Nicole Bell of Crooks and Liars has another story up about how even Democratic political consultants are helping to restart the career of a prominent sexual harasser: Mark Halperin. According to Politico, there are 75 Democratic consultants who decided to be part of Mark Halperin’s latest book.
NEWS … MARK HALPERIN has signed a deal with Regan Arts to publish a book called “How to Beat Trump: America’s Top Political Strategists on What It Will Take,” the publisher will announce Monday. The book is Halperin’s first major project since multiple accusations about him were published in the height of the Me Too movement in October 2017. The book will be released in November of this year.
-- HALPERIN interviewed more than 75 top Democratic strategists for the book including Jill Alper, David Axelrod, Bob Bauer, Donna Brazile, James Carville, Tad Devine, Anita Dunn, Karen Dunn, Adrienne Elrod, Jennifer Granholm, Ben LaBolt, Jeff Link, Jim Margolis, Mike McCurry, Mark Mellman, Amanda Renteria, John Sasso, Kathleen Sebelius, Bob Shrum, Ginny Terzano, and David Wilhelm.
I don’t even know where to begin.
It reconfirms what Markos wrote many years ago in his own book about how Democratic consultants were a plague on the Democratic Party. Markos wrote in his book Crashing the Gates back in 2006 that Democratic political consultants had conflicts of interests because they also represented corporate clients. Translation: they would give bad political advice to Democrats who would go on to lose elections and take their money. Mark Penn of the Clinton Campaign of 2008 is a great example of this. While that explains part of the corruption and purposeful ineptitude of Democratic consultants, what financial angle or benefit is there for Democratic political consultants to help out Mark Halperin?
As Bell points out, Halperin is no friend to Democrats:
Halperin famously called President Obama a "dick" and one of the sexist men in the media that feminist writer Jill Fillipovic named directly as hurting Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign in the face of the damaging and democracy destroying Donald Trump.
And in case anyone has forgotten, here is a link to a CNN story on Halperin sexually assaulting women:
The new accusations from the four women include that Halperin masturbated in front of an ABC News employee in his office and that he violently threw another woman against a restaurant window before attempting to kiss her, and that after she rebuffed him he called her and told her she would never work in politics or media. The alleged incidents occurred while Halperin was in a position of significant authority at ABC News, while the women were young and had little power.
So why would anyone want to help a bastard like Halperin out? And in that list of Democratic consultants are multiple women.
Jill Alper said this about Trump and his behavior toward women:
Jill Alper, a southeast Michigan Democratic activist who hosted Clinton last July at her Grosse Pointe residence for a fundraiser, said Trump has something to worry about.
“While not taking anything for granted, it will be hard for Trump to win women over. Secretary Clinton quoted Maya Angelou in a campaign ad last week saying, ‘When someone shows you who they are, believe them.’ And for decades, Donald Trump has demonstrated abhorrent behavior toward women. For example, he’s called women ‘fat pigs’ and slobs, called another ‘disgusting’ for requesting a break to pump breast milk during a legal deposition,” Alper said.
What’s the difference between what Trump has been doing versus Halperin? I guess she is OK with Halperin sexually assualting women but not Trump.
Then there is major sellout Donna Brazile when discussing what happened to Al Franken:
BRAZILE: Well, with the accusations that came about after Mr. Moore down in Alabama, the Me Too movement that started following Harvey Weinstein, as you know, there's an awakening taking place across the country. Women and, yes, men too are well aware of the sexual misconduct and harassment that has gone on for years. They have decided to come forward as Democrats who have upheld these principles of ensuring that we have a workplace free of any form of sexual misconduct. I think the party has been quite equivalent and strong in saying we have a zero-tolerance policy.
Now, I understand there's some complexity, especially as it relates to members of Congress. And I believe Democrats are going to come down hard on ensuring that taxpayers' money should not pay for these lawmakers. There's a meeting this morning. The House Administration Committee, they need to take a look at the system that puts the burden on the victims who come forward. That takes well over 90 days for them to even get a hearing and over 250 days to forward a complaint. So I think that Democrats are going to set new standards, standards that apply to everyone and not just simply to, you know, celebrities and members of Congress, but a standard that applies to all.
Wow! I guess that zero-tolerance policy does not extend to anyone Democrats work with outside of the Party.
And it gets worst for Brazile. This is what she had to say to The Daily Beast:
Brazile, a veteran Democratic strategist and Fox News contributor, told The Daily Beast that her decision to speak with Halperin has “disappointed” friends but that she felt her voice on the book’s subject was needed.
“Much has been said or written about Mark Halperin’s failures. We have condemned him, disgraced him and shoved him away. We are still angry at him and will never cease to admonish him,” Brazile said in a statement to The Daily Beast. “After a lot of emails, tough times for sure, I wanted to go on the record with my answers about how to defeat Trump. Many of my friends today are disappointed that I answered Mark’s call, but I did so after he understood where I was coming from.”
Oh you bad boy Halperin! Now that I said that, let me go on the record for your book.
As for Anita Dunn, she’s working with Harvey Weinstein.
And someone I had modicum of respect for but now don’t- Adrienne Elrod:
Another former Clinton senior adviser who spoke to Halperin, Adrienne Elrod, told The Daily Beast that her “singular professional focus is defeating Donald Trump in 2020” and said she has spoken to “a number of people” about the 2016 election’s relevance to winning back the White House. But added, “if I had to do it again I would have been more thoughtful and respectful to the women who have been affected.”
Uh huh. He didn’t assault you, so it’s all fine.
Oh, and that male font of wisdom David Axelord? How has he “explained” his working with Halperin?
Axelrod, a former senior adviser to President Obama, addressed the backlash in a tweet Sunday evening, writing that he had not given enough thought on how his “participation would be used or interpreted.” Reiterating Brazile’s sentiments, he added: “By answering Halperin’s questions, I did not in any way mean to excuse his past, egregious behavior and, in retrospect, I regret responding at all.”
You did excuse his behavior asshole. He’s writing a book and will make money off of this. You are treating him as if nothing happened.
The list goes on, but I think you get the gist by now. You are a member of the Village, and everyone gets a pass. It used to be that the worst left town, but they lay low until their friends help them restart their careers.
Final note on this, if those consultants help Halperin to get his position back in time for 2020, Halperin will show his sexism toward either Warren or Harris, if either becomes the Democratic nominee. This is something that all Democrats on Daily Kos may want to keep in mind when it comes to the political consultant class. We might want to keep a track record of who these so called Democratic consultants are working for.