Here Today, Gone Tomorrow (consultant Wolfson takes 72 hours to leave Kerry campaign)

NY Times ^ | 4/09/04 | ADAM NAGOURNEY

[Libloather]

Here Today, Gone Tomorrow
By ADAM NAGOURNEY
Published: April 9, 2004

Even by the standards of the revolving door that is sometimes the John Kerry campaign, the arrival and departure of Howard Wolfson – the high-powered political consultant from New York – had to be a record.

Mr. Wolfson arrived at Mr. Kerry’s campaign headquarters on Monday to work as a communications consultant. He was on a train back to New York on Friday to return to his post at a political consulting firm.

Mr. Wolfson said that his sudden departure from the campaign should not be taken as any kind of judgment on the Kerry operation.

“It proved difficult to extricate myself from my client responsibilities,’’ Mr. Wolfson explained. “I am looking forward to being helpful to the campaign in other ways.”

Mr. Kerry’s communications director, Stephanie Cutter, declined comment on the Wolfson departure.

Mr. Wolfson is a familiar figure in New York political circles. He has held senior positions in the campaigns of both Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton and Charles E. Schumer, and served as the executive director of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. Several Democrats expressed surprise that Mr. Wolfson had taken a position running the Kerry campaign's so-called rapid-response operation — a mid-level job he had held earlier in his career — and suggested Mr. Wolfson might have find his responsibilities less than challenging.

Mr. Wolfson’s departure comes a week after Jim Margolis, a top media strategist, decided he would significantly reduce his role with the Kerry campaign because of a contract dispute.

Mr. Wolfson did not have a disparaging word about his 72 hours in Kerry’s orbit, and expressed regret that it had not worked out. Asked to describe what it was like working there, Mr. Wolfson responded with one word: "Short."

[Owen]

We don't know he did. We don't know what the campaign costs, itself. We do know he still owes $5-6 million for that house collateral. We don't know if he paid the bills for those TV ads yet.

No one turns down a spectacular good paying job unless it wasn't good paying. If it was a "demotion", but paid well, the guy would have endured it for 6 mos. for the money.