Rolling Stone: The Enemy Within-Dems Most Dangerous Opponent In '08 May Be Own Campaign Consultants

[kpete]

The Enemy Within
The Democrats' most dangerous opponent in '08 may be their own campaign consultants, who charge far more than GOP strategists -- and deliver far less
TIM DICKINSON
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2008 has the makings of a banner year for Democrats. The wave of discontent that swept the GOP from Congress last November is growing, and the Iraq debacle will make it difficult for Republicans to retain the White House. But there is one group of powerful Washington insiders who have a proven ability to derail the Democrats. Working behind the scenes, these top-tier operatives humiliated Mike Dukakis in a tank, muzzled Al Gore on the environment and portrayed John Kerry -- a lifelong crusader for gun control -- as a rifle-toting Rambo. Year after year they have made sure that the Democratic message comes across as little more than a fuzzy, focus-grouped drone about child tax credits, prescription-drug plans and the "fight for working families."
And here's the depressing news: The Democrats pay them millions to do it.

The insiders are the political consultants hired by the Democrats to poll voters, shape strategy and devise campaign ads. With the exception of Bill Clinton, who brought in his own team of outside-the-Beltway mavericks, these top advisers have paved the way to Democratic defeat in every presidential election since 1980. "The political consultants," says longtime Gore policy staffer Elaine Kamarck, "have not served our presidential candidates well." Larry J. Sabato, director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia, is even more blunt. "Forget what Shakespeare said," he advises. "First, kill all the consultants."

The party's campaign strategists operate under contracts that would make Halliburton blush. While their GOP counterparts work for a flat fee on presidential campaigns, Democratic media consultants profit on commission, pocketing as much as ten percent of every dollar spent on TV ads. It's a business model that creates "an inherent conflict of interest," concedes Anita Dunn, who served as a strategist for Bill Bradley in 2000. The more the candidate spends on TV advertising, the more the consultant cashes in. And that compensation is hidden from public scrutiny: Federal campaign reports reveal only what a campaign spends on ads, not how much the consultants skim off the top.

much more at:
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/13883484/national_affairs_the_enemy_within

[ShortnFiery]

1. That's the ticket! ---> "First, kill all the consultants."

:applause: :thumbsup:

[mmonk]

27. Sounds like the best plan I've heard so far.

[YOY]

32. A "Consultant" most times I see it is just an ass who tells you what you already know

and demands rediculous amounts of cash to do so.

[bryant69]

2. oy -that makes a surprising and disturing amount of sense

I think when you talk about the corruption of Washington Society, these guys are drowning in it.

Bryant
Check it out --> http://politicalcomment.blogspot.com

[bobthedrummer]

3. Background thread from January 2006

"Reality vs. perception management: the tinfoil controversy"
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x71919

[Chimichurri]

4. Rahm Emmanuel comes to mind

[Vidar]

11. As well as Carville.

[Warpy]

15. Don't forget Mary Beth Cahill

"Oh, Johnnie, just ignore the bullies and they'll go away."

The candidate in 2008 must have the strength of character to build his own team and allow those DLC campaign managers to stay in their more highly paid lobbying jobs. Compassion is everything, you know.

Just don't let them get anywhere NEAR another presidential campaign. Please.

[Diane R]

22. ESPECIALLY Carville and his phone calls to Mary Matalin.

[stlsaxman]

25. and Donna Brazil (sp?)

she's the Al Gore "Eart Tone" gal, right?

she's always on This Week With George Snuffalupagus

[truebrit71]

33. ..and she's proven to be about as useful as a kick-stand on a jack-ass...

..we REALLY need to dump these 'middle-way' morons...

[goforit]

42. Yes indeed. Her kissing ass after the 2000 election with Rove was nauseating!

[Leopolds Ghost]

44. and Bob Shrum is just as useful as tits on a boar-hog...

...and just as ugly.

[cascadiance]

56. Yup! "Our Brand is Crisis!" with him!

Check out the DVD!...

[theoldman]

5. The Gore campaign is a good bad example.

The consultants remind me of stock brokers who make money both ways while you lose.

[KittyWampus]

35. Gore won, remember? So the problem in 08 will be Election Fraud, not Consultants

And this article, while reinforcing many DU'ers bias against 'Consultants', totally ignores the actual reality.

Got an issue with Consultants? Make your case without buying into the Big Lie that 'Democrats have been losing elections' rather than 'Democrats have allowed elections get stolen from them'.

[John Q. Citizen]

39. The reason Gore won is he horrified his consultants and moved left, moved more

populous toward the end of the campaign.

