With Trippi's Rise, Some See a New John Edwards

[Nutmegger]

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton may have a widening lead in the race for the Democratic presidential nomination, but John Edwards is not about to give her a free ride.

"Instead of moving from primary mode to general election mode, why don't we have tell-the-truth mode, all the time, and not say something different one time than we say another time?" Edwards asked pointedly last week in New Hampshire.

From the day he announced his candidacy in New Orleans last December, Edwards has presented himself as an outsider, someone much different from the senator who was John F. Kerry's running mate in 2004. But in recent weeks he has launched a markedly more aggressive attack on what he says is Clinton's poll-tested commitment to the status quo, and the new tone to his campaign has coincided with the growing influence of the strategist behind Howard Dean's assault on the Democratic establishment four years ago -- Joe Trippi.

Those who know Edwards best insist that his campaign reflects his own life experiences, including his wife's ongoing battle with cancer, and that in hiring Trippi, a cult figure on the party's left for his role with Dean, Edwards has found someone who can translate his instincts into a coherent campaign message. Trailing Clinton and Barack Obama in the polls, Edwards is basing his campaign on a vision of bold change not shared by either senator.

Full article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/story/2007/10/22/ST2007102202383.html?hpid=topnews

[KittyWampus]

1. It's not really a new Edwards. It's a repackaged one. John Edwards- with 25% more liberal.

BUY NOW!

[Ninga]

2. Hummmmmm....not what the article says. In 1998 he was a very populist candidate. Your protest is a

tired one. Your kind of stuff is getting old.

Try reading the article, and you may learn something.

[cleveramerican]

3. Too little too late

Edwards will never be president.

[Ninga]

6. Here we go. Wind up and pitch. Convential wisdom says "You will never succeed at making your

own star shine brighter, by trying to diminish the stars around you."

[cleveramerican]

7. I call 'em like I see em.

I am sorry if you don't care for any truth right now.
I didn't tear him down in any way
I gave my honest assessment of his chances for winning.
Upsets happen, But I don't count on them.

Its my own impression.
Aren't you trying(and failing) to tear me down right now?
I would suggest you follow your own advice.

[Ninga]

8. I don't know you. I only read what you wrote, which was pretty cut and dried and to the point.

I do not know where to go to find the "truth" in your statements that are autocratic and absolute.

How do I find truth in the word "never".

How do you know he will "never" be President?

And what does "too little too late" mean?

When was the cut off date, and when was the right time?

I do not debate your "right" I only call into question your words.


And your words seemed to read as though you had information that no one else in the world does, and that you are mighty sure of yourself that no matter what the OP said, Edwards will "never" be President. After all, you say......too little too late......and you call that an "honest assessment???"

So really, you breezed into the thread, and dropped a fire bomb, and then tried to tidy up after yourself, all the while never offering one word of insight or comment about the OP.

I give you a failing grade on Debate 101.

[girl gone mad]

12. Resistance is futile.

Hilary has won every poll that was ever taken, everybody loves her unconditionally and she is 100% guaranteed to win the primaries and the Presidency.

Didn't you get the memo?

There's no sense in arguing with this "Triumph of the Will" mindset.

[cleveramerican]

24. okay here goes

too little means the "new" Edwards is the same as the old Edwards,
with a new sales pitch, and its not even new.

Too late means where would he be without Trippi's help?
Did Trippi bring the real Edwards with him in his suitcase?
If so where has he been?

I'm not falling for it.
Neither should you, but decide for your self.

He is a weak candidate, a good speech maker, but a weak candidate.

As far as truth goes he was in third place six weeks ago
he's in third place now.
Nothing has changed.

I know he will never be president because life has taught me these things.

This isn't debating class and your not grading me.

But you go ahead and dream.
Which is what primaries are really about .

[Ninga]

26. Now, now. That is much better. At least you fleshed out your opinion with more

words....but not more substance.

Edwards represents to me, a candidate who has been affected by the path he has traveled as a human.

He does not hide, nor make excuses for his failures, nor for the fact that he has learned now, what he didn't know then.

I look for humility, personal growth, and for good eyes and good ears. He has been seasoned by life.

I will state once again, as I have a million times before. The Al Gore of 2000 is NOT the Al Gore of 2007, and that is a good thing.

