I, in those races, became extremely battle-tested. He was attempting a comeback by running for the modest job of New York City comptroller, and when the vote came in, he pulled in a respectable 48 percent, even though the entire citys political establishment was against him. Insider caught up with Smith on Thursday, and learned about her time with de Blasio and what she looks for in undiscovered star candidates. Running for politics theres got to be a little element of narcissism or whatever you want to call it in you. 4. Hold on, Im sorry. Buttigieg recently started getting savaged online when it surfaced that he had told an audience in 2015 that all lives matter, and as it happened, he was due to speak at Al Sharptons annual National Action Network convention. Not long after that, at the presidential primary debate in Miami on June 27, you take us inside the greenroom backstage as you watched Pete get asked about this incredibly fraught moment. And those are the people that we should be elevating. I love him. There is nothing too big for her. Smith had no mentors. I think thats always been part of Joe Bidens appeal. 'Given how hectic both their work and travel schedules are, they decided a few weeks ago to take a break in their relationship,' Linden told NY . . Keep in mind she was 22 at the time, Smith said. Honesty is really, really important to handling a crisis because you have to have all the facts at your disposal. I think thats probably the biggest misconception about me. Smith has made a name for herself in recent months by working with a new crop of candidates in the middle of the country, including Michigan State Sen. Mallory McMorrow (center). If Im going to be honest about other people and their shortcomings, its really important for me to be honest about myself and my own shortcomings, Smith told me. Wren: When you started working with Aftab Pureval did Pete feel like you were two-timing him with another Midwestern mayor of a river city with a funny name? In a crisis, the most important thing to do is to pause, to take a step back and get all the facts, and game out your response. Know of any staff we missed? border-radius:50%; Smith: Im not going to say who. | Wren: You and Pete have very different brands. Martin OMalley, who shed worked for, performing poorly in the Iowa caucuses. Wren: Based on how you characterized the vice presidency, would you ever counsel the transportation secretary, regardless of what year it is, against taking the vice presidency? I want Republicans to read this book. I want him on everything, she told me. The table below shows a sampling of the candidate's 2020 national campaign staff members, including the campaign manager and some senior advisors, political directors, communication directors, and field directors. Other candidates, they dont need to do it. He's on his way into a black car to do Maddow. [2] He suspended his campaign on March 1, 2020. Smith starts texting me, wanting to know if Id seen the celebrities in the audience, including George Takei, Kal Penn and Kate McKinnon. But he is also the kind of person journalists tend to like: bookish, somehow earnest with a sense of irony, and willing to talk the way journalists like people to talk, playing the pundit and getting into the political process and discussing his own ambitions. Her new book, "Any Given Tuesday: A Political Love Story," goes behind the scenes of her time with some of the nation's most powerful Democratic lawmakers, sometimes in the midst of spiraling crises. She most recently served as the Deputy Campaign Manager for Martin But it has a clear parallel to Smiths relentless scheduling of meetings between Buttigieg and reportersan audaciously direct way to connect with reporters that bought the campaign pretty good press. It takes the edge off a bit. He did. I would do that for free.). Policy: Christopher Nelson Caitlin Styrsky Molly Byrne Jimmy McAllister Samuel Postell The more people see Bill de Blasio, the less they like him. The spotlight turns to Kamala Harris, the only Black candidate on stage. What makes him such a magnet for criticism on both the left and the right? If there is one thing that makes Smith unique, its not her knowledge of great apes or her particular skill eviscerating her opponents on Twitter; Its that her skin was toughened by a stretch of time in the rawest, roughest media environment of all, the NYC tabloid scrum. Dont miss it! Pete and I, you can probably tell are pretty laid-back, pretty low-key, I guess what you would call pretty Midwestern, said Mike Schmuhl, Buttigiegs campaign manager, who sounds like the host of a classical-music radio station who just returned from a yoga retreat. She's taken gambles on underdogs like Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, advised establishment stalwarts such as former Virginia Gov. Smith: Democrats love to bitch that we dont have a bench. Smith: In my experience, the best working relationships between candidates and their top staff often depend on a sort of yin-yang dynamic. Were just not looking for them. Shes had some very forceful moments as vice president. There is only so much you can do to bare your soul over a beer, but hopefully people get to know you on some level and more than they would one gaggle at a time. And although Smith would never say it, it plays on political reporters' narcissism, too. The makeup of a candidate's staff