Ann Lewis

The bloodletting between the Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton was not stanched by the end of last night’s debate in Myrtle Beach. It continued in the spin room.

Ann Lewis continued to talk about Obama’s comments about the trajectory changing force of Republican ideas to a Las Vegas editorial board.

“He said that they were the party of ideas,” she said. “Clearly in contradiction to the Democratic Party.”  read more »

The host of an event tomorrow night featuring Hillary Clinton advisor Ann Lewis tells me that the 30-person gathering is intended as an occasion for her friends to learn more about Hillary, and isn't simply an effort to round up undecided donors and activists.

"I'm a huge Hillary supporter and I'm a great admirer of Ann Lewis and I wanted to give my friends a chance to hear her and to talk to her," said the host, Sally Susman.

"I think people are trying to educate themselves about the candidates and this is a way to do it," she said.

What are some things about Hillary's background that people might not know, I asked?

"Several of the people attending are not political activists," she said. "Some people who are coming have already contributed the max. It's just people who would like to have the chance to engage, learn more. Some people are making their decisions."

-- Azi Paybarah

A reader passes on some information about a "conversation and cocktail" geared towards some New York donors who should be in Hillary Clinton's corner but still aren't.

The event, which will feature senior Hillary advisor Ann Lewis, is set to take place on April 11 in the Lower East Side home of Sally Susman and her partner Robin Canter.

From the invitation, as passed on by the reader:

We really believe in Hillary Clinton and are working hard to support her campaign. In speaking with many of you, we realize some of you are not yet convinced about Hillary or may have questions you would like to ask the campaign leadership.

-- Azi Paybarah

Hillary aide Ann Lewis gives a classically unrevealing interview to Gregg Birnbaum's (alightly stalkerish) JustHillary.com:

A sample:

JH: Lastly, a vital question that has gone unanswered for months. Let's take care of it here and now. Has Sen. Clinton seen the ABC show about a woman president, "Commander in Chief," and what does she think about it?

AL: You didn't really think I would go there, did you? Now, about Hillary's Farm-to-Fork Initiative...

That's how The New Republic's Ryan Lizza describes Hillary's operation, in a comprehensive look at Hillaryland that has the rare virtue of not understating the role of an operative who will, as always, remain nameless.

He can't quite decide if the operation is a tight band of (mostly) sisters or if internal strife is about to break out, but bets that ideology, not ego, will be the major internal fault line.

Also: Ann Lewis is the Democratic Karen Hughes?

A reader in the comments section the other day posted an interesting reaction to the onslaught of anti-Clinton venom that came when The Politicker was linked on the Drudge Report. It's a glimpse at why Clinton aides seem not to mind the victim trope so much.

"Those of us who are regular readers here know that Senator Clinton is far from progressive and follows a pure triangulation strategy of clinging to the center. As a result, many of us have little use for her. That said, seeing how apoplectic she makes the reactionary wingnuts in red state America, I actually found myself warming to her. Clearly that was not the intent of the rabid mob, but that was the effect."  read more »

Somewhere, Ann Lewis is smiling.

If Jeanine goes, and Republicans can't talk Ed Cox back into the race (he seems, understandably, to want them to ask very nicely), Hillary's likely challenger is a man whom, did he not exist, Ann Lewis might have had to invent: former Yonkers Mayor John Spencer.

"Dear Smart Conservative," begins a recent fundraising letter from Spencer, and in a campaign already characterized by hysterical fundraising pleas from both Clinton and Pirro, this one may set a new standard.

The four-page letter is full of chatty asides: "Plus, while I'm at it, I should mention I'm BIG on 2nd Amendment rights." And there's a nice intramural potshot: "It doesn't help that a liberal RINO (Republican in Name Only), Jeanine Pirro, is also running."

But the heart is a plea to give Spencer money to publicize his "five appalling reasons why Hillary Clinton must NEVER be President," which "will never be reported in the mainstream New York media."

The Politicker is here to help. We're fairly mainstream, if narrowstream, and here, without further ado, are Spencer's hidden insights:

1. Hillary Clinton is just not serious about the war on terror. She wants to slash military spending...

2. Hillary Clinton will force you into government-controlled socialized medicine!...

3. Hillary Clinton will forcibly take your tax dollars to support illegal immigrants -- their housing, schools, and health care...

4. Hillary Clinton wants a Supreme Court dominated by leftists...

5. Hillary Clinton wants your tax money paying for abortions and special rights for homosexuals.  read more »

OK, grant him number 4. And number 1, I think, is flatly false. The others, let's call tendentious.

In any case, now the secrets are out.

On the evening of Sept.  read more »

On the evening of Sept.  read more »

Not long ago, we gave you an early glimpse of Ed Cox's campaign for Senate. He's since put a password on his website, with plans to relaunch at the end of May.

Someone, however, has sent us an image taken from that site, which offers a glimpse of how you run against a Republican in New York State. The site had a ticker running along the top of national Republican news, items like President Bush's Social Security Plan: Allowing Americans to Take Charge of Their Retirement.

"I think it's going to be interesting to see if he is indeed running to be a New York Senator who will vote for President Bush's plan to privatize Social Security," Clinton advisor Ann Lewis told the Politicker.

Kind of a perfect metaphor for the New York Republican problem. That ticker running across the top of the page.  read more »

And so it begins!

We stopped by Ann Lewis's speech to the women of the Eleanor Roosevelt Legacy Committee last night, where the Hillary communications guru made a strong case that the Democrats are winning the two crucial national debates, one over social security and the other over "Republican arrogance."

She was particularly pleased by the growth of liberal foundations, think tanks, and Internet-based organizations to match the conservative media "echo chamber."  read more »

We did have to wince a little at this line:

"We're building our own echo chamber," she said. "It will be more of an e-echo chamber, if you will, but we're moving in the right direction."

Rejoice Steve Minarik. You have a candidate!

CNS News reports that one William A. Brenner has emerged as the "anti-Hillary candidate" for U.S. Senate.  read more »

Ann Lewis, meanwhile, is trembling. Indeed, her latest plea for money for Friends of Hillary includes this:

"We know that our opponents will examine these filings, hoping for any sign of weakness that they can exploit. We can't let that happen! "They may have their 'swift boat ads' ready to launch - but we have something more powerful: your support. With your help, we can demonstrate that we will have the resources to fight back against whatever may be coming our way."

The opening of the Clinton Presidential Library on Nov.  read more »

Former White House Communications director Ann Lewis to work for Hillary Clinton's campaign. She says it's for 2006; Sheinkopf says it's for "a national race."  read more »