Now after advising Pete Buttigieg, she's published a must-read memoir, 'Any Given Tuesday: A Political. Pete Buttigieg is the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana. He knows the importance of building up our bench. Even people like Terry McAuliffe and Claire McCaskill, who both have outsized personalities. | James Devaney/GC Images. 01 May 2023 02:06:06 It wasnt an ideal situation, but it taught me a lot, Smith says. . That's why you've seen them lean on people like Olivia Rodrigo, Matthew McConaughey, the Jonas brothers. . Im joking. Even in decline, AM radio matters more than you might think. It is 5:15 on a Monday evening. This is an election where the women voters are going to be really important. Her father was a partner at the white-shoe law firm Sidley Austin. I know youre asking it in good faith, but I am declining to answer it in good faith. He was an incredible leader at Louisiana State University someone that team could rally around, and such a maturity to him. @lynnsweet, @kaitlancollins, @Lis_Smith and @PriscillaWT are talking how do we avoid rookie mistakes on the campaign trail. I know, but sitting at this dinner in Indianapolis, I was completely gobsmacked by how impressive some of the speakers were that I had never heard of before in my life, that you will never read about in national publications. Some are even in the White House, like Deputy Press Secretary Chris Meagher, who briefed the press not too long ago. Smith: All the good candidates are comfortable in their own skin. }. When I stood up and left the table, Buttigieg stayed, and I recognized a woman sitting at the bar. Why do I fucking love John McCain? She most. ), President Barack Obama (D) and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio (D). Each was the political id the candidate couldnt, or wouldnt, express. 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. In 2012, Smith served as President Barack Obama's director of rapid response, a similar role she'll play with Cuomo and the state Democratic Party's coordinated campaign this year. She became obsessed with the idea of working for him, then became further obsessed when she actually met him, and developed the notion that once people got to meet him they would start to like him. Across the street, Brooklyn hipsters of all ages and manner of facial hair are lining up around the block at a bowling alley/music venue to catch Buttigieg at a fundraiser. Operations: Meghann Olshefski Mandy Morris Kelly Rindfleisch On a cornier side, I think because he is such a good person, he made a lot of us better people throughout, because politics can be sort of a nasty business. What is Lis Smiths secret sauce? #cjc2024. | Scott Olson/Getty Images, Lis has an insurgent mentality, said Axelrod, a top aide for both of President Obamas campaigns. Letting Claire be Claire. 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. In 2012 Lis directed President Barack Obama's rapid-response team for his re-election effort. Eric Appleman of Democracy in Action describes candidates' efforts to hire staffers as a "race for talent, both nationally and in key early states." This includes with her own boss. The saga gave Smith an insight that most campaign operatives lack: what it's actually like to be that bug trapped under the magnifying glass. 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? We were on the bus in New Hampshire the week we were playing each other and furiously checking our lineups. That cut both ways during the campaign for Buttigieg, particularly when a white police officer killed a Black man in South Bend. Democratic strategist Lis Smith, who served as the senior communications director for Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg's 2020 presidential campaign, believed Christine Blasey Ford was . Seeing how Pete cuts through with people and what a truly effective messenger hes become for the Democratic Party, it makes you realize: Theres not just one Mayor Pete. Chill., Lis, I guess you could say, comes from a very different world than Northern Indiana., Lis Smith bursts through the doors of a marbled hotel bar in Brooklyn wearing oversized Anna Wintour sunglasses, a faux-fur-lined coat and impossibly thin and tall high heels. as well as other partner offers and accept our. She often mentions others in her tweets and sometimes gets into multiple tweet disputes with people she disagrees with, which are always fun to watch. My advice is just go out there more, communicate more. I think now more than ever, people need to understand how the media works. Why would a Pete Buttigieg hire me? 1. 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. It has been my passion since I was nine years old, which sounds sick. And it was the first time Id worked in politics that Id ever felt that way. I want political people to read this book, because I think its fun. Wren: Could see a political career for him? But they did teach me the importance of always making sure that candidates are reflecting the values of their voters. When Smith signed on to help Mayor Pete run for DNC chair, it was a part-time gighelping a candidate nobody had ever heard of run for an insider position, the kind of job decided not by the public, but in backrooms by the most hardcore party loyalists. Smith: Oh, thats simple. The way Smith tells it, she thought she was done with presidential politics after OMalleys campaign fizzled in 2016. I wasnt born yesterday. Because he was a badass. They just get swallowed up by the next news cycle, and never reach the voters who matter anyway. The table below shows a sampling of the candidate's 2020 national campaign staff members, including the campaign manager and some senior advisors, political directors, communication directors, and field directors. If you could just attend town board and county legislature meetings for a year, what are the intangible qualities you'd be looking for in scouting candidates? 