Who Died and Made Steve Schmidt God?
As cold and flu season would have it, I spent the majority of the Thanksgiving holiday curled up in a ball on the sofa catching up on old episodes of “Meet the Press.”
I happened by a landmark “Election 2008” episode of Meet the Press featuring Obama’s chief strategist David Axelrod, and McCain’s chief strategist Steve Schmidt. I watched in stunned amazement, looking at the man to the left of me (no pun intended) and discovered another Republican strategist who needs to drop off the radar for a while.
As I watched the debate unfold, I could not have been more UN-impressed with the Republicans’ Chief Strategist and so-called Campaign Savior. Bald, bland, and boring, surely there was more to come from this man other than the stale, staid campaign positions he rotely and rudely repeated. But no. The longer I watched, the more I thought, “No wonder we lost.”
Let me explain.
I had long heard of the superstar status of this man, the UN-stoppable force that helped Governor Schwarzenegger get re-elected in 2006. In my quest for knowledge about Schmidt, I did some research on the ‘ol boy. Turns out, he’s headed up ‘lots of efforts, alright. Most of them, unfortunately, UN-successful. Steve Schmidt ran Tim Leslie’s UN-successful race for Lieutenant Governor of California in 1998. He also ran the UN-successful Communications Operations for a U.S. Senate bid for Matt Fong. He also oversaw the UN-successful race of a candidate for Attorney General of Kentucky, of all places. And, according to Wikipedia, Schmidt was part of Lamar Alexander’s plaid-shirt-lovin’, UN-successful bid for President, and subsequently left when the campaign was forced to reduce its campaign staff. (Wonder if he got to keep a flannel shirt as a parting gift?) To add insult to California Republicans’ injury, it was also Schmidt who waltzed into a critical meeting of the Log Cabin Republicans (a gay Republican organization), declaring that they had his support (dare he insinuate the Governor’s support?) in their battle for so-called "equality"…one which the California voters recently denied, by the way.
In fact, the more I think about it, I’m not so sure that Steve Schmidt knows California at all.
As an aside, I have quietly wondered how difficult was it, really, to win re-election for an incredibly popular, Hollywood Movie Star in California whose Name I.D. has long been through the roof? Many of my friends worked on behalf of Victory 2006, so allow me to say I don’t slight any of them for the hard-fought effort. But really, was Arnold ever truly in danger? One has to wonder if that election was really about re-election, or more about "legacy-building" for Arnold. Either way, Schmidt led the way in pulling the wool over the voters' eyes by promising "no new taxes" and something about Protecting the California Dream. Hmm....Dream....rhymes with Scheme....
But I digress.
The final straw that broke the camel’s back was exposed, courtesy of California News & Views publisher Steve Frank, which pointed to Steve Schmidt as the likely strategist who allowed – even encouraged! – the public trashing of Sarah Palin during the final, desperate days of the McCain campaign. A travesty for all Republicans, especially the women who have worked so hard these past few years to prop up Steve Schmidt.
All of this, “my friends”, has earned Steve Schmidt a one-way ticket in the Post-Election Vacation Sweepstakes along with our first pick, Karl Rove (see previous posts). Perhaps while they're on the remote island reflecting upon the Election, the boys can take turns applying sunscreen to one another’s backs…something I’m sure the Log Cabin constituency would approve of.
I only know Steve by reputation, but minimizing his career seems unfair. I believe he had a major role in Bush’s re-election which wasn’t exactly a slam dunk election. If memory serves, he was behind for most of the months leading up to Election Day. Also, Arnold’s campaign team with Steve at the helm masterfully launched the notorious Angelides ad with him walking backwards the day after he secured the Democratic nomination. I think Arnold’s re-election campaign looked “easy” because of the team he assembled and preparation he did to prepare for the general election.