can signal the strength of their support from influential party activists and whether they are aligning with a particular faction or group within the party. The speed with which Buttegieg emerged has been astonishing, which happens to be the speed at which Smith works. My observation, said Axelrod, who worked with Smith on Obamas 2012 reelection campaign, is that she is the quiet hero of his emergence.. which Politico Magazine excerpted last week. People read about my personal life in Page Six, and they think Im going to be sort of an out-there type of person that is attention seeking and all of that. The story of American presidential politics is in part the story of the consiglieres who steer the candidate along the path: The person who pushes them forward, comforts them when the campaign flails, plots long-term strategy and tactical short-term advantage, bends the ear of the press corps and makes the public case for a candidate in ways the candidate cannot. Yeah. Smith, standing behind Buttigieg as he campaigns at various events in New York this April. Letting Terry be Terry. Your Bengals fandom and their Super Bowl run is a part of the book. In the past several months, Buttigieg has been not just all over cable and in the newspapers, but in Our Daily Planet, an environmental morning newsletter with just over 5,000 Twitter followers; in a financial planning podcast called Pete the Planner; and on West Wing Weekly, the obsessive episode-by-episode podcast breakdown of The West Wing. Smith: Youve got to meet voters where they are. [3], Lis Smith began working on campaigns shortly after graduating from Dartmouth College. Smith also. Chill., Lis, I guess you could say, comes from a very different world than Northern Indiana., Lis Smith bursts through the doors of a marbled hotel bar in Brooklyn wearing oversized Anna Wintour sunglasses, a faux-fur-lined coat and impossibly thin and tall high heels. And especially on far-leftist DSA Twitter, Im basically just depicted as a mix between Lady Macbeth and Rasputin in a wig, that Im like some soulless political operatives. I think we saw that Kamalas attack on Biden was obviously was pretty pointed. Now more than ever, people are seeing politics touch everything in our lives. And as you saw on Fox News Sunday, as I went to bed last night, [his clip] has 8 million views. CNN's Dana Bash speaks to Senior Political Commentator and former Republican Congressman Adam Kinzinger, former Buttigieg campaign adviser Lis Smith, CNN Political Commentator David Urban and CNN . Buttigieg has gotten a number of lavish long-form features, so many that some have jokingly wondered whether Smith is getting paid by the profile. It was a long shot. | Smith: Joey Burrow is an incredible leader. Going back to when the 2020 campaign went virtual, how do you think the Biden team has handled its messaging since then? Buttigieg campaigns in Iowa shortly after officially announcing his bid for the Democratic nomination for president. Politics is literally a matter of life and death. [3] Buttigieg received the most pledged delegates in the Iowa caucuses . He was a once-in-a-generation talent, someone who perfectly met the moment. Smith: You never say never. But it is kind of fascinating to watch., Smith met Buttigieg on the recommendation of Axelrod and former Maryland Governor Martin OMalley. I think its a little bit of a ride. In the car, wed go back and forth on random trivia, and pulling up things on Google. 90 minutes with one of Americas top political consultants. They need to understand how the political process works. Oversaturation? Lis Smith is recording this call. But I dont know whats inside him. For a complete timeline of Buttigieg's campaign activity, click here. They also build organizations in individual states that are overseen by state directors and staffed by party activists and political professionals well-versed in the particular politics of the area. If you read through the many, many profiles written of presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg in the past several months, its hard not to notice just how many reporters happen to have had personal encounters with the candidate, often months before he was in the headlines. We are humble and kind, to quote Tim McGraw. With Bill de Blasio, that was a different situation. He lives in New York. The good candidates have humility. I'm not saying that it affects him negatively, but it's an interesting question. She led Buttigieg on a series of one-on-one meetings over beer, coffee, lunch or cigars with what used to be known as the Gang of 500those reporters, producers and pundits who shape much of the nations political coverage. [11] Smith, who worked as a spokesperson for the PAC since her hire in 2013, then transitioned to the role of deputy campaign manager. They are doing things that are more directly relevant to peoples lives. .center-table-mobile { | Lis Smith is an American campaign manager affiliated with the Democratic Party. Letting Pete be Pete. "I basically blacked out for the next ten minutes as he talked about everything from Fiorello La Guardia to Buddhism," she wrote of her first job interview with the future mayor. In my book, I sort of get at this, but we are sort of an odd couple. You write: Here we go said Larry Grisolano, Petes media consultant, stating the obvious. It was a slim path. I mean, for God's sake, we don't even pay