Forget the politics here and enjoy the memo that political consultant Mike Murphy has probably written a hundred times but rarely gets any public light. The LA Times and Sacbee got this (formerly) confidential memo from McCain-Schwarzenegger guru Mike Murphy to California GOP gubernatorial candidate Steve Poizner from the summer of ’08. It’s in the news today because Murphy has just jumped on board Meg Whitman’s campaign against Poizner.
What’s so fascinating about it is the generic way in which Murphy presents a strategy for becoming Governor. It’s not that it isn’t personalized – it suggests a need to deal with Poizner’s ethical stance against using staff for the campaign, for example – but it lays the campaign out like an architect’s first drawing on a napkin, a little messy, but once we draw it with a ruler the rest is just hammer and nails.
In short, to win a California campaign, Murphy recommends: shore up the base, learn Spanish, get a high profile woman on board, write some policy papers, get a new hair stylist (or, get a stylist) and schmooze the press. Done and done.
Sure politics is a cynical art, but it’s big business. Who knew it could be done in just a few easy steps?