The same goes for John Edwards. He has grown and voters are taking another look at him, and that is their right.


If Edwards loses because of displaced loyalties, or lack of strategy, or poor debating or speeches that do not capture the voters....then so be it.....but if he wins, at the odds he had to face, then he will be the right President for these times.

[cleveramerican]

56. I am glad you like Edwards

I really am, and I even agree that if he somehow could wrestle the nomination away from Hillary Or Obama, the momentum of such an upset victory probably would sweep him into office


I was in The Fleet Center to see his acceptance speech in '04 and it was a moment I'll never forget, or see again.

I watch the odds carefully

[progpen]

10. "Conventional wisdom"? Don't you mean "Conservative wisdom"?

I know it's happening here as well, but I refuse to acknowledge that reality and substitute it with my own.

[Ninga]

14. Well, interesting take. It seems as though the "conservative wisdom" has no counter part , nor no

history to fall on that is worth citing.

So they make it up as they go along?

[Nutmegger]

9. Can you see anything else in that crystal ball?

Or is it just reserved for Edwards? :shrug:

[surfermaw]

48. That is what they said about Carter

My dad told me years before Carter ran for Presidnt he would go places and he did, I say the same thing about John Edwards, Run John Run and bring Joe or Al , with you.

[denem]

4. "[saying[ something different one time than we say another time?"

Not saying the OLD thing before we were the NEW John Edwards?"

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[girl gone mad]

13. Welcome to Du.

Try not to use up all of your rofl's in one day.

[denem]

20. Thanks for the welcome

It's the first one I've received here. :hi:

[Ninga]

17. Hi, welcome to DU. Once you get up off the floor, try reading the article linked in the OP.

[denem]

Hi - thanks for the welcome.

I did read the article The signicance of Trippi is very interesting. John Edwards though has changed his positions on policy , very publicly, too many times for me. Calling out other candidates on it is pot and kettle stuff. There are too many clips of him forcefully arguing policy that he has stepped away to have my support.

[Cha]

52. Yeah all the Dem candidates should be

more like bushit..never changing on anything no matter how wrong you got it in the first place. Stay The Course, fool.

[EST]

5. Joe Trippi's a cult figure on the party's left?

Who knew? I really feel outa place.

[Ninga]

11. The changing dynamic of the race can be attributed to Edwards settling in for the fight.

This -snip- is taken from the WashPo article, link in the OP

The Edwards campaign -- and many people formerly affiliated with it -- reject the notion that the candidate is anything but his own invention.

"This is who he is," Prince said, noting that as far back as his 1998 campaign against Sen. Lauch Faircloth (R-N.C.), Edwards was talking about fighting for the little guy and against special interests. In one ad during that race, Edwards said: "Insurance companies have plenty of lobbyists fighting for them. I don't want to be their senator. I want to be yours."

Prince agreed that the tone of the 2008 campaign is different than that of the 2004 race, explaining that "there is more intense emotion to it, more passion." But, he said, that change is due to Edwards's experiences as the vice presidential nominee, his work on the issue of poverty in 2005 and 2006, and the impact of his wife's cancer diagnosis and relapse. Those developments "make you look up close at what's important," Prince added.

Whoever is more responsible, the question for the campaign is whether it can turn what has been an insurgent effort into something more substantial. For Trippi, it's a question that lingers from Dean's cometlike trajectory.

"The way it ended in Iowa, no one knows if Joe was right or not," said a consultant who has worked with Trippi on past races.

[progpen]

15. I like Joe Trippi...

he did an excellent job with Dean's campaign (even after the liberal media turned on them like rabid dogs).

[Ninga]

16. The WaPo article cited in this OP was written by Chris Cillizza. His take on Trippi

leads one to read that the Edwards camp respects Trippi's experience and successes.

The gist of the article, I think, is that Trippi's advice may not be truncated, by a loss in Iowa.

Cillizza suggests that Trippi may have found in Edwards, such a candidate.

[Egnever]

21. Sory but I dissagree

He did a horrible job with Deans campaign. He pillaged his funds and spent them on his cronies and own consulting businesses, and ran dean out of money before the Iowa caucuses were over. Had he not mishandled the financing so badly there might have been an actual response to the scream nonsense instead of alowing it to come off virtualy unchallenged.

