Campaign Personnel Changes?

[LivefreeVA]

Rand's team that won the primary is his team going into the general election. They just beat the big boys by 24 points. Same people doing media, same people doing voter outreach, same people making decisions. Don't believe everything you read in the papers.

 

[sailingaway]

Rand's team that won the primary is his team going into the general election. They just beat the big boys by 24 points. Same people doing media, same people doing voter outreach, same people making decisions. Don't believe everything you read in the papers.

good.

 

[obijuan]

I was really impressed with Adams this primary campaign, I hope he isn't getting the boot and continues to have a major role in the campaign.

+1776

Adams and Rand campaigned as hard as anybody I've ever seen in KY. Kudos to Mr. Adams for his hard work; it well may not have been a Randslide without him.

 

[klamath]

Benton was never the campaign manager. That was either Lew Moore or Kent Snyder.

I hope if Adams really is moving to a different role, it ain't Benton taking over that one. I'm fine with Benton as "campaign spokesman", but not as campaign manager.

You are right. My mistake. Snyder wasn't to good at it. RIP. I believe Benton was the media spokeman/press officer.

 

[AdamT]

You are right. My mistake. Snyder wasn't to good at it. RIP. I believe Benton was the media spokeman/press officer.

Correct. Benton was/is Ron's media liason. During the 08 campaign he was Communications Director I believe.

 

[Matt Collins]

Wow, I hope he's not taking McConnell/Rove people....

They do know how to win elections.

Can someone explain to me why there seems to be a general disapproval of Jesse Benton?

Just do a search of the forums for his last name and you'll see why.

nothing against him personally but Benton wasn't a good campaign manager.

Benton never managed a campaign to my knowledge.

Guys - I volunteered several times at the Virginia HQ for Ron's 08 run. I observed Jessie Benton both formally and informally. I can tell you there were several problems with the way the campaign was run, but Benton had nothing to do with them. He was the media spokesperson, not a campaign manager or organizer. In that capacity he did very well.

I think Benton has changed and grown quite a bit in a couple of years, I know I have. Him and I didn't get along at all prior to Rand's race, but now that I've worked beside him extensively we don't have any problems whatsoever.

Also there were things during RP'08 that were attributed to him that were in fact not true. I never thought I would be the one saying this, but yall might consider giving him a second chance. Just sayin'

 

[klamath]

They do know how to win elections.


Just do a search of the forums for his last name and you'll see why.

Benton never managed a campaign to my knowledge.


I think Benton has changed and grown quite a bit in a couple of years, I know I have. Him and I didn't get along at all prior to Rand's race, but now that I've worked beside him extensively we don't have any problems whatsoever.

Also there were things during RP'08 that were attributed to him that were in fact not true. I never thought I would be the one saying this, but yall might consider giving him a second chance. Just sayin'

I hope you have both grown up a bit in the last couple of years

 

[sailingaway]

Matt, I don't care if they know how to win elections. I don't want their slime rubbing off on Rand, and I don't want him feeling like he owes them anything. And I am CERTAIN they DO want him owing them.

I can't do anything about it, but I don't like it at all.

I also don't want them coming between Rand and his friends and pretending that they, instead, are his real friends.

Uhg.

 

[Matt Collins]

Matt, I don't care if they know how to win elections. I don't want their slime rubbing off on Rand, and I don't want him feeling like he owes them anything. And I am CERTAIN they DO want him owing them.

I can't do anything about it, but I don't like it at all.

I also don't want them coming between Rand and his friends and pretending that they, instead, are his real friends.

Uhg.

Try to give Rand some credit, eh?

 

[TheFlashlight.org]

Try to give Rand some credit, eh?

Seriously. If the pampered GOP try to treat Rand as some country rube, they're going to end up getting their asses handed to them by a medical doctor who is also a SERIOUS intellectual.

 

[Fozz]

Matt, I don't care if they know how to win elections. I don't want their slime rubbing off on Rand, and I don't want him feeling like he owes them anything. And I am CERTAIN they DO want him owing them.

I can't do anything about it, but I don't like it at all.

I also don't want them coming between Rand and his friends and pretending that they, instead, are his real friends.

Uhg.

I've been concerned about that as well

 

[Chieftain1776]

I think they're going to strike the right balance between winning and being too careful. The grassroots team/voter outreach that Rand has doesn't need to be changed one iota. The media relations/spokesman/strategy type people need to be changed to an experienced team that has contacts with the media.

 

[HPK]

I think they're going to strike the right balance between winning and being too careful. The grassroots team/voter outreach that Rand has doesn't need to be changed one iota. The media relations/spokesman/strategy type people need to be changed to an experienced team that has contacts with the media.

I agree!

 

[doctor jones]

President Rand Paul is a nice thought of what could have been? I sure hope not. I'm confident he'll win his seat in Kentucky but I feel like any presidential bid for the future has been long lost unless the country changes.

 

[devil21]

Usually there's some campaign shake-ups after "gaffes", but are mostly symbolic instead of operational. I'm not sure that's the case here though. Rand's interviews weren't the campaign staffers fault but a lot of people who were turned off by the gaffe "need" to hear that people got fired or reassigned or whatever. I'd wait to see what the campaign changes actually are before freaking out about them.

Im also dismayed to hear Benton is back in the mix. It's hard to pinpoint exactly why he's disliked, because it was a subtle culmination of things during Ron's campaign. Nothing in particular. Just not a good spokesman overall. As much as it kills me, I'd welcome some status quo GOP advisors to the campaign provided Rand doesn't go with their talking points. This is definitely a chance for Rand to prove himself worthy of the Paul name. Take guidance on how to win from the GOP but don't bend to the neo-con platform. This is also a chance for the GOP to show that they HAVE learned something in the last couple years by letting Rand be Rand but also trying to win the seat for a real conservative that doesn't spout the neo-con platform. Both Rand and the GOP can prove a lot here. Karl Rove does know how to win...but can he win while not injecting his personal rhetoric into the campaign?

Im very curious to see what happens here.

 

[skyorbit]

President Rand Paul is a nice thought of what could have been? I sure hope not. I'm confident he'll win his seat in Kentucky but I feel like any presidential bid for the future has been long lost unless the country changes.

Ron needs to run again.

Tracy

 

[devil21]

Ron needs to run again.

Tracy

He does and Rand's campaign makes an interesting testbed for a 2012 run. Can the GOP work with the Paul's and their idealogy to win seats for libertarian minded conservatives and the party instead of working against them?

 

[Thargok]

I say, why fix something that isn't broken. Rand jacked up on his own - he shouldn't be shuffling things around too much -

I'm sorry but a blind man in a dark room could have avoided the train that hit Rand. The media was going to attack him and the campaign was riding high on their horse talking about vacation and relaxing. The fact of the matter was that anytime anybody wants to make a media appearance with a candidate the first question should be "What is the topic of the interview?" followed by the statement, "This is a list of my positions." The campaign did neither of these, they were attacked by Maddow without preparation and they dropped the ball on O'Reily who practically read off Trey Grayson's campaign website for Rand's positions.

 

[sailingaway]

Ron needs to run again.

Tracy

+1

 

[angelatc]

The fact of the matter was that anytime anybody wants to make a media appearance with a candidate the first question should be "What is the topic of the interview?" followed by the statement, "This is a list of my positions." The campaign did neither of these,

Actually, we have no idea what conversations the producers had with the staff before the interview was scheduled. And Rand said that they asked him an entirely different set of questions during the pre-show warm up.