Trippi made 200k a MONTH

[Nederland]

http://www.bostonphoenix.com/boston/supplements/election_04/documents/03576557.asp

Of course, Trippi made sure to spend plenty on advertising as well -- after all, like most campaign managers, he was paid by commission on ad buys. Of the $5.1 million Dean spent on media for the three months (Kerry spent $3.9 million), almost $4.5 million was bought through Trippi’s agency. At Trippi’s fifteen percent commission (revealed after he was fired), that meant he was personally making close to $200,000 a month. That figure certainly increased in January -- giving Trippi a nice windfall of commissions to cushion the blow of losing the actual campaign.

Now we know where all the money went...

[eyesroll]

1. 15% commission for an ad buy is not unheard of

but this does seem like a conflict of interest -- for the person to be buying the ads (or directing a buyer to buy the ads) to be buying them from, essentially, himself.

(Trippi wasn't taking a salary at DFA. Perhaps he should have been.)

[progressivebydesign]

3. Yeah, when you're doing the buying, AND your partner is media advisor..

Then that is a conflict of interest. His partner in the media firm is Dean's media advisor. As a former t.v. commercial writer/director, I had plenty of contact with media firms that get their 15% that way.

[Logansquare]

32. Yes, that's serious conflict of interest

I might not feel so pissed if the product had been better.

[WhoCountsTheVotes]

Total scam artist

This should be obvious now. The question is - was Dean a sucker too, or was Dean in on it? I bet his ego got in the way of seeing what was right in front of his eyes.

To the Dean fans: don't give up, just be a lot more careful next time.

[Mairead]

35. Actually, 15% is completely standard and has been for years.

The question is: should it have been going to Trippi's company

[codegreen]

2. ugh i wish i still had my money

farking incompetent jerks.

those ads sucked ass.

[NewYorkerfromMass]

7. a lot of Dean bloggers said the ads sucked

I'm not familiar with them but I'm not sure what they could have done better.

[AP]

13. Consider the econmics: the more they put out, the more Trippi made

so what's the economic incentive? Produce as many as possible as quickly as possible.

Most other campaign managers have an economic incentive to stay in the race as long as possible.

Trippi's incentive was only to raise a lot of money and spend a lot of money.

If Dean had grown up living the economic reality that most Americans live, he probably would have figured this out.

Was it a sense of noblesse oblige that made his vision so clouded? Who knows.

[fishnfla]

33. The relationship bears closer scrutiny

what exactly were Trippi's motives? This internet financing program, was it just a golden calf gimmick? If Dean won the nomination, there would have been alot more questions asked about the situation.
Personally, I think his motives were to peddle influence. He's alraedy parlayed it into a commentator's job

[NewYorkerfromMass]

41. I just read that Dean did 30 minute profiles for Wisconsin TV in DEC!!!

I don't know how much that costs but that is one hell of a lot of early TV exposure.

[WhoCountsTheVotes]

38. "If Dean had grown up living in economic reality"

Ain't that the truth. And we warned them over and over again, but they just wouldn't listen :eyes:

[HereSince1628]

15. Well, I never saw an ad, I really don't expect to...

One of the lessons of grassroots organization ought to be "keep at least half the fertilizer at home."

[Norquist Nemesis]

4. Don't blame Trippi

The media charges a different rate for ad agencies that include 15% fee. The final price is usually (not always, but usually) lower than if the average Joe buys time and space. So, by doing it in this manner, Trippi would have SAVED Dean money.

It's standard practice with media and agencies.

Besides, are you sure that the other candidates are using agencies?

[AP]

17. Blame Dean for letting Trippi wear two hats. Blame Trippi for

not acting ethically when placed in a position with such a dramatic conflict of interests.

See post 14.

[LuminousX]

5. Yeah, 15% of 4.5 million = all the money

[phaseolus]

6. So *that's* why he was crying the day he was let go....

n/t

[AP]

9. Furthermore, sounds a little like Dean's tax plan --

he's making his middle class donors pay to balance his budget, while massive amounts of money flow to people at the top.

[AP]

8. No wonder he cried when he was interviewed about losing the job.

[Monument]

10. sickening

[LuminousX]

11. You're beautiful.

[AP]

16. someone has to say the obvious.

and in this case, two people said it at the exact same moment.

[Padraig18]

12. 15% is standard commission. n/t

[AP]

14. ...for media buyers. It's NOT standard for the manager to wear two

hats -- media buyer AND the guy who decides to buy from the media buyer.

And Trippi proves EXACTLY why it's unusual for one person to wear both hats.

[HereSince1628]

18. Is there a disclosure required for the candidates and their

top paid staff? If so can you point me in the direction of a website?
I tried google searching and didn't get anywhere.

[Bombtrack]

19. don't forget 5 figures worth of truffles

TRUFFLES!!!!

Dean could've hired MC Hammer for his campaign manager and got more of a return

[NewYorkerfromMass]

20. what???? eom

[Bombtrack]

28. you didn't here about the chocolate truffles that he sent out?

oh wait, 4 figures
http://nytimes.com/aponline/national/AP-BRF-Dean-Chocolates.html
he spent 7 grand on chocolates

[GalleryGod]

56. At the same time Stiffed the Deli Owner in Ames,Iowa : $983.00

:scared: Cool Bunch:scared:

[KnucklesBuchanan]

21. I'm no Dean supporter...

but Trippi was worth every freakin' penny. I think he's a genius. They probably should have had seperate campaign builder and campaign finisher jobs in line, but I'm impressed as hell with what he accomplished.

