Wed gone down to Jamaica to get away from tabloid drama, not actively court it, Smith said. The great media disruption comes for the Des Moines Register. Lis Smith on Pete Buttigieg's campaign bus during a four day tour of Iowa, September 23, 2019. 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. 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." It was a long shot. Theres just no one who can do a TV interview like Pete Buttigieg. And when it happened, the story was her. She is operating on two and a half hours of sleep, having just arrived back in New York on a charter jet from South Bend, Indiana, after Buttigieg announced he was running for president. You dont reach out to the 35-year-old gay mayor of South Bend, Indiana, because you think it will be an easy ride.. She is most well known for being the senior advisor for Pete Buttigieg's 2020 presidential campaign and the director of rapid response for Obama's 2012 campaign. Weaver says that recreating that atmosphere in the days of Twitter, and in the days when the national political press corps has metastasized into a constantly hungry and multiheaded beast equipped with cell phones, is 10 times harder than when his team tried it in 1999. He looked white as a ghost, didnt say anything, just nodding along. None of those races were particularly easy. Maybe they wont focus on the former reigning champion [Spitzer], for once. She recently appeared on Fox News and is catching the attention of other media outlets to further discuss the juicy details she spilled in her memoir. Because he completely disrupts the idea of what a successful younger politician is. We are humble and kind, to quote Tim McGraw. Let Pete be Pete. | Mark Peterson/Redux, Yuki Iwamura/Redux. I had to deal with candidates who, unfortunately, did not give me all the facts, and you cant effectively handle a crisis. 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. 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. [Smiths voice breaks here.] Wren: He rehabilitated you and taught you to love the political process again. It was in 2013, the time when Smith was working for the de Blasio campaign, that she began dating Eliot Spitzer. I know of one person in particular who said you were making a catastrophic career mistake working for a total nobody. Mistakes Ive made in my professional life. It is, she says, the only newspaper she subscribes to. He knows the importance of building up our bench. Smith has spent much of her career as a political strategist working for prominent men such as Pete Buttigieg, Barack Obama, and the now disgraced Andrew Cuomo. And then what?, she thought to herself. Each was the political id the candidate couldnt, or wouldnt, express. But it is kind of fascinating to watch., Smith met Buttigieg on the recommendation of Axelrod and former Maryland Governor Martin OMalley. It was a reporter from BuzzFeed News, waiting to take my place. Pete asked the bouncer what the scene was like inside, and the bouncer told him it was lit. The term was lost on him. Honesty is really, really important to handling a crisis because you have to have all the facts at your disposal. [The vice presidency] is probably the toughest, most thankless job in Washington D.C. It was total bullst. Smith: I dont know, because I think one thing we saw was that he was pretty good about handling stuff. I was blindly ambitious, versus blindly loyal, and where the shiny object of being a New York City press secretary was more alluring to me that I was willing to overlook his very clear deficiencies. He weighed in after the Supreme Court decision. Smith: It made me want to be better at my job. All Rights Reserved. ET Political strategist Lis Smith isn't a married woman, though she may one day decide to tie the knot with a lucky somebody. My end goalsbeing able to stay in New York with Eliot and serve as the New York City mayors press secretarywere in sight. 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. Political strategist Lis Smith casts Bill de Blasio as a "gross unshowered guy" who had good reason to be "pissed" about her romantic fling with Eliot Spitzer exposed by The Post especially. It wasnt an ideal situation, but it taught me a lot, Smith says. So the Post is about to report that Im dating Eliot Spitzer. And I have a nice, quiet life where I dont live in Washington, D.C. [42] The relationship ended her role in de Blasio's mayoral campaign after tabloids published stories about it. Jason Bergman for POLITICO. We've received your submission. Smith: Im not going to say who. This is what day one looks like. She ran it like he was trying to be president, getting him in front of as many microphones as she could. 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. Terry McAuliffe, and President Barack Obama, Lis Smith is finally flacking for Lis Smith. Former communications director, Pete Buttigieg's presidential campaign. 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. Tim Miller, my friend, wrote a great book weeks ago, where he talks about the danger of getting sucked up in the game. She gravitates to candidates who are challenging and testing the status quo. She did, however, date a married man while serving as a campaign aide to former New York Mayor Bill de Blasio. Buttigieg campaigns in Iowa shortly after officially announcing his bid for the Democratic nomination for president. [7] As communications director for the DGA, she oversaw gubernatorial campaign efforts in Kentucky and West Virginia. Smith plotted the rollout of Pete Buttigiegs longshot presidential campaign. [9] Smith was credited with implementing a campaign strategy that emphasized one-on-one interactions between Buttigieg and the press which helped raise his profile from the mayor of the fourth-largest Indiana city to a top-tier presidential candidate. I think its just shaped up to be a perfect role for him. Smith: Im not going to touch that with a 10-foot pole. Smith: Are we talking about the same Pete Buttigieg? Lis Smith entered politics after watching The War Room, the 1992 documentary about Bill Clinton's successful bid for the presidency. Im horrified. I have talked to all the guys who see in the shots. 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. If we do that it is a recipe for disaster. 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). 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. From the second I met Pete, I knew that there was something special about him. Bill de Blasio, too. Whitney Whitis. 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.. 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. That was my philosophy. But there may be no political couple odder than that of Buttigieg and Smith. I should know: Last October, I had my own intimate, off-the-record encounter with Mayor Pete. It felt like we connectedwe went over our allotted time, and I had another beer, and by the end I had shifted from very skeptical to only moderately skeptical, just maybe seeing a lane for his candidacy. Hes someone who is very special to me, and I hope hes always a part of my life. I think thats probably the biggest misconception about me. I knew from the beginningthat our relationship would be a big tabloid story when it became public. Win or lose, she's turned an unknown into a serious . Smith: So with John Edwards, I was a college student. Also how many, like, mind-games campaigns are playing with others. But its not just about the 18-year-old girl. I thought everybody knew that.. It wasnt just the biggest names, people you know, Smith says. But Joe Biden is president today, and Kamala Harris is his vice president. She has been actively involved in politics after the completion of her graduation from Dartmouth . Theyre just not looking in the right places. 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. [21][22][23] In 2022, Smith became a communications adviser for Michigan State Senator Mallory McMorrow. Smith: Democrats love to bitch that we dont have a bench. And they all lack humility. | But they did teach me the importance of always making sure that candidates are reflecting the values of their voters. I know youre asking it in good faith, but I am declining to answer it in good faith. How much of his success was because of you, and how much was because of him? Yeah, I guess Id fallen in love with slightly problematic guy It wasnt like I was dating Ted BundyEliot was the former governor and attorney general of New York State, Smith said, referring to the serial killer. 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. Ourmost scandalous transgression was showing up three minutes late to the breakfastbuffet and sweet talking our way into cheese and jalapeo omelets.. Smith has been studying the effort, reaching out to reporters who were there, and has been in regular contact with John Weaver, who helped engineer it. Ive always tried to be very grounded. No. The obvious thing to do would have been to take on high-paying, quieter corporate gigs, or to reenter politics with someone truly high profile. But Smith is still sour that de Blasio let her hang out to dry. Why do I fucking love John McCain? Her father was a partner at the white-shoe law firm Sidley Austin. 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. And so, she says, she cant talk right now. 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. He was a once-in-a-generation talent, someone who perfectly met the moment. There was only one path for us to break through. . Were just not looking for them. Letting Pete be Pete. I have a really close-knit group of friends who have nothing to do with politics. Lis Smith on Pete Buttigieg's campaign bus during a. I really did feel he treated me as an equal. 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