Posted on 04/13/2005 7:47:31 PM PDT by Jean S
Pollsters are generally relegated to a lower tier of political consultancy. We’re seldom allowed to direct important campaigns. So whenever a pollster does rise to the top of anything political, albeit something modest, there is joy in the profession.
I learned this in January 1995, after being named interim manager of the nascent Dan Quayle for President campaign. Almost immediately, I heard from a fierce competitor wishing me well. He seemed proud that “one of us” was even briefly heading a campaign.
As it turned out, Quayle was an interim candidate who would withdraw from the race a month thereafter, sending me back to being “just a pollster.” But the experience taught me a lesson about the pride of pollsters.
That lesson makes this column an especially difficult exercise because I must suggest that “one of us,” pollster Arthur Finkelstein, is not suited for a top campaign post that he evidently desires.
In reality, Finkelstein has never been “just a pollster”; he’s always been a strategist, too. But he has stayed active in the polling game.
His polling credentials are especially embellished by the remarkable number of other pollsters he has trained by apprenticeship. I don’t think any other pollster can claim as many professional progeny.
Finkelstein’s hold on his clients’ hearts and minds is equally impressive. One former client, a onetime U.S. senator, is said to be unable to make any decision today without Finkelstein’s continuing counsel. Whether he’s picking out a new tie or making an investment, Arthur must be consulted.
This kind of adoration could have its downside, however. You might be tempted to start thinking that you’re invincible and that your judgments are always perfectly sound. In short, you might tend to lose touch with reality as your ego soars out of control. That may be where Finkelstein is headed.
According to the New York Post, Finkelstein intends to lead the charge against Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton’s (D-N.Y.) emerging candidacy for the White House. Supposedly, Arthur is planning to launch a website, stophernow.com, to serve as a hub for a multimillion-dollar fundraising and political operation to kill Hillary’s chances before she really gets started.
Even if this strategy seemed prudent and potentially effective, is Finkelstein the best operative for the job? I would argue that he isn’t. My concern is not that Finkelstein’s most recent campaigns have seemed tired and stale, it’s that he seems to have turned away from his once solid institutional allegiance to the Republican Party. Arthur evidently feels Republicans are too conservative, so his friends now say he’s a libertarian instead. I don’t think a libertarian should handle a Republican’s job.
Just as Hillary seems headed for the center, Finkelstein seems headed for the same place. That doesn’t bode well for Finkelstein’s competitive advantage against the New York senator. A recently released Rasmussen Reports poll found that just 43 percent of Americans today view the former first lady as politically liberal. Her moderation campaign seems to be gaining steam.
The very week that a freshly anti-abortion Hillary decided to speak out against “temptations and forces beyond your control when you’re just looking for a little help to keep the pornographic television shows out of your living room,” the national media were reporting that Finkelstein married his longtime male partner in a Massachusetts-style same-sex marriage.
Arthur’s status as a gay pollster has long been the worst-kept secret in political circles, but his gay marriage seems over the top for someone whose stock in trade has always been anonymity. Finkelstein has always recognized that the consultant shouldn’t be a distraction for the campaign, so he’s stayed in the background. But now Finkelstein has become the issue. James Carville, Bill Clinton and the rest are openly heckling the newlywed.
It’s time that someone else take the helm of efforts to knock Hillary off her perch. Conservative Republicans shouldn’t contribute a dime to anything led by Finkelstein.
Hill is director of Hill Research Consultants, a Texas-based firm that has polled for GOP candidates and causes since 1988.
"It’s time that someone else take the helm of efforts to knock Hillary off her perch. Conservative Republicans shouldn’t contribute a dime to anything led by Finkelstein."
BTTT
The last thing we want now is for Hillary to show up with the Minutemen and call for border-control. Newsmax has a story about the possibility:
http://www.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2005/4/13/101828.shtml
Then again, if we could trust her to follow through (I wouldn't... others might), then it's something to reflect on before voting for a RINO in 2008 who refuses to seal our boarders.
I know Arthur personally. So what if he is gay? He is brilliant and I commend him for going after clinton in her senate re-election campaign - stop her now - in an effort to preclude her from running for the big office in 2008.
Hillary just puts her finger in the air to see which way the wind is blowing.
I have no respect for her for that reason.
You just can't pin her down and she suddenly became more relgious after the election---what a damned hypocrite.
I'm for anyone who can stop that witch!
p.s.---The Sox lost tonight against The Evil Empire.
yeah, so what!
I will support ANYONE who will work to get Hillary out. Dems always distract with sex. It doestn' matter in the arena of ideas here.
Hilliary isn't changing her spots, we must stop her now.
How funny. I spoke with Finkelstein's office about three weeks ago. If he can fund a project to stop Satan's Daughter, I will support the effort.
All that any Demo or Republican opponent has to do is mention the "R" (racism) or the "L" (Latino) word, and Hill will back down on her alleged "tough" stance so fast it will make your head swim. She's not gonna kiss Californy good bye just to "move to the right".
one key to stopping her is to get a hold of her senior thesis.
Pure 60 style communism.
A copy of that would help.
Her first senate campaign was pretty amazing, not one hard question was asked of her.
Oh course the same was true of kerry in 04.
I wish this group well, it is an uphill struggle.
Doug, David Hill is one of the good guys. Is this a rivalry issue between these two?
Sorry for my failure to clarify. I said "funny" meaning coincidental. It was coincidental that I spoke with Finkelstein's office about a project a few weeks ago. I don't have any problem with David, and if gave that impression, it was unintended. If Finkelstein can raise the money and be of some help for what I want to do, I'll take the money.
Well, I'll be glad to eat crow if he proves ready, willing and ABLE to keep the Beast out of the Oval Office.
"I know Arthur personally."
I do wish him the best in this particular quest. The fact that he's "out" already means that won't be a threat to his effectiveness. And I do note that (unless BJ Clinton's insult/criticism was all pre-arranged) if Arthur wasn't a threat to Hillary, they wouldn't CARE....
You have FReepmail.
"one key to stopping her is to get a hold of her senior thesis. "
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/844024/posts
OMG, UNBELIEVABLE: Wellesley College 1969 Student Commencement Speech of Hillary D. Rodham
http://216.239.37.100/search?q=cache:jNWMQlcpuVsC:www.wellesley.edu/PublicAffairs/Commencement/1969/053169hillary.html+Hillary+Clinton+(Wellesley+commencement)&hl=en&ie=UTF-8 ^ | Circa 1969 | Wellesley web site
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/827844/posts
Sen. Clinton a Threat to U.S. Security
softwar ^ | Thursday, Jan. 23, 2003 | Charles R. Smith
Apparently, www.marxistbitchfromhell.com is already taken...
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