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. Theyre in the agencies. Click here. And its something that forever Ill be thankful to him for. and this amazing panel for a great conversation about campaign journalism! But until they released him from the NDA, we just didnt get his clients. Pete was completely different. For a complete timeline of Buttigieg's campaign activity, click here. Its really fun. Youve got this hard-nosed New York-style political operative and this friendly Hoosier mayor, he said. Its a role that clearly lends itself to his skill set. during the height of his sexual harassment scandal, Lis Smith spoke to Insider about her new book, "Any Given Tuesday.". What we did is fucking ridiculous. Even TMZ got in the act LEO DICAPRIO OFFERED BUTTIGIEG HELP DURING 2020 RUN, trumpeted the chyron. I think thats probably the biggest misconception about me. Wren: Fair enough. And when I began asking around to figure out who was behind that strategy, the same name kept coming up: Lis Smith. I thought everybody knew that.. Oh really, you didnt know that? 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. A lot of people people whose opinion you respect told you that you were nuts when you chose to work for Pete. For example, you write in your book about going to a pop-up bar in South Bend with Pete and his best friend and campaign manager, Mike Schmuhl. He looked white as a ghost, didnt say anything, just nodding along. 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. 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. | | This page contains a select list of Pete Buttigieg's national campaign staff and primary state directors. If Im going to be honest about other people and their shortcomings, its really important for me to be honest about myself and my own shortcomings, Smith told me. Lis Smith is recording this call. Smith also. Smith earned plaudits in the 2020 campaign for her work as Pete Buttigieg's communications advisor. And so my advice would just be, get out there more, especially with Kamala, go out there more. 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. POLITICO Weekend flies into inboxes every Friday. Smith: I think a lot of people get a very one-dimensional view of me. A few weeks ago, a couple of hundred people expressed interest in this event. Based on that experience, how should Democrats make gains in those kinds of states in 2022? She texts the buzziest bits to her sprawling network of journalistic contacts, who tweet them out. James Devaney/Getty Images. In a crisis, the most important thing to do is to pause, to take a step back and get all the facts, and game out your response. Wren: I want a window into how you advise candidates amid a crisis. Im realistic here. I want him on everything, she told me. 2022: Hell of a Week with Charlamagne Tha God as Self: 2021: Mayor Pete: 2003: Real Time with Bill Maher as Self: Clear; I think I am impressive because I am a violinist and I went to Dartmouth and I speak French and have traveled all over the world and, I dont know, I know a lot about great apes, she says. Lis Smith is currently a Deputy Campaign Manager at O'Malley for President from May 2015 to February 2016 (10 months) in Baltimore, Maryland Area. Part of it with him is the persona. Well, of course someone running for president would need to talk about it with me first, right? She worked on campaigns for Jon Corzine, for New Jersey governor; Terry McAuliffe, for governor of Virginia; and. He was out there. Now, I understand that sounds completely sick. And someone needs to be. 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. No. 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. As for their interactions with reporters, it's a good question, but if you look back on the Biden campaign's outreach during the general election, I think it actually increased his number of interactions with local press with the number of interviews he did remotely in states like Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Michigan. But you know, more importantly, through some trial and error, over this very long career, I learned the importance of letting candidates be candidates, right? As a thirty-something mayor of a medium-size city, Buttigieg faced a credibility threshold with the national press. If there is one thing that makes Smith unique, its not her knowledge of great apes or her particular skill eviscerating her opponents on Twitter; Its that her skin was toughened by a stretch of time in the rawest, roughest media environment of all, the NYC tabloid scrum. The writer from Indianapolis Monthly who went for a jog with Buttigieg three months before his feature landed, the Washington Post Magazine writer who sat down in a Virginia soul food joint with Mayor Pete long before he declared his presidential bid and the Yahoo News feature writer who crammed into the corner seat of a midtown Manhattan caf with him months ago. We needed to be the antidote to him. She is not letting Buttigieg read her book, Any Given Tuesday: A Political Love Story, ahead of publication day. And maybe I shouldve gone to law school. But it was one of those moments where I had to go with my gut. .circle { Smith, the campaign's senior communications adviser, has proven to be a political star in. | I consider him a friend . @lynnsweet, @kaitlancollins, @Lis_Smith and @PriscillaWT discuss! How did that manifest itself with Pete, the first candidate youve ever advised who was approximately the same age as you? Smith previously worked on campaigns for former Sen. Tom Daschle (D-S.D. 