[JaneQPublic]

22. So what do the other candidates' campaign managers make?

I doubt they're all working for minimum wage. So why is it only Dean's expenses are getting scrutinized?

[AP]

25. 75-175K per year (if memory serves).

I think Lieberman paid 175K and CMB was paying 75K.

[JaneQPublic]

29. Link? (nt)

[plurality]

39. sorry there's no websites that state campaign staff salaries...

but as someone who has worked on a professional campaign staff before this is accurate.

Campaign managers make from $4k to $15k a month depending on experience and profile.

[Cocoa]

23. if only I knew how to produce graphics

I'm picturing a bat with Trippi's face on it. :-)

[NewYorkerfromMass]

27. You mean a bat whacking Trippi's head

record amounts will be raised. :evilgrin:

[democratreformed]

24. Don't ya'll ever get tired of the "kick 'em while they're down" approach

I have never championed Dean. But to keep on and keep on is sickening. Kind of like a fistfight, where one persons looses his head and keeps pounding 'til the other is dead.

Hey, Dean supporter, I guess some are afraid that your campaign may have few breaths left. To clarify, I mean that as a compliment. This shows that ya'll are still in it.

[AP]

26. He's still in the race influencing the outcome which might result in some

other candidate getting nominated who doesn't have the best chance of beating Bush.

[KnucklesBuchanan]

30. Oh, you mean...

like John Edwards?

[liberalnurse]

44. I doubt Kucinich will win but I'm not going

to vote for Kerry or Edwards. I think their campaigns are disenchanting and weak. I'll vote for Clark at this point. I believe his campaign is honest.

[question everything]

31. This casts a shadow on Dean's claims for being fiscally responsible

and for being able to maintain a balanced budget. He should have at least got a weekly report of where he was standing. Or did the $40 million disappear overnight?

[Feanorcurufinwe]

34. Dean never managed anything this big before, he's just not up to the task

[rucky]

36. Managing under rapid growth is the hardest thing to do

Harder than managing a government budget of any size.

Just ask any dot-com-er.

[AP]

47. It wasn't the size, it was the business logic and his trust that people

who got dangled lots of money within their grasp would not reach for the money.

Didn't he understand what we all understood here?

[Octafish]

48. Dean blew his wad, fast and early.

Then he stopped advertising in the next round. That only served to keep even more customers away.

It happens a lot in the world of business; an economic downturn causes a cut in the marketing department. Likewise, in politics. In both, it's the formula for disaster.

[fujiyama]

53. Many here...

aren't kicking aren't really kicking him while he's down. Many are simply astonished that someone can fall so far in a matter of days. Dean had just about everything going for him - money, endorsements, and lots of coverage.

I personally want to know how you can spend as much money as Dean's campaign did in IA and NH of all places...

Dean's campaign has some very important lessons for all future political campaigns - it shows how to raise a ton of money, but spend a lot as well with dissapointing results.

It's almost as though he was the dot-com candidate.

[mvd]

37. I don't think things were Trippi's fault

I actually agreed with the news today when they pointed out that Dean's slide occurred after the Gore endorsement. I really like Gore, but I think many Democrats are still sore about Gore not becoming President and took the endorsement negatively. And of course, there was the pressure put on Dean by both Democrats and the media.

[no name no slogan]

42. Thus, the lesson is

if Gore comes a-knockin', looking to give his endorsement away,
RUN LIKE HELL IN THE OTHER DIRECTION!

[WhoCountsTheVotes]

40. $200,000 a month = 2.4 million dollars a year.

Minimum Wage worker: 5.25/hour, $11,000 a year.

[Desertrose]

43. wonder how many of those min wage workers it took to

amass all Dean's money.....???

I feel bad for the supporters who sent in their hard earned dollars who simply wanted a change & thought Dean was the man to deliver.....

shame on Trippi or whoever...shame on the system that lets this continue....
Peace
DR

[WhoCountsTheVotes]

45. I don't think his fans were all that working class anyway

It always seemed like a yuppie convention to me.

[no name no slogan]

51. Possibly

Not to generalize, but most of them seemed to be laid-off dot-commers who were p.o.'d that the bubble days had gone, and they had to pay the bills by selling the Audi and working at Starbucks.

At least, the ones I met seemed that way. Your mileage may vary.

[mzmolly]

46. The "Trippi was fired" language caused me pause ... Trippi was not

fired.

Another interesting note:

"Both campaigns (Dean/Kerry) spent roughly $1.8 million on staff salaries in the three months (compared)..."

[Edwards4President]

50. "Staff salaries" doesn't include commissions to people like Trippi

[mitchum]

49. grifter

[LuminousX]

52. Time to get Dean another 40 million

and another 40 million after that

No amount of money is too much to get that man in office.


In the hero's journey, the hero must go through hell. We are in hell at this very moment. And like all good hero's, Dean will return from hell, stronger and more capable to face the task at hand.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

54. That's one people powered salary

Nice work if you can get it.

Heck if a campaign consultant is going to pull in that kind of money, I'd rather a corporation pay for it...they can afford it.

[tobius]

55. Fiscally irresponsible

just for starters. The man to change the status quo also went through pay withholding followed by layoffs to workers w/o notice. Anyone remember "leaner and meaner"? Sounds like Ol' "Chainsaw" Al from the eighties.

Dude :wtf: