Some get an extra month's pay, can keep BlackBerrys and laptops
New York Daily News Nov 14, 08 3:18 PM CST
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Barack Obama’s campaign is redistributing the wealth to the staff, the New York Daily News reports. The loaded campaign will give its troops a bonus equivalent to a month’s pay and allow employees to keep campaign-issued phones and computers, provided they pay the taxes. “It's a very nice gesture for people who slaved away and sacrificed for the past year,” one said.
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Insiders spill beans on Mac's troublesome
veep choice
Chicago Tribune Nov 6, 08 2:38 AM CST
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Sarah Palin's shaky grasp of geography stressed out the McCain campaign, the Chicago Tribune reports. A Fox News reporter, sworn to secrecy until after the election, said a campaign insider told him Palin was unaware that Africa was a continent rather than a single country, and she was unable to name the three members of NAFTA—Mexico, the US, and Canada.
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ANALYSIS
Strategist Axelrod seen as key policy cog, but he could be a target in Washington
Politico Oct 27, 08 1:55 PM CDT
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With Barack Obama holding a lead in the polls, Democrats have begun discussing what, if any, role his top campaign strategist might have in an Obama White House, Politico reports. David Axelrod, say those who know him, is seriously weighing an administration position; where he ends up could be key to the trajectory of an Obama presidency.
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ANALYSIS
McCain's move from tactic to tactic resulted in confused overall strategy
New York Times Oct 23, 08 4:11 PM CDT
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John McCain’s campaign has gone through a dizzying number of narratives, as Robert Draper outlines in the New York Times . Draper looks inside a dysfunctional operation driven by two quarreling old McCain friends (Rick Davis and speechwriter Mark Salter), and the Rovian outsider who reconciled them (Steve Schmidt). The troika has engineered at least six separate messages because, one insider said, “we still couldn’t answer the question ‘Why elect John McCain?’”
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Supporters protest radio airtime for campaign critic
Chicago Tribune Aug 28, 08 1:09 PM CDT
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Barack Obama's camp deployed its devoted followers to flood the phone lines of Chicago's WGN-AM last night during an appearance by writer Stanley Kurtz, an Obama critic. A WGN producer tells the Tribune the campaign's push generated “the biggest response we've ever got” during the 2-hour segment with Kurtz, who recently penned a story linking Obama to a radical professor at the University of Illinois.
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Analysis
Long awaited post-mortem details stunningly disfunctional campaign
Atlantic Monthly Aug 12, 08 2:19 PM CDT
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Hillary Clinton’s presidential bid failed for many reasons, the most prominent her campaign team's stunning dysfunction, writes Joshua Green in a much-anticipated Atlantic Monthly feature. Green uncovered a trove of memos, finding a team overwhelmed by “anger and toxic obsessions.” Clinton acted nothing like a chief executive, putting off countless decisions until it was too late.
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OPINION
Candidate running 'absolute most pathetic campaign I have ever seen'
CNN Jul 28, 08 7:13 AM CDT
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Conservative stalwart Ben Stein thought Bob Dole's quest for the White House set the bar low, but says John McCain is “running the absolute most pathetic campaign I have ever seen in my whole life.” But there’s an answer ("Anyone? Anyone?")—talk to Karl Rove, “about the smartest in the country in terms of politics.” CNN sits down with the onetime economics teacher to talk campaign 2008.
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Caroline's role in the Obama campaign is a serious 'coming out'
Wall Street Journal Jul 26, 08 5:35 AM CDT
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Barack Obama's campaign has spurred John F. Kennedy's only surviving child to step into the political spotlight, and not just as window dressing, the Wall Street Journal reports. As co-chair of the candidate's vice-presidential search committee, she is a serious vetter, and she's becoming a major draw on the campaign trail. Friends say her old shyness is gone and that she's a natural for the family business.
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Lawmakers cite lack of coordination with presidential candidate
Politico Jul 15, 08 12:43 PM CDT
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Some Congressional Democrats say they're not feeling the love from Barack Obama's campaign, Politico reports, with the candidate inattentive to broader election strategy and his camp uncommunicative on the day-to-day message blitz. "They think they know what’s right and everyone else is wrong on everything,” one senior staffer said “They are kind of insufferable at this point.”
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Enter '00 mastermind Mike Murphy
New York Times Jul 7, 08 7:48 AM CDT
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Mike Murphy, the irreverent mastermind behind John McCain’s 2000 presidential bid, is poised to swoop in and rescue his stalled 2008 effort, writes William Kristol in the New York Times . Murphy sat out the primaries because he was close to both Romney and McCain, but with McCain’s machine spinning its wheels—making him look less presidential now than he did when he clinched the nomination—the frustrated Arizona senator is planning to bring Murphy on as chief strategist.
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New female hires
should help him reach out to Clinton voters
Politico Jun 21, 08 3:22 PM CDT
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Barack Obama's campaign has been getting more women on board at high levels, Politico reports. Female activists welcome the new hires, while campaign insiders say the "boy's club" image that dogged Obama's campaign during the primaries was never correct. Among the biggest names are Patti Solis Doyle, former campaign manager for Hillary Clinton, and Stephanie Cutter, who worked with John Kerry.
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Senator lets top advisers take control on many issues
New York Times Jun 16, 08 8:52 AM CDT
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Barack Obama's not a micromanager, he's not an obsessor, and he's not a blamer, the New York Times notes in a piece on the Democratic candidate's developing style as commander in chief of his campaign. After losing the Pennsylvania primary, he took a firmer grip on the wheel of his campaign, but tends to delegate the day-to-day. While the campaign has enjoyed grassroots success, it's tightly controlled by a few top advisers who Obama stays in close touch with by BlackBerry.
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He gets passionate about his candidates
Washington Post May 2, 08 11:12 AM CDT
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David Axelrod isn’t just a political hired gun. Instead, Barack Obama’s chief strategist backs his candidates with the same passion he reserves for his beloved Cubs and Bulls, the Washington Post reports in a lengthy profile. “He loves his candidates when he starts. He’s usually let down when he finishes,” said one friend. “Obama is the one different guy.”
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