CHICAGO — David Axelrod likes a challenge. In the post-Clinton era, the political
strategist ran the 2002 campaign of a man with seven children by three different partners.
Dennis Mehiel ran for the position of lieutenant governor of New York and faced the heat of public scrutiny.
(Mehiel, a multimillionaire businessman, and the Democratic gubernatorial candidate, H. Carl McCall, were defeated by incumbent Gov. George E. Pataki and Lt. Gov. Mary Donohue.)
Despite the Clinton scandals of the late 1990s, Axlerod said, Americans separate politicians’ personal lives from their public duties. Axelrod was involved in Gary Hart’s failed 1988 campaign for president, which collapsed after the discovery of the candidate’s extra-marital affair.
Axelrod said he doesn’t condone adultery or promiscuity, but people’s private lives can be complicated. He said if Mehil were not supporting his children, than his character would have been at issue.
The strategist’s own polling showed that Americans today are not obsessed with a politician’s private affairs.
“This has nothing to do with the job,” Axlerod said during an interview at his Chicago headquarters.
Even so, he said the power of the religious right has grown on the American political scene in recent years.
Axelrod is a sought after Democrat campaigner. At one point in 2002 he had eight
candidates on his books.
In an era of television overload, the former Chicago Tribune political reporter favors documentary-style advertising for his candidates.
“I think people are getting immune to political media,” he said.
But he was not averse to some tactics considered by others to cross the boundaries of privacy.
One strategy used to target the U.S. voter is the phone message. Private companies can be paid for will sell the home phone numbers of key voters. Strategists can precisely pinpoint their target.
For example, Axelrod said in one campaign that needed a strong minority vote, a voice message from Bill Clinton, known for his popularity among minorities, was left on home phones. It was credited for helping to secure some key voters.
With a $1 million price tag for a 30-second ad over one week, Axelrod said that money can dictate political winners.
“It’s not axiomatic. But it’s more likely that if you have money, you will win,” he said.
Editor’s note: The 2002 New York gubernatorial campaign set a new record as the most expensive non-presidential campaign in U.S. History. The Independent Party candidate, Tom Golisano, reportedly spent about $60 million in his third failed gubernatorial bid. He was followed in the spending sweepstakes by Pataki, who spent about $40 million, mostly on television commercials, and McCall, who lagged behind with a “mere” $15 million in campaign spending.
By Sue Cant, WPI '02