that much attention to governors. This interview has been edited for length and clarity. Rather than going after Pete, Harris trained her fire on Biden.. Smith: We check in here and there. By signing up you agree to receive email newsletters or updates from POLITICO and you agree to our privacy policy and terms of service. Lis Smith Retweeted. She knew Axelrod from 2012, when she worked as director of rapid response for President Barack Obamas reelection effort. And he is as squeaky clean behind the scenes as he is in front of the camera. I first met Bill de Blasio in December of 2003, when I was a field organizer for the Edwards campaign during a term off from Dartmouth College. Maybe a story that would be 80-20 bad you can get down to 60-40 bad, and that little bit is worth it.. God, you fucked that up. But to me it was more just revealing [the] nature of the sliding doors of campaigns, and I think thats what youre getting at. She was a field representative in South Dakota for then-Sen. Tom Daschle's unsuccessful re-election campaign in 2004 and press secretary for Sen. Claire McCaskill's (D-Mo.) And its really heartening because you realize the future of the Democratic Party is really bright, and that all we need to do is help lift these people up. Is it your relationship with reporters and cable bookers? Chuck Kennedy/PFA. Her next feature documentary, "Tribalism is Killing Us," which resulted . Even people like Terry McAuliffe and Claire McCaskill, who both have outsized personalities. My first impression was that he was a bit goofy and unserious, and never, never, ever in my wildest dreams did I think I would be sitting across the table from him 10 years later, interviewing to work for him as he was about to be the incoming mayor of New York. But another thing is that Im not someone whos just worked in New York. Now that they have achieved liftoff, as it were, Smith is preparing for the next part of the campaign. Elliot Spitzer (pictured), the election of Donald Trump and former Maryland Gov. This is what day two looks like. Days after Pete Buttigieg officially launched his presidential campaign in mid-April, his senior adviser on communications, Lis Smith, found herself in the bathroom of her Manhattan apartment . Obama had David Axelrod. "He has been dismissed and discounted at every turn, and still overperformed expectations. Most people do have corny sides to them. ", Before they get in the car, I ask Buttigieg if Smith is being helpful in his campaign. But I appreciate his courage in being willing to speak out about it. But there have been a few times when Ive been around him when I knew something, a factoid or something he didnt know, and let me tell you, I fucking lord it all over him. [2] He suspended his campaign on March 1, 2020.[3]. What else was the oppo they were dropping? Maybe Im done. Sign up for POLITICO Magazines email of the weeks best, delivered to your inbox every Friday morning. On a cornier side, I think because he is such a good person, he made a lot of us better people throughout, because politics can be sort of a nasty business. [12], O'Malley suspended his presidential campaign on February 1, 2016.[13]. [Smiths voice breaks here.] Smith: One of the reasons I wanted to write this book was because when I was thinking at 19 or 20 about getting into this world, [a book like this] didnt exist. She wants to know if Id seen Buttigieg answer a question about the Notre Dame fire from a French TV station, in French. We tend to think of younger politicians as either captive to the very far left or the very far right, but there is a whole crop of younger elected officials across the country that aren't on the extreme, and that can relate to the majority of voters. Click here to contact our editorial staff, and click here to report an error. Smith marched him to the front of where the national and New York press were gathered, telling him, Are you ready for your first gaggle? He stayed until the matter was exhausted. Pete Buttigieg is the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana. She most. Pete Buttigieg emerges as Democratic rock star proclaimed Business Insider during the race. It makes it much harder for candidates to get their message out, and it puts a premium on money versus having the best policy prescriptions, or being the bestcampaigner. Tech: Matt Latourelle Ryan Burch Kirsten Corrao Beth Dellea Travis Eden Tate Kamish Margaret Kearney Eric Lotto Joseph Sanchez. The thing with Terry McAuliffe is that hes in on the joke. The first time people saw Pete, it was the same as the reaction I had when I first met him, which is where the hell has this guy been my entire life?. James Devaney/Getty Images. ), President Barack Obama (D) and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio (D). And the fact that hes everywhere, from cable TV to Ebony to your local NPR show to your favorite sports podcast, means that a guy with no name recognition is suddenly hard to avoid. Martin O'Malley presidential campaign, 2016, Martin O'Malley's 2016 presidential campaign, Hillary Clinton presidential campaign key staff, Donald Trump presidential campaign key staff, Lincoln Chafee presidential campaign key staff, Martin O'Malley presidential campaign key staff, Bernie Sanders presidential campaign key staff, Ben Carson presidential campaign key staff, Chris Christie presidential campaign key staff, Carly Fiorina