John Edwards: Fire your campaign manager

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Thursday December 28, 2006 · 4:09 AM PST

2006/12/28 · 04:09

The time to fire somebody is the first time you think of it.

Your staff was supposed to be carrying you over a cesspool, and they let go. You need to make it clear to them and the surviving members of Team Edwards that you are no one to be screwed with.

Democrats, Gore and Kerry among them, have a nasty habit of firing campaign managers after the shooting starts. This is unbecoming, demoralizing, and, worst of all, destructive of that precious commodity, time. So do it now. Get it out of your system.

When I say campaign manager, I don't mean the 61-year-old former congressman David Bonier whom I assume is in a chairman-like role rather than in charge of actual "combat" operations. Indeed, Bonior himself should do the firing, keep you above the fray.

But make an example of the people who screwed up your opening day.

Read more to learn why heads must roll

stevehigh

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Monday December 18, 2006 · 9:01 PM PST

2006/12/18 · 21:01

We have a rich presidential field this year. If the candidates don't start slicing little pieces off each other, we should wind up with a strong ticket. Ideally, that's what primaries do.

I don't see sharp differences between the candidates. Their voting records are similar. The big issue for me is, who can win? There is no way to know until it's too late, but we all have opinions.

That's what makes the jukebox play. I'll tell you what I think after the fold; what do you think?

stevehigh

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Saturday December 16, 2006 · 7:42 AM PST

2006/12/16 · 07:42

How much experience have first-time presidential candidates had during the past half-century? On average, 20.9 years. Vice-presidential candidates, 16.6 years. The current 2008 field of 12 Democrats seems to fit right in, with an average experience level of exactly 22 years.

But the three leading 2008 contenders—Clinton, Obama, and Edwards--have an average 8.7 years each, less experience than the other nine candidates—and less than that of any Democratic nominee since 1952.

The first two weeks of the primary season, as currently scheduled, features four one-state contests:

Monday, January 14, 2008 - Iowa
Saturday, January 19, 2008 - Nevada
Tuesday, January 22, 2008 - New Hampshire
Tuesday, January 29, 2008 - South Carolina

How much will experience matter in 2008? We should know by January 30. Obama has more governmental experience than either Clinton or Edwards, but he lacks national campaign experience. Read more to review the quality and amount of experience each candidate brings to the race.

stevehigh

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Monday November 20, 2006 · 8:31 PM PST

2006/11/20 · 20:31

Even famous consultants like Karl Rove, James Carville, Ed Rollins and Joe Trippi are ultimately hired hands who can become fired hands.

If it were otherwise, it would be Rove who would call Bush, "Turd Blossom," not the other way around.

Remember the golden rule: he who has the gold, rules. But hire wisely in the first place, so you don't have to exercise the nuclear option in the middle of your campaign.

Hear are three rules to keep in mind the next time you or someone you care about runs for office:

stevehigh

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Wednesday November 15, 2006 · 1:12 PM PST

2006/11/15 · 13:12

I supported Lamont for Senate once when he won, and once when he didn't.

But I must say, if every Democrat fought as hard as Joe Lieberman, we'd never lose another seat. He deserves our admiration and respect for his long career, which, almost by sheer will-power, he extended another six years.

Yes, he took Republican money. but, more important, he took Republican votes. We need Democratic candidates who can do that, and we need them in the Democratic caucus.

It was a tough fight, and we got our licks in, but now it's past time to shake hands and move on. Read More

My Plan for Iraq: Save Saddam's Sorry Life

stevehigh

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Monday November 13, 2006 · 10:17 PM PST

2006/11/13 · 22:17

I have no business having an opinion about Iraq policy; nevertheless, I do.

Goals:

1. Return Iraq as much as possible to the status quo ante Bush Jr., Richard Perle, and the rest of those geniuses.
2. Protect U.S. interests as much as possible in the region and at home.
3. Drastically reduce U.S. casualties.

stevehigh

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Tuesday November 07, 2006 · 8:22 AM PST

2006/11/07 · 08:22

Everyone our here in the west knows you just can't tame coyotes. You think they're your pets, but one day you hear that howling, run outside and see that yellow look in their eyes.

They're dead chickens all around, the real dog is bleeding, and oh my god, somebody check on the baby.

