An eager reader asks that I remind South Dakotans of the campaign tactics we can expect M. Michael Rounds's new campaign consultant Dick Wadhams to bring back to South Dakota:
In 2004, when Wadhams was helping Republican John Thune to unseat South Dakota Democrat and Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle, every weapon in the arsenal was unfurled. There were damaging storylines: Daschle was a "pathological liar," a farm-boy turned effete Michael Moore groupie who had reliably "emboldened Saddam Hussein." There was base-riling: At many of the state's churches, packages arrived filled with bumper stickers carrying the slogan "Vote Daschle, Vote for Sodomy." (Wadhams was careful to distance himself personally from those deliveries--but happy to discuss them.) And there was Wadhams as one-man campaign wrecking ball: When Daschle communications director Dan Pfeiffer tried to squeeze in a media hit after an election-related courthouse faceoff, Wadhams stood just off-camera bellowing "Bullshit! Bullshit!" like an outraged baseball fan cat-calling a major-league ump [Rebecca Sinderbrand, "Rove 2.0," Washington Monthly, September 2006].
Forget class and integrity. Maybe if I switch my party affiliation, I could profit from Wadhams's campaign tricks:
Wadhams's most effective innovations involved media manipulation. Under his leadership, the campaign secretly paid two conservative South Dakota bloggers who spent election season blasting the state's major paper, the Sioux Falls Argus-Leader, for supposed pro-Daschle bias. The paper's dazed editors later admitted the mau-mauing influenced their campaign coverage. Thune beat Daschle by fewer than 4,000 votes [Sinderbrand, 2006].
Wadhams will also rely on distracting South Dakotans from real policy issues by turning his manure spreader on high:
Wadhams spends half his time flooding the zone with slash-and-burn press releases--dozens a week--and most of the rest chatting up reporters eager to discuss politics, not policy. The press releases create a sense of urgency, and, through sheer volume, manufacture the feeling of a rapidly developing story. The phone calls--at the height of campaign season, local journalists describe getting up to half a dozen a day--both flatter and intimidate. (The mercurial Wadhams can shift from amiable to antagonistic in an instant.) [Sinderbrand, 2006]
Sinderbrand noted eight years ago that Dick Wadhams was seen as the next Karl Rove. But then his man George "Macaca" Allen wrecked Wadhams's groove. And whom did the winner of Virginia's 2006 Senate campaign, Jim Webb, have on his campaign team to kick Dick Wadhams to the curb? South Dakota's Steve Jarding:
"Wadhams thinks he's doing us damage," a gleeful Jarding boasted to me the next day, "but it's like he's poking holes in his own boat." The Webb campaign accused the Allen team of a Swiftboat vets-style assault, which Jarding says prompted a healthy cash infusion from donors eager to avenge John Kerry and Max Cleland. It's a risky game, admit Democrats; the nasty back-and-forth could depress turnout, which generally translates into a Republican electoral advantage. But in their view, Jim Webb is helping to chart the party's course across traditionally deadly campaign terrain. In this brave new world, the GOP's killer campaign team itself becomes the target [Sinderbrand, 2006].
Rick, you've called Steve, right? Right?!
Wadhams squandered his own state party's opportunities as chair of the Colorado GOP, in part because he failed to harness discontented grassroots energy similar to the Stace-Nelson-centered agitation against South Dakota's mainstream GOP. Now his only hope of restoring his credibility is to return to the scene of his crime in South Dakota ten years later to help a former Republican governor used to coasting win an open Senate seat against a Democratic party lacking in ballot star power. Wadhams will be more desperate than Rounds to win, and desperate people do ugly things. Be ready, South Dakota.
I think Rick Weiland (if Rounds is the Senate candidate) has to bring this guy to the forefront of the campaign. He has to somehow explain to South Dakotans what this guy is all about. You hit the nail on the head Cory and the people of South Dakota have to see what this guy is and not fall for is crap-sorry-afain.
It will be interesting and instructive to seen what strategy Rounds and Wadhams try in this campaign. Rounds became the GOP candidate for governor after Steve Kirby and Mark Barnett became so obstreperous to each other that the GOP primary voters, who like muck slinging for the most part, nominated Rounds, and, ignoring some of his tactics in the state legislature, crowned him prince of clean and Mr. Amiability.