presidential campaign key staff, Lindsey Graham presidential campaign key staff, Mike Huckabee presidential campaign key staff, John Kasich presidential campaign key staff, George Pataki presidential campaign key staff, Rand Paul presidential campaign key staff, Rick Perry presidential campaign key staff, Marco Rubio presidential campaign key staff, Rick Santorum presidential campaign key staff, Scott Walker presidential campaign key staff, https://ballotpedia.org/wiki/index.php?title=Lis_Smith&oldid=8905524, Pages using DynamicPageList3 dplreplace parser function, Martin O'Malley presidential advisors and staff, Martin O'Malley primary election influencers, Martin O'Malley former presidential advisors and staff, Conflicts in school board elections, 2021-2022, Special Congressional elections (2023-2024), 2022 Congressional Competitiveness Report, State Executive Competitiveness Report, 2022, State Legislative Competitiveness Report, 2022, Partisanship in 2022 United States local elections. Hes someone who is very special to me, and I hope hes always a part of my life. There are probably dozens of Mayor Petes out there across the country. The national security site has found fresh energy as a savvy, progressive attack dog in national politics. The problem with a lot of people, not just candidates, but anyone in life who is caught up in a crisis is that they react. I know that the media loves to pick up on a gaffe here or there but the more comfortable you are, the more interviews you do, the more comfortable you get in front of the camera, and the less little slip ups matter. I consider him a friend . She texts the buzziest bits to her sprawling network of journalistic contacts, who tweet them out. Its really hard to do a hit piece on a guy who you are going to see the next morning over coffee and donuts, says Weaver. And yet you signed on anyway. A lot of people thought that to beat Trump, you had to be Trump. Smith says thats worth it. Smith: I dont know, because I think one thing we saw was that he was pretty good about handling stuff. Everyone thought I was crazy. You couldnt have pulled off that strategy with a Bill de Blasio. I would give Pete 95 percent of the credit and give me five percent of the credit. How consequential was that looking back? They know who they are and will not let consultants, pundits, whoever, change them. Wren: Could see a political career for him? Smiths Any Given Tuesday: A Political Love Story, out July 19, is an irreverent, intimate and honest look behind the curtain of modern political image-making including her own. Eliot Spitzer]. Over a tumultuous two decades in politics, Lis Smith has seen a thing or two. Lis Smith (born October 15, 1982) is an American political strategist affiliated with the Democratic Party. She was my girlfriend., Later, says Smith, when he was a state lawmaker, I would say to her, I am going to talk to such-and-such group, and she would tell me, This is what you should say. And I would say to her, Lis, I am not going to say that, its not my style, its not going to work. Deciding to get into politics for me, and in the world of political operatives, was like jumping off a cliff. She uses her feed to, well, rapidly respond to the news. Lets be real, Adam. | Elijah Nouvelage/REUTERS. We just had the Supreme Court decision on abortion. I think now more than ever, people need to understand how the media works. Mistakes that Ive made with media. 01 May 2023 02:06:06 He knows the importance of building up our bench. I like to call myself the Forrest Gump of politics but in a positive way because I feel like I have been a random witness to just so many seemingly insignificant things that then turned out to be like big historic events. padding:10px; Pete Buttigieg is the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana. Theres the article in the Atlantic where the writer met the mayor of South Bend, Indiana for a chicken tempura lunch in Manhattan. He hung up and looked at me in horror, and then my phone started ringing. width: 100% !important; The tabloids followed the pair to Christmas at Smiths parents house in the upscale suburb of Bronxville. Theyre just not looking in the right places. A better response that is informed by all the facts is the most effective way to respond. So many flacks lose their mind over inconsequential things, and have no sense of, This is good press, this is mediocre press, and this is awful press. That is something you know once you have been through awful press., As a flack, you dont always understand what it feels like to be a principal, what it feels like to be under scrutiny. Also how many, like, mind-games campaigns are playing with others. This is what day one looks like. Lets just blow it out. Its just a personal part of my book. And someone needs to be. Inside the Shrinking Newsroom of the Paper That Shapes the PrimariesBy Tim Alberta. Wren: I want a window into how you advise candidates amid a crisis. She is practically shaking with excess energy. She is not letting Buttigieg read her book, Any Given Tuesday: A Political Love Story, ahead of publication day. Im horrified. "What that looks like is going to a county that may be 80-20 . Apr 27. [2] Smith previously worked on campaigns for former Sen. Tom Daschle (D-S.D. I dont live and breathe politics every day. Terry McAuliffe and former Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill, and mostly