The Democrats will win today because the Republicans forgot you can't really tame the mainstream media either. In chasing the Foley story, the media went into full blood-maddened frenzy mode. In this state, writers and editors do not respond to dog whistles, sharp German language commands, or even tranquilizer darts. There is simply no stopping wild animals when they are tearing apart wounded prey. What the GOP had was no longer a well-trained team of attack dogs, but a marauding pack of wild canine predators, like dingoes or timber wolves.

stevehigh

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Friday October 27, 2006 · 11:34 AM PDT

2006/10/27 · 11:34

Lamont-Lieberman is the most important race in the country for anyone on this site.

Why? Not because it will lead to control of the Senate although that is a possibility. Holy Joe says he won't flip to the GOP, and I tend to believe him because he has given his word and he really does respect the Ten Commandments in his personal life. Still, nobody knows what he himself would do if Karl Rove promised to name an aircraft carrier after your wife and deposit $20 million in a numbered account. And Rove's got the money because they sure as hell haven't used it to catch bin Laden. Actually, I know what I'd do--I'd take the money, change my name, and get plastic surgery.

No, Lamont-Lieberman is the most important race in the country for anyone on this site. Here's why and what you can still do about it. Read More

Gore in Berkeley, looking like the next president

stevehigh

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Tuesday October 24, 2006 · 10:27 AM PDT

2006/10/24 · 10:27

I heard Al Gore give one helluva speech in Berkeley yesterday, and it left little doubt in my mind that he is running for president.

Why? Because he can win. And what politician save Sherman has ever turned the job down?

Photo links and further observations below the fold. Read More

Nastiest, Most Sickening, Horrorshow Since Eagleton Electroshock Picnic

stevehigh

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Thursday October 05, 2006 · 2:19 PM PDT

2006/10/05 · 14:19

Memo To: House Leadership. You just can't inhale this much merde this close to an election and ever breathe normally again.

From: Steve High, lapsed campaign manager. My won-lost record is 30-7 although as Matt Rees once said, I've lied about it so much, I don't really remember.

Subject: L'Affaire Eagleton. Said Affaire was sans doute--English fails me--the most egregious, mismanaged cluster-fuck in either party in American political history. Until now, that is. Back in the day...
Read More

Abortion Summer

stevehigh

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Tuesday March 07, 2006 · 10:33 AM PST

2006/03/07 · 10:33

Abortion Summer

The South Dakota abortion ban is cruel to women and girls, especially the 13% who live below the poverty line. That is its distinguishing characteristic, and that is why it offers a chance to educate the nation.

I wish I had the means and the courage to go there myself. I was still a teenager, living at home with mom and dad, during the Freedom Summer of 1964, but I talked to some of the only slighter older veterans when they returned. In our armchairs, we remember the glory and the crowning achievements of the Civll Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act passed the next year. I

The memory of Freedom Summer is one thing, but the actual experience was mostly just plain terrifying. If you're going to South Dakota, read this diary from 1964 so that you know what you could be getting into. You'll see why I say, at 57 at any rate, that I lack the courage to go myself. I got my chance to face tear gas and police batons during the anti-war movement a few years later.
Read More

The Stoning of Duke Cunningham

stevehigh

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Saturday March 04, 2006 · 7:23 AM PST

2006/03/04 · 07:23

Duke Cunningham, a Navy Ace, got eight years today. When he fell, I exulted, and still exult, at the prospect of a Democrat picking up his seat.

But now, my heart cries out for mercy, not justice.

Cunningham has already suffered the greatest humiliation and loss a politician can suffer. And now he must also die of cancer in prison.

He is, as we all are, a human with eyes, hands, organs, dimensions, senses, affections, passions. He is fed with the same food, hurt with the same weapons, subject to the same diseases, healed by the same means, warmed and cooled by the same winter and summer, as all of us, Democrats and Republicans, are.

A war hero, he has lost 90 pounds since his arrest, not from the South Beach diet, but from sorrow, regret, and disease. Read More

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John Edwards: Fire your campaign manager

How do you rank the 2008 Democrats?

Will Experience Count Obama Out in 2008?

Hiring and Firing Political Consultants

Here's to you, Mr. Lieberman

My Plan for Iraq: Save Saddam's Sorry Life

The Media Beast Hears the Call of the Wild

Beat Holy Joe: Why and How

Gore in Berkeley, looking like the next president

Nastiest, Most Sickening, Horrorshow Since Eagleton Electroshock Picnic

Abortion Summer

The Stoning of Duke Cunningham