Praise for True Tales from the Campaign Trail
Politics at its best: heartfelt, humane and humorous. True Tales from the Campaign Trail is a tonic, an elixir. It reminds us of what politics could be, and should be again. Pull up a chair, sit back and enjoy these laugh-out-loud stories. Like a collection of behind-the-scenes, in-the-locker-room stories from your favorite sports team, this book colorfully portrays the humanity and humor of the characters who play politics at the highest levels. Jerry Austin has captured the best of what is the essence of American politicsflawed human beings fighting hard for their beliefs, and their dreams.
Michael Curtin, former editor of the Columbus Dispatch and retired state legislator
Jerry Austin has been a leader in bringing change and supporting outsiders, women, liberals, and people of color. He has been dedicated and clear about supporting real democracy. This book is a great, fun read which will keep you laughing and passing it on. It includes lots of behind the scenes looks at the events we know. At the same time Jerry really understands the core principles of campaigns, and this is a great way to learn about real politics and campaigns in a most enjoyable read.
Celinda Lake, pollster
Bliss Institute Series
John C. Green, Editor
Jerry Austin, True Tales from the Campaign Trail: Stories Only Political Consultants Can Tell
William L. Hershey and John C. Green, Mr. Chairman: The Life and Times of Ray C. Bliss
Douglas M. Brattebo, Tom Lansford, Jack Covarrubias, and Robert J. Pauly Jr., editors, Culture, Rhetoric, and Voting: The Presidential Election of 2012
Douglas M. Brattebo, Tom Lansford, and Jack Covarrubias, editors, A Transformation in American National Politics: The Presidential Election of 2012
Daniel J. Coffey, John C. Green, David B. Cohen, and Stephen C. Brooks, Buckeye Battleground: Ohio, Campaigns, and Elections in the Twenty-First Century
Lee Leonard, A Columnists View of Capitol Square: Ohio Politics and Government, 19692005
Abe Zaidan, with John C. Green, Portraits of Power: Ohio and National Politics, 19642004
True Tales from the Campaign Trail
Stories Only Political Consultants Can Tell
Written and compiled by Jerry Austin
Edited by Jerry Austin, Sheryl Losser, and John C. Green
All Material Copyright 2017 by The University of Akron Press
All rights reserved First Edition 2017 Manufactured in the United States of America.
All inquiries and permission requests should be addressed to the Publisher, The University of Akron Press, Akron, Ohio 44325-1703.
ISBN: 978-1-629221-11-3 (paper)
ISBN: 978-1-629221-12-0 (ePDF)
ISBN: 978-1-629221-13-7 (ePub)
A catalog record for this title is available from the Library of Congress.
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of ANSI/NISO z39.481992 (Permanence of Paper).
Cover design and illustration: Doug Granger
True Tales from the Campaign Trail was designed and typeset in Adobe Caslon with Futura display by Amy Freels. True Tales from the Campaign Trail was printed on sixty-pound white and bound by Bookmasters of Ashland, Ohio.
Contents
The concept for True Tales from the Campaign Trail originated with the Chicken Soup for the Soul series of books.
Chicken Soup consisted of inspirational true stories about ordinary peoples lives. The book became an international best seller. Later, versions were published targeted for a specific demographic, i.e. Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul. And to date, books in this genre have been published regularly since the first book in 1993.
True Tales is based on interviews with longtime Democratic and Republican political consultants. These consultants stories were transcribed and edited, and are presented here for the enjoyment of those readers who enjoy politics and/or a good story.
Chicken Soup and True Tales from the Campaign Trail share an you cant make this up originality.
The first story could have been published in Chicken Soup: A candidate for mayor experiences a once-in-a-lifetime, unplanned moment that will be remembered in the annals of San Francisco politics forever.
The stories are divided into four sections of roughly equal lengtha rough and ready division, since some stories could be in more than one section.
Elections and Campaigns features stories involving Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, and Oliver North, while Political Communication reports on successfuland unsuccessfulefforts to communicate with voters and politicians.
Wry and Wise contains accounts of the funny foibles and lessons learned. And Leadership and Appreciation remembers effective leaders, such Ronald Reagan and Ted Kennedy, and celebrates the virtues of the democratic process, here and abroad.
I would like to thank the fellow consultants who shared their stories; Sheryl Losser for help editing the stories; Doug Granger for designing the cover; the Bliss Institute of Applied Politics for supporting the project; and the University of Akron Press for publishing this book.
ENJOY!
Gerald Jerry Austin
Akron, Ohio
Summer 2017
In 1991, I was retained as the consultant for the first Asian-born American to run for mayor of a major city.
Tom Hsieh (Shea) was born in China and had migrated to San Francisco in the early 1950s. An architect by profession, Hsieh was the first Asian elected to the Board of Supervisors, the local government in San Francisco.
Tom Hsieh continued to have a very distinctive accent as well as a habit of speaking at times in cookie monster type phrasesphrases without a verb.
During the campaign, I produced an ad with Tom looking at the camera asking, What do you want, good grammar or good government?
The highlight of any San Francisco mayors race is the final televised debate, scheduled in prime time on a major network. San Franciscans consider politics a contact sport. The debate always has a better-than-average-size viewing audience for a televised political event.
The major candidates were Art Agnos, the embattled incumbent; Angela Alioto, another member of the Board of Supervisors and the daughter of former mayor Joe Alioto; Frank Jordan, a former chief of police; Richard Hongisto, a former sheriff and Board of Supervisors member; and Tom Hsieh.
The televised debate took place on the Thursday before the election. I had briefed Tom that he would only have one minute to make a statement. The remainder of the debate would be Q & A. We practiced answers to possible questions. For his one-minute statement, I rehearsed him stating that Art Agnos homeless program was a pipe dream.
We practiced the line over and over again. Many times he left out the verb was. Finally he had it right. I joined the other candidate staffers, including Dee Dee Myers, who was communications director for Frank Jordan, in the holding room to watch the telecast on TV.
When it came time for Hsieh to make his statement, I was confident he could deliver the one line without a hitch. He looked at the camera with a stern visage and began, Art Agnos homeless program is a wet dream.
Everyone started laughing. Hsieh did not know what to do, so he simply grinned. When the laughter died down the moderator continued the debate.