survived the cauldron of New York politics, working on both ends of the long-simmering feud between former New York Gov. Theyre in the agencies. Wren: This book is in some ways a tell-all about the role of a political consultant. Eric Appleman of Democracy in Action describes candidates' efforts to hire staffers as a "race for talent, both nationally and in key early states." ELIOT AND DeBABE blared the cover of the New York Post, which ran several photos of the pair on its inside pages and in a column from the acid-tongued Andrea Peyser which called Smith not just any ordinary bimbo and called her an ambitious, youngish cookie who presumably does not charge Eliot for any services rendered., Eliot Spitzer and Lis Smith at a Philadelphia 76ers vs. New York Knicks game at Madison Square Garden in 2014. He was an incredible leader at Louisiana State University someone that team could rally around, and such a maturity to him. The way Smith tells it, she thought she was done with presidential politics after OMalleys campaign fizzled in 2016. Do you think the lack of in-person events hurt them later on in building a relationship with the eventual White House press corps? He didnt feel the need to go out there and be the coolest guy or the hippest guy on stage. I could bring out a little bit more of a killer instinct [in] him, but he could bring out sort of a gentler, more thoughtful side of me that was mutually beneficial to the campaign. She is the most competitive person I have ever known.. Whats that like? It is, she says, the only newspaper she subscribes to. When Smith opens her laptop, there are saved tabs about Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton, a YouTube video of a facial massage routine, kale recipes, a Time Out City Guide to Dubai and a 2012 Huffington Post article about how the Obama and Romney campaigns used Twitter. Wren: Theres a part of Pete that is a little wonky, a little square. The most important thing is theres no one way to be a Democrat no matter what any of these lefty groups in Washington say, and we cannot expect candidates in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin and Ohio and Arizona and North Carolina to check off every box on the progressive party purity test. In 2018, she served as the political press coordinator for Pete Buttigieg's campaign for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination. Eight hundred have showed up. Thats a pretty ballsy thing to do. I thought everybody knew that.. She orders a beer, downs it and orders another. Not possible, Smith says. She worked on campaigns for Jon Corzine, for New Jersey governor; Terry McAuliffe, for governor of Virginia; and. After the fundraiser, Smith and Buttigieg climb into an SUV and head to 30 Rock. Pete's 2020 campaign manager and now chairman of the Indiana Democrats, that my dream project would be to take off . }. Wren: Much has been made about Trump Derangement Syndrome this idea that, true or not, he scrambles rational political responses from otherwise reasonable people. George Bush had Karl Rove; Bill Clinton had James Carville. a bigger long-shot project than Mike and succeed," Lis Smith, a . It also includes each staff member's position in the campaign, previous work experience, and Twitter handle, where available. I am here to get you clips. Hes been a guest on BuzzFeeds morning news show, been featured on Vices nightly news show and sat down with a couple of the guys from Barstool Sports. Ballotpedia features 408,464 encyclopedic articles written and curated by our professional staff of editors, writers, and researchers. After his loss in the primary, Smith went to work on the winning election campaign and then the transition of New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio. The book gives an unvarnished behind-the-scenes look at campaign strategy and press relations. External Relations: Moira Delaney Hannah Nelson Caroline Presnell I worked in states like South Dakota, Missouri, Ohio, Kentucky, Virginia. After 20 campaigns flacking for candidates such as Transportation Secretary and former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg, former Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill,. I remember hearing from other consultants, Why is he going out there speaking seven languages? I dont know if that delegate from Oklahoma is going be reading the Elle.com profile, but a lot of people are, and they should get to know Pete Buttigieg, she says. Wren: Did you have a good handle before the campaign on Petes vulnerabilities? In 2012 Lis directed President Barack Obama's rapid-response team for his re-election effort. Lis Smith is recording this call. It obviously leads to a lot less accountability for politicians. Pete asked the bouncer what the scene was like inside, and the bouncer told him it was lit. The term was lost on him. And it makes it especially difficult for challengers. The writer from Indianapolis Monthly who went for a jog with Buttigieg three months before his feature landed, the Washington Post Magazine writer who sat down in a Virginia soul food joint with Mayor Pete long before he declared his presidential bid and the Yahoo News feature writer who crammed into the corner seat of a midtown Manhattan caf with him months ago. I see Donald Trump win the White House, which like everyone else, Im flabbergasted.
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