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. Hes going to sound so elitist. Or: Why does he have to answer every question with a proverb? Voters can smell when candidates are being authentic, and when candidates are not. But as long as its just like that one percent that you need to have the confidence that you can go out and rally thousands of people, and that its just that 1 percent and not 70 percent, then its all good. Bill de Blasio, too. And you dont know who is actually going to attack you. From the second I met Pete, I knew that there was something special about him. [1] She was the deputy campaign director for Martin O'Malley's 2016 presidential campaign. Usually, it was all good-natured. 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. Before a debate, you have no idea how much gossip is going around. The White House Correspondents Dinner is shrinking back to the boring awards ceremony journalists claimed to prefer. @media only screen and (max-width: 400px){ Now that they have achieved liftoff, as it were, Smith is preparing for the next part of the campaign. border-radius:50%; And its going to be really important to have a woman sort of leading the charge on these issues, who is able to really empathize with the despair a lot of women are feeling. 36. Now more than ever, people are seeing politics touch everything in our lives. Even TMZ got in the act LEO DICAPRIO OFFERED BUTTIGIEG HELP DURING 2020 RUN, trumpeted the chyron. Lis Smith is a veteran of twenty political campaigns. 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. Smith ended up dropping most of her other clients, politicians and nonprofits alike. Smith: Mayor Pete is where Mayor Pete is now because Mayor Pete is just one of the most uniquely talented members of the Democratic Party. 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. It was Lis telling me I need to fire my campaign manager, that the guy is a fucking idiot. Smith: All the good candidates are comfortable in their own skin. I think its a little bit of a ride. Elliot Spitzer (pictured), the election of Donald Trump and former Maryland Gov. Lis Smith is recording this call. Honesty is really, really important to handling a crisis because you have to have all the facts at your disposal. Fantasy football we were competitive about that. } She uses her feed to, well, rapidly respond to the news. 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. @lynnsweet, @kaitlancollins, @Lis_Smith and @PriscillaWT discuss! Does something like Buttigieg Derangement Syndrome exist? 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 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. Wren: How is the Lis Smith depicted in this book different from the Lis Smith in the popular political imagination? There were very, very few women in positions of power. We met at the Roxy Hotel in Tribeca. This is what day two looks like. In some ways, he came across as a Midwestern dad before he was, in fact, a Midwestern dad. She worked on campaigns for Jon Corzine, for New Jersey governor; Terry McAuliffe, for governor of Virginia; and. Smith: Im not going to say who. How do you think the decline of local news has affected campaigns? 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. No. | Smith had no mentors. Eric Appleman of Democracy in Action describes candidates' efforts to hire staffers as a "race for talent, both nationally and in key early states." It pisses me off, she adds, When candidates think they are too good for some of these outlets, or that it cheapens them to do TMZ or do a more entertainment-focused thing. 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. Apr 27. "What that looks like is going to a county that may be 80-20 . 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. What is this new phase of your career about? Oversaturation? Because Pete is so Midwestern nice, I think it was helpful for him to have someone who could help kick him into another gear, and sort of push him to have the more aggressive instinct you need to break through in a presidential race. Smith has made a name for herself in recent months by working with a new crop of candidates in the middle of the country, including Michigan State Sen. Mallory McMorrow (center). In 2016 she was deputy campaign manager for Martin O'Malley, the Democratic governor of Maryland who ran for the White House. I am a liberal Democrat, but I was so into the McCain thing. By signing up you agree to receive email newsletters or updates from POLITICO and you agree to our privacy policy and terms of service. I'm not saying that it affects him negatively, but it's an interesting question. Chuck Kennedy/PFA. And its something that forever Ill be thankful to him for. I want Democrats to read this book. Wren: Lets talk about another Cincinnatian: Joey Burrow, your Bengals politically outspoken quarterback. Are you kidding me? But I dont know whats inside him. 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. I think thats always been part of Joe Bidens appeal. Buttigieg has gotten a number of lavish long-form features, so many that some have jokingly wondered whether Smith is getting paid by the profile. Not possible, Smith says. Smith: We check in here and there. "Joe Biden has had one of the most successful first two years of any president in recent history," Smith said. Since a lot of your book is about relationships in politics, could you start out by telling me about the time you met Bill de Blasio when you were volunteering for the John Edwards 2004 presidential campaign in New Hampshire? 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. 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. What is Lis Smiths secret sauce? 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. Andrew Cuomo and former New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio. God, you fucked that up. Inside the Shrinking Newsroom of the Paper That Shapes the PrimariesBy Tim Alberta. 27 Apr 2023 19:44:36 The spotlight turns to Kamala Harris, the only Black candidate on stage. 