Weird... Public Enemy #1, Joe Trippi, bilked 10's of thousands of millions

[ShaneGR]

NOTE: As reported on by major networks, the 40 million the Dean camp had is gone.

As a LOT of you know, I'm not a Dean supporter. And within the last six hours I've gained an understanding of what Trippi did. I was always aware that Media specialists earned a percentage of their commercial buys. So if a media guy buys 1 million dollars worth of commercials in, say Iowa, he would get 150K back from the media outlet he purchased from. Basically the highest paying position in politics is the media buyers.

So it's now clear that Trippi smelled the money. Every dollar he spent on commercials (He spent almost all the money in Iowa) he earned 15%. All of the blood. All of the sweat. All of the tears. All of the Deaniacs who donated money. They got bilked by Joe Trippi. 40 million divided by 15%..... nearly 5 million dollars straight into Joe's pockets.


I AM BEING COMPLETELY HONEST. I feel for the Dean people. I may not agree with their choice, but I do RESPECT their energy and I do APPRECIATE what the Dean people have done for the Democratic Party. We are all Democrats. What Joe did was the worst of the worst. And every Dean person should hold him completely accountable. Next year he'll be buying a million dollar home in the Hamptons. That man has no shame.

[wtmusic]

1. I heard the same sentiment

from a friend of mine whose known Trippi for 25 years (he worked on the Mondale campaign with him).

'Tearful exit', my ass.

[ShaneGR]

4. Seriously, that guy stole from everyone

I'm an applied politics major, and what that guy did will be talked about in ethics classes for DECADES. I got a call from a professor just tonight about it.

[joshcryer]

8. What did the professor say? Any sources?

I'm curious abuot this.

[candy331]

2. If this is so true why would

Dean ask him to think about it and come back? I've read a lot of speculation but seems that no one as yet has given the facts so I choose to wait to receive them.

[joshcryer]

10. I think he wants him back at a different job.

Not the same job.

[joshcryer]

3. It's a crying shame, for sure.

This is pretty much what's going to be the test for Dean.

[rumguy]

5. I'm not a Dean man, but I want to believe this isn't true

The Dean campaign is over, it was just like the Hindenburg, like some here on DU were saying over the summer and early fall. We are now seeing the flames...

[jsw_81]

35. Yes, it's over for Howard Dean

[Hoppin_Mad]

6. Yeah - right - " I feel your pain' - LOL -nt-

[Sam Lowry]

7. Wait

How do we know all of this?

[ShaneGR]

9. CNN, MSNBC, ABC, CBS, etc.

All reporting Dean camp broke, all reporting the reason being overspending on ad buys.

[Sam Lowry]

12. Huh, no TV.

Shitfire!

[joshcryer]

14. Yeah, well, we can't quite trust the news media, can we?

Dean and Grossman aren't commenting on how much money they have, it's more than likely that they just didn't know yet. You have to do your books after something like that.

[frustrated_lefty]

11. Forty million dollars

the record for any democratic nominee. I don't know what to think yet, it's still in that "stunned" stage.

[ShaneGR]

13. I know, a record for raising and a record for stealing

Sickening. I feel horrible for EVERY single Dean donor.

[caledesi]

15. Being an avid Dean supporter, I am so depressed about this.

There is nothing more to say. Just sad.

[rumguy]

17. it is sad

nothing more to say

[Julien Sorel]

16. According to the NY Times piece,

The Dean campaign has 'only' spent about 10 million on ads. So the correct figure is 1.5 million, probably less, going with the Times. I suspect they've spent more than that, but not substantially more, so around 1.5 million is a reasonable guess.

[joshcryer]

19. Thanks for that heads up. 10 million is less than 40 milliob by far.

Wonder where people are coming up with the 40 million figure?

[Stephanie]

32. I think because that's how much was raised, and it's all gone

They asked the staff to defer salaries - there's no money left.]

This is DEVASTATING.

Unless this turns out not to be true, Dean is done. And I hope it doesn't mean the Democrats are done, but it might.

[Feanorcurufinwe]

34. I thought they had $5 million on hand

[mouse7]

22. The only place most of that money could have gone is ads

You just cannot spend that much money this early in the process on much of anything other than ads. There weren't a ton of staff. No big HQ. No staff transportation costs until the "Perfect Storm"

The main things that eat up budgets (other than ads) haven't even been done yet... the multi-state primary weeks.

Trippi had been making national ad buys since SPRING.

[NV1962]

18. Hmmm...

In advertising media buying, the 15% you refer to is simply the regular agency rebate that all "big" agencies get, and when major campaigns go off, that "big agency" becomes defined as "everyone who orders and ad."

So I'm not impressed with the idea that any campaign manager gets to stuff "his" pockets with the WHOLE rebate. Usually, that is traded in for extra spots, and everybody and their grandmomma who has dabbled in advertising knows that.

Maybe, maybe, maybe we're talking kickbacks - that's a percentage (about 5%) that's rebated ON TOP of the 15%. There are a few cases of unscrupulous people (media buying agencies) who don't come clean with their clients, and instead of either discounting the kickback or buying extra airtime, pocket the difference.

