Friday, October 19, 2007

Campaigns 101: Never Get Photographed With a Drink In Your Hand, Dan

Well, it looks like Dan Seals never spent much time with former Congressman John Porter (no big shock), who used to give some really good campaign advice, among which was "never get photographed with a drink in your hand." Even if it's seltzer water (and I have no idea what he's holding), it doesn't look too good.

Seals was photographed at some Chicago meetup at the Goose Island Brewery, sponsored by Daily Kos, as near as I can tell, not having been invited (another shocker). Check out the link here. The next mistake Danny makes is to mug for the camera all by himself. Where's his eager prospective constituency all gathered around him to hear his latest pronouncements on how he is going to fix the universe (right after the 10th District)?

The meetup didn't seem to be much of a meetup, though. As you can see from this next picture, there appears to be all of one Dan Fan at the meeting. Now, maybe it was before everyone was supposed to show, and Dan was practicing his "considered reasoning before he announces his wisdom" look, but the next trick of campaigning is that you are never the first to show or the last to leave. You send your advance people to do the preliminary stuff, show up when the party is rocking and you can maximize your contact with prospective voters. Then go to the next event. Repeat often.

So, it appears Dan has a lot to learn about campaign logistics, even though he's been at this game for a while. He's some more free advice- you might want to keep some distance between yourself and Kos, whose blog has been widely accused of anti-semitism, as well as general hatemongering and other lovely attributes. See here and here and here. Here's another one: try having an event in the 10th District for a change, instead of trying to drum up support in the far friendlier (but still foreign territory) of Chicago.

Good luck, Dan. It appears you're going to need it.

17 comments:

Unincorporated Middle said...

I don't know which was funnier - your post or the "live blog" at dKos.

"Hi - I'm at the table across from you"

"wave :)"

"Who's the good looking guy in the red shirt"

"oooh daniel biss is the suprise guest!!!"

LOL

Kirk is out talking to the the Tribune, WGN, Daily Herald about serious issues like SCHIP and O'Hare safety while dan is drinking beers in chicago with a four kids who are too busy text messaging each other than to catch whatever it is he is saying.

I suppose that's one way to run a campaign.

Publia said...

Huge room. Don't think he learned about small rooms yet, either. BTW, I wonder if he's sick of running for office--he's stripped all the content out of his website, also.

Anonymous said...

As soon as I stop laughing I'll finish my comments. Right on, TA. I guess Dan was either waiting for the hordes of supporters to arrive for the event or, heaven forbid, their invitations were lost in the mail. With the Edens a bit rough to travail these days it's pretty hard to do events in the city. And why would you do them outside the district? I won't even comment on a KOS event. When you lie down with dogs it's a well known fact that you are liable to come away with fleas.
I've not seen or heard of any debates or discussions between Dan
and Jay. Jay is working hard to get those signatures on petitions, meeting people all over the district. Both men don't have jobs to worry about so that allows them to campaign full time, all day, everyday. Today was a huge earned media day for Congressman Kirk. Once again he is out there working to actually help us solve day to day problems whether out at O'Hare airport on the security issue or trying to work once again on a bi-partisan basis to end the stalemate on the SCHIP Bill. That's what you call leadership and a man on a mission to keep his promises. Thanks for the nice photo of some Bar in the city. I guess it doesn't pay to find out where this place might be since others seem to be taking a pass on going there just to be social.

Anonymous said...

Mark Kirk is so afraid of his constituents that he only tells friendly republicans at the last minute where he will hold a town hall meeting. But he is too dumb to hide for long. He can go into permanent hiding on 1/20/09! Seals for Congress!

Anonymous said...

That picture looks photoshopped.

Anonymous said...