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. [5] For a larger list of state campaign staff, visit Democracy in Action. Sign up for notifications from Insider! This is an election where the women voters are going to be really important. If you read through the many, many profiles written of presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg in the past several months, its hard not to notice just how many reporters happen to have had personal encounters with the candidate, often months before he was in the headlines. Smith went to Dartmouth. I mean, for God's sake, we don't even pay that much attention to governors. Wren: Did you have a good handle before the campaign on Petes vulnerabilities? Smith also gets points for interacting. Buttigieg campaigns in Iowa shortly after officially announcing his bid for the Democratic nomination for president. I have a really close-knit group of friends who have nothing to do with politics. Mistakes Ive made in my private life. What else was the oppo they were dropping? 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. 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. 2022: Hell of a Week with Charlamagne Tha God as Self: 2021: Mayor Pete: 2003: Real Time with Bill Maher as Self: Clear; I really did feel he treated me as an equal. In the car, wed go back and forth on random trivia, and pulling up things on Google. Smiths mother is a descendent of a signer of the Mayflower Compact, and a cousin of lead Watergate investigator Sam Ervin. Pete made us all show up to give our 100 percent at work made us all better at our jobs. Wren: Much has been made about Trump Derangement Syndrome this idea that, true or not, he scrambles rational political responses from otherwise reasonable people. . Wren: Youve worked in a lot of red states South Dakota, Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio. The private Terry is a lot more low-key, and lot more humble, a lot more thoughtful. 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. That is not the typical relationship of adviser to political principal, but typical is not a word people use about Smith. By clicking Sign up, you agree to receive marketing emails from Insider '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 . I think it forced them to up their game in terms of their digital campaigning, and they understand I think more so than the Trump administration did that a lot of the ways you reach people now is not just through traditional big legacy media outlets. That maybe once he double-dipped his fry at Barnabys? Shes had some very forceful moments as vice president. This interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity. [11] Smith, who worked as a spokesperson for the PAC since her hire in 2013, then transitioned to the role of deputy campaign manager. People get stuck in a rut because something worked last cycle, and so they think it will work this cycle and it doesnt. The Covid pandemic. 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. The guy didnt have time to say hello before Smith could hear screaming over the line. Im joking. Wren: You and Pete have very different brands. There is nothing too big for her. Smith: Oh, thats simple. 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. I cant believe you didnt know that! 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. Wren: Youre a very competitive person. Click here to contact our editorial staff, and click here to report an error. But to me it was more just revealing [the] nature of the sliding doors of campaigns, and I think thats what youre getting at. The good candidates have humility. Buttigieg reignited Smiths love for politics, she says, after a really difficult 2015 and 2016 due to her breakup with former New York Gov. And maybe I shouldve gone to law school. She had served as a senior aide on OMalleys 2016 bid and with the Maryland governor when he was head of the Democratic Governors Association. Smith: So with John Edwards, I was a college student. The great media disruption comes for the Des Moines Register. Even people like Terry McAuliffe and Claire McCaskill, who both have outsized personalities. It also includes each staff member's position in the campaign, previous work experience, and Twitter handle, where available. 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. After 20 campaigns flacking for candidates such as Transportation Secretary and former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg, former Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill,. 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." Lis Smith Retweeted. He announced he was running for the Democratic presidential nomination on January 23, 2019, and formally kicked off his campaign on April 14, 2019. In real life, I have a really close-knit family. The tabloids followed the pair to Christmas at Smiths parents house in the upscale suburb of Bronxville. Wren: What is your relationship with Pete like now? The entire time Buttigieg has pitched himself as a unifier, Lis Smith has been right by his side. Smith: Democrats love to bitch that we dont have a bench. Wren: Youre often credited with vaulting Pete from the mayor of Indianas fourth-largest city to a member of Bidens cabinet. Top editors give you the stories you want delivered right to your inbox each weekday. Research: Josh Altic Vojsava Ramaj She most recently worked as a senior advisor in communications to presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg. first campaign in 2006. Other candidates, they dont need to do it. He was an incredible leader at Louisiana State University someone that team could rally around, and such a maturity to him. [1] She was the deputy campaign director for Martin O'Malley's 2016 presidential campaign. | Elijah Nouvelage/REUTERS. And although Smith would never say it, it plays on political reporters' narcissism, too. I think I am impressive because I am a violinist and I went to Dartmouth and I speak French and have traveled all over the world and, I dont know, I know a lot about great apes, she says. It has been my passion since I was nine years old, which sounds sick. Across the street, Brooklyn hipsters of all ages and manner of facial hair are lining up around the block at a bowling alley/music venue to catch Buttigieg at a fundraiser. After his loss in the primary, Smith went to work on the winning election campaign and then the transition of New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio. Whats especially important to me, is, you know, making sure to take a lot of young women under my wing. Martin OMalley, who got like 1 percent in the Iowa Caucuses. I dont live and breathe politics every day. ", Before they get in the car, I ask Buttigieg if Smith is being helpful in his campaign. I see Donald Trump win the White House, which like everyone else, Im flabbergasted. Theres a public Terry and a private Terry. I tell her that I have been calling around to former coworkers and associates, trying to get a sense of how she operates. 