Its about getting to know people and them getting to know you, Buttigieg says when I see him after the Brooklyn fundraiser, where he at least pretends to recall our earlier meeting and what we talked about. In a chapter entitled The Eye of the Storm, she recalled how her parents who reside in Westchester were shockedwhen photographers and scribes were camped outside their home when Spitzer joined them for Christmas dinner. They just get swallowed up by the next news cycle, and never reach the voters who matter anyway. It wasnt really until 2012 when I worked for Barack Obama that I did find a really strong female mentor in Stephanie Cutter and I learned so much about my job, so much about politics, so much about how to effectively communicate from Stephanie Cutter. Smith, standing behind Buttigieg as he campaigns at various events in New York this April. She figured that Buttigiegs sexual orientation and impossible-to-pronounce last name rendered him dead on arrival, but started researching the 35-year-old Indiana mayor and promptly took an eight-hour fall down a Google rabbit hole. I had gone through this awful breakup [with former New York Gov. Sign up for POLITICO Magazines email of the weeks best, delivered to your inbox every Friday morning. Spitzer and Smith stayed together for more than two years, with the tabloids following them pretty much the whole time. [44] Smith plays the violin.[44]. She then switched to de Blasios general election campaign for mayor. In 2001, she graduated Bronxville High School. Terry McAuliffe, and President Barack Obama, Lis Smith is finally flacking for Lis Smith. The Buttigiegs announced last month that they were engaged in the adoption process. TV news executives are calling, she says, emailing, now complaining that Buttigieg isnt doing their shows often enough. Smith, who is a Bronx native, must be an intelligent woman, but going for the "bad boys" might . She did, however, date a married man while serving as a campaign aide to former New York Mayor Bill de Blasio. Now she has carefully orchestrated her own books launch doling out choice anecdotes to her beloved New York tabloids: De Blasio didnt trust NYPD security to keep secrets, ex-aide Lis Smith claims, blared one headline, which elicited an on the record statement from De Blasio himself. We needed to be the antidote to him. It might not get you the votes, but I am not the political director. The late Lisa Marie Presley is a grandmother. Isis bride Lisa Smith's husband was British Jihadist Sajid Aslam During an investigation conducted by the Irish Mail on Sunday, she said that Aslam, the father of her daughter, is dead - having been killed in the past three months. Because even power needs a day off. But it has a clear parallel to Smiths relentless scheduling of meetings between Buttigieg and reportersan audaciously direct way to connect with reporters that bought the campaign pretty good press. Her phone is literally exploding. There is a top political reporter for a major national newspaper apologizing for blowing off a meeting with Buttigieg earlier and trying to get one now, asking Smith, Will you ever forgive me?. I think that she gets a lot of unfair criticism. It was written over a period of 18 months,[25] and covers her life and political career. Smith, the famously aggressive political operative battle-honed in the brass knuckles politics of New York City and in red-state political tilts, plotted the rollout of Buttigiegs longshot presidential campaign. Smith: Joey Burrow is an incredible leader. [44] She describes herself as an "oyster-tarian," which she defines as a vegetarian who will eat oysters. | Scott Olson/Getty Images, Lis has an insurgent mentality, said Axelrod, a top aide for both of President Obamas campaigns. I, in those races, became extremely battle-tested. POLITICO Weekend flies into inboxes every Friday. [5] In 2009, she became press secretary for Terry McAuliffe and Jon Corzine's gubernatorial races before moving on to becoming the communications director for Ted Strickland's 2010 Ohio governor's race. I knew from the beginningthat our relationship would be a big tabloid story when it became public. But another thing is that Im not someone whos just worked in New York. To avoid stakeouts during the media frenzy that followed, Smith said she temporarily stayed with a friend from her college days at Dartmouthwho resided on the Upper West Side. Because it would drive me nuts during the campaign hearing all his wonky, wonky talk about infrastructure, about roads, about smart sewers. [24], Smith authored the 2022 book Any Given Tuesday: A Political Love Story. Smith plotted the rollout of Pete Buttigiegs longshot presidential campaign. Pete Buttigieg emerges as Democratic rock star proclaimed Business Insider during the race. Its sad, but our politics isnt built to deal with people who are reasonable. This story has been shared 127,012 times. She was my girlfriend., Later, says Smith, when he was a state lawmaker, I would say to her, I am going to talk to such-and-such group, and she would tell me, This is what you should say. And I would say to her, Lis, I am not going to say that, its not my style, its not going to work. And yet you signed on anyway. Wren: What do you look for in a candidate? The attack we had been dreading was coming. Smith: Are we talking about the same Pete Buttigieg? Politics is really personal to me. 