Hillary Clinton is putting her future in the hands in a 35-year-old gay man. Robby Mook is going to be the manager of Clinton’s presidential campaign manager, a high-profile, high-pressure job with the potential for a big reward — or black eye.
Mook has quite the resume. At 16, he was organizing phone banks in his native New Hampshire for the Clinton-Gore re-election campaign. At 23, he was running Howard Dean’s presidential campaign in New Hampshire. At 27, he was responsible for three key victories in Hillary’s unsuccessful campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination. Somewhere along the line, he found the time to get a degree in classics in Columbia University. (Yes, Mook actually reads ancient Greek.)
In many ways, Mook is taking on a thankless job. Hillaryland is known for its dysfunction. Clinton’s 2008 campaign was marked by internal chaos, backstabbing leaks, and general disarray. (There’s a reason why her opponent styled himself “No Drama Obama.”) Not only will he be responsible for keeping the candidate on message. He’ll have to rein in her famously wayward husband.
But Mook has a track record of bringing discipline to previously undisciplined candidates. He ran Terry McAuliffe’s successful campaign for Virginia governor in 2013, and McAuliffe had a well-earned reputation as a loose cannon candidate. By all accounts, Mook is not only good at what he does, but he’s well liked by the people who work for him.
How about we take this to the next level?
Our newsletter is like a refreshing cocktail (or mocktail) of LGBTQ+ entertainment and pop culture, served up with a side of eye-candy.
He’s also self-effacing. Mook won’t be hogging the spotlight. He expects the campaign to be low-key. At a staff meeting, Mook made it clear that humility has to be a campaign theme and the campaign’s culture.
As for Mook’s personal life: Mook is doing his best to break all the stereotypes. He doesn’t have a Facebook page; he’s forgotten his Twitter password. He dresses in chinos and simple dress shirts.
But Mook is married — to the campaign. Don’t expect to see much of him or hear much about him, at least as long as the candidate is doing well. If not, we may see the worst of Hillaryland coming back. Of course, it won’t earn Clinton any points with the LGBT community if she trashes or cans the first openly gay man to run a major presidential campaign.
Photo credit: Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee
Jerome Robertson
its said that we as gay men have to label ourselves why does he have to be the gay man running Hillary’s Presidential campaign instead why cant he be the MAN running Hillary’s Presidential Campaign
TemptyK
Good luck, Hillary. Don’t blow it 🙂
Giancarlo85
This website has some sort of issue with Hillary and I can’t seem to figure it out. It is like they were taking articles from Fox News.
Tommy O'Brien
His being gay and constantly identified as such is partly for cred and publicity.
onthemark
@Giancarlo85: They’re just being a little cautious and concerned. After all, she screwed up a sure thing once before.
JeffTech
The Clinton’s need to go away, enough is enough.
1EqualityUSA
Steady, get sleep, and trust your instincts. Our Country can’t handle the financial disaster Republican policies brought us. Deregulation of Wall Street proved to be detrimental to many, many retirement accounts. What happened with the housing financial bubble was criminal. They packaged “Real Estate” up in a ribbon and let unattended, badly managed retirement accounts take the brunt of the bank’s greed. Loss isn’t really loss when it’s spread out thinly, right? Bad loans don’t matter when they are made available for purchase by financial plebs. Banks were giving money away, without regard to whether or not the person taking the loan may be unable to afford it. oh, Lump up these bad loans and present it to retirement accounts across the country and beyond, where workers, who are contributing to these tax deferred accounts, may be enticed to invest in what looks to be a hot market. What’s the sound? Is that the sound of a bubble bursting? Aw. Who would have guessed? The devastating wake of Republican policies rose up and took the masses by surprise. Republicans are not healthy for those who aren’t wealthy, but at least regulations help level the playing field. (Unless, of course, having everyone by the financial short hairs is the grand Republican strategy. How easy it would be to manipulate a country’s people than by making people feel insecure. I want to see Clinton succeed, I just wish we could by-pass all of the unpleasant political craziness from now until then. I hope Elizabeth Warren assists with the effort. I hope that Bill Clinton is a helpful sounding board, seasoned by the glare, to cut through what is nonsense and what is appropriate political play. They are easy to attack, easy targets upon whom to focus our disdain, but both of them are smart. It feels right. The Supreme Court will be picked over in the next ten years, so vote for whomever you think will propose fair-minded, unprejudiced members for the Supreme Court. Never forget what this particular Supreme Court has done by gutting the Voting Rights Act, Hobby-Lobby, and Citizens United. The next Supreme Court, if the Republicans unearth some more Scalias with staying power, will reign for what seems forever. Citizens United will look like a kiss on the cheek by the time they get through stacking the political deck for a century to come. Woe to those who don’t vote.
