Wren: This book is in some ways a tell-all about the role of a political consultant. It is my passion. And I have a nice, quiet life where I dont live in Washington, D.C. And if people like it they like it, and if they dont they were probably never going to vote for you anyway.. Most people do have earnest sides to them. | Unless youre a total psychopath . I think now more than ever, people need to understand how the media works. I romanticize it. [24], Smith authored the 2022 book Any Given Tuesday: A Political Love Story. It is a matter of life and death and we need every person on the field pic.twitter.com/LPqIS3zjnW. There are probably dozens of Mayor Petes out there across the country. They are already well-known.. The speed with which Buttegieg emerged has been astonishing, which happens to be the speed at which Smith works. That maybe once he double-dipped his fry at Barnabys? Its sad, but our politics isnt built to deal with people who are reasonable. Lis Smith, a Democratic communications operative, has written a memoir that pulls back the curtain on how campaigns are won and lost. He didnt feel the need to go out there and be the coolest guy or the hippest guy on stage. [44] She describes herself as an "oyster-tarian," which she defines as a vegetarian who will eat oysters. That was my philosophy. At that point, reporters she had developed relationships with began to reach out, wondering what she was doing wasting her credibility on a little-known character who seemed like a step down the ladder of political prospects. [2], She worked on Tom Daschle's 2004 Senate campaign as a field organizer. Even people like Terry McAuliffe and Claire McCaskill, who both have outsized personalities. Disgraced former New York governor Eliot Spitzer, 54, and his new girlfriend Lis Smith, 31, may have enjoyed a relaxing family Christmas, but their cosy domesticity could soon be upset after it . From the second I met Pete, I knew that there was something special about him. But to me it was more just revealing [the] nature of the sliding doors of campaigns, and I think thats what youre getting at. When I was starting in politics, we didnt have women. [40], Smith dated Missouri politician Jeff Smith after meeting him at Dartmouth and handled some of his publicity during his campaign. Weve seen a lot of cataclysmic things happen. | Wren: What do you look for in a candidate? Smith says thats worth it. When they gave me the job I thought, first of all this job exists? 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. One thing I find incredibly admirable about him is what you see is what you get. The way Smith tells it, she thought she was done with presidential politics after OMalleys campaign fizzled in 2016. Smith plotted the rollout of Pete Buttigiegs longshot presidential campaign. The tabloids followed the pair to Christmas at Smiths parents house in the upscale suburb of Bronxville. which Politico Magazine excerpted last week. They just get swallowed up by the next news cycle, and never reach the voters who matter anyway. [19], In 2021, Smith worked closely with then-governor Andrew Cuomo, and advised him on how to respond to the sexual harassment allegations against him. 2023 NYP Holdings, Inc. All Rights Reserved, De Blasio didnt trust NYPD security to keep secrets, ex-aide Lis Smith claims, Gross unshowered de Blasio wanted to get in bed with Spitzer but I beat him to it: ex-aide Lis Smith, How Americas gov became Americas ahole: Ex-Cuomo staffers new book, Chris Cuomo could be a dk to disgraced ex-govs staff, new book claims. Smith: I think a lot of people get a very one-dimensional view of me. Smith: Yes. Sign up for POLITICO Magazines email of the weeks best, delivered to your inbox every Friday morning. Smith a Bengals fan believes quarterback Joe Burrow is a great leader with a clear social conscience, and she wouldnt rule out the possibility of him having a political career. These days, Smith seems to be heavily involved in promoting her new book. I worked in states like South Dakota, Missouri, Ohio, Kentucky, Virginia. (For the record, I can totally envision him sitting on the floor singing Kumbaya just not for me. They need to understand how the political process works. How could they claim my dating life had nothing to do with the decision when it was the sole reason I was leaving,? she said. [1], Smith was born to lawyers Thomas, cousin of Senator Sam Ervin, and Adrienne Smith and was raised in Bronxville, New York, along with her twin brother Angus, and older siblings Ashley and Toby. When Smith opens her laptop, there are saved tabs about Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton, a YouTube video of a facial massage routine, kale recipes, a Time Out City Guide to Dubai and a 2012 Huffington Post article about how the Obama and Romney campaigns used Twitter. Except then it didnt. Buttigieg reignited Smiths love for politics, she says, after a really difficult 2015 and 2016 due to her breakup with former New York Gov. But Joe Biden is president today, and Kamala Harris is his vice president. She dated former Missouri State Sen. Jeff Smith from 2005 to 2009, before he was locked up in a federal pen for obstruction after a probe of the state's 2004 election. But seriously. Our resort was more Leave It to Beaver than Debbie Does Dallas,' she claimed. Smith: One of the reasons I wanted to write this book was because when I was thinking at 19 or 20 about getting into this world, [a book like this] didnt exist. Because he was a badass. The problem with a lot of people, not just candidates, but anyone in life who is caught up in a crisis is that they react. But they did teach me the importance of always making sure that candidates are reflecting the values of their voters. George Bush had Karl Rove; Bill Clinton had James Carville. While the affair may have been fun while it lasted, the two reportedly split in 2015, it cost Smith her job. Its really fun. Bill de Blasio, too. Is it your relationship with reporters and cable bookers? Wren: Based on how you characterized the vice presidency, would you ever counsel