Atrios makes a silly
By Jim Dallas
The usually-lucid Atrios:
I've never heard of [Kenneth] Baer before, but given that he's described as a "a Democratic strategist and the founder of Baer communications" I assume he's someone foolish candidates pay to tell them how to lose elections. The idea this has anything to do with serious contemporary policy debates is ludicrous.
From Baer Communications, on Baer:
...former White House speechwriter, author, and analyst -- who has extensive experience as a communications adviser to public figures. He was Deputy Director of Speechwriting for Gore-Lieberman 2000 and Senior Speechwriter for Vice President Al Gore.
From CNN:
Gore 50,996,116
Bush 50,456,169
To be sure, there's a lot of Gore team consultants who deserve to be discredited. But Kenneth Baer, DLC-and-all, was one of the good guys.
There's a lot of righteous indignation to be directed at the consultant class, but a little discrimination might be well-advised.
Posted by Jim Dallas at May 4, 2005 10:02 PM
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Who's an expert at everything, and how many campaigns can hire all the individuals full time who are.
I have a real problem with all the venom directed at consultants, now granted, there are some consultants out there who don't do great jobs. But who's to blame for that? The consultant for being sorry, or the CM who hires, and continues to employ the advise of one?
Consultants fill a vital role in politics, most campaigns can not afford to have full time pollsters, statiticians, fund raisers, speech writers, press advisors etc. etc. etc. It is these vital rolls in a campaign where consultants can be essential, and as contract labor, they can be paid for a specific job rather than maintained on a tight payroll.
Let's give consultants a bit of a break and respect the good ones for the valuable contributions they make to the political process.
