What is Lis Smiths secret sauce? She is a talented communicator. Over a tumultuous two decades in politics, Lis Smith has seen a thing or two. That means that shes held to a different standard than sometimes other candidates. 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. What we did is fucking ridiculous. And they all lack humility. What do all the good candidates youve worked for have in common, and what do the bad candidates have in common? Even TMZ got in the act LEO DICAPRIO OFFERED BUTTIGIEG HELP DURING 2020 RUN, trumpeted the chyron. Adam Wren is national politics correspondent at POLITICO. Even in decline, AM radio matters more than you might think. }. Obama had David Axelrod. What makes him such a magnet for criticism on both the left and the right? . first campaign in 2006. Hold on, Im sorry. After the Obama campaign, Smith moved to Eliot Spitzer's run for Controller of New York City. He adds, "The goal is to assemble a team of top talent that can work together effectively to mobilize resources, boost the candidate and his or her message, and ultimately secure the party's nomination. You have to know the social media ecosystem, how people are sharing and consuming their news. 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. How has it turned out so far? 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. Wren: You mentioned that some people might view you as radioactive. Candidates and the people around them can get so spun up about things, and when you get spun up you make the worst mistakes, she says. I am here to get you clips. One thing I find incredibly admirable about him is what you see is what you get. 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. 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. 01 May 2023 02:06:06 And when he was asked about that, he gave a really strong answer, and he took responsibility for things he did do in South Bend or things he didnt do in South Bend. Lis Smith - Institute of Politics and Public Service Democratic Consultant Lis Smith on Her Professional - People Lis Smith on Twitter: "RT @UChiPolitics: How do we avoid rookie Wren: Could see a political career for him? Smith: Im not going to touch that with a 10-foot pole. 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. Pete Buttigieg presidential campaign staff, 2020 - Ballotpedia The Democratic bench isnt going to be found on Meet the Press every Sunday, and its not going to be found on cable news. You write: Here we go said Larry Grisolano, Petes media consultant, stating the obvious. 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]. Whats that like? Pete Buttigieg's Campaign Staff: 5 Fast Facts | Heavy.com She gravitates to candidates who are challenging and testing the status quo. Theres a public Terry and a private Terry. She has a 3-day-old copy of the New York Post in her bag. Lis knew that she had to build wide to build up, said Stephanie Cutter, who also worked on Obamas 2012 effort. But in our party, it seems the only people we ever talk about are members of Congress and senators. She doesnt give a fuck. 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. In the car, wed go back and forth on random trivia, and pulling up things on Google. 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. 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. He has a clear social consciousness to him that you dont see in a lot of professional athletes. I have a really close-knit group of friends who have nothing to do with politics. Please email us at editor@ballotpedia.org. The attack we had been dreading was coming. A lot of people people whose opinion you respect told you that you were nuts when you chose to work for Pete. I remember hearing from other consultants, Why is he going out there speaking seven languages? And it makes it especially difficult for challengers. 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. during the height of his sexual harassment scandal, Lis Smith spoke to Insider about her new book, "Any Given Tuesday.". With Bill de Blasio, that was a different situation. Access your favorite topics in a personalized feed while you're on the go. Pete Buttigieg emerges as Democratic rock star proclaimed Business Insider during the race. I love him. She is 36, a year younger than Buttigieg, which, Thank God. 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 hes known since 8th grade in Indianatake a moment to relax for a minute before boarding, Smith will head to the airport bar with her laptop and phone and begins texting and emailing reporters and clapping back to critics on social media. At 37, Smith is already a campaign-worn strategist and Washington, D.C., folk hero, credited with launching the 38-year-old mayor to, if not the top tier of the presidential race, its second. ), President Barack Obama (D) and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio (D). Dont miss it! "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. Its just a personal part of my book. 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. There are so many talented Democratic elected officials across the country. Trail Blazer | Dartmouth Alumni Magazine Wren: Lets talk about another Cincinnatian: Joey Burrow, your Bengals politically outspoken quarterback. She is practically shaking with excess energy. 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. I see that being taken so far out of context. 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 . 'Queen Cleopatra' Director Slams Criticism of Casting Black Cleopatra 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 want him on everything, she told me. George Bush had Karl Rove; Bill Clinton had James Carville. Meet the DNC dark horse: Indiana mayor Pete Buttigieg is shaking up the race for Democratic chair, added Salon. How did that manifest itself with Pete, the first candidate youve ever advised who was approximately the same age as you? She most. Except then it didnt. David Freedlander writes about politics and culture. Letting Pete be Pete. 27 Apr 2023 19:44:36 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]. Political Strategist & Author Lis Smith Says Women Are Needed They are doing things that are more directly relevant to peoples lives. And when it happened, the story was her. 