. Campaigning has grown into something completely different than winning and losing single elections: It’s now almost sport.

Back in 2002 a group of rich Democrats and consultants got together and said to themselves, “we want influence.” They created this 527, originally, to protect Social Security from the Republicans’ “privatization.” Now, they still have this 527 and still continue to have influence with their money and with their consultants. Somebody just stood up one day and said, “Let’s rip Mitch’s face off!” for probably no reason except that they can.

And that’s the beauty of this for people like me. No candidate, no pressure to win the race, no worry about the candidate’s wife or best friend telling me how to do my job, no grueling travel days and no limiting contact with pesky reporters. Just a bunch of paid professionals sitting around a table making a couple of rich dudes happy.

Sign me up!

The Benchmark Poll: Jordan Gehrke

Published by William Beutler on March 27, 2007 in Direct Mail, Republicans and The Benchmark Poll. 3 Comments

Benchmark Poll Logo (small)Last week Blog P.I. inaugurated its first-ever weekly series with The Benchmark Poll — a getting-to-know-you Q&A featuring political consultants in their 20s and 30s — featuring pollster Margie Omero. This week we press on with our second installment and first Republican.

Before we get started, a request/announcement: if you know of a political strategist who should be included, or if you are a political strategist who should be included, please let us know. So let’s get started.

·      ·      ·

Jordan Gehrke is Director of Business Development for BMW Direct, a national direct mail fundraising firm, where he also leads their voter contact mail division. Past and present clients include Sen. David Vitter and Reps. Jim Ryun, Geoff Davis and Robin Hayes. Gehrke previously led the Internet activism division at Eberle Communications Group. He often provides political analysis for political publications including National Review and The Weekly Standard, and can be reached at jordan@bmwdirectmail.com. He’s also the subject of our latest Benchmark Poll:

1. How do your parents’ politics compare to your own?

My parents were both very socially and fiscally conservative, although I’m probably a bit more libertarian than either of them. My dad had a rather large populist streak that I think effected me though. One of my favorite memories is the time years ago that my dad described himself as being a “Nader Republican.” I asked him what he meant by that, and he said, “Well, I think it just means that I’m pro-life, and I want my taxes low, but I hate The Man.” My dad put the idea into me real early that for instance, while unions can be out of control and need to be checked, unions aren’t inherently evil, just like companies aren’t evil, or that while lawsuit abuse can and does happen, that the idea of people being able to sue large groups that are more powerful than an individual is one of the most important tools Americans have to level the playing field. So I think that the idea of being conservative while still being mindful of the little guy was something that I learned real early from my parents.

2. Did you run for class office in high school or college? Did you win?

I never ran for any sort of class office, but I was heavily involved in campaigns throughout my high school years. My aunt and my grandmother were both staffers for Republican legislators. My dad was an elected official, and I had a grandfather who was always very involved to the point of recruiting and delivering votes for candidates. Politics, if not the family business, was at least the family hobby. I think I began my first internship working one day a week at the Capitol when I was 12. I ran my first campaign not too long after. In addition to giving me experience at a young age, I also formed friendships that I still have to this day.

3. When you first moved to the District, what food did you miss most from home?

There’s this great place back home called Olga’s. It’s basically a great place to get a gyro, and granted, they’ve got those here and they’re very good, but they sure ain’t Olga’s. Something about the sauce I think. I’ve forced family and friends to drive miles out of their way when I’m home just so I can go there. (No, I don’t own stock. They’re not publicly traded. Yes, I’ve checked.)

4. Once you were here, did you work any non-political jobs did you work to get by?

When I got here I went to work for Eberle Communications Group running their Internet division. It taught me a good deal about e-activism and how the web works as we face a new generation of voters that are using it to make decisions. I met a lot of good people there who taught me a great deal. From there I worked a series of political jobs and have been blessed with some very patient and helpful bosses who have allowed me to do what I am doing today.

