Monday, January 14, 2008
Publicists
A campaign manager can make a campaign (Jim Carville) or be irrelevant - who even remembers most victors' managers' names? In light of which, I wonder why anyone thinks viewers (i.e., potential voters) should take anything Susan Estrich says seriously? In case the name is unfamiliar, she ran Michael Dukasis' campaign.

Remember Michael Dukasis? You don't remember him, if you're fairly young, because he lost (i.e., didn't win) and was never heard from again on the national political scene. Which could all be because he was a dreadful candidate even though she was a brilliant strategist . . . or . . . it could be because the campaign was dreadfully run. It's kind of like distinguishing between the director and the script and the actors in terms of what makes a play flop or soar. In this case, however, although he wasn't the best candidate in the world by any means, it was also one of the worst-run campaigns you can imagine. There were fiascos after fiascos and ill-conceived photo-ops one after another and various publicity stunts galore. It was really bad. Plus, she's got a grating voice and conveys a smug, superior attitude. And yet, for some reason, various and sundry news shows on several channels seem to think viewers should take what she says with some seriousness given that they keep her front and center. Makes no sense to me.

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Permalink | | posted by jau at 12:54 PM


2 more:
Blogger Laura — at 1:52 PM, January 14, 2008:
I'll never forget Susan on Fox on Election Night 2004...as it became apparent that the exit polls were wrong and Kerry wasn't going to win Ohio or the Presidency, she became so goofy that there was speculation she was a bit...er, tipsy...on the air. Or was her discombobulation simply despondency? I've never heard an explanation for her behavior that night but she was waaaay out there. If you Google it you can find stories; one blogger wrote: "Perhaps the strangest performance of the night goes to Fox News politico Susan Estrich. Looking glassy-eyed and at times acquiring a southern accent, Estrich boasted of having first-hand knowledge of Florida and Ohio, claiming they would both go for Kerry. Did Miss Estrich start celebrating a bit too soon in the day after viewing those fictitious exit polls? One hopes that Fox had the sense to designate a driver for her after a long and disappointing night."

Best wishes,
Laura
 

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Blogger jau — at 2:40 PM, January 14, 2008:
That's a riot! Of course, it makes it all the stranger that she's an "authority" now.
 

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