'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 . Liz Smith, shown here keeping crowds under control during Elliot Spitzer's campaign to become New York City Controller, is entitled to her privacy and dignity. I was blindly ambitious, versus blindly loyal, and where the shiny object of being a New York City press secretary was more alluring to me that I was willing to overlook his very clear deficiencies. Keep in mind she was 22 at the time, Smith said. We should start thinking about what prominent national Democrats we can use to help raise money and help campaign for them to do things like flip the Michigan state Senate. I know of one person in particular who said you were making a catastrophic career mistake working for a total nobody. Maybe a story that would be 80-20 bad you can get down to 60-40 bad, and that little bit is worth it.. Democratic strategist Lis Smith, who served as the senior communications director for Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg's 2020 presidential campaign, believed Christine Blasey Ford was . Liz Truss is contesting a 12,000 bill for costs incurred relating to her use of the grace-and-favour Chevening estate she had access to as foreign secretary, the Mail on Sunday reported. By clicking Sign up, you agree to receive marketing emails from Insider She advised a couple of governors still left in office, and started taking on more nonprofit clients. 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. Smith says thats worth it. That is not how she ran his race. Does something like Buttigieg Derangement Syndrome exist? He weighed in after the Supreme Court decision. Apr 27. She puts the word fuck through every part of speech the word can be bent into: noun, pronoun, gerund, verb, term of endearment, sobriquet, epithet, honorific. Smith: In my experience, the best working relationships between candidates and their top staff often depend on a sort of yin-yang dynamic. The national security site has found fresh energy as a savvy, progressive attack dog in national politics. Click here. Wren: You and Pete have very different brands. He doesnt yell and scream, take the most extreme positions on issues, or tweet incendiary things. But they did teach me the importance of always making sure that candidates are reflecting the values of their voters. He has a clear social consciousness to him that you dont see in a lot of professional athletes. It gives me so much joy when I sit down for a Zoom with Mallory McMorrow which is supposed to be 15 minutes and it turns into two hours, and I get goosebumps again. Buttigieg campaigns in Iowa shortly after officially announcing his bid for the Democratic nomination for president. You have to know the social media ecosystem, how people are sharing and consuming their news. You recently signed on with Michigan state Sen. Mallory McMorrow and Cincinnati Mayor Aftab Pureval. I worked in politics nine years before I ever moved to New York. It also includes each staff member's position in the campaign, previous work experience, and Twitter handle, where available. The death of local news is a tragedy for voters and it's a tragedy for campaigns. What is this new phase of your career about? He was going up against George Bush, who had $50 million and he had $4 million, and so he just decides to tear up the playbook and put himself out there. I fucking love John McCain. Im just going to leave it there because I thought it was funny. David Freedlander writes about politics and culture. | Craig F. Walker/The Boston Globe via Getty Images. This is what day one looks like. 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. The saga gave Smith an insight that most campaign operatives lack: what it's actually like to be that bug trapped under the magnifying glass. Smith now works as the deputy campaign manager for former Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley in his campaign for the 2016 election. ), President Barack Obama (D) and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio (D). Smith: We check in here and there. Communications Director at Strickland for Governor from January 2010 to November 2010 (11 months) in Columbus, Ohio Area. Pete was completely different. 4. Weaver says that recreating that atmosphere in the days of Twitter, and in the days when the national political press corps has metastasized into a constantly hungry and multiheaded beast equipped with cell phones, is 10 times harder than when his team tried it in 1999. I know, but sitting at this dinner in Indianapolis, I was completely gobsmacked by how impressive some of the speakers were that I had never heard of before in my life, that you will never read about in national publications. There is this thing that I have to be very honest with, because maybe I had been seen as a little radioactive because I had unwillingly had my private life spread all over the tabloids, more established candidates might not have hired me. My advice is just go out there more, communicate more. Weve seen a lot of cataclysmic things happen. 