5. What’s your favorite bar in DC? Favorite outside the Beltway?

I love Cap Lounge, was very sad to see it burn and was thrilled to see it reopen. Not to rip off Margie Omero from last week, but I’m a big fan of Wonderland Ballroom too; any place where you can get Marvin Gaye and The Shins in the same play list has my respect. Also, Margie, hey there, I’ve never seen you there before, but come by and say hi sometime, I’ll buy you a drink. Who knows, you’re a D, I’m an R, maybe the music will be right, “Don’t stop thinking about tomorrow” could be on, (you Democratic girls love that stuff, right?) you’ll glide across the room, and I’ll say something very Humphrey Bogart like, “Uh, hey.” Or not. And then maybe we could get a Carville-Matalin kind of thing going. Or something. I mean, opposites attract, right? Right?

What am I doing? Wow, this is pathetic. Gosh, I am so lonely. I’m really sorry, everyone. Sorry. Back to the interview.

6. Whether in a campaign or in government, you’ve surely had to work with someone who drove you crazy. What were they like?

I had a candidate who was a total egomaniac. They hated fundraising and looked for any reason to avoid it, so as a result, they would constantly invent crises in other areas of the campaign in order to distract from what they were really supposed to be doing. Now, a candidate not wanting to fund raise isn’t new to me, it was the deliberate starting of fires that I couldn’t take. It drove me nuts.

7. If you had your own blog, what would you call it and what would you write about?

If gambling online were legal, (which it’s not, so I don’t ever gamble; you kids at home, don’t gamble) I’d have an NFL gambling blog and call it The Degenerate. It would be a haven for losers to gather together and tell their stories of love, laughter, loss, and divorce. But I won’t ever have that blog, because the Republican Congress in their wisdom decided after selling conservatives out for years, that it would get them a few extra points in Red States if people like me were not allowed to take Green Bay minus 3.5. Fortunately for the GOP, it was the silver bullet issue they were looking for, and that’s why the Republicans still control Congress today.

8. So, who do you know? That is — who is most responsible for you being where you are in politics now?

Probably my dad. He was a few years out of law school, underfunded, and took on a three term incumbent. If he came to me today as a potential client and said he wanted to run, I’d tell him to have his head examined. But he ran even when people told him he couldn’t win. I’ve always admired him for that. Still do. It taught me really early that believing you’re right, working your tail off and taking your message to folks and looking them in the eye counts for a lot. When the votes were all tallied around midnight, Dad had won by 53 votes. The memory of that election night as a nine year old kid is something I’ll never forget. I was hooked forever. From a young age I knew that all I wanted to do was to win and keep on winning There’s just no other feeling like it.

Of course the same can be said for losing. Later on, Dad did that too. I think the whole experience really shaped who I am as a consultant; when I see a candidate and a family that I’ve worked with, bonded with, and fought with, have it all come crashing down in the space of a single Tuesday night in November, I know that it forever alters their lives. And I think it makes me fight harder for my clients. Because I’ve lived it too.

So yeah, I guess you can blame my father for my career path.

9. If you could be any politician, past or present, for one day and one event, who and what event?

I’d be Arch Duke Ferdinand in 1914, and I would duck.

10. Where do you see yourself in five years?

Five years is 2012, right? That’s still a presidential year? So yeah, I guess I’ll still be doing this stuff if they’ll let me. I’m not much good at anything else.

Hey, This Rudy Giuliani Site Isn’t Half Bad

Published by William Beutler on March 27, 2007 in Facebook, Online Campaigns, Online Fundraising, Republicans, Rudy Giuliani, Web video, Website Design and White House '08. 3 Comments

The new website for Rudy Giuliani went live last week, and what was an attractive if perfunctory placeholder has now become an attractive and functional website. This shouldn’t be too surprising — when Bush-Cheney ‘04 blogmeister Patrick Ruffini announced in January that he was joining the Giuliani ‘08 team, that was a good sign the campaign would have a pretty decent website. And it is more than that — but it’s also not without flaws. So let’s take a look:

Join Rudy 2008 The Buzz

Is The Buzz is just a round-up of favorable coverage? Sure, but unlike the news feed from every other top-tier candidate, here the MSM and blogs coexist as equals. Romney’s page does link to favorable blog posts, but segregates them from the proper journalists; the others don’t link to bloggers at all. The Buzz also includes a quasi-Digg counter keeping track of how many times a story has been clicked. I assume this is imported from Ruffini’s 2008 Wire. Neither feature prevents a single user from clicking on a story multiple times to artificially inflate its relative significance. That’s a flaw on Ruffini’s own site, but not so much here.