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. The speed with which Buttegieg emerged has been astonishing, which happens to be the speed at which Smith works. And I do think that some of that savvy did come out of innovations they had to make during the 2020 campaign. Inside the Shrinking Newsroom of the Paper That Shapes the PrimariesBy Tim Alberta. There are probably dozens of Mayor Petes out there across the country. I see that being taken so far out of context. He's on his way into a black car to do Maddow. Meet the DNC dark horse: Indiana mayor Pete Buttigieg is shaking up the race for Democratic chair, added Salon. 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. Most people do have earnest sides to them. Please email us at editor@ballotpedia.org. Your knowledge of the process? The book gives an unvarnished behind-the-scenes look at campaign strategy and press relations. They are doing things that are more directly relevant to peoples lives. Lis Smith is a Democratic campaign communications specialist and co-founder of 50 State Communications in New York. 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.. 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. 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? Running for politics theres got to be a little element of narcissism or whatever you want to call it in you. It was Lis telling me I need to fire my campaign manager, that the guy is a fucking idiot. After 20 campaigns flacking for candidates such as Transportation Secretary and former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg, former Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill, former Virginia Gov. Politics is really personal to me. You deploy the F-bomb like Picasso used drypoint. When I was starting in politics, we didnt have women. Shes had some very forceful moments as vice president. 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. I think its just shaped up to be a perfect role for him. I was coming off some New York races where everything is just all-day personal attacks getting in the mud. He is in talks to do a Fox News town hall in the coming weeks, building off the surprise success of Bernie Sanders appearance on Fox, and in the past couple of weeks has also been on Ellen and The View, as well as Preet Bhararas podcast, The Intercepts podcast and The New Yorkers podcast. Smith: Youve got to meet voters where they are. And you dont know who is actually going to attack you. She is a talented communicator. Martin OMalley, who got like 1 percent in the Iowa Caucuses. Lets be real, Adam. Chuck Kennedy/PFA. Lis Smith is an American campaign manager affiliated with the Democratic Party. One thing I find incredibly admirable about him is what you see is what you get. Im just going to leave it there because I thought it was funny. Also how many, like, mind-games campaigns are playing with others. (The rapid-response job, Smith says, was for her like being a pig in shit. What do I get if I pay for your consulting services? It wasnt really until 2012 when I worked for Barack Obama that I did find a really strong female mentor in Stephanie Cutter and I learned so much about my job, so much about politics, so much about how to effectively communicate from Stephanie Cutter. Show this thread. [The vice presidency] is probably the toughest, most thankless job in Washington D.C. I mean, for God's sake, we don't even pay that much attention to governors. As voters look for someone who can beat Trump, the fact that the press corps appears to vouch for this curious character, a young liberal red-state mayor, means that voters can give him a second look too. That is not how she ran his race. Not possible, Smith says. You dont reach out to the 35-year-old gay mayor of South Bend, Indiana, because you think it will be an easy ride.. It will hopefully make the cost of prescription drugs go down, or cut the price of insulin. [2] Letting Pete be Pete. She is practically shaking with excess energy. Whats that like? Well before she worked for Cuomo and then briefly rejoined as an outside advisor during the height of his sexual harassment scandal, Smith worked for his arch nemesis, de Blasio. I romanticize it. Know of any staff we missed? Smith had no mentors. If we do that it is a recipe for disaster. Smith said McCaskill chose to campaign aggressively in rural counties, which likely contributed to her narrow win over Talent. Theres just no one who can do a TV interview like Pete Buttigieg. And when he was asked about that, he gave a really strong answer, and he took responsibility for things he did do in South Bend or things he didnt do in South Bend. Smith: Im not going to touch that with a 10-foot pole. Elliot Spitzer (pictured), the election of Donald Trump and former Maryland Gov. [2] He suspended his campaign on March 1, 2020. A text arrives from John Weaver, a top adviser to former Ohio Governor John Kasich. In what ways does your brand benefit from Petes, and in what ways does Petes brand benefit from yours? 27 Apr 2023 19:44:36 Lis Smith is leading the charge in terms of media coverage for the Pete Buttigieg campaign. Jeff Smith, her former boyfriend, recalls one time when he was running for office, his campaign managers phone rang. My first impression was that he was a bit goofy and unserious, and never, never, ever in my wildest dreams did I think I would be sitting across the table from him 10 years later, interviewing to work for him as he was about to be the incoming mayor of New York. Lis Smith, may find her job in . Smith, who helped take Buttigieg's star to the national level, is now working with Michigan state senator Mallory McMorrow, who went viral with a searing counterattack on anti-LGBTQ+ Republicans.. We are at the risk for seeing abortion rights eroded in more and more states. 