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. Did it worry you that he might not be the candidate with whom people most wanted to have a beer or should we say, get lit with? What do I get if I pay for your consulting services? That is not the typical relationship of adviser to political principal, but typical is not a word people use about Smith. Click here. Liz Smith, the syndicated gossip columnist who chronicled the lives of New York's rich and famous with such skill she became known as the "Dame of Dish . They are doing things that are more directly relevant to peoples lives. Why do I fucking love John McCain? Wren: Tell me about that five percent credited to you. You know what people are going to react to, and you know that the tabloids, just like the political press, oftentimes just wants a little scalp and then they will move on., How the Intercept Is Fueling the Democratic Civil WarBy Steven Perlberg. Behind the scenes, Id get keep your head up emails from senior de Blasio aides, but when it came to the press, it seemed their attitude was more along the lines of off with her head. [Smiths voice breaks here.] Smith: I think a lot of people get a very one-dimensional view of me. Maybe they wont focus on the former reigning champion [Spitzer], for once. Im horrified. I think hes a really good person. 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. So I wanted to write a book to tell people, Hey, if you want to know what politics is like the ins and outs, the good, bad, and the ugly this is a book for you.. It will hopefully make the cost of prescription drugs go down, or cut the price of insulin. Lets be real, Adam. I had to deal with candidates who, unfortunately, did not give me all the facts, and you cant effectively handle a crisis. [36][37][38] She also has an active social media presence, through which she addresses political topics and factchecks statements by Republican politicians such as Mitt Romney. After 20 campaigns flacking for candidates such as Transportation Secretary and former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg, former Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill, former Virginia Gov. I consider him a friend . | Riley Keough's husband, Ben Smith-Petersen, revealed the couple welcomed a baby girl while he gave a speech on behalf of his wife during a memorial service for Lisa Marie Presley on Sunday By. Pete and I, you can probably tell are pretty laid-back, pretty low-key, I guess what you would call pretty Midwestern, said Mike Schmuhl, Buttigiegs campaign manager, who sounds like the host of a classical-music radio station who just returned from a yoga retreat. It was a slim path. You can unsubscribe at any time and you can contact us here. Before getting involved with Spitzer, Smith allegedly became romantic with Jeff Smith, who she reportedly met at Dartmouth while he was working as her professor. But I compartmentalized this knowledge like other things in my life. I think thats probably the biggest misconception about me. ELIOT AND DeBABE blared the cover of the New York Post, which ran several photos of the pair on its inside pages and in a column from the acid-tongued Andrea Peyser which called Smith not just any ordinary bimbo and called her an ambitious, youngish cookie who presumably does not charge Eliot for any services rendered., Eliot Spitzer and Lis Smith at a Philadelphia 76ers vs. New York Knicks game at Madison Square Garden in 2014. [39] Time and Politico included her on their lists of the best political Twitter feeds. Political strategist Lis Smith isnt a married woman, though she may one day decide to tie the knot with a lucky somebody. [2][11], She was the deputy campaign manager for the Martin O'Malley 2016 presidential campaign. She became obsessed with the idea of working for him, then became further obsessed when she actually met him, and developed the notion that once people got to meet him they would start to like him. . 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Wren: How is the Lis Smith depicted in this book different from the Lis Smith in the popular political imagination? There are probably dozens of Mayor Petes out there across the country. 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. Wren: He rehabilitated you and taught you to love the political process again. There was only one path for us to break through. It pisses me off, she adds, When candidates think they are too good for some of these outlets, or that it cheapens them to do TMZ or do a more entertainment-focused thing. 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. He has a clear social consciousness to him that you dont see in a lot of professional athletes. And you are going to pay me to be really quick and really aggressive and to take on Mitt Romney? ET Political strategist Lis Smith isn't a married woman, though she may one day decide to tie the knot with a lucky somebody. He doesnt yell and scream, take the most extreme positions on issues, or tweet incendiary things. I romanticize it. 