the transportation secretary, regardless of what year it is, against taking the vice presidency? Lets be real, Adam. I figured he was special and it couldnt hurt if everybody knows who he is.. So I wanted to write a book to tell people, Hey, if you want to know what politics is like the ins and outs, the good, bad, and the ugly this is a book for you.. What I realized from my time working in politics is how much mystery there still is around this industry. In a tweet shared on July 20, 2022, Jeff praised Smith for the publication of her insightful book., Talked @Morning_Joe about why I wrote Any Given Tuesday: "More than ever we need people to believe in the political processPolitics is more important than ever. Did I think I was going to walk into his office and tell him that I was dating Eliot Spitzer? Theyre out in country working on campaigns. Smith: Oh, thats simple. Maybe somewhere an 18-year-old girl like me can pick up my book and can learn something from it about how you work with candidates, how you work with the media, how you deal with crisis, and also learn from my mistakes. And if people like me dont get involved, then Im scared about the future of our country. 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. You never get in a fight with someone whos trying to promote a book. Tim Miller, my friend, wrote a great book weeks ago, where he talks about the danger of getting sucked up in the game. 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. [5] In 2009, she became press secretary for Terry McAuliffe and Jon Corzine's gubernatorial races before moving on to becoming the communications director for Ted Strickland's 2010 Ohio governor's race. A Democratic candidate in West Virginia is going to look very different from a Democratic candidate in New York, and we cant impose this one-size-fits-all thing and think that the Democratic Party is going to be a majority party. Although Smith and Spitzer attempted to keep the affair under wraps, a photographer for the New York Post spotted the pair at her SoHo walkup apartment, exchanging loving looks.. Critics of the IDC have questioned Smith's loyalty to the implementation of progressive policies and candidates. Can I tell you something very off the record, she texts. E! A New York Post photographer had been surreptitiously posted outside my SoHo walkup apartment. Other candidates, they dont need to do it. Between 1987 and 2013, Spitzer had been married to Silda Wall Spitzer. ET Political strategist Lis Smith isn't a married woman, though she may one day decide to tie the knot with a lucky somebody. They have grown to like and trust each other. Pete Buttigieg and his husband Chasten in February 2020. It went on like this, just cursing up a blue streak for like two minutes., The aides mistake, Smith recalls, had to do with email: He failed to BCC reporters on a news release he blasted out. On the flip side of that, the most established, the most convention conventional political consultants werent going to go work for Pete Buttigieg, the 37-year-old mayor of South Bend. 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. Theyre in the agencies. . Smith: Yeah. Smith: You never say never. 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. It was as horrible as Id anticipated and seeing the photos of Eliot and me taken in what wed thought were private moments was even more disturbing, knowing they were on display to anyone who cared to look, she writes in the 304-page tome. I see Donald Trump win the White House, which like everyone else, Im flabbergasted. Smith is now Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio's spokeswoman and is dating Spitzer. She did, however, date a married man while serving as a campaign aide to former New York Mayor Bill de Blasio. | Scott Olson/Getty Images, Lis has an insurgent mentality, said Axelrod, a top aide for both of President Obamas campaigns. The final indignity, she said, is that de Blasios team team wanted the statement to say her departure was unrelated to her dating Spitzer. Smith said she felt violated after learning she was being followed. How has it turned out so far? [2][3] During her time at Dartmouth, she volunteered for John Edwards' 2004 presidential campaign. Democratic operative Lis Smith on Monday savaged her former boss, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio, over his municipal coronavirus response, while offering effusive praise for Gov. A better response that is informed by all the facts is the most effective way to respond. [33][34][35] She has written for publications such as The New York Times, Vanity Fair and The Washington Post. 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. Wren: You write pretty transparently in the book about times youve been fooled by a candidate. What do I get if I pay for your consulting services? Pete made us all show up to give our 100 percent at work made us all better at our jobs. Mistakes that Ive made with media. He wrote a paper praising Bernie Sanders at Harvard? From the second I met Pete, I knew that there was something special about him. Former communications director, Pete Buttigieg's presidential campaign. Political strategist Lis Smith reveals in her new book how The Post exposed that she was dating prostitution-loving former Gov. Cuomoresigned last August amid claims of sexual harassment and misconduct. But there have been a few times when Ive been around him when I knew something, a factoid or something he didnt know, and let me tell you, I fucking lord it all over him. Wed gone down to Jamaica to get away from tabloid drama, not actively court it, Smith said. The New York Post is looking into you and Eliot, Smith wrote, adding, Well, fk. 