Truman's Conscience

Bob Shrum: Political Grim Reaper

I'm not sure why Jon Corizne latched on to the infamous Bob Shrum of Shrum, Devine & Donilon but somehow he managed to win anyway. Chris Bowers over at Mydd tells us about the lastest candidate Bob Shrum's firm is backing: Attorney General Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island in his race to be the Democratic challenger to Sen. Lincoln Chaffee. I'll leave it to the redoubtable Mr. Bowers to sum up the latest effort of Shrum's firm::

"In case you need any more convincing that 2006 is a change election, outsider Senate candidate Matt Brown in Rhode Island gained 24 points on establishment candidate and Attorney General Sheldon Whitehouse. And he did it with a $100K ad buy introducing himself and his stances to the voters. His issues are reform and a timetable for withdrawal from Iraq.
And Whitehouse? Well his consultants are Joe Hansen, direct mail racketeer, and Mike Donilon, of famous Shrum, Devine & Donilon heritage. Man do those guys know how to blow a lead.
A 24 point swing is just amazing, and shows that outsider progressive candidates are quite viable in this environment. In case you are wondering, yes, this does have strong implications for Connecticut."

Blow a lead? That's not blowing a lead, that's torpedoing an entire campaign. Shrum has been involved with every Presidential campaign, with the exception of Bill Clinton, since Walter Mondale's 1984 debacle. What really put Shrum's name in the hall of political infamy was his stewardship over Michael Dukakis' blown 17 point lead. Mr. Whitehouse's blown 24 point lead isn't what's fascinting about that story. What's compelling is Mr. Whitehouse hiring on Shurm's firm to run his campaign considering their national record. By now, every Democratic party candidate should have this guy on the do not call list. Actually, a restraining order should be put out not allowing him within 500 miles of your campaign. Either Mr. Whitehouse lives in an isolation tank or his judgement is seriously impaired. I guess one way to look at it is from a Darwinian perspective: Mr. Shrum helps thin out the herd.

Since Corizine and Sen. Bill Nelson of Florida are exemptions to the Shrum rule of instant campaign death one can only hope he finds one more candidate to assist: Joementum. Oh please, if there is a God let Shrum and Joe Lieberman find one another.

Update: I have since discovered that Whitehouse is the true liberal in this race. I should have known that Shrum would only back a DLC'er in state races. Matt Brown is DLC certified. Great. Let's hope against hope that Whitehouse can buck the "Shrum curse" and come out of this. If not this will only add to the Gumpian "Stupid is, is stupid does." Whitehouse really should have his head examined.