General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: I'm very sorry Hillary Clinton has a sad today. [View all]karynnj
(59,504 posts)She was replaced by Maggie Williams. I think her top strategist was the ever delightful Mark Penn.
I don't think that Shrum should have forever not spoken of the 2004 campaign -- and in fact, he worked for Kerry along with Mary Beth Cahill in his primary campaign. That Kerry hired him did not mean that he was forever "owned" by Kerry --- and certainly not by Edwards, who became a major problem for the campaign. Per people I know it is true that he would accept tasks (like either defending Kerry or attacking Bush) and not only not do it, but go to the media telling them the campaign thought him to valuable to use as an attack dog.
The NYT in 2007/2008 had an article where Edwards prided himself on refusing to use the campaign slogan "help is on the way" using his own "hope is on the way" --- he considered this something that showed he stood on his principles! Actually it let to questions as to why the campaign could not decide on a slogan. I think Kerry's made more sense, but that is irrelevant, either one was better than both -- and it should have been Kerry's choice.
I think that Shrum was actually kind to Edwards - when you consider not one of the Finance or strategy people who were still with Kerry in 2006 decided to move to Edwards when Kerry opted out. It is reasonable for them to think that Edwards was offered a gift of the VP slot in 2004 - it was not something he was entitled to --- and proceeded to act like a prima donna. Kerry had the grace to keep any of this from being public in 2004, but I can't help believe that he soon regretted that he gave in to all the people pushing Edwards on him - even though his own impression of Edwards was not that positive.