parrjj03
Why is queerty trying so hard to push Hilary out? They make it sound like it would be better for us to vote in a Republican.
charwegl
The fascination this website has with hating Hillary Clinton is beyond me. Even in a website celebrating one of our own running her damn came, there are snide remarks about her. If she doesn’t win he’s going to be canned. Take it from someone who works for a lobbyist, that’s the way the world works.
andy_d
@parrjj03: Did you think they MAY be doing it to get Hillary to stop taking money from big business/wall street and (for a change) to stay true to us poor shmucks who will have to decide between her and the crazies? She is NOT an heir to the presidency, she is a CANDIDATE and needs to make sure that she KNOWS IT!
bobnla
Wow, Robby. Keep up the good work…Howard Dean: lost Hillary Clinton: lost
Let’s go for one more time: Hillary Clinton: will lose 2016. Enough is enough, the page has turned, there is a new chapter about to begin to reverse the 18 trillion dollar debt, jump start the failed economy, and ‘reset’ (yes, I said ‘reset’) the foreign policy debacle characterized by ignorance, naivety and incompetence…and a new team is needed to do it.
parrjj03
@andy_d: @andy_d: All presidents talk about tax breaks for poor shmucks, but out of all the candidates announced so far, Clinton is the best for the LGBT community. Unless you can name a republican, because as of right now I believe she is the only democrat who announced running.
She isn’t an idiot. She has great experience as Senator and Secretary of State. She knows she’s not an heir (which seems ridiculous to even say) due to her loss the first time around.
GayEGO
@Jerome Robertson: We are not quite there yet which is why we have to fight for recognition. It will happen more likely with the younger generation when we will be able to be referred to as a man, two guys will kiss, no big deal.
GayEGO
Since all of the GOP candidates are against us, their discrimination is not going to help the GOPs. Hopefully more people will not sit on their fannies and will get out and vote.
robho3
I’m still not going to vote for her. It amazes me how people can’t see how fake and manipulative she is. Her husband’s presidency was one scandal after another but I guess everyone forgot about that. She will do and say anything to get elected. I don’t trust her or her husband at all. We have 300,000,000+ people living in the USA and the only people we can find to run our county are a Bush or a Clinton??? Come on people- wise up!!!
1EqualityUSA
Wads came on here spouting how Romney was going to be our next President too.
Troy von Tussle
Well, Hilary DOES look stunning in fuchsia!
James Hart
“He’ll have to rein in her famously wayward husband.”
The best way he can do this is by having a few 22-year-old female interns stashed away so that Bubba can sexual assault them when he gets the urge to interfere in Hillary’s campaign. This should keep Bubba occupied.
James Hart
@robho3: I agree!
James Hart
@bobnla: I agree.
James Hart
@parrjj03: Would you vote for Hitler if he was right on LGBT issues but wrong on everything else?
James Hart
@parrjj03: Listen: WE won the culture war. It’s time to get off of the Democrat plantation.
James Hart
@JeffTech: I agree.
James Hart
@Jerome Robertson: Because some people are drowning in their own self-made pool of hyper-identity politics.