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. Oh really, you didnt know that? Lis Smith is a Democratic campaign communications specialist and co-founder of 50 State Communications in New York. Traveling Press Secretary at Lunsford-Stumbo 2007 from February 2007 to . Now she has carefully orchestrated her own books launch doling out choice anecdotes to her beloved New York tabloids: De Blasio didnt trust NYPD security to keep secrets, ex-aide Lis Smith claims, blared one headline, which elicited an on the record statement from De Blasio himself. And although Smith would never say it, it plays on political reporters' narcissism, too. Theyre out in country working on campaigns. I think its a little bit of a ride. You get a sense of the news, what is going to get picked up, she said, reaching into her bag for her copy of the Post, which she said she was saving for Buttigieg. I think now more than ever, people need to understand how the media works. It is 5:15 on a Monday evening. And it drives me crazy because you see the Republican Party elevating governors left and right, like Ron DeSantis or Kristi Noem. 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. [5] For a larger list of state campaign staff, visit Democracy in Action. "[1], Presidential candidates will typically have a national staff, which is overseen by a campaign manager and assisted by political consultants, senior advisors, professional polling firms, and key stakeholders such as interest group leaders and major financial supporters. Not possible, Smith says. Smith: Are we talking about the same Pete Buttigieg? But I understand that what I do isnt just a game. The spotlight turns to Kamala Harris, the only Black candidate on stage. Wren: What is your relationship with Pete like now? 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. Smith starts texting me, wanting to know if Id seen the celebrities in the audience, including George Takei, Kal Penn and Kate McKinnon. And you dont know who is actually going to attack you. What I realized from my time working in politics is how much mystery there still is around this industry. Pete Buttigieg is the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana. When Smith signed on to help Mayor Pete run for DNC chair, it was a part-time gighelping a candidate nobody had ever heard of run for an insider position, the kind of job decided not by the public, but in backrooms by the most hardcore party loyalists. Staff are presented alongside their positions in the campaign, their most recent positions prior to the campaign, and their Twitter handles. Now more than ever, people are seeing politics touch everything in our lives. 27 Apr 2023 19:44:36 #cjc2024. I think hes a really good person. Well, of course someone running for president would need to talk about it with me first, right? Lis Smith is a veteran of twenty political campaigns. It will hopefully make the cost of prescription drugs go down, or cut the price of insulin. Now, to go back to the premise of your question, I think what we should be looking for is I'm not breaking any news here by saying that the leadership in Washington right now is a bit on the older side we should be elevating young candidates, elevating millennial candidates in their 30s and 40s. I was a field organizer for him in Keene, New Hampshire, and a bus of New Yorkers came up and the "New York for Edwards" delegation was led by none other than then-City Councilman Bill de Blasio. He knows the importance of building up our bench. I would do that for free.). Smith: So with John Edwards, I was a college student. 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. I see that being taken so far out of context. Insider caught up with Smith on Thursday, and learned about her time with de Blasio and what she looks for in undiscovered star candidates. He was out there. Fantasy football we were competitive about that. | Mark Peterson/Redux, Yuki Iwamura/Redux. He was a once-in-a-generation talent, someone who perfectly met the moment, says Smith. Because he completely disrupts the idea of what a successful younger politician is. Tech: Matt Latourelle Ryan Burch Kirsten Corrao Beth Dellea Travis Eden Tate Kamish Margaret Kearney Eric Lotto Joseph Sanchez. And as you saw on Fox News Sunday, as I went to bed last night, [his clip] has 8 million views. Smith: Dont make me praise Chris Meagher. padding:10px; Pete Buttigieg is the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana. And there was not a better antidote to Trump than Pete in terms of style, in terms of life experience, and in terms of his worldview. Smith: Im not going to touch that with a 10-foot pole. I want political people to read this book, because I think its fun. I first met John Edwards when I was 19 or 20 years old. Jason Bergman for POLITICO. And so when they feel like they are getting attacked, or their families are getting atttacked, they think staff