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. Now a veteran Democratic strategist, Smith is the woman credited with propelling the . Spitzer and Smith stayed together for more than two years, with the tabloids following them pretty much the whole time. | Lorenzo Bevilaqua/ABC via Getty Images. She knew Axelrod from 2012, when she worked as director of rapid response for President Barack Obamas reelection effort. At 37, Smith is already a campaign-worn strategist and Washington, D.C., folk hero, credited with launching the 38-year-old mayor to, if not the top tier of the presidential race, its second. 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. Buttigieg focused his campaign on policy issues that he implemented as mayor, such as connecting with the global economy through investing in advanced industries, data, technology, and higher education.[4]. It is my passion. Click here to contact us for media inquiries, and please donate here to support our continued expansion. He shoots her a look and gives a mock shrug, as if it's an inside joke between the three of us, now old chums: I mean, a little I guess., Buttigieg makes an appearance on "The View." Buttigiegs rise from unlikeliest of contenders to actual top-tier presidential candidate has been fueled in part, maybe in large part, by his astonishing success courting the press. George Bush had Karl Rove; Bill Clinton had James Carville. Buttigieg received the most pledged delegates in the Iowa caucuses. She led Buttigieg on a series of one-on-one meetings over beer, coffee, lunch or cigars with what used to be known as the Gang of 500those reporters, producers and pundits who shape much of the nations political coverage. So I would obviously advise him not to respond. What makes him such a magnet for criticism on both the left and the right? He has a clear social consciousness to him that you dont see in a lot of professional athletes. border-radius:50%; 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. Smith: You never say never. Whitney Whitis. 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She was the deputy campaign director for Martin O'Malley's 2016 presidential campaign. She was my girlfriend., Later, says Smith, when he was a state lawmaker, I would say to her, I am going to talk to such-and-such group, and she would tell me, This is what you should say. And I would say to her, Lis, I am not going to say that, its not my style, its not going to work. From the second I met Pete, I knew that there was something special about him. 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. There were, Smith guesses, probably 150 such meetings with the national press corps, and when he traveled across the country, speaking to local county party dinners and fundraisers across the Midwest and Great Plains, they would make time for one-on-ones with the local political press there, too. Ballotpedia features 408,464 encyclopedic articles written and curated by our professional staff of editors, writers, and researchers. Smith: Joey Burrow is an incredible leader. Mistakes Ive made in my private life. She is the most competitive person I have ever known.. 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. width: 100% !important; 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. Adam Wren: In the beginning, you scored the contract for this book based on your high-profile turn as a senior communications adviser to Pete Buttigieg. I have a really close-knit group of friends who have nothing to do with politics. Smith also gets points for interacting. 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. "[9] In January 2013, Politico reported that Smith had joined O'Malley's political action committee, O'Say Can You See PAC. 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. Let Pete be Pete. Wren: You write pretty transparently in the book about times youve been fooled by a candidate. 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. And it drives me crazy because you see the Republican Party elevating governors left and right, like Ron DeSantis or Kristi Noem. Theres the article in the Atlantic where the writer met the mayor of South Bend, Indiana for a chicken tempura lunch in Manhattan. She wants to know if Id seen Buttigieg answer a question about the Notre Dame fire from a French TV station, in French. You've talked a bit about identifying talent, particularly candidates who might get overlooked, like a Pete Buttigieg. The attack we had been dreading was coming. My observation, said Axelrod, who worked with Smith on Obamas 2012 reelection campaign, is that she is the quiet hero of his emergence.. Smith: We check in here and there. I had gone through this awful breakup [with former New York Gov. The one thing you saw on our campaign in 2020 is that everywhere we went, he was introduced by young leaders, young mayors. A better response that is informed by all the facts is the most effective way to respond. That even in the age of Twitter, that especially in the age of Twitter, people dont really care about gaffes. Usually, it was all good-natured. [1] She was the deputy campaign director for Martin O'Malley's 2016 presidential campaign. Eliot Spitzer]. After 20 campaigns flacking for candidates such as Transportation Secretary and former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg, former Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill,. Smith: It made me want to be better at my job. 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