Joe Trippi

"Fuck yeah, you should write about us. We're from New York, we're totally off-beat, you know, and we want to deconstruct the election process from the point of view of the independent voter."

Speaking was Will Rabbe, a 25-year-old filmmaker working for the Independent Film Channel. He said he lives on the Upper East Side.

"Yeah, I live there. What are you going to make a judgment call?"  read more »

The best line of the night has to go to Joe Trippi, the Edwards advisor who used to work for Howard Dean.

When asked if Hillary Clinton’s venting about change had reached an anger level approximate to the Dean scream, he said this:

“I think tonight, change won, and the status quo lost it.”

That got a good laugh out of the reporters, who nevertheless pressed him as to whether the two moments were comparable. Finally, after some ducking, he said, “That’s as close as you get,” And, “It seemed really angry to me.”

The Edwards campaign just announced a 1:30 conference call to discuss what it says was Hillary Clinton's "dismissively 'laughing off' questions on NAFTA in last night's debate."

Last night, Joe Trippi, a senior aide to Edwards, previewed that argument to reporters.  read more »

Here's 10-year-old Kyle Nowak, correspondent for Scholastic News, interviewing Joe Trippi last night in Las Vegas.

Nowak asked why it was better for a Democrat to be President than a Republican.

"It's not about Democrats and Republicans," Trippi responded. "It's do you want corporations or people running the country."

John Edwards hired Howard Dean's Internet guru Joe Trippi.

Ben sees significance in Hillary Clinton's use of the phrase "partial birth abortion."

New Yorkers for Obama has scheduled a fund-raiser scheduled for June 1.  read more »

Former Orleans frontman and Democrat, John Hall, running for New York's 19th congressional district against Republican incumbent Sue Kelly, just sent out a release touting his new hire: Joe Trippi.

"I am excited to have a political strategist of this accomplishment and capacity joining our team and I look forward to winning on November 7," Hall said.

—Nicole Brydson

This Sunday's Times Magazine isn't online yet, but The Politicker got an early look at the grinning-Mark-Warner cover and the cover story, by Matt Bai. He portrays Warner as the likeliest anti-Hillary, and as a talented guy who's not quite ready for prime time, and apparently unwilling to take the only path Bai sees as a potential winner: running against the establishment.

Bai notes Hillary's strength, and Warner's consequent weakness, with African-American voters, and quotes Joe Trippi on Warner's hopes: "It's not possible.... The way for Mark Warner? Leave the freakin' party." (Of course, Trippi would say that.) Bai also notes that Warner is running as Bill Clinton '92; but Clinton was lucky enough to have that year's New York superstar, Mario Cuomo, get out of the way.

Also: Is March 2006 the month you really want to be the flavor of?

In the piece, Warner doesn't engage Hillary directly, though Bai gives it a shot:

Is Clinton, I asked Warner, and "electable" Democrat? "I think she's a very strong senator," he said slowly, pausing several times. "And I think what she showed in New York was an ability to really make her case among people who might not intiallly be supportive."

We stared at each other. "O.K.," I said. "But is she electable?"

"If she decides to run, she'll be the frontrunner," Warner replied carefully.

Two veteran Democratic political consultants who tried and failed to unseat President Bush are getti  read more »