Maleko
@1EqualityUSA:
That is a great and accurate summary of what W brought us. You need to add Iraq and that total debacle along with Afghanistan, someplace we had a good reason for being there but no military planning of any kind, at least not that you expect from the United States military. Compare either of those wars with what G.H.W.Bush did with Kuwait;this was done very professionally. MY ongoing question is: Why is it so immpossible to get a majority of the American people understand the damage that W did to our contry. His Administration damaged our country, arguably even more that Hoover did with the Great Depression and you know what a screwup Hoover was. But the repugs still like the guy, named a dam after him (Boulder Dam is a much better name) and Stanford has the Hoover Tower as the symbol of their campus. How can the dems get the public to be as down on the repugs as the catastrophe W gave us warrants? IF we can move the public far enough, we can take the WH, control of the Senate and maybe even the House! That would be great for LGBT, but even more importantly, it,s great for the United States. Obama has made some significant messes of his own; that’s expected after 8 years in the WH. He took and held the Presidency for 8 long years, and the repuglicans chaffed about it every day. What accounts for their outright hated of Obama? We all know, but they won’t say it outloud. They can’t stand that our President is black. I’m a bit surprised that being black has brought out such fierce hatred of Obama; I guess I overestimated the good will of the repuplican party. In reality, they have clearly prove that they have none. (Why so far off on my part, giving people the benefit of the doubt: I’m from Utah where it was a total non-issue when I lived there and now Ilive in the San Francisco Peninsula, where it’s not much of an issue either. I read the book ‘Black Like Me’ in the 8th grade and it just made my blood boil. Shocking cruely for nothing; you don’t control your skin color, your eye color or the size of your co(k, as we all know.)
Giancarlo85
@James Hart: Would you vote for republicans? Why? Because they are good? What are republicans good at? Foreign policy? Like the Iraq War, right? What about the failed Afghan war that is going to descend back into chaos? You want failed foreign policy? Look at republicans for a change. What about the Reagan administration? Total failure.
Bush was responsible for exacerberating the recession, destroying this country, giving it the majority of the debt (the trillions republicans love talking about which they caused). Obama has actually improved this nation’s financial situation, but repubilcans in the Congress are threatening that.
And you comparing Hitler to democrats shows you’ve already failed in your argument. You just violated Godwin’s law. If someone brings up Hitler, they fail automatically and their entire argument is void.
Republicans have failed at the economy, domestic affairs, and international affairs. Give me one good reason why I should even consider voting for them!
Giancarlo85
@James Hart: And what? Vote republican? Why? Republicans are trying to destroy this country and ruin the economy with their extremely dangerous economic policies. They already gutted the Frank-Dodd reforms and are in the pockets of Wall Street.
I miss Barney Frank… at least he knew Wall Street was full of shit. Your republican party is just eating that shit.
@bobnla: Jump start the economy? Wow, after years of job growth, steady economic gains, and so forth… the economy is already jump started. Obama had to jump start the economy after republicans ruined it and caused a majority of that debt you keep talking about.
Bush wrote off a lot of debt (including hundreds of billions spent on the Iraq war) and kept it off the books. He also kept other spending off the books. This all caught up. Bush’s taxcuts also had long term ramifications.
Republicans are economic failures. The last three republican Presidents prove that failure.
Republicans are foreign policy failures. The last there republican Presidents prove that failure. Republicans (since Richard Nixon) have caused more deaths in foreign wars than all democrats of the last century combined.
Republicans are domestic policy failures. The last three republican Presidents, again, prove that failure. From cutting education to healthcare while increasing money for military contractors…
“Hillary Clinton: will lose 2016.”
No she won’t. Just examining the shit selection of republicans, Hillary will win by a landslide.
“the foreign policy debacle characterized by ignorance, naivety and incompetence…and a new team is needed to do it.’
OH yeah? What would you do to “reset” it? Do what John McCain wants? You’re the real ignorant naive idiot. People like you complain about the Iran deal, when it really was the only smart option. You sound like that lunatic Benjamin Netanyahu. He was re-elected. If you like right wing politics, move to Israel. Israel complaining about Iran’s nuclear weapons… what about Israel who stole nuclear weapon technology from the US and built hundreds of their own nukes?
You’re a ignorant, naive and inept fool.
Giancarlo85
@robho3: Blah blah blah. Her husband had one of the most popular Presidencies in this nation’s history and if he could have run for a third term, he would have beaten Dubya by a huge margin. Gore was half as inspiring as Clinton, and still came close to beating that idiot. What scandals are you talking about? Oh yea… the ones republicans were complaining about? Non-existent scandals. Clinton had a successful Presidency and presided over a successful domestic and economic policy.
Newt Gingrich often complained about how dishonest Clinton was… wait… wasn’t that the same Newt Gingrich that divorced his dying wife to get with his mistress? You BET!
People like you need to wise up. You’re clueless.
tjr101
It looks like James Hart, robho3, and bobnia are our resident gay republicans. Yes boys, keep trying to convince us somehow a republican will be better for us. It worked out so well for you guys for 2008 and 2012 when you trolled any article about Obama.