Join Rudy 2008 widget

A fundraising widget? Now we’re talking. Other candidates will let you sign up to become a fundraiser, but only the Giuliani campaign makes it as easy as cut-and-paste. In contrast, the Romney campaign makes you join TEAM MITT before they’ll let you at their fundraising tool, the cumbersomely-titled QuickComMITT. Hillary wants you to sign up before you can send your friends e-mail pitches, and while I haven’t completed the Obama sign-up page, I get the impression it’s an updating thermometer akin to the old Howard Dean “fundraising bat.” All of these campaigns want to keep tabs on their individual fundraisers, but the Giuliani team can do that through this Flash-based widget, too. But most importantly, if you can put a YouTube video on your page, you can raise money for Rudy Giuliani.

Join Rudy 2008 social bookmarking

Ruffini is no great fan of the social bookmarking buttons that litter the bottom of many a blog post, but if the Giuliani campaign is using these ones, he must have decided these are the ones that work. That, or he was overruled. Regardless, Giuliani’s is the only campaign to make these tools standard across the website.

Join Rudy 2008 talk radio
Considering how important talk radio is to the Republican base — and to the Giuliani campaign — this is a good idea. And nobody else has one. Yet the execution and experience leaves something to be desired — the boxes are small, the “Select City” box is unused, and the final readout doesn’t tell you what time the radio programs are on or on what station. Perhaps a prospective caller should already know this, but if so, why bother with this feature? Bottom line: If you want people to volunteer on your behalf, it helps to connect the dots for them.

And now, onto the less-good:

Join Rudy 2008 clutter

So it’s not perfect. I keep getting this dotted outline whenever I click on links from this panel. Not a big deal, but it does disrupt the browsing experience.

Join Rudy 2008 video problems

Now, this is a bigger deal. I got this message at home last night and again at work today. Both connections qualify as “broadband,” I’m on a MacBook Pro and using the latest version of Firefox. What’s a guy gotta do to watch some video around here? Actually, once I finally got the error message to go away (I was starting to wonder if Amazon’s one-click patent was written into McCain-Feingold…) the video worked just fine. On the other hand, it took too long to load. On the other other hand, the now-you-see-them-now-you-don’t controls worked like a charm.

And the best-laid schemes o’ mice and men gang aft agley, but this is still kind of embarrassing:

Republican presidential front-runner Rudy Giuliani’s campaign hurriedly fixed its official Web site late Monday to remove a dangerous design flaw that could have allowed hackers to expose personal information submitted by volunteers. The vulnerability affecting Giuliani’s site, http://www.JoinRudy2008.com, could have exposed confidential information stored in the campaign’s databases. The Web site failed to block commands that can instruct it to improperly display sensitive information, a popular hacking technique known as “structured query language injection.” … “Anybody who knows anything about security could have found these problems in two seconds,” said Marc Maiffret of eEye Digital Security Inc., a researcher who examined Giuliani’s Web site at AP’s request.

Aren’t you glad they didn’t make you sign up to fundraise now? I kid, I kid. So again, it’s a work in progress.

It’s also worth noting what isn’t included. Notably absent are any of the front-page social networking icons that most of the other candidates include. Before My.BarackObama.com and McCainSpace I wouldn’t have thought to mention that there is no social network, but there isn’t one. And there is no blog. A Facebook button wouldn’t kill them, but the one place they really need one is in their social bookmark toolbar — and it is. Meanwhile, a campaign probably doesn’t need to bother with their own blog unless they have a compelling reason to do so. And while I do think a Giuliani-based social network could succeed (call me crazy) it certainly is no requirement.

