OK, so here is what happened…
Friday, Corzine Campaign Manager Maggie Moran is set to be on the NJN public affairs program On The Record which was to be hosted by yours truly, substituting for Michael Aron.
That morning, Moran cancels…leading us to speculate why.
There had already been a report that veteran Democratic insider Jamie Fox had been asked to join the campaign. Could that mean that Moran is out if Fox is in?
Campaign spokesman Sean Darcy calls me before the OTR taping ( the campaign gave us Democratic State Committee Executive Director Rob Angelo in Moran’s stead ) to say that Fox would not be joining Corzine ’09.
After the 1/2 hour sit-down with Angelo ( who doesn’t deny that Fox is coming in ) we read on the AP Newswire that Fox is in fact joining the campaign.
hmmm. What were we to think? I can’t imagine the campaign would mislead us to avoid making news for OTR. So we asked for a clarification. We were told the AP story is wrong, but that Fox will be coming in as an unpaid adviser in a very limited capacity.
Well, today that all changed. I asked Corzine point blank is Fox is coming in, and he said ‘yes.’ Fox will be taking a much more “intimate role.” The Governor added that it took a few days to work that all out.
Coupla things here…first off, apparently these advisers are rarely paid, so even if Fox came in unpaid that doesn’t mean he is only taking a small role.
Second, it never makes sense to give mixed messages or ambivalent answers to reporters when they ask questions on stories like this one. Because without a definitive answer, it only leads to speculation on the airwaves and in print. And it turns what would have been a one-day story into a multi-day one.
From a press management perspective, Corzine did the right thing today by clarifiying Jamie’s newfound role in the campaign. Less clear is the fate of Moran who will remain in her title. But does that mean Jamie is the shotcaller from here on forward?
I guess we’ll have to wait and see. It’ll all come out eventually. It always does.
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