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). Lis Smith is recording this call. I want Republicans to read this book. Smith: It made me want to be better at my job. Smith: Are we talking about the same Pete Buttigieg? And you are going to pay me to be really quick and really aggressive and to take on Mitt Romney? Read on for more details on the relationship that cost Smith her job, who she has dated since, and what shes up to these days. Smith-Petersen held a protective arm around Keough's, 33, waist as he supported the actress on her first red carpet since the sudden death of her mother Lisa Marie Presley last month. | James Devaney/GC Images. Smiths Any Given Tuesday: A Political Love Story, out July 19, is an irreverent, intimate and honest look behind the curtain of modern political image-making including her own. Pete has no battle scars. You dont reach out to the 35-year-old gay mayor of South Bend, Indiana, because you think it will be an easy ride.. I think thats always been part of Joe Bidens appeal. The New York tabs may have sharpened her game, but people who've known her for years say Smith came ready for the fight. I tell her that I have been calling around to former coworkers and associates, trying to get a sense of how she operates. Smith: We check in here and there. He lives in New York. Miller is darkly. I lost the media war thatId thought I commanded, Smith said. This is how we stop there from being a day three. From the second I met Pete, I knew that there was something special about him. Its a super-aggressive thing to do. I love him. And if I can help you with my experience, my profile, my contacts, to do that, then I will do it. It was by no means an obvious career move for Smith. I think we saw that Kamalas attack on Biden was obviously was pretty pointed. John Edwards comes to mind. Wren: Fair enough. Wren: Youre often credited with vaulting Pete from the mayor of Indianas fourth-largest city to a member of Bidens cabinet. I consider him a friend . The scandal would serve as a distraction for both Smith and mayor-elect de Blasio but the political crisis communications guru thought she could ride out the storm. The savvy strategist then had to figure out how to break the news to de Blasio and his camp, as their soon-to-be City Hall press secretary was now at the center of her own juicy tabloid scandal. TV news executives are calling, she says, emailing, now complaining that Buttigieg isnt doing their shows often enough. It may look like the sky is falling, but just ride this out.. None of those races were particularly easy. Even TMZ got in the act LEO DICAPRIO OFFERED BUTTIGIEG HELP DURING 2020 RUN, trumpeted the chyron. You can unsubscribe at any time and you can contact us here. The attack we had been dreading was coming. 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. I am a liberal Democrat, but I was so into the McCain thing. Before a debate, you have no idea how much gossip is going around. ), Smith quipped. My mood changed when the Post story popped. Are you kidding me? | [16] Business Insider considered her to be one of the 10 most powerful women running the 2020 presidential campaigns. Riley Keough's husband, Ben Smith-Petersen, revealed the couple welcomed a baby girl while he gave a speech on behalf of his wife during a memorial service for Lisa Marie Presley on Sunday By. 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. There may be nobody more central to Mayor Pete's media successbesides the candidate himself, and arguably his social-media-savvy husband, Chasten Buttigiegthan Smith, who serves as a. Not possible, Smith says. We met at the Roxy Hotel in Tribeca. The Buttigiegs announced last month that they were engaged in the adoption process. Smith has been exploring the idea of renting a bus, and just as McCain did, inviting reporters aboard to travel and fire away at Buttigieg with any question they want, all day, day after day. I think that she gets a lot of unfair criticism. Published on July 13, 2022 06:12 PM. [43], Smith says she experiences stage fright. In her book, Smith also called another client she worked for,ex-Gov. Because 2015 and 2016 were really difficult times in my life. The Post ran the exclusive photos of Spitzer ducking in and out of the Soho walk-up. But I appreciate his courage in being willing to speak out about it. Details of that relationship were first brought to light by various media outlets and then, in Smiths recently debuted memoir, Any Given Tuesday: A Political Love Story. I know of one person in particular who said you were making a catastrophic career mistake working for a total nobody. What is Lis Smiths secret sauce? In a chapter entitled The Eye of the Storm, she recalled how her parents who reside in Westchester were shockedwhen photographers and scribes were camped outside their home when Spitzer joined them for Christmas dinner. Wren: He rehabilitated you and taught you to love the political process again. And they all lack humility. She ran it like he was trying to be president, getting him in front of as many microphones as she could. They feel like if they dont respond within two minutes, that the crisis is going to fester. Why? Its about hustling for opportunities. He weighed in after the Supreme Court decision. And when I began asking around to figure out who was behind that strategy, the same name kept coming up: Lis Smith. Lis Smith Net Worth 2023, Age, Height, Relationships, Married, Dating, Family, Wiki Biography. `Jesus, you always keep it interesting.'. 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. 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.. 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. Her plan is to emulate maybe the best-known and most successful insurgent move of recent campaign history: John McCains 2000 Straight Talk Express. We've received your submission. I had that early rush of love on the brainI wasnt thinking clearly. Lis Smith entered politics after watching The War Room, the 1992 documentary about Bill Clinton's successful bid for the presidency. I have talked to all the guys who see in the shots. 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. The two of us talked this week about Buttigiegs political future, whether Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow could jump into politics, and the ingredients of a good political candidate. Before a debate, you always keep it interesting. 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