can never talk to them on the level, and it is frustrating for principals, because they are like, You are just a kid, you dont know anything. But with me, I can tell them, This is what is going to happen, this is how we are going to deal with it. I know youre asking it in good faith, but I am declining to answer it in good faith. And why that matters is because the states are where a lot of the key fights are going to play out following the Dobbs Supreme Court decision. Theyre in the agencies. Most people do have earnest sides to them. The way Smith tells it, she thought she was done with presidential politics after OMalleys campaign fizzled in 2016. Except then it didnt. It obviously leads to a lot less accountability for politicians. That cut both ways during the campaign for Buttigieg, particularly when a white police officer killed a Black man in South Bend. [The vice presidency] is probably the toughest, most thankless job in Washington D.C. Her debut, "I Am Nasrine" was nominated for a BAFTA in 2013. Its really hard to do a hit piece on a guy who you are going to see the next morning over coffee and donuts. | Scott Olson/Getty Images, Lis has an insurgent mentality, said Axelrod, a top aide for both of President Obamas campaigns. She often mentions others in her tweets and sometimes gets into multiple tweet disputes with people she disagrees with, which are always fun to watch. And I agree with him that you cant get sucked up in the game. .circle { 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. Wren: How is the Lis Smith depicted in this book different from the Lis Smith in the popular political imagination? We are at the risk for seeing abortion rights eroded in more and more states. 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. Now after advising Pete Buttigieg, she's published a must-read memoir, 'Any Given Tuesday: A Political. Why? Martin OMalley, who shed worked for, performing poorly in the Iowa caucuses. Theres just no one who can do a TV interview like Pete Buttigieg. Lis Smith is currently a Deputy Campaign Manager at O'Malley for President from May 2015 to February 2016 (10 months) in Baltimore, Maryland Area. We just had the Supreme Court decision on abortion. Retail politics matters much less if there are no local papers or local TV stations to go out and capture you on the campaign trail. Smith also. When I was starting in politics, we didnt have women. And no, politics is my love. So what I try to do is to meet candidates where they are, and to help work with them on what their strengths are and not to erase the things in them that are quirky or not, but see if we can use them as assets. In 2012, Smith served as President Barack Obama's director of rapid response, a similar role she'll play with Cuomo and the state Democratic Party's coordinated campaign this year. width: 100% !important; Also how many, like, mind-games campaigns are playing with others. 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. It has been my passion since I was nine years old, which sounds sick. You never get in a fight with someone whos trying to promote a book. [10] O'Malley announced his presidential run on May 30, 2015. Some are even in the White House, like Deputy Press Secretary Chris Meagher, who briefed the press not too long ago. 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. How hard-chargingNew Yorkoperative Lis Smith helpedturn an obscure Indianamayorinto a national name. And so, she says, she cant talk right now. But there's no doubt that there is no substitute for being in a scrum, and for having a traveling press corps with you every day, lobbing questions at you. These results are automatically generated from Google. I would give Pete 95 percent of the credit and give me five percent of the credit. Oftentimes its not going to be found in Washington, D.C. During the campaign, Forbes considered her one of "the essential people to follow on Twitter," saying:[5], The New York Times noted that Smith's rapid response tweets "were a big reason that the campaign was able to define Mitt Romney before he could define himself."[4]. ", Before they get in the car, I ask Buttigieg if Smith is being helpful in his campaign. I consider him a friend . 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. I, in those races, became extremely battle-tested. Wren: I want a window into how you advise candidates amid a crisis. It was younger reporters, super-hungry reporters that really know how to use Twitter, people who can then go to a cocktail party and tell their friends they had a beer with this guy Pete Buttigieg three hours from now. Smith ended up dropping most of her other clients, politicians and nonprofits alike. Letting Terry be Terry. I am humbled and flattered and appreciative of when people recognize the hard work I put in on our media strategy, and the fact that we employed a media strategy that was radically different from everyone else in the field. Meet the DNC dark horse: Indiana mayor Pete