[Leopolds Ghost]

45. Yep, and his consultants (and Lieberman, et al.) told him how to contest the 2000 results

Told him not to contest every precinct (he would have won) etc.

[KittyWampus]

50. What about all the other Democrats who won but didn't get the office due to Election Fraud?

Your insistence on blaming "Consultants" pretty much excuses GOP's Election Fraud.

There is almost no way of knowing the damage caused by either crappy, out-of-touch consultants or the GOP Vote Stealing.

But DU'ers don't do Democrats or Democracy any favors by blaming it all on Consultants, especially since we probably WON last several cycles but got screwed by fraud.

[John Q. Citizen]

53. Where are the consultants on election fraud? Not to be found, as far as I can

see.

WHy didn't the consultants consult on election fraud?

[Leopolds Ghost]

46. Let me guess, you're a consultant?

Yep, they've done a bang-up job...

[KittyWampus]

49. I agree there is a problem with DC insiders advising Dem candidates, understand?

However, I do NOT agree that Democrats lost because of them and that is because Democrats lost due to Election Fraud.

[Lerkfish]

6. haven't read the whole article yet, but I do agree the current crop of consultants, esp. the DLC

act as if they couldn't find their own ass with an extra pair of hands and a special ass map.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

12. what you said. nt

good article, too.

[supernova]

7. So why are the candidates

still hiring them? :grr:

Talk about the definition of insanity!

[annabanana]

30. They are scared.

They've bought into these guys "expert" status. Without them, they lose access to deep pockets, and they don't trust the roots to take up the slack.

[Leopolds Ghost]

47. Have they ever considered that the lobbyist/consultants and their deep-pocketed friends are traitors

Who are playing both sides, feeding money and advice to Dems in order to maintain the illusion of oversight and opposition?

[Gidney N Cloyd]

8. "GOP counterparts work for a flat fee..." Sure they do.

And I'm sure it's exactly the same as on the books they show the IRS.
:rofl:

[madfloridian]

9. "Crashing the Gates" had a lot about these gravy train consultants.

http://journals.democraticunderground.com/madfloridian/93

"These are pages from the Chapter entitled The Gravy Train.
This statement is from Brad Carson. He is telling of his bad experiences with the DC consultants sent to work his campaign.
Page 74.

"They're above you in the food chain," said Carson. "You have to negotiate about what you do in your commercials. They call up the DSCC and complain if you're not doing the 'right thing.' They're a source of intelligence to people back in D.C. And these guys are all powerful people, prominent people. They aren't even working for you. It's an amazing thing in a lot of ways, really amazing." Carson lost the election 53 to 41 to Tom Coburn."

[Morgana LaFey]

10. And don't know squat on top of it all, but THINK they do.

I don't even have to read any of the article to know this is right ON. This has been a problem for at least the last 4 election cycles, and maybe more.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

13. The ultimate campaign consultant

Carnac would do the politicians about as much good as the politicians who employ the usual scum.

[Warren DeMontague]

14. 2008 is gonna BE BOB SHRUM'S YEAR!

...Really. I swear.

[Cobalt-60]

16. Fire them all, right now

[LaPera]

17. Rolling Stone always surprises me....Some of the last great, true print journalism, sadly!

[Jonathan50]

18. From the Devil's Dictionary..

consultant

an expert in filling an Excel sheet with random observations, bullet-pointing common sense recommendations, and putting a stamp on a bill because he’ll be in another time zone when you are ready to try anything he suggested.

[PhilipShore]

19. The public opinion engineers

[OneBlueSky]

20. new word . . . "He could have won, but the campaign was Carvillized" . . . n/t

.

[Leopolds Ghost]

48. Carvillized -- roasted over a slow flame until every word became slow moving, saccharine,

syrupy mush.

[ToeBot]

21. If they promised to never print another word written by PJ O'Rourke...

I'd consider subscribing again.

[blm]

29. Ah...another PJ O'Rourke opportunity: O'Donoghue used to mock PJ's writing

Let's see...what was that word he used to use...... ah yes..... he'd say PJ's writing 'blows'

[JNelson6563]

23. Let's change that line

from "First kill all the lawyers" to "First kill all the Dem consultants".

Julie

[riverdeep]

24. Kick, Kick, Kick

This is really important. We've all looked at these canidates and said, why don't you fight back. Well, here's why. Honestly, it's not just consultants in politics, but consultants in general I'm skeptical of. The ones in the business world spouting the latest theory like an infomercial, total quality management or some nonsense. They seem like con men.