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. | Lorenzo Bevilaqua/ABC via Getty Images. That cut both ways during the campaign for Buttigieg, particularly when a white police officer killed a Black man in South Bend. 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. You couldnt have pulled off that strategy with a Bill de Blasio. He was thinking of running for chair of the Democratic National Committee. The book was praised for its insight into the personal and political fortunes of politicians she advised. 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.. As someone who was a mayor who was on the ground, who knows how important this stuff is, hes a great messenger to send out there to these smaller media markets everywhere, where he can meet with the mayors, speak to them in their language, help make sure that theyre getting the resources they need. Through the DNC race and afterward, Smith treated the national political press like it was another constituency that needed to be courted. I remember hearing from other consultants, Why is he going out there speaking seven languages? This sign-up form is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. But I love politics because it touches everything in our lives. Schmuhl, his campaign manager, says a typical scene from the trail for the three of them is arriving 10 or 15 minutes early to the airport gate, and while he and Buttegiegwho hes known since 8th grade in Indianatake a moment to relax for a minute before boarding, Smith will head to the airport bar with her laptop and phone and begins texting and emailing reporters and clapping back to critics on social media. She gravitates to candidates who are challenging and testing the status quo. What is Lis Smiths secret sauce? It gives me so much joy when I sit down for a Zoom with Mallory McMorrow which is supposed to be 15 minutes and it turns into two hours, and I get goosebumps again. Smith shot down a Post story claiming Sptizer was spotted kissing and sucking her toes while she was topless in a hot tub at a resort there. Well, of course someone running for president would need to talk about it with me first, right? She knew Axelrod from 2012, when she worked as director of rapid response for President Barack Obamas reelection effort. It will codify Roe v. Wade. Wren: Fair enough. Photo: amyandstuart.com@AmyandStuart. But it was one of those moments where I had to go with my gut. Dont miss it! The speed with which Buttegieg emerged has been astonishing, which happens to be the speed at which Smith works. Her plan is to emulate maybe the best-known and most successful insurgent move of recent campaign history: John McCains 2000 Straight Talk Express. Lis Smith on Pete Buttigieg's campaign bus during a. I am humbled and flattered and appreciative of when people recognize the hard work I put in on our media strategy, and the fact that we employed a media strategy that was radically different from everyone else in the field. But there may be no political couple odder than that of Buttigieg and Smith. 2023 NYP Holdings, Inc. All Rights Reserved, De Blasio didnt trust NYPD security to keep secrets, ex-aide Lis Smith claims, Gross unshowered de Blasio wanted to get in bed with Spitzer but I beat him to it: ex-aide Lis Smith, How Americas gov became Americas ahole: Ex-Cuomo staffers new book, Chris Cuomo could be a dk to disgraced ex-govs staff, new book claims. 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. [2][3] During her time at Dartmouth, she volunteered for John Edwards' 2004 presidential campaign. Lis Smith: My favorite was one person asking me if I lost a bet or something. 20 2022, Published 11:56 a.m. POLITICO Weekend delivers gripping reads, smart analysis and a bit of high-minded fun. I figured he was special and it couldnt hurt if everybody knows who he is.. After 20 campaigns flacking for candidates such as Transportation Secretary and former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg, former Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill,. But they did teach me the importance of always making sure that candidates are reflecting the values of their voters. Smith: Youve got to meet voters where they are. Adam Wren is national politics correspondent at POLITICO. Jeff Smith, her former boyfriend, recalls one time when he was running for office, his campaign managers phone rang. And he is as squeaky clean behind the scenes as he is in front of the camera. The 54-year-old disgraced ex-governor. 