Buttigieg is shaking up the race for Democratic chair, added Salon. In that moment, in retrospect, it seems like Harris couldve ended Buttigiegs campaign. Pete Buttigieg presidential campaign staff, 2020, Ballotpedia's Daily Presidential News Briefing, Presidential election changes in response to the coronavirus pandemic, Pete Buttigieg presidential campaign, 2020, Editorial approach to story selection for the Daily Presidential News Briefing, List of registered 2020 presidential candidates, Presidential candidate campaign travel, 2020, Presidential election campaign finance, 2020, Presidential campaign logos and slogans, 2020, Presidential campaign pageviews on Ballotpedia, 2020, Green Party presidential nomination, 2020, Libertarian Party presidential nomination, 2020, Constitution Party presidential nomination, 2020, Important dates in the 2020 presidential race, Changes to the presidential election in response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, Democratic presidential primary debates, 2020, Ken Carbullido, Vice President of Election Product and Technology Strategy, https://ballotpedia.org/wiki/index.php?title=Pete_Buttigieg_presidential_campaign_staff,_2020&oldid=8185409, Presidential campaign staff overview, 2020, 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, Texting director, Virginia Democratic Coordinated Campaign, 2017, Managing partner/co-owner/director of media relations, Megaphone Strategies, Executive director, Beeck Center for Social Impact and Innovation, Executive director of the Nevada Assembly Democratic Caucus, Vice president, Los Angeles Board of Public Works. It takes the edge off a bit. What makes him such a magnet for criticism on both the left and the right? Wren: You mentioned that some people might view you as radioactive. As for their interactions with reporters, it's a good question, but if you look back on the Biden campaign's outreach during the general election, I think it actually increased his number of interactions with local press with the number of interviews he did remotely in states like Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Michigan. How do you think the decline of local news has affected campaigns? Lis Smith (born October 15, 1982) is an American political strategist affiliated with the Democratic Party. It may look like the sky is falling, but just ride this out.. Maybe Im done. 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. ), Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo. And someone needs to be. Shes on her phone talking to another Buttigieg aide. Eliot Spitzer]. When you do more interviews, it reduces that gotcha instinct with the press, it reduces that cat and mouse game. Operations: Meghann Olshefski Mandy Morris Kelly Rindfleisch Because even power needs a day off. There may be nobody more central to Mayor Petes media successbesides the candidate himself, and arguably his social-media-savvy husband, Chasten Buttigiegthan Smith, who serves as a communications adviser and all-around aide. 1. Buttigieg received the most pledged delegates in the Iowa caucuses. Over a tumultuous two decades in politics, Lis Smith has seen a thing or two. "We can't fool ourselves the Republicans are eating our lunch in terms of attention and viewership because of the unprecedented, unilateral, and arbitrary way the DNC Chair determined this. This section featured five news stories about Buttigieg and his presidential campaign. The great media disruption comes for the Des Moines Register. And you know what their problem is? 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. [1] She was the deputy campaign director for Martin O'Malley's 2016 presidential campaign. 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. He was a once-in-a-generation talent, someone who perfectly met the moment. It wasnt just the biggest names, people you know, Smith says. They are already well-known.. But another thing is that Im not someone whos just worked in New York. Chuck Kennedy/PFA. After 20 campaigns flacking for candidates such as Transportation Secretary and former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg, former Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill,. Even TMZ got in the act LEO DICAPRIO OFFERED BUTTIGIEG HELP DURING 2020 RUN, trumpeted the chyron. Smith earned plaudits in the 2020 campaign for her work as Pete Buttigieg's communications advisor. @lynnsweet, @kaitlancollins, @Lis_Smith and @PriscillaWT discuss! Andrew Cuomo and former New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio. Each was the political id the candidate couldnt, or wouldnt, express. Politics is literally a matter of life and death. What else was the oppo they were dropping? After 20 campaigns flacking for candidates such as Transportation Secretary and former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg, former Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill, former Virginia Gov. 