Lis Smith on Pete Buttigieg's campaign bus during a. Smith: Dont make me praise Chris Meagher. Smith: Youve got to meet voters where they are. | Scott Olson/Getty Images, Lis has an insurgent mentality, said Axelrod, a top aide for both of President Obamas campaigns. Wren: You mentioned that some people might view you as radioactive. Its sad, but our politics isnt built to deal with people who are reasonable. But to me it was more just revealing [the] nature of the sliding doors of campaigns, and I think thats what youre getting at. He laid out his case for how a millennial municipal official from a town the size of a New York City Council district could somehow seize the Democratic nomination. [The vice presidency] is probably the toughest, most thankless job in Washington D.C. Smith: Joey Burrow is an incredible leader. And if I can help you with my experience, my profile, my contacts, to do that, then I will do it. Bill de Blasio, too. 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? George Bush had Karl Rove; Bill Clinton had James Carville. 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.. Riley was joined by her husband Ben Smith-Petersen, who gave a touching speech at Lisa Marie's funeral, in which he revealed that they recently welcomed a daughter into the world. Because he completely disrupts the idea of what a successful younger politician is. No, actually, it shows a fundamental disrespect for the people who consume their news on this platform if you arent willing to go where they are.. And its really heartening because you realize the future of the Democratic Party is really bright, and that all we need to do is help lift these people up. Politics is really personal to me. | But he is also the kind of person journalists tend to like: bookish, somehow earnest with a sense of irony, and willing to talk the way journalists like people to talk, playing the pundit and getting into the political process and discussing his own ambitions. The American, democratic campaign communication specialist Lis Smith is a well-known face in American politics. 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. A report by New York Attorney General Letitia James showed that Smith was working behind the scenes to protect Cuomo from the allegations. And I talked about that in the book. It wasnt just the biggest names, people you know, Smith says. On Sunday, Bill de Blasio put out a statement in a New York Post story in his own name defending himself against the portrait you paint of him in your book as obsessively paranoid. If you were working for him, and a book like yours came out authored by someone else, how would you have advised him to address the situation? And there was not a better antidote to Trump than Pete in terms of style, in terms of life experience, and in terms of his worldview. Usually, it was all good-natured. So I would obviously advise him not to respond. 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[13][14], Smith met Pete Buttigieg on the recommendations of Axelrod and OMalley when he was considering running for Democratic National Committee chair in 2017 and became a consultant for the campaign. My end goalsbeing able to stay in New York with Eliot and serve as the New York City mayors press secretarywere in sight. I had a beerhe stuck to waterand we talked about his political ambitions and the state of the Democratic Party and why Trump won. Obama had David Axelrod. Smith marched him to the front of where the national and New York press were gathered, telling him, Are you ready for your first gaggle? He stayed until the matter was exhausted. Oh really, you didnt know that? Wed gone down to Jamaica to get away from tabloid drama, not actively court it, Smith said. Letting Claire be Claire. Id worked for former [Former Maryland Gov.] Lis has absolutely no fear, said Jeff Smith, a former Missouri lawmaker who dated Smith for four years and considers her one of his closest friends. He was out there. What is this new phase of your career about? This story has been shared 102,835 times. Buttigieg has gotten a number of lavish long-form features, so many that some have jokingly wondered whether Smith is getting paid by the profile. He was a once-in-a-generation talent, someone who perfectly met the moment, says Smith. It was written over a period of 18 months,[25] and covers her life and political career. Her plan is to emulate maybe the best-known and most successful insurgent move of recent campaign history: John McCains 2000 Straight Talk Express. 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. We just had the Supreme Court decision on abortion. Im realistic here. After O'Malley's campaign, she advised several nonprofit organizations, and incumbent governors such as Montana governor Steve Bullock. Im joking. Smith: I think Ive got good relationships with people in the media. [44] Smith plays the violin.[44]. Pete has no battle scars. She has advised New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe and Montana Governor Steve Bullock, people who on paper at least are far more likely top-tier presidential contenders, and she served as a top aide for a number of Senate and gubernatorial races. Now that they have achieved liftoff, as it were, Smith is preparing for the next part of the campaign. 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 way Smith tells it, she thought she was done with presidential politics after OMalleys campaign fizzled in 2016. I want Democrats to read this book. Yeah. But it was one of those moments where I had to go with my gut. Candidates and the people around them can get so spun up about things, and when you get spun up you make the worst mistakes, she says. But its not just about the 18-year-old girl. When you do more interviews, it reduces that gotcha instinct with the press, it reduces that cat and mouse game. Smith double majored in government and anthropology at Dartmouth College, graduating in 2005. And someone needs to be. Lis Smith: My favorite was one person asking me if I lost a bet or something. Letting Terry be Terry. And if people like me dont get involved, then Im scared about the future of our country. Smith says thats worth it. They are already well-known.. Petes hitting at this moment in part because of the legwork they did. Smith: I think its been great. You never get in a fight with someone whos trying to promote a book. Pete and I, you can probably tell are pretty laid-back, pretty low-key, I guess what you would call pretty Midwestern, said Mike Schmuhl, Buttigiegs campaign manager, who sounds like the host of a classical-music radio station who just returned from a yoga retreat. Its really fun. 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. And it was a running joke between us: I was like, I cant listen to you talk about smart sewers one more time, or I will lose my mind. He loves that stuff. 