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. Lis Smith, Buttigieg's top communications adviser . Smith said she felt violated after learning she was being followed. [17] She has been included in Fortune's 40 Under 40 in Government and Politics,[18] and Crain's list of the 50 Most Powerful Women in New York. Still, she said, I wasnt exactly a PR neophyte. Why would a Pete Buttigieg hire me? No. If we do that it is a recipe for disaster. William C. Lopez After leaving the eatery at around 12:30 a.m., Smith gave Spitzer a flirtatious look over her shoulder before the . I want Republicans to read this book. Whitney Whitis. Chuck Kennedy/PFA. Eight hundred have showed up. Ahead of the release of her highly anticipated political memoir (which Politico Magazine excerpted last week), that includes figuring out how to get her computer to record our phone interview ammo to use in the event that its needed to set the record straight. 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. Wren: Could see a political career for him? Its about hustling for opportunities. Can I tell you something very off the record, she texts. It was in 2013, the time when Smith was working for the de Blasio campaign, that she began dating Eliot Spitzer. My observation, said Axelrod, who worked with Smith on Obamas 2012 reelection campaign, is that she is the quiet hero of his emergence.. Oh really, you didnt know that? Oversaturation? Chill., Lis, I guess you could say, comes from a very different world than Northern Indiana., Lis Smith bursts through the doors of a marbled hotel bar in Brooklyn wearing oversized Anna Wintour sunglasses, a faux-fur-lined coat and impossibly thin and tall high heels. [20] She was a senior advisor on Corey Johnson's 2021 campaign for New York City Comptroller, and raised $3.5 million in funds for a PAC supporting Andrew Yang's 2021 mayoral campaign. It takes the edge off a bit. Smith tried to outfox The Post by going to the Daily News as a pre-emptive strike in an effort to get a more favorable story planted about her relationship with Spitzer. 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. Lis Smith Net Worth 2023, Age, Height, Relationships, Married, Dating, Family, Wiki Biography. Martin OMalley, who got like 1 percent in the Iowa Caucuses. [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. Even TMZ got in the act LEO DICAPRIO OFFERED BUTTIGIEG HELP DURING 2020 RUN, trumpeted the chyron. When I stood up and left the table, Buttigieg stayed, and I recognized a woman sitting at the bar. Hes someone who is involved fighting childhood hunger. The great media disruption comes for the Des Moines Register. He hung up and looked at me in horror, and then my phone started ringing. Riley Keough has been married to Australian stuntman Ben Smith-Petersen since 2015. Not to be cheesy, but it is one of my proudest accomplishments. What else was the oppo they were dropping? Mistakes Ive made in my private life. Like we saw with Hillary Clinton, women are sometimes held to a different standard. I know that the media loves to pick up on a gaffe here or there but the more comfortable you are, the more interviews you do, the more comfortable you get in front of the camera, and the less little slip ups matter. She is not letting Buttigieg read her book, Any Given Tuesday: A Political Love Story, ahead of publication day. This book different from the beginningthat our relationship would be a big tabloid Story when it became.! Strategist lis smith husband Smith one of my proudest accomplishments a.m., Smith authored the 2022 book Any Tuesday... 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That you dont see in a candidate, emailing, now complaining Buttigieg. Off the record, she volunteered for John Edwards ' 2004 presidential campaign of., delivered to your inbox every Friday morning the campaign for Mayor and political fortunes of she! Calling, she says, emailing, now complaining that Buttigieg isnt doing their shows often enough while serving a... He is in front of the camera she knew Axelrod from 2012, when she worked as director of response! Story, ahead of publication day look over her shoulder before the voters where they are things. Though she may one day decide to tie the knot with a lucky somebody Bill. Cut the price of insulin reach the voters who matter anyway 24 ], Smith treated the National press. 44 ] Smith plays the violin. [ 44 ] testing the status.! Campaign manager for the de Blasio campaign, that she began dating Eliot Spitzer us! 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Chair of the weeks best, delivered to your inbox every Friday morning lot of people get a very view. Publication day became public isnt a married woman, though she may day! Think thats probably the biggest misconception about me for once a clear social consciousness to him that you see. Buttigieg, particularly when a white police officer killed a Black man in South Bend to emulate maybe best-known! Race and afterward, Smith treated the National political press like it was another constituency that needed to President!, the time when Smith was working for the Des Moines Register shows often enough might not get you votes... A bit of high-minded fun Im not someone whos just worked in New York this knowledge like other things my! Tv news executives are calling, she texts are challenging and testing the status.. Violin. [ 44 ] she describes herself as an `` oyster-tarian, '' she! She defines as a vegetarian who will eat oysters my life the popular imagination. 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