I am crazy busy between all of the projects I am working on, but this is too amusing to me not to write up. Fred Thompson has now hired both Todd Harris and Karen Hanretty for his now official, not illegal presidential run. Those two were key consultants on Arnold’s disastrous 2005 special election. It was his aides that convinced him that a bunch of power grab measures and attacking labor was a good idea. Wrong. Oh so wrong.
Arnold is doing much better since he dropped the DC Navigators crew. Indeed his former re-elect staffers were snapped up by other campaigns, way before Frederick got Harris and Hanretty. BTW, anything that Mike Murphy says about Thompson should be considered coming from the campaign. Todd Harris is a principle at Murphy’s firm DC Navigators.
I have two favorite moments of Harris during that campaign. The first was when he brought a bunch of interns over to CTA’s offices in Sacramento to “protest”. Needless to say, Republicans are terrible chanters. The kind teachers were worried that the kids needed some sustenance, so they brought out some cookies and milk for them. The chant leader told them to stay away, lest they create a nice photo-op, but Harris couldn’t help himself. Here he is chewing away.
The second one was the time he was caught by Warren Beatty taking pictures of his wife Annette Benning at a campaign stop. Benning and Beatty were on a bus tour for us and high-jinks ensued. Heh even Nehring is mention in Carla Marninucci’s blog post:
The Academy Award-nominated actress won over legions of fans, even on the GOP side. Holding her husband’s hand, she posed for photos with union members, talked up the election, and remained serenely gorgeous throughout the day, even after she and Beatty became the target of some decidedly nasty personal attacks from state GOP vice chair Ron Nehring, who dismissed them as “over the hill” and “B” actors.
Beatty, in an affectionate nod to his wife, addressed the crowd in admiration, saying: “Give me liberty or give me .. Annette Bening!”
Even Schwarzenegger spokesman Todd Harris couldn’t resist, snapping some photos of her. That’s when Beatty strangled him in mock exasperation while pleading, “Todd, join us!”
Harris instead rushed back to combat duty — on the press bus.
I was amused to see Maviglio defending Schwarzenegger’s star power today in Carla’s article on the hires, oh and even Gary South shows up:
And Maviglio said Thompson doesn’t compare with the California governor when it comes to star power.
“Muttering a few lines at the end of a ‘Law & Order’ episode isn’t the same as a multimillion-dollar blockbuster,” Maviglio scoffed. “It doesn’t translate.”
Garry South, the sharp-tongued former strategist for Davis, said Thompson has other problems.
Harris and Hanretty are “both really worthy additions to the (Thompson) team,” South said. But … the candidate is “an empty vessel into which (the conservative right) are pouring all their hopes. Fred Thompson is no Ronald Reagan,” or even an Arnold Schwarzenegger.
“He’s not an upbeat individual. He comes off like a grouchy, grumpy old man … Can you see the words ‘shining city on a hill’ coming out of Fred Thompson’s mouth?”
How many CA hacks can I tie into this story? sheesh.