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. 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. He wrote a paper praising Bernie Sanders at Harvard? The death of local news is a tragedy for voters and it's a tragedy for campaigns. 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. Its that everyday when I go into work to try and get these people elected its because it will impact lives. When you do more interviews, it reduces that gotcha instinct with the press, it reduces that cat and mouse game. 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. Based on that experience, how should Democrats make gains in those kinds of states in 2022? Smith: Thats hilarious. That even in the age of Twitter, that especially in the age of Twitter, people dont really care about gaffes. That's why you've seen them lean on people like Olivia Rodrigo, Matthew McConaughey, the Jonas brothers. Smith: I think its been great. He was a once-in-a-generation talent, someone who perfectly met the moment, says Smith. And also keep in mind she was wasnt working on my campaign. But I love politics because it touches everything in our lives. UChicago Institute of Politics (IOP) And yet you signed on anyway. 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. Political Hotshot Lis Smith Talks Women in Politics, Democrats' Future and the Secret to Buttigieg's Success. It takes the edge off a bit. 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]. }. 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. 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. And those are the people that we should be elevating. 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. Its a local-politics mentality to find the people that are going to be telling this story, and if nothing else, making sure they have a real understanding of who you are. If you could just attend town board and county legislature meetings for a year, what are the intangible qualities you'd be looking for in scouting candidates? She was the spokesperson for Pete Buttigieg's 2020 presidential campaign. As someone who was a mayor who was on the ground, who knows how important this stuff is, hes a great messenger to send out there to these smaller media markets everywhere, where he can meet with the mayors, speak to them in their language, help make sure that theyre getting the resources they need. Why? 1. From her days as a college intern for John Edwards to her own brush with the New York tabloids, the book traces her entertaining path to the height of the American political consultant class. padding:10px; Pete Buttigieg is the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana. [2] He suspended his campaign on March 1, 2020.[3]. Smith did not let anyone featured in the book read it ahead of time, not even former principals like Buttigieg or Cuomo, whom she levels in the book in the way her beloved Cincinnati Bengals new right tackle Lael Collins might decimate an opposing player. Terry McAuliffe, and President Barack Obama, Lis Smith is finally flacking for Lis Smith. The thing with Terry McAuliffe is that hes in on the joke. Smith starts texting me, wanting to know if Id seen the celebrities in the audience, including George Takei, Kal Penn and Kate McKinnon. Lets just blow it out. . 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. Deciding to get into politics for me, and in the world of political operatives, was like jumping off a cliff. | Lorenzo Bevilaqua/ABC via Getty Images. 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. 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. Its really hard to do a hit piece on a guy who you are going to see the next morning over coffee and donuts, says Weaver. And so my advice would just be, get out there more, especially with Kamala, go out there more. And I agree with him that you cant get sucked up in the game. You deploy the F-bomb like Picasso used drypoint. Pete was completely different. Hes someone I ask for advice. George Bush had Karl Rove; Bill Clinton had James Carville. John Edwards comes to mind. Stay up to date with what you want to know. I want him on everything, she told me. Through the DNC race and afterward, Smith treated the national political press like it was another constituency that needed to be courted. Show this thread. They have one man to thank. Your Bengals fandom and their Super Bowl run is a part of the book. And it was the first time Id worked in politics that Id ever felt that way. Her next feature documentary, "Tribalism is Killing Us," which resulted . 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. I thought everybody knew that.. I consider him a friend . 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. 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. Martin O'Malley presidential campaign, 2016, Martin O'Malley's 2016 presidential campaign, Hillary Clinton presidential campaign key staff, Donald Trump presidential campaign key staff, Lincoln Chafee presidential campaign key staff, Martin O'Malley presidential campaign key staff, Bernie Sanders presidential campaign key staff, Ben Carson presidential campaign key staff, Chris Christie presidential campaign key staff, Carly Fiorina presidential campaign key staff, Lindsey Graham presidential campaign key staff, Mike Huckabee presidential campaign key staff, John Kasich presidential campaign key staff, George Pataki presidential campaign key staff, Rand Paul presidential campaign key staff, Rick Perry presidential campaign key staff, Marco Rubio presidential campaign key staff, Rick Santorum presidential campaign key staff, Scott Walker presidential campaign key staff, https://ballotpedia.org/wiki/index.php?title=Lis_Smith&oldid=8905524, Pages using DynamicPageList3 dplreplace parser function, Martin O'Malley presidential advisors and staff, Martin O'Malley primary election influencers, Martin O'Malley former presidential advisors and staff, 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.