The Sinderbrand article provides a nice synopsis of the campaign that Thune-Wadhams conducted against Tom Daschle. While the campaign is notable for its utter depravity on the national level, many within the state regard it as business as usual. That is puzzling.
Rather than have a candidate go on the offensive to keep that campaign and the moral and intellectual values it represents fresh in the minds of the voters, the state party has a role to play in emphasizing the offense, meaning keeping the stench fresh in the nostrils of the voters. By their campaign strategies, ye shall know them. And oh, John boy and Kristi girl, do we know ye.
"Media manipulation" - is truly the name of the game for these high stake elections. If the Democrats and Rick Weiland want to play the game to win, they had best be getting started now! There is plenty of manure to dig up and spread around!
Wadhams sees an opportunity in a Red state with people who don't want to think for themselves...and he relishes the idea of manipulating the electorate and the media.
Let's see how he shapes and forms our "independent" media this time around.
Any guesses as to who in the media will pee their pants first when he call to tell them what to say or write? Do you think Dick will make fun of teleprompters in his new role to suck up to the anti-Obama crowd?
Wait? What? Rounds as the spitting image of Obama with a teleprompter?
As a bully, he knows that there are very few who will stand up to his brute force and Out of State Karl Rove "intellect."
Just surprised that Mike Rounds has so little respect or confidence in home grown talent. Must mean that he doesn't really think that much of us or that he know us so well that he feels the need to bring in a political assassin do do his dirty work.
So what should South Dakotans think now that Mike Rounds has hired an out-state-assassin to think for him, tell us all how to think and bully our local media?
Way to believe in SD Mike!
Cory, maybe I will give Weiland's campaign another look. Please, keep in mind the points I made earlier over GMO's and Agriculture. I know you've been following those issues for sometime and I appreciate it. But, I'm just "awakening," and I guess better sometime then never...LOL! I still think Weiland's climb is very, very, very steep. But, as I was contemplating things over last night, I got this rare feeling deep down in my gutt that the political atmosphere in South Dakota is about to go through a huge unexpected transition in the months and years to come and I believe it will be a result of all the changes happening nationwide.
"I think Rick Weiland (if Rounds is the Senate candidate) has to bring this guy to the forefront of the campaign. He has to somehow explain to South Dakotans what this guy is all about." To give you what very little insight I had as a very low-level volunteer on Thune's 2004 Campaign, what Dick Wadhams "is all about," is character assasination. I don't know if he will try the same thing he did 10 years ago against Daschle, but, it would be more impossible against Weiland because Weiland is not an incumbent like Tom was. Wadhams can not bring up Weiland's Congressional voting record because we all know there is none since he hasn't served yet. Now, I can't give you insight into what Wadhams and the higher level campaigns will do, BUT, I CAN GIVE YOU INSIGHT INTO WHAT they may try to accomplish on the ground. Once again, I volunteered as a low-level grunt on the Thune Campaign in the summer of 2004 and I would be happy to share any insight you want as far as going door-to-door and phone-to-phone is conerned. Keep me in mind ;).
If Rounds hires Wadhams, I would advise Weiland to hire LOCAL and get several of Tim Johnsons' people on board ;).
If I was Weiland, I would keep my distance from the national Democratic Party too. Rounds, hires national, then, Weiland needs to get as LOCALLY close as he can and he needs to ensure his campaign has TARGETED the counties and towns he needs for victory. Obama's Campaign was built on TARGETING and GRASSROOTS in loyal areas. Once the areas are targeted (this exactly what Wadhams did for Thune) he needs to get actively in those areas on a frequent basis. As a lowel-level volunteer for Thune, we learned that Wadhams was all about targeting into the areas of the largest Thune support.
Jana, South Dakotans didn't give a rip that Thune used Wadhams in 2004. They didn't care that Noem had her ads shot in Texas. And Weiland has already hired out-state help with Democracy Partners. So we can't gain much ground simply on the "Dick Wadhams isn't from here" argument. Nor will we gain much ground simply grumbling about how "negative campaigning" isn't South Dakotan: Noem negative-campaigned on Varilek all last year and suffered no significant blowback at the polls.
