Tales of Two Campaigns

Every Campaign needs people to run the campaign while the candidate is out making speeches and kissing babies. These are critical jobs that can make or break a campaign.

And sometimes they just have bad days.



David Axelrod of Senator Obama’s campaign.

Two weeks ago to his dismay, David Axelrod of Chicago, Barack Obama’s top strategist and a man whom I have known for 30 years, discovered that while his client’s Iraq trip was a roaring success, his European speech was a failure-so much so that it was ridiculed as being eloquent but shallow despite all the media pazzaz. Why? Because his client seemed too simplistic, too innocent, too guileless, too idealistic. As one habitué of Manny’s Jewish deli here told Axelrod, “I get the idea that Putin would pat him on the head and say `there-there young man; go play with your ideals while we adults play politics the old fashioned way.”


and on

The Saddleback Back-to-Back TV Interview on Moral Issues.

snip

Axelrod was jarred out of his wits to see his client stumble around on the question as if he and Warren were engaged in casual Harvard faculty lounge banter and wind up by confessing that the solution as to when life begins “is beyond my pay grade.” Axelrod slammed his hand down on the TV table when he saw his client fumble it . . .


Obama’s Big Mistake: Not Picking Hillary. Mccain Scores With Palin Pickby Tom Roeser on his blog On the Other Hand September 4, 2008




Steve Schmidt of Senator McCain’s Campaign

It was what aides to Senator John McCain describe as probably the worst night of his campaign. As Senator Barack Obama claimed the Democratic nomination before a cheering sea of faces on national television, Mr. McCain countered with a lackluster speech in a half-empty hall, posed in front of a pea-green screen that became fodder for late-night comedy.

Steve Schmidt, a senior adviser to Mr. McCain who worked on President Bush’s campaign in 2004, could barely hide his fury in the coming days, as he announced — to anyone who would listen — that he would personally make certain the McCain campaign would never again embarrass Mr. McCain.


“Fun Steve is dead,” Mr. Schmidt said.


An Adviser Molds a Tighter, More Aggressive McCain Campaign by Jim Rutenberg and Adam Nagourney, New York Times, September 6, 2008







Read and see what happened.