Smith: In my experience, the best working relationships between candidates and their top staff often depend on a sort of yin-yang dynamic. Lis Smith Retweeted. [Smiths voice breaks here.] Is it your relationship with reporters and cable bookers? And so, she says, she cant talk right now. Top editors give you the stories you want delivered right to your inbox each weekday. Each was the political id the candidate couldnt, or wouldnt, express. It meant a lot to me as a woman to have someone like that. Does something like Buttigieg Derangement Syndrome exist? She knew Axelrod from 2012, when she worked as director of rapid response for President Barack Obamas reelection effort. Its just that I think with both Joe Biden and Kamala Harris that it would do the administration good to get out there a little bit more, and not to let the media and the Twitter dialogue get in your head, because most people dont speak like Pete Buttigieg in these beautiful, poetic, perfectly formed sentences. Eric Appleman of Democracy in Action describes candidates' efforts to hire staffers as a "race for talent, both nationally and in key early states." | Smith a Bengals fan believes quarterback Joe Burrow is a great leader with a clear social conscience, and she wouldnt rule out the possibility of him having a political career. Eliot Spitzer]. Pete asked the bouncer what the scene was like inside, and the bouncer told him it was lit. The term was lost on him. By signing up you agree to receive email newsletters or updates from POLITICO and you agree to our privacy policy and terms of service. @media only screen and (max-width: 400px){ Whats that like? The book gives an unvarnished behind-the-scenes look at campaign strategy and press relations. I know youre asking it in good faith, but I am declining to answer it in good faith. He stood out obviously because of his height, but he was one of those guys that was almost overly enthusiastic about knocking on doors and making phone calls, to the point that everyone else around the office sort of rolled their eyes. But there may be no political couple odder than that of Buttigieg and Smith. 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. He knows the importance of building up our bench. Wren: Theres a part of Pete that is a little wonky, a little square. She most. However, in the transitioning period, Phil Walzak was hired to run press operations for de Blasio's office. Insider caught up with Smith on Thursday, and learned about her time with de Blasio and what she looks for in undiscovered star candidates. She has advised New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe and Montana Governor Steve Bullock, people who on paper at least are far more likely top-tier presidential contenders, and she served as a top aide for a number of Senate and gubernatorial races. 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 . Smith: Joey Burrow is an incredible leader. I Want Him on Everything: Meet the Woman Behind theButtigieg Media Frenzy, proclaimed Business Insider during the race, California's road to recovery runs through D.C. Republicans, Why New Jerseys ventilator guidelines may favor younger, whiter patients, Rhode Island ends specific restrictions on New Yorkers by making them national. It went on like this, just cursing up a blue streak for like two minutes., The aides mistake, Smith recalls, had to do with email: He failed to BCC reporters on a news release he blasted out. You deploy the F-bomb like Picasso used drypoint. I, in those races, became extremely battle-tested. If you are not someone who is an established name, it's really hard to break through. Through the DNC race and afterward, Smith treated the national political press like it was another constituency that needed to be courted. The thing with Terry McAuliffe is that hes in on the joke. I am a liberal Democrat, but I was so into the McCain thing. Oversaturation? My observation, said Axelrod, who worked with Smith on Obamas 2012 reelection campaign, is that she is the quiet hero of his emergence.. When they gave me the job I thought, first of all this job exists? 4. Im horrified. He weighed in after the Supreme Court decision. 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. He hung up and looked at me in horror, and then my phone started ringing. 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. On Sunday, Bill de Blasio put out a statement in a New York Post story in his own name defending himself against the portrait you paint of him in your book as obsessively paranoid. If you were working for him, and a book like yours came out authored by someone else, how would you have advised him to address the situation? It is my passion. It also includes each staff member's position in the campaign, previous work experience, and Twitter handle, where available. Click here to contact us for media inquiries, and please donate here to support our continued expansion. What do I get if I pay for your consulting services? While known most recently for her ingenuity behind Pete Buttigieg's democratic presidential campaign, Smith was also a key player in Senator John Edward's (D) presidential run. That even in the age of Twitter, that especially in the age of Twitter, people dont really care about gaffes. Gripping reads, smart analysis and a bit of high-minded fun. So it was just sort of the perfect confluence of all these things where that yin and yang dynamic got us together. 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. 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. 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. I would do that for free.). She signed on as a consultant when he was laying the groundwork for a long-shot campaign to become the chair of the Democratic National Committee. It is 5:15 on a Monday evening. And if people like it they like it, and if they dont they were probably never going to vote for you anyway.. Tech: Matt Latourelle Ryan Burch Kirsten Corrao Beth Dellea Travis Eden Tate Kamish Margaret Kearney Eric Lotto Joseph Sanchez. Most people do have earnest sides to them. Why would a Pete Buttigieg hire me? Lis Smith was just a college student when she worked on her first political campaign. Click here to contact us for media inquiries, and please donate here to support our continued expansion. A text arrives from John Weaver, a top adviser to former Ohio Governor John Kasich. Lis Smith is a Democratic campaign communications specialist and co-founder of 50 State Communications in New York. It also includes each staff member's position in the campaign, previous work experience, and Twitter handle, where available. Political Hotshot Lis Smith Talks Women in Politics, Democrats' Future and the Secret to Buttigieg's Success. 