All in all, not bad. And I bet as the campaign goes forward, it’ll get even better.

You Better Start Deleting Emails Now, Guys…

Published by Not Paul Begala on March 26, 2007 in E-mail and Republicans. 0 Comments

Cause if the Dems get a hold of six years of RNC emails, you’re all screwed. Royally:

Multiple congressional investigations have uncovered evidence that White House appointees regularly communicate using email accounts provided by the Republican Party. … Today, House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Henry Waxman (D-CA) issued letters to the Republican National Committee and the Bush-Cheney ‘04 Campaign directing them to preserve all emails by and for White House officials, and to meet with the committee about the legal issues involved in conducting official government business using partisan email accounts.

They will get those emails. The National Journal article (which the above-quoted blog post is based on) says it’s an untested question, but courts have long agreed that Congress must be able to investigate in order to exercise its legislative function. The only people that tend to get away from Congress’ reach are constitutionally-protected branches of government: SCOTUS, White House, the states, or protections built into the Bill of Rights (i.e. attorney-client privilege).

So RNC people, better start purging. It’s infinitely better for someone go to jail for a few years on a charge of obstruction of justice than whatever they may find in those messages. Somebody will take care of you and your family when you get out.

Let this be two important lessons to all you burgeoning politicos: Check politics at the door when you govern, and never, ever write something in an email you don’t want the whole world to see.

Brownback for Prime Minister?

Published by William Beutler on March 22, 2007 in Sam Brownback and Website Design. 3 Comments

On the front page of Sam Brownback’s campaign site is a box titled “Brownback on the Blogs,” quoting favorable comments about Brownback from the blogosphere. This box amuses me for several reasons. For one, there are only two quotes. This I understand; most of the Brownback commentary I’ve seen could be most favorably described as disappointed.

The feature (if that’s what it is) doesn’t actually link out to these blogs, which is annoying at least. One reason may be that one of the quotes comes from Leon H. Wolf, who is a paid staffer of the Brownback campaign. They do note this, so it’s more sad than scandalous. Here’s the other comment:

"The Brownback Bandwagon"

Now that one is an independent endorsement and even one with a bit of a ring. So what’s the problem? It turns out that Tim Aker writes Thurrock Tory. Yes, from England. That Aker’s website is relatively obscure is no problem — most bloggers’ are. Their ubiquity and connectivity is what transmits “memes” around the web. But when your biggest online supporter comes from across the pond, well, that’s a little different. And actually, there is another problem. Two paragraphs later, Aker writes:

I still support Newt Gingrich.

Here’s a lesson: If you’re going to tout the support of bloggers, first make sure you have support of bloggers.

Update: In the comments, Psycheout from Blogs 4 Brownback points out that it’s not like Brownback doesn’t have the support of any bloggers, and Aker himself confirms that he thinks both Gingrich and Brownback would make fine prime ministers. And both wish the Brownback campaign would actually, you know, link.

The De Vellis Files

Published by William Beutler on March 22, 2007 in Barack Obama, Blog Fights, Democrats, Hillary Clinton, Internecine Battles, White House '08 and YouTube. 3 Comments

Just as quickly as the Hillary/Obama/Apple/1984 YouTube spot made the NBC Nightly News and questions were raised about the identity of its creator, the anonymous “ParkRidge47″has been identified and has already made a now-cursory stop at Huffington Post:

Hi. I’m Phil. I did it. And I’m proud of it.

He’s Phillip de Vellis and he’s now formerly with Blue State Digital. They made the right call in letting him go, already handling this with more confidence (not to mention web savvy) than EchoDitto did with their resident McCainiac, Nicco Mele. Apart from getting fired, de Vellis will probably emerge a winner. Unless, of course, Hillary Clinton actually wins the presidency.

But this isn’t the first time Phil de Vellis been suspected of surrepititous intra-party hacking hackery. The name stuck out to me because I reported on that alleged subterfuge early last year, when de Vellis was with the Sherrod Brown Senate campaign. The details are too tedious to recount here, but an IP address associated with the Brown campaign was identified as the source of some nasty comments — and some Ohio bloggers accused de Vellis of being responsible.

