Matalin and Penn Are the Worst of the New Breed of Political Consultants
Evidence piles up that presidential politics is mired once again in horse-race polls, TV ads, and, most of all, political consultants. Consultants in both parties rake in millions of dollars, often with as much bad advice as good.
For several presidential cycles, the nation has been locked in an era of these hired guns. As author Jules Witcover wrote in 1999 in his book No Way to Pick a President, consultants play a dominant role. It is even more significant today than nearly 10 years ago.
Candidates grumble about it from time to time, but they always wind up hiring consultants for huge chunks of campaign money.
Two of the worst examples today are Mary Matalin, a Republican, and Mark Penn, a Democrat.
Matalin learned her politics from the late Lee Atwater, a gunslinger from South Carolina. In this cycle, Matalin signed on first with the presidential quest of then Sen. George Allen of Virginia before Allen imploded in his 2006 Senate race. She then moved over to former Sen. Fred Thompson of Tennessee, who was an early dropout.
This is the same Matalin who was a close adviser to Vice President Cheney in the controversial run-up to the war in Iraq and its disastrous aftermath.
Yet she has the gall to be quoted this way about Scott McClellan's exposé book on the war: "This will stand as the epitome, the ultimate breach of that code of honor."
Matalin does not understand a fidelity to seeing right from wrong or even loyalty to a country being deceived by the Bush White House in selling the war.
Mark Penn, a highly paid adviser to Sen. Hillary Clinton, was demoted this spring to a lesser role in her campaign after it came to light that in his capacity as head of the Burson-Marsteller ad agency, he had been advising the Colombian government about a free-trade agreement that Clinton opposes. He had been a divisive force in the campaign: One Democrat close to the campaign told me he was "a horror show."
Another consultant of recent Democratic vintage is Dick Morris, who had President Clinton's ear. This is the same Morris whose famous dalliance with a prostitute made headlines in 1996. He even allowed her to listen in on a personal conversation with Clinton.
It should be mentioned that there are people of solid reputations in the world of consultants. The late Bob Teeter and John Deardourff represented largely GOP moderates for several years and were true professionals. Peter Hart, a Democratic pollster and adviser, has excellent credentials for being a straight shooter.
Too bad there just aren't many Teeters, Deardourffs, and Harts around in these campaigns today.
Tags: politics | presidential election 2008
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George Allen
God: Please give Allen more opportunities to "set the record straight" in Virginia...
It's disgusting how much speculation there has been over Webb as a prospect for Obama's veep post. The squabbler has hardly been in office for a year and a half, yet the media is having a field day toyin' w/ the idea.
Father Day Reflection on Election Campaign 2008.
Father Day Reflection on Election Campaign 2008 :
Election 2008 is not a election but a decision for homecoming. Americans are on the crossroad of homecoming or a journey to the abyss. They are currently facing Great Depression II and the only conscious solution is to repeat what they had done in the last Depression and emerged as a much stronger country. In the 1930s Americans were smart enough not to elect a politician as president but to return home to their parents, FDR and Eleanor Roosevelt, who had nurtured them back to health and wealth. Today, we are facing the same dilemma, should Americans elect a radical politician who has given them empty promises? Or, to return home to their parents, John and Hillary? The choice is really quite simple. Obama and Black supporters reminisced wrestlers whose matches are pre-arranged and play by hitting under the belt theatrics causing economic downturn just to win. So, stop watching American games. Obama's white supporters are insulting their own race as incompetent and incapable of managing their own country . Whether Obama will be elected his "super delegates", who endorsed at other's expense, must be sentenced to live in Black neighborhoods for more than four years to find out what they are really like. The democratic governor of Oklahoma who had just endorsed Obama must be executed for causing their supernatural tornadoes. The communication media of the U. S. are circus clowns not worth commenting on because they have never given any honest election comments. American voters in general are "blind" to good judgement. Hillary Clinton, best American candidate in history, can be identified with a unspoiling mother who has wasted her own $10 million just to warn her stubborn and ignorance daughter not to date strangers in the street. John McCain who has shown the ability to set aside party differences for the common good, working relentless for the American by running on many elections and his decency has earned the trust of most Americans. Together as a team John and Hillary will carry Americans out of the current Great Depression. But will a good father send his children to early grave for a war that cannot be won? Obviously, our parents are much older and less handsome than us but they have the experience we rely on and care we need. Happy Father Day!
RIGHT AND LEFT
I FEAR THAT THE RIGHTISTS MAY GO SO FAR AS TO FALL OFF THE FAR RIGHT EDGE OF THEIR FLAT EARTH.
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John W. Mashek covered politics in Washington for four decades with U.S. News & World Report, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and the Boston Globe. His primary beats were Congress, the White House, and national politics. He covered every presidential election from 1960 to 1996. He was a panelist in three televised presidential debates in 1984, 1988, and 1992.