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. No, actually, it shows a fundamental disrespect for the people who consume their news on this platform if you arent willing to go where they are.. Because 2015 and 2016 were really difficult times in my life. Smith ended up dropping most of her other clients, politicians and nonprofits alike. Wren: Fair enough. Fantasy football we were competitive about that. Political Hotshot Lis Smith Talks Women in Politics, Democrats' Future and the Secret to Buttigieg's Success. In what ways does your brand benefit from Petes, and in what ways does Petes brand benefit from yours? Smith: Thats hilarious. "Joe Biden has had one of the most successful first two years of any president in recent history," Smith said. That fall, Spitzer and Smith started dating, which led to the New York City tabloids staking out her apartment to watch the pair coming and going. Click here to contact our editorial staff, and click here to report an error. 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. 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. Craig F. Walker/The Boston Globe via Getty Images. I think Ive heard Pete use the F-word once or twice, for example, and his personal life doesnt play out in the pages of the New York tabloids. 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. Gripping reads, smart analysis and a bit of high-minded fun. 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. 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. I know youre asking it in good faith, but I am declining to answer it in good faith. The way Smith tells it, she thought she was done with presidential politics after OMalleys campaign fizzled in 2016. TV news executives are calling, she says, emailing, now complaining that Buttigieg isnt doing their shows often enough. Smith says thats worth it. And that was our media strategy. She orders a beer, downs it and orders another. Let Pete be Pete. But another thing is that Im not someone whos just worked in New York. The two of us talked this week about Buttigiegs political future, whether Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow could jump into politics, and the ingredients of a good political candidate. Research: Josh Altic Vojsava Ramaj Lis Smith talks how 'going everywhere' helped McCaskill | STLPR 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 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. He was thinking of running for chair of the Democratic National Committee. President Biden announces he's running for reelection in 2024 : NPR 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. And I talked about that in the book. 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. A Democratic candidate in West Virginia is going to look very different from a Democratic candidate in New York, and we cant impose this one-size-fits-all thing and think that the Democratic Party is going to be a majority party. Spitzer and Smith stayed together for more than two years, with the tabloids following them pretty much the whole time. I fucking love John McCain. But to me it was more just revealing [the] nature of the sliding doors of campaigns, and I think thats what youre getting at. Buttigieg adviser called Christine Blasey Ford 'looney tunes' - Fox News I want Democrats to read this book. 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. 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 The Movie Database (TMDB) At that point, reporters she had developed relationships with began to reach out, wondering what she was doing wasting her credibility on a little-known character who seemed like a step down the ladder of political prospects. Smith had moved to New York in 2013 to work for Eliot Spitzer, the disgraced former governor who had stepped down in a prostitution scandal. John Edwards comes to mind. Letting Claire be Claire. 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.. [2] .circle { Wren: What do you look for in a candidate? We are at the risk for seeing abortion rights eroded in more and more states. But I understand that what I do isnt just a game. There were very, very few women in positions of power. Do you think the lack of in-person events hurt them later on in building a relationship with the eventual White House press corps? She uses her feed to, well, rapidly respond to the news. And it drives me crazy because you see the Republican Party elevating governors left and right, like Ron DeSantis or Kristi Noem. 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 . 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. Smith: Yeah. Terry McAuliffe, and President Barack Obama, Lis Smith is finally flacking for Lis Smith. Ahead of the release of her highly anticipated political memoir (which Politico Magazine excerpted last week), that includes figuring out how to get her computer to record our phone interview ammo to use in the event that its needed to set the record straight. Going back to when the 2020 campaign went virtual, how do you think the Biden team has handled its messaging since then? Everyone thought I was crazy. In 2016 she was deputy campaign manager for Martin O'Malley, the Democratic governor of Maryland who ran for the White House. She texts the buzziest bits to her sprawling network of journalistic contacts, who tweet them out. I, in those races, became extremely battle-tested. Ive always tried to be very grounded. The table below shows the candidate's 2020 early primary state directors and state communications directors. Insider caught up with Smith on Thursday, and learned about her time with de Blasio and what she looks for in undiscovered star candidates. Lis Smith, may find her job in . I was coming off some New York races where everything is just all-day personal attacks getting in the mud. 