I see Donald Trump win the White House, which like everyone else, Im flabbergasted. The "Dame of Dish" passed away on Sunday. I think that she gets a lot of unfair criticism. I think now more than ever, people need to understand how the media works. 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. Some are even in the White House, like Deputy Press Secretary Chris Meagher, who briefed the press not too long ago. It was total bullst. By ERIN BANCO, GARRETT M. GRAFF, LARA SELIGMAN, NAHAL TOOSI and ALEXANDER WARD. The candidate and the campaign manager dutifully board the aircraft, and just when it seems the door is about to close, as they start looking around nervously, in comes Smith, sunglasses and coat still on, laptop and cords dangling from her arms, phone pressed against her ear. 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 dont live and breathe politics every day. I knew from the beginningthat our relationship would be a big tabloid story when it became public. It was as horrible as Id anticipated and seeing the photos of Eliot and me taken in what wed thought were private moments was even more disturbing, knowing they were on display to anyone who cared to look, she writes in the 304-page tome. 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. Even people like Terry McAuliffe and Claire McCaskill, who both have outsized personalities. 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? There is this thing that I have to be very honest with, because maybe I had been seen as a little radioactive because I had unwillingly had my private life spread all over the tabloids, more established candidates might not have hired me. And when I began asking around to figure out who was behind that strategy, the same name kept coming up: Lis Smith. It wasnt an ideal situation, but it taught me a lot, Smith says. `Jesus, you always keep it interesting.'. 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. [2][11], She was the deputy campaign manager for the Martin O'Malley 2016 presidential campaign. Youve got this hard-nosed New York-style political operative and this friendly Hoosier mayor, he said. Critics of the IDC have questioned Smith's loyalty to the implementation of progressive policies and candidates. Mistakes Ive made in my private life. Lis Smith on Pete Buttigieg's campaign bus during a four day tour of Iowa, September 23, 2019. The two of us talked this week about Buttigiegs political future, whether Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow could jump into politics, and the ingredients of a good political candidate. A better response that is informed by all the facts is the most effective way to respond. Lets just blow it out. This is what day two looks like. Smith: We check in here and there. When you do more interviews, it reduces that gotcha instinct with the press, it reduces that cat and mouse game. She gravitates to candidates who are challenging and testing the status quo. Wren: One of the theses of Petes campaign was that mayors are on the front lines of democracy. Why do I fucking love John McCain? Because he was a badass. 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. While working for the Obama campaign she met David Axelrod, whom Smith considers a mentor. He has a clear social consciousness to him that you dont see in a lot of professional athletes. He doesnt yell and scream, take the most extreme positions on issues, or tweet incendiary things. Rather than going after Pete, Harris trained her fire on Biden.. Our meeting was part of a strategy, one run with surprising sophistication and efficacy for a candidate whose highest-profile gig so far is a local office in the fourth-biggest city in Indiana. But I dont know whats inside him. Ive always tried to be very grounded. You never get in a fight with someone whos trying to promote a book. Lis Smith (born October 15, 1982) is an American political strategist affiliated with the Democratic Party. Has Gone Even Farther Right Than I Expected': Three Writers Talk About the Midterms", "Lis Smith: Why Democrats Should Go on Fox News", "Opinion | How Joe Biden Can Defeat Trump From His Basement", "Opinion | This is not the time to change how we talk about abortion", "Know Your Spox: A Look At The Obama Campaign Staff", "Check out Lis Smith on TIME's 140 Best Twitter Feeds List", "Eliot Spitzer has friends in low places, throws book party for girlfriend's former beau", "Spitzer gal pal Lis Smith, de Blasio split", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Lis_Smith&oldid=1141070660, Short description is different from Wikidata, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 23 February 2023, at 05:39. Except then it didnt. I am here to get you clips. Its a super-aggressive thing to do. Because 2015 and 2016 were really difficult times in my life. Can I tell you something very off the record, she texts. 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. Between 1987 and 2013, Spitzer had been married to Silda Wall Spitzer. This sign-up form is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. I consider him a friend . 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. Everyone thought I was crazy. So it was just sort of the perfect confluence of all these things where that yin and yang dynamic got us together. Lis Smith Wiki Bio: Age, Husband, Net Worth, Children, Education, Career, Family, LinkedIn. 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. This includes with her own boss. 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. But I appreciate his courage in being willing to speak out about it. John Edwards comes to mind. But there may be no political couple odder than that of Buttigieg and Smith. Democratic Political strategist and former Pete Buttigieg 2020 campaign advisor Lis Smith trashed former New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio during a Monday interview with MSNBC host Nicolle. She puts the word fuck through every part of speech the word can be bent into: noun, pronoun, gerund, verb, term of endearment, sobriquet, epithet, honorific. Andrew Cuomo, had turned into a Nicorette-chomping ahole who ruined the lives of his staffers after letting national fame get to his head during the coronavirus pandemic. Letting Terry be Terry. [40], Smith dated Missouri politician Jeff Smith after meeting him at Dartmouth and handled some of his publicity during his campaign. She orders a beer, downs it and orders another. And you just like have this moment, where youre like, Maybe this is it. [2][9] She later worked as the spokeswoman for Bill de Blasio's mayoral run in 2013. By signing up you agree to receive email newsletters or updates from POLITICO and you agree to our privacy policy and terms of service. Its really hard to do a hit piece on a guy who you are going to see the next morning over coffee and donuts. And someone needs to be. So the Post is about to report that Im dating Eliot Spitzer. She ran his campaign publicly by courting the national political press, a technique she further honed during Buttigieg's 2020 presidential campaign. I cant believe you didnt know that! He was attempting a comeback by running for the modest job of New York City comptroller, and when the vote came in, he pulled in a respectable 48 percent, even though the entire citys political establishment was against 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. There were very, very few women in positions of power. 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? But Joe Biden is president today, and Kamala Harris is his vice president. Smith: Dont make me praise Chris Meagher. It was younger reporters, super-hungry reporters that really know how to use Twitter, people who can then go to a cocktail party and tell their friends they had a beer with this guy Pete Buttigieg three hours from now. And I am,' Smith toldWalzak. None of those races were particularly easy. She wants to know if Id seen Buttigieg answer a question about the Notre Dame fire from a French TV station, in French. Before a debate, you have no idea how much gossip is going around. We are humble and kind, to quote Tim McGraw. Wren: Youve worked in a lot of red states South Dakota, Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio. [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. News has confirmed her daughter Riley Keough welcomed a daughter with husband Ben Smith-Petersen, who mentioned their child at the singer's. Weve seen a lot of cataclysmic things happen. There is only so much you can do to bare your soul over a beer, but hopefully people get to know you on some level and more than they would one gaggle at a time. By. Theyre in the agencies. Political strategist Lis Smith isnt a married woman, though she may one day decide to tie the knot with a lucky somebody. I first met John Edwards when I was 19 or 20 years old. Lets be real, Adam. Smith: Joey Burrow is an incredible leader. Smith: It made me want to be better at my job. [21][22][23] In 2022, Smith became a communications adviser for Michigan State Senator Mallory McMorrow. He lives in New York. Gripping reads, smart analysis and a bit of high-minded fun. Jul. | Click here. It is my passion. The former New York mayor later divorced his wife and was spotted in places like Montego Bay and a Knicks game cozying up with Smith. That even in the age of Twitter, that especially in the age of Twitter, people dont really care about gaffes.
