No Asshole Rule in the Obama Campaign

I try to avoid politics on this blog for the most part as I find that the subject often provokes too much emotion and too little cognition. And I also should point out that most authors and professors (and I qualify on both counts) suffer from the delusion that their pet theories drive all meaningful behavior.  So I hope that you will forgive me for committing both sins here -- I promise not to do this too often.  But I can't resist pointing out that there was an article published in Politico last April called "Obama Team Remains Unshaken" that discussed how the Obama campaign dealt with their New Hampshire loss (and other setbacks) with unusual calm and a surprising lack of finger-pointing within the campaign.

Here is The No Asshole Rule part.  At one point in the article, it describes a conversation between chief strategist David Axelrod and Jim Margolis, who eventually became a media consultant to the campaign, but was hesitating to sign up because he had such tough time within the rather nasty Kerry campaign in 2004.  Axelrod argued that things were different in the Obama campaign, that "There are no assholes,” Axelrod responded. “There are going to be no assholes on this campaign.”

Of course, this quote warms my heart and I have added this example to my honor roll of places and people that apply the no asshole rule. At the same time, I respect those who may see the campaign differently and I  want to emphasize that I realize that a lot of other factors went into the victory -- and the rule at best played a small role.

P.S. Thanks to Craig Silverman who writes The Office Blog for The Globe and Mail.  He emailed me about this recent New Yorker article on the Obama campaign and suggested that the no asshole rule appeared to be one of the themes in the story. As has been widely reported, the catchphrase within the campaign was "no drama with Obama."

Comments

[Sarasvatia]

"No asshole rule" in Obama's campaign? Then how would you define Rahm Emanuel?

Have read the book - a woot and a hoot to boot!

Consider writing one about abuses heaped on applicants during job interviews.