Meet Robby Mook, Clinton's campaign manager

[Statistikhengst]

The first openly gay campaign manager in history:

Robby Mook Just Took the Hardest Job in Politics Saving the Clintons From Themselves Mother Jones

Within days, Clinton is expected to officially launch her next presidential bid—and Mook will be her campaign manager. He has the formidable task of repackaging perhaps the most widely known and picked-over public figure in modern politics and convincing a weary electorate that she should lead the country for the next four years. He will have to hold together the many tribes and fiefdoms within the Clinton community, while sidestepping—and surviving—the sort of backstabbing that felled his predecessors...

...Mook, who will be the first openly gay manager of a major presidential campaign, is largely unknown beyond the insular world of Democratic staffers but well liked within it. In addition to the email listserv, his loyal following—the Mook Mafia—plans yearly reunions, during which they return to a state where they once operated for a weekend of bar-hopping mixed with volunteering for a local campaign.

Mook's friends and colleagues struggle to identify any particular policy issue that drives him. Mark Penn-style theories about key demographic groups (remember Soccer Moms?) don't inspire him either. He's a political nerd who lives and dies by data and nuts-and-bolts organizing. At heart, according to those who know him, he's a mechanic. "What drives Robby is the opportunity to run a better campaign than he did the last time," says Tom Hughes, who hired Mook for Howard Dean's 2004 presidential campaign.

Yet in the McAuliffe race, relying on data, organizing, and a test-everything standard wasn't enough. The secret sauce in Mook's stewardship of the McAuliffe operation was his ability to manage and harness all the friends and well-wishers in the candidate's orbit, from Bill and Hillary Clinton down to the lowliest county chairman. "This is where temperament comes in," says Paul Begala, a former adviser to Bill Clinton who helped out on the campaign. "Robby corralled us, engaged us, channeled us, used us, but didn't let us hijack all his time or the campaign."

Think of Mook, then, as the Hillaryland Whisperer.

Did I hear some heads just pop?

Discuss. Is it ok to have an openly gay campaign manager, or must they remain in the closet like Mehlman did for Bush, Jr.?

 

[MisterBeale]

The fact that he is gay is his business. I don't think any one gives a damn. The fact that he is working with the Clinton's makes him a morally degenerate corporate elite sell out.

No, I don't think most politically, ethically, and morally aware folks would want to meet him. He is a career climber. He's a narcissist who has attached his wagon to the rich and powerful and doesn't give a shit about what is right or wrong. Creepy fellow. . . .

 

[defcon4]

As I see it, the inscription on his shirt is an oxymoron. Didn't the quote say that he was a fag? Ah.. yes it did and it reads further down, and I quote: "He has the formidable task of repackaging" yes it is affirmative, then the inscription is an oxymoron.

 

[MisterBeale]

Hillary isn't a real big queer supporter anywho. This is all a political calculation.