- I linked to an article in the Saratogian the other day which quoted an Excelsior spokesperson named Howard Wolfson. I thought the name sounded familiar - I was thinking of Howard Rubenstein, a long time spokesperson for George Steinbrenner; as you may know, Steinbrenner's son-in-law Steve Swindal is one of Excelsior's principals.
But I was listening to a report on the radio today about Hillary Clinton apparently signaling her intention to run for president, and they played a quote from a Clinton spokesperson named Howard Wolfson. And I realized that that's where I remembered the name.
Indeed, the Albany Times Union recently listed Wolfson as a "player" in, and the spokesperson for Excelsior. He is in fact Senator Clinton's communications director, and, according to a recent profile in the NY Times, an equal among Mrs. Clinton's circle of top advisers. He also assisted in executing the Democrats' assault on Republican held House seats in the November election, at times utilizing nasty negative advertising campaigns.
In many ways, Mr. Wolfson's bare-knuckle brand of politics is reminiscent of the tactics of Karl Rove, President Bush's chief political adviser -- and a man whose skills Mr. Wolfson admits to admiring. While other Democrats tend to run campaigns that largely focus on issues, Mr. Wolfson is more than willing to make an opponent's character the central theme of a race.One gets the feeling that Excelsior may not remain quiet indefinitely in the face of any further attacks by Empire.
In Mrs. Clinton's re-election race, for example, the Clinton camp sized up her Republican opponent, John Spencer, a former mayor of Yonkers, and concluded it had several ways it could try to define him to voters, said Democrats close to the campaign.
It could have gone after him on his record by pointing out that he had increased taxes and spending in Yonkers. It could have gone after him on his politics by hammering away at the fact that he opposes abortion rights and supports gun rights. But instead, it chose a third way, reflected in just about every one of Mr. Wolfson's public comments about Mr. Spencer.
Mr. Wolfson sought to cast doubts about Mr. Spencer's stability by noting, again and again, how Mr. Spencer had once joked about wanting to kill a federal judge and a governor who had crossed him. [New York Times]
1 Comment:
Alan, interesting tidbit about Howard Wolfson's Hillary/Empire connections. Somehow I don't think a connection to a Senator or Congressman is as useful as connection to a state pol- the state pols surely will block any attempts by a Washington pol to meddle on what they consider to be their turf. The plot seems to thicken by the day. Saw a Steve Crist DRF column dated Nov 24 which has some interesting observations, confirming my belief that this race is just getting away from the starting gate with nearly 10 furlongs to go. Steve says that in the end we should be prepared for- what else?- some form of grand political compromise involving all 3 finalists, you know on the theory that the pols don't wan't to lose anyone's vote, "Can't we all just get along?". So, if all 3 end up in the same franchise, everybody should be happy, or so goes the theory. How long would this honeymoon last?
Post a Comment