Trippi didnt drive Deans campaign he rode it. It was a lot of passionate people and Deans passion that drove that campaign and if anything Trippi did as much harm as he did good.

[Ninga]

23. I do not know who pillaged what from where. I also do not know who had the last word

on decisions, directions, policy, and how money was spent. One would think that the candidate participated equally, if not in a final capacity, about such decisions.

What I do know, is that the Dean campaign had a profound affect on how political races in this country are conducted, and the affect is positive.

What I do know is that Trippi had a vision that was correct, and that he drove that vision with policy.

But as in life, all things political, have pitfalls and deadensds.

But to not take risk, is to sit on the sideline and invite mediocrity.

I appreciate and credit Trippi for more than less....and he will help Edward more than if Edwards didn't have him.

[Egnever]

30. You do not know

And thats clearly whats going on here. You don't really know anything about the Dean campaign or how it evolved. Nor do you know anything about the financing that was such a disaster in the end.

All you know is the media gave credit to Trippi for Deans popularity on the net and so you accept it as truth. I don't blame you for that cause if you weren't actually paying attention to the Dean campaign at the time you would have no way of knowing other than the BS the media feeds you.

But I will say it again. Trippi had little or nothing to do with the actual web development it was done by a bunch of people that dropped what they were doing and headed to vermont to help get a man that inspired them elected. People who were net savvy and Trippi wasn't one of those people.It was Deans vision to empower people that created and drove the campaign Trippi was along for the ride and apparently to pillage as much cash as he could along the way.

[Egnever]

31. Heres a quote from an article at the time.

"In 2003, Dean raised money better than anyone in the field. He used the Internet to develop a corps of enthusiastic backers who gave money and spread the word to like-minded friends.


They were people like Edwina Lake, a 66-year-old Navy widow from Alexandria, Va. She read about a Dean speech in the newspaper and immediately wrote a $100 check. "I had never given to a presidential campaign before," she says. "This was the man who was saying what was on my mind." She followed up with a second $100 contribution, this time using her credit card on the Internet. While his competitors were stalling out, Dean's fundraising curve climbed.

But his campaign missed at least one key tenet of the primary season: Voters are late to tune in and make up their minds. Beginning in October, the Dean campaign's spending rate skyrocketed. It went on a TV ad-buying binge that would total nearly $10 million, far more than any other campaign. Nearly $6 million went into Iowa and New Hampshire alone, beginning long before people voted.

Other spending mounted as well. The campaign hired a media spokesperson in Maine, a small caucus state, and did two expensive mailings there weeks before the Feb. 8 vote. Dean freely handed out metal campaign buttons in Iowa, while opponents opted for cheaper paper stickers. And on the charter plane from Iowa to New Hampshire the night of Jan. 19, staff and reporters were served lobster and shrimp.

By year's end, the Dean payroll swelled to 498 people, double those of his competitors. The campaign sought to build organizations in states with contests that were still months away. In three months, the campaign burned through nearly $19 million."


You can lay this mismanagement of funds at the campaign mangers feet. That would be Trippi. He wasnt what drove deans contributions it was Deans message that did so and it was the ability of the net savvy people that begged them to help that created the web portal that allowed those contributions to come in. Again trippi had little or nothing to do with it. Hell trippy didnt even know what a blog was at the time.

[karynnj]

38. Trippi was a disaster in at least January 2004 for Dean

Didn't Dean fire him after he blew through huge amounts of money in Iowa with little to show for it?

[surfermaw]

49. More like Wolf Blitzeer and Candy C were the finish for Dean

Dean was done in by CNN and Wolf Blitzer
Al Gore was done in by Wolf Blitzer and CNN

[Debi]

44. He did an excellent job lining his pockets w/Dean's campaign funds

beyond that he didn't do much. (How could he? He refused to leave Vermont for Iowa because he didn't want to lose his position in the campaign).

If I were Elizabeth Edwards I'd be wary of Joe Trippi - he's in it for the $$ for himself.

[Adelante]

18. This takes the cake

"Instead of moving from primary mode to general election mode, why don't we have tell-the-truth mode, all the time, and not say something different one time than we say another time?" Edwards asked pointedly last week in New Hampshire.

Heh. :D

Anyway, I don't understand this close relationship between Trippi and EE in which they've spoken maybe a half dozen times in 8 months.