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. James Devaney/Getty Images. From the second I met Pete, I knew that there was something special about him. The table below shows the candidate's 2020 early primary state directors and state communications directors. Is it your relationship with reporters and cable bookers? Wren: One of the theses of Petes campaign was that mayors are on the front lines of democracy. Buttigieg focused his campaign on policy issues that he implemented as mayor, such as connecting with the global economy through investing in advanced industries, data, technology, and higher education.[4]. That maybe once he double-dipped his fry at Barnabys? Lis Smith was just a college student when she worked on her first political campaign. a bigger long-shot project than Mike and succeed," Lis Smith, a . He lives in New York. Her father was a partner at the white-shoe law firm Sidley Austin. Over a tumultuous two decades in politics, Lis Smith has seen a thing or two. As voters look for someone who can beat Trump, the fact that the press corps appears to vouch for this curious character, a young liberal red-state mayor, means that voters can give him a second look too. 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 they all lack humility. Spitzer and Smith stayed together for more than two years, with the tabloids following them pretty much the whole time. And you had Democrats out there saying, when they go low, we kick them in the face, and engaging in all this over-the-top rhetoric. He was an incredible leader at Louisiana State University someone that team could rally around, and such a maturity to him. } The bad candidates are people who are insecure, who put their finger in the wind, who dont trust their instincts enough and dont have the backbone to do the right things. He announced he was running for the Democratic presidential nomination on January 23, 2019, and formally kicked off his campaign on April 14, 2019. The entire time Buttigieg has pitched himself as a unifier, Lis Smith has been right by his side. Smith is a fierce New York City-based Democratic operative who helped engineer the plan to get Buttigieg in front of not just national political reporters, but anybody with a camera or microphone. I am a liberal Democrat, but I was so into the McCain thing. What the decline of local media means is that the way that voters will get their information about candidates will come increasingly from paid media, from mail pieces and TV ads, and we all know that is not where you get the full truth. One thing I find incredibly admirable about him is what you see is what you get. Usually, it was all good-natured. Pete Buttigieg's 38-year-old ex-campaign manager and childhood pal is telling Democrats how they can win back rural America . A lot of people people whose opinion you respect told you that you were nuts when you chose to work for Pete. How consequential was that looking back? That's helped him to make a strong case for himself for 2024, said Democratic strategist Lis Smith, an adviser to Pete Buttigieg in his 2020 bid. 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. . Most people do have nerdy sides to them. Lis Smith is a veteran of twenty political campaigns. Pete helped pull back that part of me, because while that might work when youre dealing in the New York tabloids, that doesnt sell as well in the Des Moines Register. Schmuhl, his campaign manager, says a typical scene from the trail for the three of them is arriving 10 or 15 minutes early to the airport gate, and while he and Buttegiegwho he's known since. Here are links to the candidates' staff pages: Campaign staff plays an important role in the presidential primaries. Shes had some very forceful moments as vice president. Do you think the lack of in-person events hurt them later on in building a relationship with the eventual White House press corps? Click here. With Bill de Blasio, that was a different situation. The thing with Terry McAuliffe is that hes in on the joke. I want Republicans to read this book. Smith: It made me want to be better at my job. Sign up for POLITICO Magazines email of the weeks best, delivered to your inbox every Friday morning. How badly," she asks me, are you trying to fuck me over right now?, Interactive: The Lo-Fi Voices That Speak for AmericaBy M. Scott Mahaskey and Zack Stanton. Mistakes Ive made in my professional life. It felt like we connectedwe went over our allotted time, and I had another beer, and by the end I had shifted from very skeptical to only moderately skeptical, just maybe seeing a lane for his candidacy. I remember in Iowa, we had all these young mayors for him. This is how we stop there from being a day three. Smith has been exploring the idea of renting a bus, and just as McCain did, inviting reporters aboard to travel and fire away at Buttigieg with any question they want, all day, day after day. In my book, I sort of get at this, but we are sort of an odd couple.
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