You can read the full back story here and here, but this will do:

[C]omments from anonymous users with names like Thisblogishorseshit and JewsforJesus started making antagonistic comments. Both suspected Brown’s new Internet spokesperson and blogger Philip de Vellis. (Brown oversees the pro-Dem blog Grow Ohio.) De Vellis was a recent hire, and had been dispatched to put Brown’s side of the story on the blogs. They couldn’t prove de Vellis had done so. Their evidence was circumstantial at best — with one big exception.

[Blogger Russell] Hughlock compared the IP address on the comments to the IP address from e-mails he’d previously received from de Vellis — and found an exact match. We contacted the Brown campaign ourselves about it, and while they were reticent to discuss accusations made by bloggers aligned with their opponent, they did take partial responsibility for the postings. De Vellis denied being the author, and pointed out the IP address listed on the comments serve the entire staff of about 30, but the campaign has acknowledged that the comments did indeed originate from their office. De Vellis said he was certain no one on Brown’s Internet team had posted any of the messages, but said: “We haven’t done an in-depth investigation.” Rather, the Brown campaign quietly circulated a policy memo: Interns and staffers may no longer contribute to any blog save for Grow Ohio. This is a direction other campaigns will follow, lest they have to learn the same lesson.

Who knows if De Vellis was responsible for the furtive comments back then. But I’d say the last sentence holds up pretty well.

P.S. Buckeye State Blog, who remembers him as well but not fondly, doubts de Vellis’ authorship claim: “Phil claims he made it? I say don’t buy everything you read.”

P.P.S. Joe Tobacco points out in a comment on this post and at Cadillac Tight that Jerome Armstrong points out today that he personally hired de Vellis for the Brown campaign. He stands by de Vellis, and is unhappy with Blue State Digital for letting him go:

I know the founders of Blue State Digital, and this was a petty move on their part– an over-reaction to say the least. Phil’s a big reason why Sherrod Brown kicked ass in Ohio in 2006, he made a remarkable video adaption, and BSD could have simply said they accept his resignation.

As I argued last summer, statements like this lead me to doubt Armstrong is as savvy as he’s given credit for. And just like that time, one only need look to the first comment of that very MyDD post for a more practical assessment:

This baseless, pointless ad divides the Democratic Party, and undermines Clinton’s chances if she eventually wins the nomination.

And as to the firing itself, Krempasky is spot on:

[W]hen it became clear that an employee made the video, given their client base and relationships - it makes total sense to sack him.

Does Armstrong understand that Obama is more important to BSD than Phil de Vellis? Maybe Armstrong didn’t give it that much thought. But maybe that’s why it’s so easy to dismiss him.

Introducing The Benchmark Poll

Published by William Beutler on March 20, 2007 in Brick-and-mortar consultants, Democrats, Metapost, Polling and The Benchmark Poll. 4 Comments

I am happy to announce the debut of a new recurring feature here at Blog P.I. — The Benchmark Poll — short, offbeat Q&A-style interviews with political strategists in their 20’s and 30’s. Each week we’ll profile a different consultant, alternating between the Donkeys and the Elephants, asking them the same ten questions about their background and various points of view. It’s supposed to be fun — if anything here makes news, we’ve done something very, very wrong.

Benchmark Poll Original Logo (Large)Not entirely unlike a benchmark poll in a political campaign, The Benchmark Poll seeks to learn a little about these people before they become “Meet the Press” famous. But don’t make too much of the name; it only beat out “Operative Questions” by a last-minute shrug.

If you’re familiar with the Hotline’s Friday Feature — or the Blogometer Spotlights I started and Conn Carroll continues today — then the concept should be familiar. If this is all news to you, well, I think you’ll manage.

Thanks are indeed due to the Hotline for making me familiar with this beautifully simple and beautifully un-trademarkable concept. And props to Mayor of Guytown for proposing that Blog P.I. take up this series.