As David suggests, we need to respond to Wadhams on two levels. We need to use his tactics with a policy focus to play offense on Rounds: point out everything Rounds screwed up or let slide as Governor, point out all his crony-capitalist connections, point out why he's not the guy to fight for the interests of 99% of South Dakotans (and why Weiland or whoever wins the primary is!). Once we've established that offense, we then shine the spotlight on Wadhams's empty personal attacks, refute them, and hang them around Rounds's neck with ads filled with ominous bass strings, storm clouds, scratchy audio, and black-and-white cutouts of frowning Mike and sneering Dick.
G-Man, I agree the climb is steep for any Dem who challenges Rounds. Advice like yours will help. So will a truckload of money from out-state progressives who recognize that every Senate seat matters and that beating the Wadhams machine would be particularly useful for the cause of democracy and civil discourse.
Cory: You already forgot: YOU NEED TO TARGET. TARGETING is what wins campaigns. Obama and Thune know how to TARGET. If you don't target...you don't win.
TARGETING is knowing your voting populace well and knowing where your support is and getting them to the polls in large numbers. ;)
Wadhams will use TARGETING again, again, and again to win.
I've wondered, G-Man, if we can use targeting as effectively here as on the national level the way Obama did. I'm sure the Dems will pore over the voting records and target their mailings and knocking. But with no electoral college game to play, the game is simpler, isn't it? First send out the mailers, then do the door-to-door in the densest areas where we can do the most knocks per 100 paces, right? Did Wadhams's targeting differ from that strategy in any significant or novel way that Dems don't already do?
Interesting obsession on tactics from previous campaigns. The mark of a dead-on-arrival campaign is one that is still fighting the last campaign using slogans, polling, tactics and assumptions that worked/failed the last time. The assumptions I've seen here about Wadhams' previous campaigns indicate he's a ruthless, mean-spirited manipulator. The question is if he's a one-trick pony whose tactics are worn out and counter-productive in a market that's been through his wringer twice already. I'm also interested to see if a former two-term Governor in a state where the press gave him every break in the world can be transformed to the attack machine that worked well for Thune's assaults in debates and in ads against the Senate Majority Leader. Shapeshifting Mike Rounds into an attack machine could backfire against Rick Weiland's earnest nature and intellect, but perhaps not as much against Kristi Noem who proved last year she can be singularly vicious against a weaker unknown who was never in range to win. And maybe that is what the Wadhams brouhaha is really all about ...
Weiland should be out knocking on doors in the boondocks and making sure he gets to talk to every Democratic county organization months before the election.
I think you're right Doug. Do it the McGovern way
Owen and Douglas - That is a good start, and then what? The objective is not to be right or to look respectable. The objective is to win. How does that happen?
This is why I say this election is not like any other that you have seen. Think forward.
"Rick Weiland's earnest nature and intellect" - Oh My. *cough*
Cynics cough a lot, so I've noticed.
That sentence makes about as much sense as all your other statements.
Rick, you're such an optimist! I hear optimism is key to winning.
Cory, a positive mental attitude is a must if you wish to succeed. Actually knowing the candidate also helps in making an assessment as does having actual campaign experience.
...on which characteristics I will certainly defer to your wisdom!
Cory, part of targeting is finding out where to funnel your message and to whom. A winning campaing requires more than putting out a competing vision. You have to know who to target what message to. That's what Wadhams did for John Thune in 2004. Thune's campaign message in East River counties was not the same as his message to West River Counties. There was some targeted variation. ;)
Different East River and West River messaging seems sensible. Can we funnel messages any more narrowly than that? Are there media markets any narrower than that that allow us funnel separate messages?
Weiland needs to find his secure areas first, then, work toward finding the areas of future contention in both parts of the state. He must find core issues that Republicans have neglected, but, the citizens view as priorities to them. He must focus on what his realistic solutions will be to solve those issues. He must become well informed and versed in them. I have a feeling Rounds thinks he has this already in the bag and can "cake walk" his way through it. Weiland has to do more work than Rounds, but, if he is really serious and stays disciplined and astute in these issues he can gain support.
can we highlight the dirtiness of rounds' hired "karl rove", wadhams, for sd voters?