Still, someone taking actual CASH out of media buying would be rather unique. Unique, as in dumb as a post (it's a very small world and words go around fast) and unique, as in financially self-defeating (that'd make a campaign manager akin to a traitor.)

Now, aside from that little elephant in the room named "where's the evidence here" I find it very hard to believe that Joe Trippi has taken to stab "his" campaign baby in the back. That don't jibe.

So, what about that elephant? Which reminds me of a few other suspects to put the "blame" on.

[joshcryer]

20. I've been trying to find hard evidence of the 'broke' claim all night.

Not one source that can say this, it's all so very vague. At most they say "The Dean team is watching their spending."

What's so bad about that? They have to hit a lot of states soon!

[TexasPatriot]

23. its in the salon article

they have 3m in cash and 3m in bills...

[joshcryer]

26. The Salon article also has Dean claiming they're not broke.

Who to believe?

[TexasPatriot]

29. well, they have a bat up

so they have an income stream
but when you start asking your staff to work for free, and they say they wont be able to campaign post Feb 3...

the quote from the article that uses 'broke' is:
"At the same time, Dean announced that his high-flying campaign is broke, and he announced to workers that their paychecks will be suspended for two weeks because of a multimillion-dollar debt."

I didnt see one where Dean claimed he wasnt. I saw him suggest it would be a long war of attrition - but that sounds like a Gephardt game face going into Iowa.

http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2004/01/29/dean/index.html

[joshcryer]

30. He said she said...

I want a real source, dangit!

[TexasPatriot]

33. sorry

i cant help you... all i gots is whats out there and the anectdotal stuff. I honestly and very earnestly feel bad about this. I've had disagreements with Dean supporters in the past over one thing or another (what Clark supporter survived the december wars without a scar or two) - but this is a sad way for it to end.

[NV1962]

24. I haven't either

But I was focusing on the "he pocketed some 15%" rumor here instead - which I find a ludicrous claim. It's aside from improbable, impossible.

[mouse7]

25. Trippi took 15% commission on ad buys.

Many Dean supporters have been critical of the ad campaign, particularly in Iowa. Some questioned the arrangements by which Mr. Trippi forfeited a salary as a campaign manager but collected commissions — said to be as high as 15 percent in some cases — based on advertising buys.

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/01/29/politics/campaign/29DEAN.html?pagewanted=2&hp

I'm still stunned, too.

[TexasPatriot]

21. ok i doubt it was that much

honestly, even with the crazy ad buys in Texas they couldnt have spent that much on ads... and Trippi only got 'up to' 15%... so that doesnt mean he got 15% across the board...

and on top of that there were people who had to actually edit and work the ads - there were people getting paid out of that money.

Did he leave broke? i doubt it... but i doubt he left with 3 or 4 million dollars.

I think this story is likely being overblown.

[Tinoire]

27. Just demand part of the damn money back & move on!

I'm not a Dean supporter but I can't stand to see this.

Get up off the floor Dean supporters and MOVE ON!

Trippi was just a damn link in the chain. Toss out the broken link- re-hook the chain and keep moving!

[thebgrkng]

28. I don't get what the problem is?

I could be mistaken, but Trippi signed in early on when Howard was barely a blip on the screen. Now the contract he got was a good contract for him, but it was a gamble for him at the same time. Im sure the guy making 15% on Dennis K's media buys has a second job (tongue in cheek).

So that being said. Trippi signed on with a good contract.

Now, Trippi clearly wanted Howard to do well. I mean, that is clear on so many levels. And ill ignore all the nobel ones and go for the more base ones. If Trippi turns Howard from a bilp to a President, he is set for life. He is a Dem powerhouse. He writes his ticket. There is absolutely no reason to think he wanted to lose.

So I think we can agree he wanted Dean to win.

As for the 'bad iowa advice' ive read, i dont think there is anything wrong with trippi saying hey go fire them up. maybe he shoulda realized howard was extra emotional and should play it cool, but i gotta think you trust your candidate. (This is not a bash, but i did think howard looked all choked up when he first came out. he was all like wow. and you guys. and the we woulda given anything for that. only after the states and scream did he seem to get back into happy balance.)

So Trippi tried as hard as possible to win. For quite a while, he was doing a good job of it. So i guess I don't get what people are blaming him for?

-TheBgrKng

[AP]

31. People, if Dean wasn't behind in the polls, Trippi wouldn't

have had to have spent the money.

A long time ago when we all first found out about Trippi's compensation deal, we all made jokes about how Dean was going to run lots of commercials.

Sending aside for a moment that Trippi was wearing two different hats which created a conflict of interest, Dean did need to spend all his money in IA. He lost NH because he lost IA. He HAD to win IA.

That begs the question: were Trippi's commercial total pants? Was there any strategy to them?

It also begs the question: what was Dean thinking when he signed this deal? People here could see the conflict, and predicted where it would lead.

[Moderator]

36. locking...

use of nicknames for candidate supporters is forbidden....