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. Wren: Lets talk about another Cincinnatian: Joey Burrow, your Bengals politically outspoken quarterback. But it is kind of fascinating to watch., Smith met Buttigieg on the recommendation of Axelrod and former Maryland Governor Martin OMalley. I romanticize it. And they all lack humility. '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 . No. .circle { 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. Click here to contact our editorial staff, and click here to report an error. I want Democrats to read this book. Not surprisingly, her politics are establishment liberal. After the Obama campaign, Smith moved to Eliot Spitzer's run for Controller of New York City. I wasnt born yesterday. Pete Buttigieg emerges as Democratic rock star proclaimed Business Insider during the race. Most people do have corny sides to them. How hard-chargingNew Yorkoperative Lis Smith helpedturn an obscure Indianamayorinto a national name. Smith managed communications for de Blasio throughout the campaign and in his transition to office; she was slated to do the same when de Blasio took office. Shes on her phone talking to another Buttigieg aide. 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. @lynnsweet, @kaitlancollins, @Lis_Smith and @PriscillaWT discuss! Deciding to get into politics for me, and in the world of political operatives, was like jumping off a cliff. Smith went to Dartmouth. Apr 27. Based on that experience, how should Democrats make gains in those kinds of states in 2022? Lis has absolutely no fear, said Jeff Smith, a former Missouri lawmaker who dated Smith for four years and considers her one of his closest friends. Stay up to date with what you want to know. | Mark Peterson/Redux, Yuki Iwamura/Redux. The death of local news is a tragedy for voters and it's a tragedy for campaigns. It was a slim path. And although Smith would never say it, it plays on political reporters' narcissism, too. Theyre out in country working on campaigns. She has extensive experience in public affairs, media relations, and crisis communications at the local, state and national levels. Other candidates, they dont need to do it. The White House Correspondents Dinner is shrinking back to the boring awards ceremony journalists claimed to prefer. She orders a beer, downs it and orders another. Im realistic here. After the fundraiser, Buttigieg is going to rush off to 30 Rock to do Maddow, then in the morning New Day on CNN, and then fly to Iowa, then do Morning Joe when hes back. Im just going to leave it there because I thought it was funny. On the flip side of that, the most established, the most convention conventional political consultants werent going to go work for Pete Buttigieg, the 37-year-old mayor of South Bend. I see that being taken so far out of context. God, you fucked that up. 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 . About Lis Smith Liswho has worked on over a dozen political campaigns has extensive experience in public affairs campaigns, media relations, and crisis communications at the local, state and national level. But to me it was more just revealing [the] nature of the sliding doors of campaigns, and I think thats what youre getting at. Its really hard to do a hit piece on a guy who you are going to see the next morning over coffee and donuts. Smith also gets points for interacting. And it was the first time Id worked in politics that Id ever felt that way. What do all the good candidates youve worked for have in common, and what do the bad candidates have in common? With Bill de Blasio, that was a different situation. Eight hundred have showed up. [3], Lis Smith began working on campaigns shortly after graduating from Dartmouth College. She worked on campaigns for Jon Corzine, for New Jersey governor; Terry McAuliffe, for governor of Virginia; and. | Its a role that clearly lends itself to his skill set. Adam Wren: In the beginning, you scored the contract for this book based on your high-profile turn as a senior communications adviser to Pete Buttigieg. Smith: Im not going to touch that with a 10-foot pole. It was Lis telling me I need to fire my campaign manager, that the guy is a fucking idiot. 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. [4], In 2012, Smith was the rapid response director for Barack Obama's (D) presidential campaign. In some ways, he came across as a Midwestern dad before he was, in fact, a Midwestern dad. 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. Wren: This book is in some ways a tell-all about the role of a political consultant. POLITICO Weekend delivers gripping reads, smart analysis and a bit of high-minded fun. She has extensive experience in public affairs, media relations, and crisis communications at the local, state and national levels. Smith: Yes. 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. Wren: Much has been made about Trump Derangement Syndrome this idea that, true or not, he scrambles rational political responses from otherwise reasonable people. Her phone is literally exploding. There is a top political reporter for a major national newspaper apologizing for blowing off a meeting with Buttigieg earlier and trying to get one now, asking Smith, Will you ever forgive me?. Shes a Black half-South-Indian woman. He doesnt yell and scream, take the most extreme positions on issues, or tweet incendiary things. He's on his way into a black car to do Maddow. In that same vein, I know that there were people in the transportation secretarys inner circle that thought his taking that position wasnt the best idea. 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? Jeff Smith, her former boyfriend, recalls one time when he was running for office, his campaign managers phone rang. I would give Pete 95 percent of the credit and give me five percent of the credit. Yeah. Smith: Dont make me praise Chris Meagher. 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. 