·      ·      ·

Margie Omero is president of Democratic public opinion research firm Momentum Analysis. Her clients have included the DNC, DCCC, Emily’s List and numerous campaigns for federal office. She appears regularly on cable news and in 2000 led focus groups for ABC News. Prior to founding Momentum Analysis she was a VP at The Mellman Group where she conducted research for the DSCC and for Democratic officials, including Tom Daschle and Dick Gephardt. Originally from New Jersey, she graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Texas at Austin. She’s the subject of our first Benchmark Poll:

How do your parents’ politics compare to your own?

They are both pretty liberal-leaning. I remember my mom explaining early on why it was important to be pro-choice. And my dad once explained the difference between the political parties this way: “Democrats want to help people, while Republicans believe people should help themselves.” My response was, “then why would anyone be a Republican?”

Did you run for class office in high school or college? Did you win?

I haven’t talked about this in decades! I ran in junior high and lost. An exploratory poll would’ve been helpful.

When you first moved to the District, what food did you miss most from home?

I used to miss great bagels and smoked fish. And unlike New York and New Jersey, it’s hard to just stumble upon great Italian food. But you can find anything in DC if you know where to go.

Once you were here, did you work any non-political jobs did you work to get by?

Nope. My first paying job was as a pollster, and I had two great internships, one on the Hill, and one at Roll Call. I’ve been lucky.

What’s your favorite bar in DC? Favorite outside the Beltway?

My list is always changing. I just moved around the corner from Rumberos on 14th Street, so that’s a new favorite. Sonoma. Wonderland. Outside of DC, either of the Standards in LA, or at any Ian Schrager hotel.

Whether in a campaign or in government, you’ve surely had to work with someone who drove you crazy. What were they like?

There was once a campaign manager who wouldn’t call anyone back for days… neither consultants nor the candidate. When somebody got him on the phone they’d patch in the rest of the team since we never knew when we could talk to him again.

If you had your own blog, what would you call it and what would you write about?

ScooterGirl.com. I’d write about the fun food, shopping, and adventures I can have on my red Stella scooter. It would be like Daily Candy meets travelogue, with recipes, and more snark.

So, who do you know? That is — who is most responsible for you being where you are in politics now?

I would say the late Ann Richards really motivated me to go into politics. I grew up in New Jersey, but in high school I wrote a paper about her campaign against Clayton Williams, and ended up going to the University of Texas when she was Governor. I loved seeing a woman with such a unique, vibrant personality live a public life. So she was a big influence. As far as the trajectory of my career, there have been so many influential people. Eve Lubalin, who was Senator Lautenberg’s Chief of Staff, was one of the first people in Washington to be helpful to me. Mark Mellman, my former boss, was a good teacher. There are lots of others; I consider many people both friends and mentors. Folks in this industry have been very helpful to me, and I try to pass that help along to others.

If you could be or any politician, past or present, for one day and one event, who and what event?

I don’t want to be a politician. An election night when your candidate wins is pretty fantastic, no matter what the race.

Where do you see yourself in five years?

I see myself doing the same thing I’m doing now, just more of it.

If You Want Something Done Right…

Published by William Beutler on March 20, 2007 in Blog Consultants, Brick-and-mortar consultants, Online Campaigns, RedState, Republicans and White House '08. 2 Comments

A big story of the 2008 cycle will be how the GOP catches up to the Democrats in online organizing — or how it doesn’t. That the left has a more effective online infrastructure and activist network scarcely needs demonstrating, but whether the Republican party realizes that this matters is an open question. In fact, it’s not even clear that most conservative bloggers realize this. Since the beginning, conservative blogging has been marked more by punditry than activism — 9/11 was the starting point for the right-blogosphere, compared to Howard Dean for its counterpart — and most are content to keep on doing just that.