[Egnever]

19. This article is wrong on so many levels

"Instead of moving from primary mode to general election mode, why don't we have tell-the-truth mode, all the time, and not say something different one time than we say another time?" Edwards asked pointedly last week in New Hampshire.

This statement makes him look foolish IMHO coming from the cosponsor of the IWR and coauthor of the patriot act.

If anyone says something different one time then another John is a great candidate for it. He hardly resembles the Edwards from last time around.

And Joe Trippi a cult figure?

Sorry but after what he did during the Dean campaign I have absolutely zero respect for this guy and I suspect many others feel the same. The fact that Edwards hired him actually shows poor judgment if you ask me.

[Ninga]

22. He did amazing things during the Dean campaign. Trippi was the first to capture the

power of the net roots for a political campaign.

Trippi is most certainly a cult figure within the realm of the movement.

The DeanForAmerica movement morphed into a relavant and meaningful organization DemocracyForAmerica and have been at the forefront of helping candidates at the grassroots level get elected.

This is a credit due to the good work of Trippi.

Say what you will.....you of course have your right....but really, who cares what your level of respect is for him.....your respect is meaningless unless you can back it up with your record of political accomplishment.

[Egnever]

27. First off

Trippi is getting credit for something he didn't have much to do with. I was an early supporter of Dean I jumped on his bandwagon the moment I saw the I want to know why speech and I immediately went looking for information about him.

At that time the website he had was woefully incomplete and barely functional People that were inspired by his speech that were net savvy were driven to make his web presence better and drove to his headquarters to do so. Trippi doesn't know shit about the web he was a bystander for the most part in what was accomplished by the team of young web professionals that dropped what they were doing to go help Dean. The fact that Trippi gets credit for allowing them to do it is frankly dishonest.

I was very involved in the campaign and watched as it caught fire. I also watched with horror at the end when it was discovered that Dean had no money left due to Trippis mismanagement of the funds.

There is no question that Dean for america is going strong and again it has nothing to do with Trippi. They parted ways right after Iowa when the breadth of the mismanagement of funds was discovered and to somehow turn this into some sort of great accomplishment by Trippi pretty much points to the fact that you don't know shit about Deans campaign or what drove the net-roots support of Dean or the ongoing commitment of Dean to continue to empower people. That is Deans doing Trippi was just along for the ride. He has said himself he was amazed by what the young people came up with when allowed to do so.

So the fact that you buy into the whole Trippi is a cult figure bullshit pretty much tells me you don't have a clue what was really involved in Deans campaign nor much of a clue about what trippi did during it.

[Adelante]

33. Yours is the accurate story

I wasn't a Dean supporter, but I remember perfectly the sequence of events as you describe, Egnever.

[Texas_Kat]

36. Having talked with several of Dean's internet architects

since the 2004 primary season, few.... uh, none.... of them have anything flattering to say about Joe Trippi.

[progpen]

Don't hold back now, tell us how you feel...

I do believe you may have been personally hurt by the Dean campaign's loss and I can respect that. I was pretty damn depressed for quite some time afterward myself. But alienating anyone who doesn't say "Oh wise and benevolent Engver, please tell us what to think about Joe Trippi", is not the way to make friends and influence people. At least that part wasn't in the book I read.

[Egnever]

45. I was hurt by Deans loss

However that doesnt take away from the fact that trippi is not the mastermind he is being painted to be here. In fact far from it.

You may not like hearing about the pitfalls of Trippi but it doesnt make them any less true.

Dean aside the idea that he is some cult hero is preposterous unless you are talking about people enamored with him without actually knowing anything about him.

Take what I said away from this or dont I realy dont care but the fact remains its true.

I am quite sure madfloridan will have plenty to say on this subject should he see it. The guy is a walking encyclopedia of the Dean campaign and I am quite sure he can cite sources to back up what I am telling you here.

[progpen]

54. I respect that and thank you for the information.

I like this message board precisely because I can gain new insight into subjects that interest me. I guess it's just when information is given in the "are you stupid or what?" tone that I will get defensive.

Again, thank you much. And I look forward to many more conversations with you.

[NoPasaran]

46. Trippi is a cult figure?

Only in the sense that some of us old Deaniacs have Trippi voodoo dolls we still stick with the occasional pin.

