Some are even in the White House, like Deputy Press Secretary Chris Meagher, who briefed the press not too long ago. Lis Smith is an American campaign manager affiliated with the Democratic Party. You deploy the F-bomb like Picasso used drypoint. It also includes each staff member's position in the campaign, previous work experience, and Twitter handle, where available. 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. None of those races were particularly easy. [5] For a larger list of national campaign staff, visit Democracy in Action. It meant a lot to me as a woman to have someone like that. She is the most competitive person I have ever known.. What do all the good candidates youve worked for have in common, and what do the bad candidates have in common? 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. Most people do have nerdy sides to them. I think Ive heard Pete use the F-word once or twice, for example, and his personal life doesnt play out in the pages of the New York tabloids. In 2018, she served as the political press coordinator for Pete Buttigieg's campaign for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination. POLITICO Weekend flies into inboxes every Friday. Insider caught up with Smith on Thursday, and learned about her time with de Blasio and what she looks for in undiscovered star candidates. This 35-Year-Old Mayor From Indiana Is Wowing National Democrats The New Republic declared. Lets be real, Adam. 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. Running for politics theres got to be a little element of narcissism or whatever you want to call it in you. President Biden announces he's running for reelection in 2024 : NPR There may be nobody more central to Mayor Petes media successbesides the candidate himself, and arguably his social-media-savvy husband, Chasten Buttigiegthan Smith, who serves as a communications adviser and all-around aide. It has been my passion since I was nine years old, which sounds sick. Sign up for POLITICO Magazines email of the weeks best, delivered to your inbox every Friday morning. It might not get you the votes, but I am not the political director. She ran it like he was trying to be president, getting him in front of as many microphones as she could. Her next feature documentary, "Tribalism is Killing Us," which resulted . 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. Lis Smith - Fellow - Georgetown University's Institute of - LinkedIn Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles. Deciding to get into politics for me, and in the world of political operatives, was like jumping off a cliff. 4. He knows the importance of building up our bench. Wren: Fair enough. 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. 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. Letting Pete be Pete. 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. "[9] In January 2013, Politico reported that Smith had joined O'Malley's political action committee, O'Say Can You See PAC. Whats that like? In recent months you have made a name for yourself by working for this new crop of candidates out in the middle of the country: Michigan State Sen. Mallory McMorrow, Aftab Pureval and others. Tech: Matt Latourelle Ryan Burch Kirsten Corrao Beth Dellea Travis Eden Tate Kamish Margaret Kearney Eric Lotto Joseph Sanchez. Lis Smith - Ballotpedia The table below shows the candidate's 2020 early primary state directors and state communications directors. [2] Smith previously worked on campaigns for former Sen. Tom Daschle (D-S.D. Going back to when the 2020 campaign went virtual, how do you think the Biden team has handled its messaging since then? That cut both ways during the campaign for Buttigieg, particularly when a white police officer killed a Black man in South Bend. ), President Barack Obama (D) and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio (D). I fucking love John McCain. The New York tabs may have sharpened her game, but people who've known her for years say Smith came ready for the fight. She texts the buzziest bits to her sprawling network of journalistic contacts, who tweet them out. And if I can help you with my experience, my profile, my contacts, to do that, then I will do it. Smith: Yeah. Obama had David Axelrod. Lets just blow it out. Lis Smith on Pete Buttigieg's campaign bus during a four day tour of Iowa, September 23, 2019. She doesnt give a fuck. And you are going to pay me to be really quick and really aggressive and to take on Mitt Romney? In that same vein, I know that there were people in the transportation secretarys inner circle that thought his taking that position wasnt the best idea. Wren: You and Pete have very different brands. If we do that it is a recipe for disaster. Shes a Black half-South-Indian woman. The list below shows notable staff departures found in media reports. 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. And it drives me crazy because you see the Republican Party elevating governors left and right, like Ron DeSantis or Kristi Noem. And I do think that some of that savvy did come out of innovations they had to make during the 2020 campaign. That's why you've seen them lean on people like Olivia Rodrigo, Matthew McConaughey, the Jonas brothers. Petes hitting at this moment in part because of the legwork they did. Wren: How is the Lis Smith depicted in this book different from the Lis Smith in the popular political imagination? Its just that I think with both Joe Biden and Kamala Harris that it would do the administration good to get out there a little bit more, and not to let the media and the Twitter dialogue get in your head, because most people dont speak like Pete Buttigieg in these beautiful, poetic, perfectly formed sentences. Smith, standing behind Buttigieg as he campaigns at various events in New York this April. Oversaturation? It felt like we connectedwe went over our allotted time, and I had another beer, and by the end I had shifted from very skeptical to only moderately skeptical, just maybe seeing a lane for his candidacy. It is, she says, the only newspaper she subscribes to. Dont miss it! He was going up against George Bush, who had $50 million and he had $4 million, and so he just decides to tear up the playbook and put himself out there. What I realized from my time working in politics is how much mystery there still is around this industry. The way Smith tells it, she thought she was done with presidential politics after OMalleys campaign fizzled in 2016. Click here to contact us for media inquiries, and please donate here to support our continued expansion. At the newsstand around the corner, you could buy a New York magazine with Buttigiegs beatifically smiling face splashed across the cover, and a New York Times with an A1 story about his time at Harvard. ELIOT AND DeBABE blared the cover of the New York Post, which ran several photos of the pair on its inside pages and in a column from the acid-tongued Andrea Peyser which called Smith not just any ordinary bimbo and called her an ambitious, youngish cookie who presumably does not charge Eliot for any services rendered., Eliot Spitzer and Lis Smith at a Philadelphia 76ers vs. New York Knicks game at Madison Square Garden in 2014. Lis Smith Retweeted. We are at the risk for seeing abortion rights eroded in more and more states. Buttigieg reignited Smiths love for politics, she says, after a really difficult 2015 and 2016 due to her breakup with former New York Gov. This sign-up form is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. border-radius:50%; Candidates often appoint elected officials and other important figures in their party's coalition as chairs of their national campaign and state-level campaigns.