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. I'm not saying that it affects him negatively, but it's an interesting question. I think thats always been part of Joe Bidens appeal. She wants to know if Id seen Buttigieg answer a question about the Notre Dame fire from a French TV station, in French. They have grown to like and trust each other. Communications Director at Strickland for Governor from January 2010 to November 2010 (11 months) in Columbus, Ohio Area. 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 became obsessed with the idea of working for him, then became further obsessed when she actually met him, and developed the notion that once people got to meet him they would start to like him. Usually, it was all good-natured. For example, you write in your book about going to a pop-up bar in South Bend with Pete and his best friend and campaign manager, Mike Schmuhl. Its about hustling for opportunities. 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. That even in the age of Twitter, that especially in the age of Twitter, people dont really care about gaffes. Politics has a bias toward the status quo, she says. 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?. Now a veteran Democratic strategist, Smith is the woman credited with propelling the . However, in the transitioning period, Phil Walzak was hired to run press operations for de Blasio's office. 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. Lets be real, Adam. '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 . Acting. They lead with emotion. Smith: All the good candidates are comfortable in their own skin. I thought everybody knew that.. It meant a lot to me as a woman to have someone like that. It was a slim path. Lis Smith's Email & Phone - O'Malley for President - ContactOut I tell her that I have been calling around to former coworkers and associates, trying to get a sense of how she operates. There was only one path for us to break through. 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. 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. You know what people are going to react to, and you know that the tabloids, just like the political press, oftentimes just wants a little scalp and then they will move on., How the Intercept Is Fueling the Democratic Civil WarBy Steven Perlberg. Lis Smith is recording this call. [2] Smith previously worked on campaigns for former Sen. Tom Daschle (D-S.D. And he is as squeaky clean behind the scenes as he is in front of the camera. Hes someone who is involved fighting childhood hunger. It also includes each staff member's position in the campaign, previous work experience, and Twitter handle, where available. Click here. [1] She was the deputy campaign director for Martin O'Malley's 2016 presidential campaign. She most recently served as the Deputy Campaign Manager for Martin Because even power needs a day off. He was a once-in-a-generation talent, someone who perfectly met the moment. [4], In 2012, Smith was the rapid response director for Barack Obama's (D) presidential campaign. Smith starts texting me, wanting to know if Id seen the celebrities in the audience, including George Takei, Kal Penn and Kate McKinnon. Smith had no mentors. Shes had some very forceful moments as vice president. Why? And you know what their problem is? He is in talks to do a Fox News town hall in the coming weeks, building off the surprise success of Bernie Sanders appearance on Fox, and in the past couple of weeks has also been on Ellen and The View, as well as Preet Bhararas podcast, The Intercepts podcast and The New Yorkers podcast. Disappointing debate ratings spark Democratic campaign complaints padding:10px; Pete Buttigieg is the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana. Now after advising Pete Buttigieg, she's published a must-read memoir, 'Any Given Tuesday: A Political. That is not how she ran his race. So I would obviously advise him not to respond. Theres just no one who can do a TV interview like Pete Buttigieg. 'I Had Been Seen as a Little Radioactive': Lis Smith - POLITICO And it was a running joke between us: I was like, I cant listen to you talk about smart sewers one more time, or I will lose my mind. He loves that stuff. Most people do have earnest sides to them. ), Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo. Click here to contact us for media inquiries, and please donate here to support our continued expansion. The national security site has found fresh energy as a savvy, progressive attack dog in national politics. | Because it would drive me nuts during the campaign hearing all his wonky, wonky talk about infrastructure, about roads, about smart sewers. Smith: I think a lot of people get a very one-dimensional view of me. If we do that it is a recipe for disaster. Smith: You never say never. The list below shows notable staff departures found in media reports. 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. Smith plotted the rollout of Pete Buttigiegs longshot presidential campaign. She worked on campaigns for Jon Corzine, for New Jersey governor; Terry McAuliffe, for governor of Virginia; and. Lis Smith Says the Path to Trouncing Ron DeSantis Is Straight Through Other candidates, they dont need to do it. 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's taken gambles on underdogs like Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, advised establishment stalwarts such as former Virginia Gov. And if people like me dont get involved, then Im scared about the future of our country. Theres the article in the Atlantic where the writer met the mayor of South Bend, Indiana for a chicken tempura lunch in Manhattan. You recently signed on with Michigan state Sen. Mallory McMorrow and Cincinnati Mayor Aftab Pureval. 'I Want Him on Everything': Meet the Woman Behind the - POLITICO 2022: Hell of a Week with Charlamagne Tha God as Self: 2021: Mayor Pete: 2003: Real Time with Bill Maher as Self: Clear; Even people like Terry McAuliffe and Claire McCaskill, who both have outsized personalities.

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