[loudsue]

25. Then don't vote for him! Go vote for someone who is more conservative!

For me, I'll stay with Edwards.

[Egnever]

28. lol someone who is more conservative

Than the co author of the patriot act and the IWR?

Can you point to them please?

[robinlynne]

37. Coauthor of the Patriot Act? I looked it up, and don't see his name there at all.

[karynnj]

40. What bothers me more is seeing Edwards' supporters

here and on Dkos, using his $89 billion supplemental bill vote to claim that he voted to defund the war or to reject the occupation. In fact, his series of votes was identical to Kerry's - and in at least one debate following Kerry, he simply said his reason was the same. At any rate, in fall 2003 - when the vote was made, he was still saying the invasion was justified - not the vote, the invasion.

I don't know if Edwards himself or even his campaign have ever claimed this, but those of us who were looking at all the candidates this time of year in 2003 have memories. It is better to stick with the 2005 apology. Edwards can not suddenly morph his past into, say, Feingold's.

[Cameron27]

42. From what I read, after he was selected as the VP

candidate, he was strongly pushing JK not to say the IRW vote was in error. He's made quite an about face on a lot of issues.

[karynnj]

47. That's what I remember too

I think that Kerry did the right thing in September when he stopped speaking of the vote, and switched to speaking about the decision to go to war. It might have helped had he done that that earlier - especially as he had spoken against rushing to war when it was not a last resort.

I doubt that JRE's or the DLC or Shrum or anyone else had much impact on him not admitting it was a mistake or , as he has said, the wrong thing to do. Kerry in 2004 spoke of the war as not a war of last resort, which in his speech on religion in 2006 means he thinks it was an unjust war. Accepting that by trusting Bush, he essentially allowed Bush to have his vote when he later went to war was clearly a tough issue for a man whose entire adult life fought that kind of immoral war. Whenever he speaks of that vote, there is pain in his face that I don't see in many of the others. I doubt he could have emotionally dealt with rejecting the reasons (excuses) he gave for the vote while running a Presidential race.

Switching the question to the decision to go to war or not - where he was publicly on record on the don't go side - made sense.

[dogman]

29. So he needs Trippi to tell him which way the wind blows?

He's not even a good windsock.

[Texas_Kat]

32. techPresident: "A puff piece"

In a puff piece in the Washington Post, Chris Cilliza points to Joe Trippi’s close relationship with Elizabeth Edwards as the source of Trippi’s growing influence over the John Edwards campaign. In addition to bonding over health problems (a story documented in another puff piece by the New York Times’ Adam Nagourney), the two have found common ground over aggressive campaigning tactics and a shared love of the web. It’s an interesting history of Trippi’s rise to de facto campaign manager, but like Nagourney’s piece it features virtually no viewpoints about Trippi and Edwards other than those advanced by members of Edwards’ staff.

http://www.techpresident.com/blog/entry/10609/daily_digest_10_23_07

[madfloridian]

34. Trippi needs to sit down and hush.

He has rewritten history to his favor several times.

Dean said it best on CNN once when asked about Joe. He said "I have been very good about not talking about Joe Trippi."

[Cameron27]

35. Yep

[karynnj]

41. Wonderful answer by Dean - Classy, but says everything

[BootinUp]

39. Another "New" John Edwards? I can't handle another one. n/t

[Debi]

43. Wonder how much Trippi's consulting firm is gonna make off of

this campaign? And when his ego will get in the way of the candidate?

Poor Edwards, he deserves better than Joe Trippi.

[Adelante]

50. I was waiting for you to turn up, Debi

:pals:

[Debi]

51. I just hope the Edwards are less trusting than Dean was

I don't care if they want him as an adviser - but both and adviser and making $$ off of consulting spells disaster for the Edwards campaign. They need to separate Trippi from the money (if not also the message). Edwards isn't reinventing himself - Trippi is reinventing himself!

On edit:

Oh, and hey WesDem :hi:

[Adelante]

53. We were talking about it so recently

That at least Trippi wasn't a media-buying cat seat with Edwards. Oh, well.

[Debi]

55. Yeah - if he really didn't want to profit from his association with the Edwards campaign

why did he decide to take over the consulting position? (The position that not only makes money for the job but for all the media buys...chooses who to use for direct mail and talent...) Seems Joe found his way to make a buck spending John Edwards money.