I really don't care about your opinion. So far, you've shown yourself to be nothing more than a loudmouth.
Even if I’d bowed to pressure to take someone, my first statement behind closed doors would be ‘do it my way or the highway’.
I see. So why aren't you governor of your State? Sheesh.
You NEVER let the threat of no party money intimidate you into letting your campaign manager be a loose cannon and turn your campaign into something that’s not you.
Well that's what Tom McClintock did in the same election. He was outspent 5:1 and lost, narrowly. That loss was held against him when he ran for governor in the recall election a year later. It was the opening Schwarzenegger needed. Despite the fact that Tom was held in higher regard than any other candidate, Republicans defected to Arnold because "he can win."
Better to lose on a shoestring doing it your way than lose by getting pwned.
I'll remember your sage advice as California sinks into bankruptcy as a consequence of doing it your way.
Here’s the deal: if you need party money, then you got structural fundraising problems that party money isn’t going to fix. You should always be able to raise 10X what the party donates. Party money should be unexpected bonus money. If you need it, then your campaign is flawed out the door and likely to lose.
I know this because I’ve been running campaigns for 10 years. The last time I worked at the congressional level. For a good candidate party money is an afterthought. It should be because I’ve played the party money game. First rule is that they take care of incumbents first. That’s because the GOP has been getting less and less money from donors, who prefer to give it directly to candidates or issue groups.
They don’t tell you that though. They woo, they promise, they make you jump thru hoops. The money never shows, shows up too late, too little, or they do things like run ads without your approval that are the wrong issue at the wrong time, said the wrong way that costs you votes.
I bet if you look at Simon’s disclosure, that party money was a pittance. He’d have been better off without it. You can be sure McClintock wouldn’t have seen that money if he played the game or would have had to sell out to get it.
The party rarely delivers on it’s promises and if they do then they try to make you a moderate a la the Rove strategy. Either the candidate loses anyway, or conservatives lose because he’s compromised. You cannot win the party money game.
All the more reason to be your own man. McClintock did that and went on to better things. That the voters were too stupid to figure that out and voted for Arnold doesn’t make the principle invalid.
I have no problem with Bachmann hiring Rollins because of his history, if she properly contains him and stays true to herself. He obviously knew how to get a win for Huck so he apparently has organizational value. She just needs him to stay away from message.
My worry is that Bachmann doesn’t have the force of personality to contain him. A Palin or Romney would, but Michelle may be in over her head. We shall see.