Recently, one of my best friends, Joe Demma, was in hot water for a Facebook posting. If you missed the controversy, you missed a classic example of the tempest in a teapot media, with Joe's Facebook posting serving as the media's "controversy of the day". If nothing else, the episode served as a warning to all campaign managers and staffers that the world wide web and social networking sites, while great campaign tools, can also be wielded by the media as a tool against your boss.
Apparently, Jean Welch Hill's campaign manager, Maryann Martindale, missed the memo. Her Facebook page is still full of politically explosive opinions, which could serve to undermine her candidate. A smattering of examples:
"Maryann Martindale isn't afraid to say it -- Palin IS a pig and someone DID put lipstick on her. But that's still not what Obama meant, idiots!"
"Maryann wants people to realize that wanting to see more women in office doesn't require them to vote for a fascist (Palin). "
"Maryann is wondering if an article on how much corporate money Shurtleff raises actually increases his corporate donations."
"Maryann has had her toes stepped on enough lately, thank you. Back the f*** off!"
This displays what most Utah campaign insiders already know about Democratic politics: While most Democrats posture themselves as moderates (and indeed, some truly are moderates), many of their campaigns are filled with hard-core leftists who are far from the mainstream in any state, let alone Utah.
Considering the moderate posturing of Jean Welch Hill, her campaign manager would be wise to throw out the extremist rhetoric. Certainly, in the no holds barred campaign world, her comments are potential fodder for anyone with a Facebook account and a little bit of time on their hands. If I can do it, so can Bob Bernick (though rumor has it that Bob has limited computer literacy, and let's face it, he can't write anything to hurt his friends in the Democratic Party) or Matt Canham.
Some may complain that these worries are stifling to the personal lives of campaign managers. That's hogwash. Campaigns are never supposed to be about the campaign manager. It is your job to let the candidate stay front and center. Those unprepared to deal with that reality need to find another line of work.
3 comments:
Are you REALLY worried about the "campaign manager" for Jean Welch Hill causing a controversy?
Welch Hill is down by something like 60 (SIXTY!) points to Shurtleff.
Oh, is it only a 50 point lead? My bad. It's now a dead-heat.
What you're really talking about is a campaign staffer that in 3 months will be asking the local Red Lobster to reinstate her as lead hostess.
Facebook all you want, Ms. Lobster. Noone cares.
Hill is just as left as Martindale. I met her advance person and was amazed, I wasn't sure if he was a man or woman at first.
With looks like those of Hill, Martindale surely meant the pig in lipstick was....
Ah, never mind.
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