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. Most people do have nerdy sides to them. After news broke on the relationship, more photos were released, and Smith was eventually forced to come clean to fellow campaign members about the love match she had formed with Spitzer. [17] She has been included in Fortune's 40 Under 40 in Government and Politics,[18] and Crain's list of the 50 Most Powerful Women in New York. Just before he was sworn in, de Blasio yielded to Peysers prodding and cut Smith loose just before he moved into the mayors office. 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. Not to be cheesy, but it is one of my proudest accomplishments. He was an incredible leader at Louisiana State University someone that team could rally around, and such a maturity to him. The Buttigiegs announced last month that they were engaged in the adoption process. With Bill de Blasio, that was a different situation. Because even power needs a day off. You can unsubscribe at any time and you can contact us here. Did I think hed sit on the floor with me and sing Kumbaya and tell me it would be all okay? Most people do have earnest sides to them. Wren: Much has been made about Trump Derangement Syndrome this idea that, true or not, he scrambles rational political responses from otherwise reasonable people. Smith is a fierce New York City-based Democratic operative who helped engineer the plan to get Buttigieg in front of not just national political reporters, but anybody with a camera or microphone. Eliot Spitzer while working for incoming Mayor Bill de Blasio.. By signing up you agree to receive email newsletters or updates from POLITICO and you agree to our privacy policy and terms of service. Lis Smith, the political communications specialist who helped bring Buttigieg to national prominence before he became President Joe Biden's Transportation secretary, revealed the decision in an . If we do that it is a recipe for disaster. And no, politics is my love. Critics of the IDC have questioned Smith's loyalty to the implementation of progressive policies and candidates. Ive always tried to be very grounded. Smith plotted the rollout of Pete Buttigiegs longshot presidential campaign. 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. Wren: Youre a very competitive person. So it was just sort of the perfect confluence of all these things where that yin and yang dynamic got us together. They have one man to thank. Cuomoresigned last August amid claims of sexual harassment and misconduct. I lost the media war thatId thought I commanded, Smith said. Pete was completely different. Pete Buttigieg and his husband Chasten in February 2020. 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. We met at the Roxy Hotel in Tribeca. I think its a little bit of a ride. That is not the typical relationship of adviser to political principal, but typical is not a word people use about Smith. Buttigieg campaigns in Iowa shortly after officially announcing his bid for the Democratic nomination for president. 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. Regular voters and the media were primed for it.. You get a sense of the news, what is going to get picked up, she said, reaching into her bag for her copy of the Post, which she said she was saving for Buttigieg. It was a reporter from BuzzFeed News, waiting to take my place. Buttigieg reignited Smiths love for politics, she says, after a really difficult 2015 and 2016 due to her breakup with former New York Gov. While the affair may have been fun while it lasted, the two reportedly split in 2015, it cost Smith her job. which Politico Magazine excerpted last week. Because 2015 and 2016 were really difficult times in my life. | All Rights Reserved. And maybe I shouldve gone to law school. [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. Did it worry you that he might not be the candidate with whom people most wanted to have a beer or should we say, get lit with? Ahead of the release of her highly anticipated political memoir (which Politico Magazine excerpted last week), that includes figuring out how to get her computer to record our phone interview ammo to use in the event that its needed to set the record straight. But the Post discovered where they were. (For the record, I can totally envision him sitting on the floor singing Kumbaya just not for me. That fall, Spitzer and Smith started dating, which led to the New York City tabloids staking out her apartment to watch the pair coming and going. I think thats always been part of Joe Bidens appeal. Meet the DNC dark horse: Indiana mayor Pete Buttigieg is shaking up the race for Democratic chair, added Salon. Smith is 31; a Dartmouth graduate who apparently has a thing for bad boys. Both Miller and Smith come off as quasi-heros, semi-savants, pseudo-sociologists. New transcripts and . 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. She most recently worked as a senior advisor in communications to presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg. Liz Smith, the syndicated gossip columnist who chronicled the lives of New York's rich and famous with such skill she became known as the "Dame of Dish . It pisses me off, she adds, When candidates think they are too good for some of these outlets, or that it cheapens them to do TMZ or do a more entertainment-focused thing. The book was praised for its insight into the personal and political fortunes of politicians she advised. Tom Ford. 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. Our resort was more Leave It to Beaver than Debbie Does Dallas,' she claimed. The spinmeister hooked up with the still-married luv guv after working on his failed comeback bid to become city comptroller in 2013. Smith: I dont know, because I think one thing we saw was that he was pretty good about handling stuff. I dont live and breathe politics every day. Martin OMalley, who shed worked for, performing poorly in the Iowa caucuses. Chuck Kennedy/PFA. Smith: I think a lot of people get a very one-dimensional view of me. The attack we had been dreading was coming. The one thing you saw on our campaign in 2020 is that everywhere we went, he was introduced by young leaders, young mayors. [11][12] In 2018, Smith became spokeswoman for Andrew Cuomo's successful re-election campaign, who had endorsed the political entity. He hung up and looked at me in horror, and then my phone started ringing. "[30] Some critics felt that it minimized her role in discrediting the sexual assault allegations against Cuomo. 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. I thought everybody knew that.. 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. Oversaturation? The national security site has found fresh energy as a savvy, progressive attack dog in national politics. 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. 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