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. David Freedlander writes about politics and culture. Staff are presented alongside their positions in the campaign, their most recent positions prior to the campaign, and their Twitter handles. Usually, it was all good-natured. Otherwise, I would kill myself. Which is to say that Buttigieg may know seven languages and carry around Ulysses and sit in with the South Bend Orchestra on piano, but as far as his top aide is concerned, it is only because he has an extra year on her. In recent months you have made a name for yourself by working for this new crop of candidates out in the middle of the country: Michigan State Sen. Mallory McMorrow, Aftab Pureval and others. And I do think that some of that savvy did come out of innovations they had to make during the 2020 campaign. ), President Barack Obama (D) and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio (D). Why? People get stuck in a rut because something worked last cycle, and so they think it will work this cycle and it doesnt. a bigger long-shot project than Mike and succeed," Lis Smith, a . Petes hitting at this moment in part because of the legwork they did. He shoots her a look and gives a mock shrug, as if it's an inside joke between the three of us, now old chums: I mean, a little I guess., Buttigieg makes an appearance on "The View." Whitney Whitis. Click here. Smith earned plaudits in the 2020 campaign for her work as Pete Buttigieg's communications advisor. 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. I know of one person in particular who said you were making a catastrophic career mistake working for a total nobody. Fantasy football we were competitive about that. A few weeks ago, a couple of hundred people expressed interest in this event. There is a huge bench of mayors, of governors, of state legislators, like Mallory McMorrow, who we should be lifting up, we should be using as spokespeople for the Democratic Party. She ran it like he was trying to be president, getting him in front of as many microphones as she could. I want Republicans to read this book. Smith, the famously aggressive political operative battle-honed in the brass knuckles politics of New York City and in red-state political tilts, plotted the rollout of Buttigiegs longshot presidential campaign. Craig F. Walker/The Boston Globe via Getty Images. 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. Well before she worked for Cuomo and then briefly rejoined as an outside advisor during the height of his sexual harassment scandal, Smith worked for his arch nemesis, de Blasio. 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. | 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. Regular voters and the media were primed for it.. Sign up for POLITICO Magazines email of the weeks best, delivered to your inbox every Friday morning. There was only one path for us to break through. But I understand that what I do isnt just a game. I have a really close-knit group of friends who have nothing to do with politics. 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. Even TMZ got in the act LEO DICAPRIO OFFERED BUTTIGIEG HELP DURING 2020 RUN, trumpeted the chyron. He was a once-in-a-generation talent, someone who perfectly met the moment. How did that manifest itself with Pete, the first candidate youve ever advised who was approximately the same age as you? 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. Letting Claire be Claire. But until they released him from the NDA, we just didnt get his clients. They have one man to thank. But you know, more importantly, through some trial and error, over this very long career, I learned the importance of letting candidates be candidates, right? 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. Are you kidding me? It will hopefully make the cost of prescription drugs go down, or cut the price of insulin. Lis Smith is a Democratic campaign communications specialist and co-founder of 50 State Communications in New York. Theres the article in the Atlantic where the writer met the mayor of South Bend, Indiana for a chicken tempura lunch in Manhattan. Well, of course someone running for president would need to talk about it with me first, right? That means that shes held to a different standard than sometimes other candidates. He announced he was running for the Democratic presidential nomination on January 23, 2019, and formally kicked off his campaign on April 14, 2019. 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. I am here to get you clips. He wrote a paper praising Bernie Sanders at Harvard? [7] When Spitzer lost the primary election, she was hired on the communications team for Bill de Blasio's New York City mayoral campaign. He was a once-in-a-generation talent, someone who perfectly met the moment, says Smith. I think thats always been part of Joe Bidens appeal. I think its just shaped up to be a perfect role for him. How has it turned out so far? She's taken gambles on underdogs like Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, advised establishment stalwarts such as former Virginia Gov. 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. You have to know the social media ecosystem, how people are sharing and consuming their news. Wren: Youre often credited with vaulting Pete from the mayor of Indianas fourth-largest city to a member of Bidens cabinet. That maybe once he double-dipped his fry at Barnabys? Lis Smith, may find her job in . What else was the oppo they were dropping? But it was one of those moments where I had to go with my gut. This includes with her own boss. Id worked for former [Former Maryland Gov.] When you do more interviews, it reduces that gotcha instinct with the press, it reduces that cat and mouse game. In my book, I sort of get at this, but we are sort of an odd couple. If we do that it is a recipe for disaster. @lynnsweet, @kaitlancollins, @Lis_Smith and @PriscillaWT are talking how do we avoid rookie mistakes on the campaign trail. He didnt feel the need to go out there and be the coolest guy or the hippest guy on stage. Maybe somewhere an 18-year-old girl like me can pick up my book and can learn something from it about how you work with candidates, how you work with the media, how you deal with crisis, and also learn from my mistakes. Andrew Cuomo and former New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio. 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. 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.
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