I guess I have a different view of campaign operatives that willingly takes on tough races. Picking up seats in Congress and the Legislature moves Republican’s down the field and managing these races requires strategy, coalition building, messaging and GOTV efforts. Running tough, competitive races takes an enormous skill set, which a dwindling group of people have due to the ever decreasing amount of competitive races in California that produces good campaign managers. Even our own State Party had to hire outside the state (actually outside the country) to find someone suitable to run our statewide operation. We all know how that ended.
We need more people that devote their careers to electing John McCain to the White House, Matt Fong to the Senate, Tim Leslie to LG, etc. Otherwise we are left with the guy (or gal) that secured a victory for John Campbell or Ed Royce back to Congress in their relatively safe seats. These campaigns, while important stepping stone in political careers, don’t exactly groom you for taking on the tight ones.
Try Zima to combat that cold. I hear they work.
Reply to this
First, I can appreciate those who take on tough races. I ran the Communications Operations for a little-known Republican for Assembly in the Bay Area at the height of the Iraq war protests. The candidate faced a 20-point voter registration margin (that margin was against us, by the way), and that seat had not seen a credible challenge in more than a decade. When I made my first Media call, they didn’t know who in the world I was calling about, and they certainly didn’t know how to pronounce his name. Six months later, I had every single newspaper in the Bay Area and surrounding 100 miles locked down for him, and on Election Day, we nearly won…losing by just over 1 ½ points. The Candidate? It was Steve Poizner, and I am proud to have helped make him the household name he is today.
That race wasn’t easy. And neither was the Statewide race for Insurance Commissioner. Oh sure, everybody says now that it was a cake walk, that Cruz Bustamante had the depth of a kiddie wading pool, but that’s NOT what they were saying going into the race. In fact, I recall political insiders reminding us repeatedly not to underestimate Cruz, that somehow, some way, he had successfully won every political battle for the last 28 years and was infamous for pulling it out at the last minute. I also remember being snickered at when I dared tell a group of politicians and their wives that I planned to capture the endorsements of every single Newspaper in the state. One of them actually threw her head back and laughed when I suggested we would capture Cruz’s hometown paper – the Fresno Bee – the very paper that had endorsed him in every single race he ran dating back to…well, I believe I was in elementary school, come to think of it. But again, six months later, we had every single Newspaper in hand. With that, and no doubt with Poizner’s generous budget, we won on Election Night – not just by a few points, but by a Landslide. Granted, it’s no bid for the White House (not yet, anyway) but it was an equally challenging, if not more so, contest than Schwarzenegger faced, with significantly less staff and infrastructure (for example, I don’t recall ever having 20,000 VOIP lines in my office...). We were the only Republican to survive the down-ticket races.
Second, I critiqued Schmidt mostly because I believe it was crude to reportedly throw Sarah Palin under the bus when it appeared they would not win the Election, and it seemed foolish to trash the one person who had provided the only significant surge that the McCain camp had seen during the entire Fall campaign season.
What makes our Party great is that we can have these open discussions. Judging from the amount of private feedback I’ve gotten regarding my original post and those authors' unwillingness to go on-the-record for fear of their careers in California, I think it's fair to say a discussion this open would not be permitted under a Schmidt regime. But the door is open anytime he wants to stop by...
Reply to this
I would agree that throwing Sarah Palin under the bus after they picked her was ridiculous. Outside the inner circle, one can only speculate their motivation.
No one in my household shies away from a campaign because it is uphill or victory unlikely. But to wrap around an operative’s neck that they have had limited success because the Republicans they worked for didn’t make it across the finish line first in California seems a little unfair.
And Jennifer lets remember, if it wasn’t for Team McCain that put Gov. Palin in the limelight, women throughout our nation wouldn’t have the opportunity to get to know her and to see her balance family and career—a Republican career none the less. She also gracefully showed us that a special needs children can fit nicely in American families and shouldn’t be discarded because the look different. I was inspired by her and remain a supporter even after the attempted smear job done by Team McCain.
I guess my response wasn’t necessarily to defend any one person but rather a group of people that I admire, like yourself, that give it their all in the face of a difficult campaign.
Reply to this