Oh, Anon......come on now....Mr. Kirk does Town Hall Meetings all over the District. If you're referring to the Town Hall in Winnetka yesterday I'm guessing that you were a part of the anti-war protesting attendees, right? What you and they just can't seem to accept and understand is that Mr. Kirk DOES work on all kinds of issues: local, national, international. He held his "own" yesterday in spite of the attempt to disrupt and re-focus the discussion. Everyone gets a call to come to the meeting.....YOU came, didn't you! Truth, fairness, rational thinking is what the constituents out here know and appreciate from Congressman Mark Kirk. You can try to spin anything your way, in the end, the constituents from the 10th District are showing that they want this man of integrity to stay in office and represent them.

Unincorporated Middle said...

Anon 9:21

I would find the Kirk is "afraid" spin of the 10th dems funny if it weren't also so insulting. You can disagree with the man, not vote for him, campaign for his opponent - heck, you can even run against him. But you cannot change the fact that Kirk has served in combat and continues to serve his country despite the ugly and mean-spirited tenor of today's political arena.

Congressman Kirk has proven his courage in a way few can.

Team America said...

Anon 10:29- if the pix are photoshopped, then you can blame Kos. Go look at the website- I took the pictures as I found them. I guess that means you found the pictures as disturbuing as I did. Typical left-winger attitude- anything that appears damaging to a Dem candidate must be the result of a vast right-wing conspiracy and unconscionable acts (like doctoring photos) by Republicans. Wake up and smell the coffee, folks.

Anonymous said...

Actually, I was in Winnetka and had a pretty good view of events. After it was over, one doctor who had given a rambling speech on something came up to Kirk and said, "Listen Mark, we disagree on a lot of things but my respect for you has been greatly enhanced."

That's a direct quote. I was blown away by it. Some of the nutjobs in the room will never admit to it--but that guy at least had the class to thank the congressman for lending three hours of his time to a room full of MoveOn.org members.

Team America said...

Thanks Sparticus- I was taking a long weekend and did not make the event, so I appreciate all takes on how it went. Then I'm going to go visit Ellen's for the Spin Report on the same evening and compare notes.

Anonymous said...

Nice slam by Dan Seals on Footlik in today's Sun Times. I wonder if Footlik even realized that Seals was slamming him so early to Carol Marin.

Team America said...

I didn't think it was much of a slam on Footlik, actually. In fact, it seems to me than both Dem candidates came out on the losing end of Marin's analysis, and she correctly noted that the bloodied winner is going to have to take on Kirk who will have built up a pot o' gold to take on the eventual Dem winner. As we noted here earlier, the fact that the Dem candidate is going to have to rely on a bailout from the national party doesn't speak well of either Dem candidate, nor the party support.

Maybe Carol Marin should have showed up to that Thursday DailyKos event for Seals and then she REALLY would have has something to slam Dan on.

Anonymous said...

I don't think the 10th has changed its composition enough to elect a Democrat. I find it odd that local Republicans are unhappy with Mark's voting record for being too Democrat, yet the Kos crew paint him as Bush's lap dog.

Team America said...

Anon 6:19- welcome to the life of being a moderate candidate.

Anonymous said...

Is this the same Kos group that made the anti-semetic remarks?
Katy

Team America said...

I don't think Kos himself was ever accused of making anti-Semitic remarks, but the commentors on his blog (some of them) are known to have made anti-Semitic statements. While you may say that Kos is not responsible for the comments of a few nutjobs that post on the blog, the Dems are quick to hold up examples such as Ann Coulter and condemn all Republicans (as Ellen Beth Gill has done to Mark Kirk) for not immediately coming out and refuting such trash.

Anonymous said...

Yes, TA, thanks for pointing out that the Ellen Beth Gill's of the world rail against Congressman Kirk for not trashing everyone who has ever spoken an indecent phrase, but she and others NEVER say a word about the vicious comments on the KOS site or, for that matter, Gill's "friends" who spew lots of filth as comments on her blog. Kos commenters have made some pretty disgraceful and outrageous anti-Semitic statements. Guilt by association? Perhaps. The Kos is the home base for the very far left in our society. The only thing left of them is the wall.