[1]. Alums [of the campaign] are on the Hill. Now a veteran Democratic strategist, Smith is the woman credited with propelling the . Oh really, you didnt know that? A photo and audio tour of the hosts driving the conversation. But it was one of those moments where I had to go with my gut. The book gives an unvarnished behind-the-scenes look at campaign strategy and press relations. I tell her that I have been calling around to former coworkers and associates, trying to get a sense of how she operates. They know who they are and will not let consultants, pundits, whoever, change them. What do I get if I pay for your consulting services? 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. "I basically blacked out for the next ten minutes as he talked about everything from Fiorello La Guardia to Buddhism," she wrote of her first job interview with the future mayor. RT @UChiPolitics: How do we avoid rookie mistakes on the campaign trail? From the second I met Pete, I knew that there was something special about him. She is practically shaking with excess energy. Mistakes Ive made in my professional life. "Joe Biden has had one of the most successful first two years of any president in recent history," Smith said. Smith, the campaign's senior communications adviser, has proven to be a political star in. Spitzer spokeswoman Lisa Linden said the break-up was amicable. How Trump Took the Shine Off Washingtons Glitziest NightBy John F. Harris and Daniel Lippman. Democratic Consultant Lis Smith on Her Professional - People [11] Smith, who worked as a spokesperson for the PAC since her hire in 2013, then transitioned to the role of deputy campaign manager. And when it happened, the story was her. Smith: I dont know, because I think one thing we saw was that he was pretty good about handling stuff. Hes someone who is very special to me, and I hope hes always a part of my life. | After the fundraiser, Buttigieg is going to rush off to 30 Rock to do Maddow, then in the morning New Day on CNN, and then fly to Iowa, then do Morning Joe when hes back. Gharavi is a BAFTA and Sundance-nominated filmmaker. In 2016 she was deputy campaign manager for Martin O'Malley, the Democratic governor of Maryland who ran for the White House. It will codify Roe v. Wade. Her father was a partner at the white-shoe law firm Sidley Austin. It is my passion. She most recently worked as a senior advisor in communications to presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg. Know of any staff we missed? Shes on her phone talking to another Buttigieg aide. How Lis Smith Turned Pete Buttigieg Into a Serious Contender I know of one person in particular who said you were making a catastrophic career mistake working for a total nobody. And if people like it they like it, and if they dont they were probably never going to vote for you anyway.. Wren: Did you have a good handle before the campaign on Petes vulnerabilities? But Joe Biden is president today, and Kamala Harris is his vice president. James Devaney/Getty Images. Mistakes that Ive made with media. You couldnt have pulled off that strategy with a Bill de Blasio. 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. But I appreciate his courage in being willing to speak out about it. So many flacks lose their mind over inconsequential things, and have no sense of, This is good press, this is mediocre press, and this is awful press. That is something you know once you have been through awful press., As a flack, you dont always understand what it feels like to be a principal, what it feels like to be under scrutiny. Pete made us all show up to give our 100 percent at work made us all better at our jobs. And you know what their problem is? This section featured five news stories about Buttigieg and his presidential campaign. How did that manifest itself with Pete, the first candidate youve ever advised who was approximately the same age as you? Smith: Im not going to touch that with a 10-foot pole. Lis Smith talks how 'going everywhere' helped McCaskill | STLPR Liz Truss locked in row over '12k bill at Chevening country retreat' People read about my personal life in Page Six, and they think Im going to be sort of an out-there type of person that is attention seeking and all of that. Smith has been studying the effort, reaching out to reporters who were there, and has been in regular contact with John Weaver, who helped engineer it. 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. And it makes it especially difficult for challengers. Except then it didnt. Wren: When you started working with Aftab Pureval did Pete feel like you were two-timing him with another Midwestern mayor of a river city with a funny name? The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms LisSmithMartinO'Malley. How do you think the decline of local news has affected campaigns? And also keep in mind she was wasnt working on my campaign. And what Pete understood, and why I believed in him, was that to beat Trump, we didnt need to be him. Is it your relationship with reporters and cable bookers? And its something that forever Ill be thankful to him for. 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. Fantasy football we were competitive about that. And he is as squeaky clean behind the scenes as he is in front of the camera. 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. 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. ), President Barack Obama (D) and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio (D). I wasnt born yesterday. Lis Smith - Wikipedia 2022: Hell of a Week with Charlamagne Tha God as Self: 2021: Mayor Pete: 2003: Real Time with Bill Maher as Self: Clear; [2] He suspended his campaign on March 1, 2020.[3]. 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. Buttigieg received the most pledged delegates in the Iowa caucuses. | James Devaney/GC Images. Research: Josh Altic Vojsava Ramaj Not to be cheesy, but it is one of my proudest accomplishments. PDF For Immediate Release - Politico And especially on far-leftist DSA Twitter, Im basically just depicted as a mix between Lady Macbeth and Rasputin in a wig, that Im like some soulless political operatives. Now she has carefully orchestrated her own books launch doling out choice anecdotes to her beloved New York tabloids: De Blasio didnt trust NYPD security to keep secrets, ex-aide Lis Smith claims, blared one headline, which elicited an on the record statement from De Blasio himself. We tend to think of younger politicians as either captive to the very far left or the very far right, but there is a whole crop of younger elected officials across the country that aren't on the extreme, and that can relate to the majority of voters.

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