No more Bob Shrum please please please
The safest job in politics is conservative pundit, no matter what you say you'll always get a spot on TV, on the radio or in a newspaper. The second safest job though is probably Democratic campaign consultant, no matter how many elections you lose there will be a job available to you working for some poor bastard or maybe even appearing on TV. Case in point: Bob Shrum, he of the stunning 0-8 record in Presidential campaigns (0-8 people! Stop fucking hiring this guy. Though I think he's retired so perhaps we are safe).
As if we needed another reason why not to listen to Mr. Shrum anymore (0-8, 0-8) a new chapter in his new book gives further illustration as to why this man needs to be stopped. To wit (via Will Bunch):
WASHINGTON (AP) – Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards was skeptical about voting for the Iraq war resolution and was pushed into it by advisers looking out for his political future, according to an upcoming book by one of his former consultants.Democratic strategist Bob Shrum writes in his memoir to be published in June that he regrets advising Edwards to give President Bush the authority to go to war in Iraq. He said if Edwards had followed his instincts instead of the advice of political professionals, he would have been a stronger presidential candidate in 2004.
No kidding. There's more:
Shrum writes that Edwards, then a North Carolina senator, called his foreign policy and political advisers together in his Washington living room in the fall of 2002 to get their advice. Edwards was "skeptical, even exercised" about the idea of voting yes and his wife Elizabeth was forcefully against it, according to Shrum.
But Shrum said the consensus among the advisers was that Edwards, just four years in office, did not have the credibility to vote against the resolution and had to support it to be taken seriously on national security. Shrum said Edwards' facial expressions showed he did not like where he was being pushed to go.
Could Shrum's political instincts be more wrong? I mean the guy writes one speech for Senator Kennedy at the 1980 Democratic Convention (an admittedly great speech) but then what? And lets not pull punches here, Senator Edwards doesn't come off that great here either. He may have wanted to do the right thing (positive) but he was swayed by political advisers and ended up supporting the resolution for political reasons (very very negative). One can only hope that Senator Edwards has learned the error of his ways. I also hope that Democrats have finally learned not to listen to Bob Shrum anymore.
Well, besides the 1980 speech, Shrum was responsible for keeping Oliver North out of office, keeping Ted Kennedy in office against Mitt Romney, getting Edwards elected to the Senate in the first place, getting and keeping Barbara Mikulski in the Senate, getting Harris Wofford in the Senate (and then when Carville hired Mandy Grunwald for the re-election, Santorum beat Wofford), getting Jack Reed in the Senate, getting Bill Nelson in the Senate, and so on.
His record with presidential campaigns isn’t top notch (though that 0-8 record is a little misleading — the guy didn’t start working as a political consultant until 1985 — are you going to blame a speechwriter for losses in 72 and 80? weird call) but find me a consultant with a better record in senators and governors.