From Hotline On Call posted today:
May 09, 2007
Rudy’s New State Directors Aren’t Vets Of Their States
“Talented and experienced as they are, we noticed that Joe Jarabek, who’s been appointed Giuliani’s Iowa state director, and Jennifer Hallowell, who’s been appointed Giuliani’s New Hampshire state director, don’t seem to have much Iowa and New Hampshire experience.
“Jarabek joins Tony Delgado, a former RNC political aide who is Iowa political director, and Bruceanne Phillips, a top aide on Rep. Jim Nussle’s ’06 gubernatorial campaign. Ex-Rep. Nussle is Giuliani’s Iowa chair. Hallowell joins a more seasoned team in New Hampshire, led currently by ex-NH GOP chair Wayne Semprini.
Their selections are yet another sign that Giuliani plans to run an untraditional campaign in both states.
“Jarabek has run campaigns in West Virginia and Ohio, and Hallowell is the former exec. dir of the Indiana Republican Party. Republicans swept statewide officers in IN in ’06… but lost three seats in Congress.”
Frankly, there’s nothing wrong with hiring “outsiders” to run campaigns — even presidential caucus/primary campaigns of this import. In fact, it can often result in fresh, creative thinking that breaks the stale “that’s the way we’ve always done it here” mentality so pervasive in campaigns of every level.
But all things being equal, these are unusual hires, and it will be interesting to watch as the IA and NH campaigns unfold. Even if you’re not for Rudy, you have to be pulling just a little for the outsiders to come in and do well. If they win, sky’s the limit on professional upward mobility.
In 1980, New Yorker Rich Bond went to Iowa for George H.W. Bush — and the rest is history.