[sendero]

26. I couldn't agreee more..

.... it's clear that bad advice cost both Gore and Kerry their races. It was their fault for taking that advice, but in 2008 I hope whoever gets the nomination will play their own self and tell these frauds to take a hike.

[MrPrax]

28. Explains a few things...

If kickbacks to and from the media itself are part of the problem, then it doesn't take much of a stretch to realize that the candidates who seek office, do so, not because they are viable as electable candidates, but because they are viable fund raising vehicles for the media. The chances for media collusion of hyping worthless candidates that aren't popular with anyone except media shareholders.

Good observation from the OP article:

Democratic consultants stand to walk away with an even bigger payday in 2008: The campaign could easily cost at least $2 billion, more than twice the '04 bill. And if the party continues to pay strategists a commission for every TV ad, much of that money will wind up wasted. "The consultants will be spending more money on bigger ad buys, trying to catch the few people who watch ads today," says Chris Lehane, a strategist on the Clinton and Gore campaigns. "It's a crazy, illogical position."

But as long as that's where the money is, that's what the consultants will do. "There's little impetus to try anything new," says Joe Trippi, who orchestrated Howard Dean's insurgency in 2004. "You can't get a ten percent commission on a million people viewing something for free on YouTube."

Top consultants interviewed by Rolling Stone refuse to reveal how they will be compensated in 2008. But when the dust settles, party insiders warn, those who write checks to the Democrats won't be happy with the results. "Donors will be shocked at how their money is spent," says Coelho, "and who walks away with multimillions."

Explains a lot as to why the media and the political operatives were so 'cold' to Howard; corporatism hates de-centralization and the media will save it's monopolies even if it means overthrowing democracy.

[rman]

31. What surprises me is that Dems have not already started suspecting this

(and started acting on it).
Looking at it from the outside, it seems so obvious.

[KittyWampus]

34. Dems HAVE BEEN Winning Elections-That Get Stolen. DU'ers Are So Eager To Validate Their Bias

against 'Consultants' they happily ignore the fact that Democrats HAVE been winning but failed to take on the Election Fraud perpetrated by the GOP.

Have a case against 'Consultants'? FINE, but don't say Democrats have been losing elections specifically because of them and then go on another DU thread and bitch about Election Fraud and Vote Theft by the GOP.

You want to bitch about what will lose the upcoming elections in 08, bitch about BBV.

You want to bitch about what REALLY lost past few elections, bitch about the collapse of Democratic local infrastructure across the country.

[riverdeep]

38. Is it possible it could be both?

Could bad consultants have allowed the elections to be as close as they were, giving the pubs the spread to allow them to steal it? I think so. In a sane world, America would have kicked the bastard to the curb in '04, not given him a fighting, or thieving, chance.

edit: BTW if you're a consultant, no offense intended. I'm sure there's good ones out there as well.

[KittyWampus]

51. Good Question! I agree there are too many tone-deaf consultants working for Democrats.

It's a job I'd never be able to do cause of my impatience. I am less inclined to tell someone how to do this or that and more inclined to just get out there and do it myself.

[DinahMoeHum]

36. The Washington Monthly had a piece in 2005 about this problem

and they name more names:

Link:
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/features/2005/0501.sullivan.html

:kick:

[creeksneakers2]

37. Democrats are better off because they listened to us

2006 was the first year the party fought back at all. 2006 was also one of the few elections Democrats won. Nobody up there was fighting back until they were pressured to by the net lefties.

Candidates would be better off if they read their E-mail rather than listening to highly paid hacks.

[HamdenRice]

40. "professional election losers"

That's what Moveon.org called them after the 2004 election

"For years, the party has been led by elite Washington insiders who are closer to corporate lobbyists than they are to the Democratic base," said the e-mail from MoveOn PAC's Eli Pariser. "But we can't afford four more years of leadership by a consulting class of professional election losers."

Under McAuliffe's leadership, the message said, the party coddled the same corporate donors that fund Republicans to bring in money at the expense of vision and integrity.

[leftofthedial]

41. Dem consultants are worse than useless

I swear they are all repuke saboteurs

[goforit]

43. This is the perfect time to clean up!!!

[benEzra]

52. The gun issue was a perfect example...

80% of gun owners are nonhunters, but the consultants told politicians to stump for bans on popular nonhunting guns, while talking up hunting like it was the only reason people should be "allowed" to own a gun. It bombed, but the consultants were clueless enough to push it for a DECADE. It wasn't until '06 that they finally dropped the ban-more-guns crusade.

[BlooInBloo]

54. It has always been that way.

[sampsonblk]

55. Amen

nt