But there is a growing realization, in some quarters, that they need an answer to the Dem-leaning netroots, and that it won’t happen by itself. This is exemplified by a recent diary user-submitted blog entry — “The Difference Between Daily Kos and Red State (hint: Not favorable to Red State)” — asking whether conservative bloggers would organize to support a candidate for retiring Rep. Marty Meehan’s Massachusetts seat:

This is why the Left Netroots are killing us. They actually mobilize and work to get their candidates elected. Whereas on most Conservative sites, all you get is the same-o same-o. … The Dems and Left Netroots have no fear of supporting (quite strongly) candidates in the reddest of seats. We need to contest this special election.

The commenters were certainly responsive, and it’ll be interesting to see if they actually carry through. As of now, Republican bloggers have no game plan and few connections to state and local parties. Their predicament resembles that of the Democratic netroots circa 2003 — and they famously went oh-and-something before backing a slate of winning candidates in 2006.

All of which raises several interesting questions, most of which I’m not prepared to analyze here. But the thread following the post raises a few. One is whether the online right is willing to make ideological concessions in the name of winning seats. Here’s one comment to that effect, from the blogger behind My Election Analysis:

For all their many, many faults, Kossacks are actually willing to accept a significant amount of ideological diversity in their caucus to win these types of districts. This is actually one of Kos’s main points. Stephanie Herseth has a lifetime ACU of 49. That’s in the range of Arlen Specter’s rating, but they would never dream of primary-ing Herseth with someone from the far left of the party. Sure they primaried Lieberman in blue Connecticut, but they wisely let the Nelsons (lifetime ACU 53 (NE) and 41 (FL)) of the world have a pass. If a Republican is going to win this seat, he or she is going to have to be a fairly liberal Republican. There is simply no way that a pro-lifer or a candidate who isn’t pro-civil-unions at least is going to win a federal election here. And he or she will probably have to be a Christie Whitman wishy-washy personality overall. But are we really going to tolerate them, or are we going to have a Club For Growth candidate challenging them after their first term?

That is an excellent question; after all, it was only a few months ago they were going about unseating liberal Republican Lincoln Chafee (and hounding the NRSC for supporting him).

This leads to another question: The Dem-leaning netroots have a much more contentious relationship with their party’s existing operatives than do the nascent rightroots (aside: eventually today’s netroots should be called the “leftroots” and “netroots” can become a catch-all term for online political activists, but we’re not there yet). But if online Republicans do step up and ask for a bigger voice in their party’s campaigns, will there be similar acrimony to what happens on the left? Here’s R.E. Finch, in the thread:

I’ve harped. I’ve cajoled. Last January, I worked for a couple of weeks to develop a really sharp template proposal for a Conservative-based netroots program, then tailored it to the needs of some GOP candidates. I had it looked over by some of my more campaign-savvy associates, then tweaked it and pitched it. What happened? … [T]his idea was a non-starter. I sensed a strong aversion on the part of the GOP apparatus to engage any people-intensive tool over which it cannot exercise complete control. The thought of adding a netroots coordination section to a GOP campaign plan scares some of these people in a herding-cats sort of way. Maybe right now that isn’t an unreasonable position to take. … But for the long-term I doubt the GOP can shun coming up with its own ways to use this new medium’s people resources to its advantage.

Surprising? Not hardly, especially if you take Mike Turk’s experiences with Bush-Cheney ‘04 and the RNC into account. Maybe it won’t be acrimony per se — for example, it’s hard to imagine Erick Erickson and NR getting into it like Markos Moulitsas and TNR — but estrangement instead. That’s the status quo, and there are few signs of change ahead.

Ultimately, it may be up to Finch, the RedStaters and their allies to take on Internet party-building projects themselves; the Republican establishment will only “get it” once everything has been done for them. That seems to be David All’s conclusion:

I continue to read about the success of ActBlue, and I’m tired of waiting for something to emerge organically which will help our guys out in the field. If you’re interested in being a part of a Republican counter-part, send me an email. I will head up the development/implementation effort if you will financially support its development. Only serious replies. We don’t have much time.

It’s a start, maybe. Republican bloggers can build an infrastructure without Republican consultants. But that brings us to another question: Can they do it without Republican money?

« Older Entries