Back in 2000, we had Karen Hughes seizing every possible opportunity to frame issues, perpetuate myths, repeat slogans, and generally trash Gore. I recall vividly her accusing him of being a "serial liar" after it came out that he had made minor mistakes like saying he had toured Texas with FEMA's James Lee Witt, when it was actually some other FEMA guy. I hated her, but I had to respect her skills.
Meanwhile, Gore had two of the worst spokespeople I have ever seen. Mark Fabiani and Chris Lehane. To begin with, both were almost caricatures of Gore's biggest problem--the "goody two-shoes" thing. To its credit, the Gore campaign had Tommy Lee Jones at the convention try to make the candidate into an acceptable "bad boy", but then they had Lehane and Fabiani, seemingly effete, almost effeminate, always ineffective.
So how do the three Democratic front-runners measure up?
Joe Trippi, David Axelrod, and Mark Penn were on "Hardball" Thursday afternoon, right after the debate.
If Edwards won the debate by his repeated references to corporate greed, and Obama came in second by his graciousness, Hillary lost big time in part because she has a lousy "face" in Mark Penn.
I'm for Obama, but I love Joe Trippi. One of the networks ran a show about how the media covered Howard Dean's "scream" back in 2004. It showed Trippi reacting to the coverage and I could feel his pain--"what the hell are they doing?" he seemed to be thinking. As the "face" of a campaign, I cannot imagine anyone better. Too bad Gore did not have him in 2000. On the Matthews show, Trippi seized every opportunity to repeat the message of the Edwards campaign and to point out that Penn, Clinton's spokesman, was disingenuously trying to keep the "garbage" going.
About a week before the 2000 election, one of the "terrible twosome", Fabiani or Lehane, was on the boob tube and asked about how things looked in Ohio. I practically kicked in my tv screen when Gore's spokesman said, "Governor Bush is going to win Ohio". The first thing that any campaign worker in training is told, or should be told, is that you never say anything like that. Even if that's what you think--especially if that's what you think. This is Campaign 101. "It's probably going to be close in __, but our message of _ and _ is going to turn out voters who are concerned about ___ and ___, and we will win in __."
What else is important? Appearance. Trippi was dressed casually, no tie, but he looks very good. His outrage when Penn persisted in referring to the garbage about Obama was genuine, with perfect timing.
His candidate is currently in third place in the polls, but his concentration on the issues--and I think Edwards has the right ones-was very well done.
Axelrod is a little nerdy, and he appeared from a remote location, obviously outdoors, wearing a heavy coat. He looked okay and emphasized Obama's "above the fray" demeanor. Let's hope the Obama campaign is not getting too complacent. I had volunteered to go up there to knock on doors,and was just notified that they had all the people they needed in Iowa.
If this were a GOP campaign I was volunteering for, I would probably be asked to come up for some kind of extra duty. Does that kind of thing go on in Democratic primaries?
Penn is a disaster for the Clinton campaign. Pasty, pompous, pudgy, he reminded me a little of Bob Shrum, and also a little of Lehane. If Iowans are paying attention to the political shows the way we political junkies are, Penn's appearance on "Hardball" just emphasized the increasing desperation of Hillary's campaign. And don't get me wrong. If I could be assured that Hillary would win, I'd be thrilled to see that happen, but I hear moderates and even die-hard Republicans tell me that they hate her and like Obama. And even Democrats who say they will vote for any Dem except her.