Giancarlo85
@tjr101: I’m sure those same trolls said Mitt Romney would win too.
LOL
Funny seeing them spouting off the same talking points… the debt, failed foreign policy, the economy… sounds like three areas republicans failed miserably in.
o.codone
nobody cares if he’s gay or martian. it shouldn’t matter anymore. so please stop acting like it matters. it doesn’t matter.
o.codone
Giancarlo is beating up on people again, calling names and insulting others. Just want to point out that he is not playing by the etiquette rules observed by most others. it’s time to consider flagging every post and deleting his account AGAIN. i know he will come back, but he is recognizable by any other name. he’s a disrespectful trasher. go away giancarlo. or go back to colombia girl. they need you, we do not.
Giancarlo85
@o.codone: Come on, oxycontin. I’m not beating up anyone. I’ve made several valid posts with valid points about how republicans have no clue about anything. They don’t know about the economy, they don’t know about foreign policy and they don’t know anything about domestic policy.
You’re the one that has to be banned and deleted. And I have NEVER been banned off this site. Ever. You’re the one that needs to be banned completely. You are a ra*c*i*st nasty little man who wants to hurt people… and you’re xenophobia is well known. Come on, oxycontin… nobody cares what you think.
Giancarlo85
@o.codone: Why don’t you go back to yahoo comments? That’s where right wing nasty trolls like you thrive. You’ve been banned off this site multiple times I think. But you just keep finding a way to come back.
Giancarlo85
Wait… let me take that all back.
Oxycontin is mad because I rejected sexual advances he made towards me… LOL.
He’s pissed that I rejected his sorry ass. He asked to hook up lol. Even gave me his facebook… so sad and pathetic.
Now he wants to ban me. Yeah… his ego got damaged.
jeff1370
@James Hart: To compare Clinton to hitler?! Go vine on the faux news site. This site is for fellow progressives.
onthemark
Let’s not forget – she lost a supposedly sure thing once before.
Q: Why did Hillary Clinton lose to the barely-known Barack Obama in the 2008 primaries?
A: Because she voted for the Iraq War in 2003.
She voted for the war as a cynical political calculation. She didn’t really believe in the war. (Well, that’s a GOOD thing I’ll admit, but it’s not like she said that.) She supported an illegal and pointless war for the oil companies, Halliburton and Dick Cheney simply because she assumed that’s what the voters wanted to hear.
And then she was shocked to find out that the voters – the Democratic primary voters at least – didn’t want that at all.
Giancarlo85
@onthemark: Quite a few democrats voted for that war and many of those votes were fed by the lies of the Bush administration. The Bush administration lied to Congress in order to mislead them.
onthemark
@Giancarlo85: Thank you for being civil (for a change lol).
Of course the Bush administration lied to them, and to all of us voters too. We all know that.
The point is not even that she believed the lies, she’s too smart for that I think. But she SAID she believed them. She didn’t just vote for the war, she then went around defending her support for it despite knowing that it was based on a bunch of lies. And didn’t care, because she thought that’s what the voters wanted to hear.
If she’s the D nominee I’ll still vote for her over ANY Republican. My point is she’s still vulnerable to any slightly-to-the-left primary opponent. Some new Obama, or Zephyr Teachout, or Chuy Garcia may pop up.
Kangol
I hope he’s ready for the media, who HATE the Clintons, Hillary and her husband. Can someone please contact him and urge him not to take the mainstream media lightly?
I’ll never forget how they (Maureen Dowd, Frank Rich, Chris Matthews, the late Michael Kelly, etc.) waged a relentless war against Al Gore to help put George W. Bush in office, and we see what that got us (2 wars, utter instability in the Middle East, 9/11, the worst financial collapse from 2007 to 2009 since the Great Depression, inaction after the disastrous Hurricane Katrina, trillions in lost tax revenues, etc.).
I’m no great fan of Hillary, but she’s better than ANY of the anti-gay, r@cist, elite-serving GOPers running, but she had better be ready to deal with the attacks not only the GOP will launch against her, but the mainstream “media” too!
onthemark
@Kangol: Very well put, and you can include Frank Bruni (openly gay) on the list. He was quite taken in by the Bush “charm”! And now he’s a star at the NYT.
I saw a media self-criticism show (female host) where they were all reminding themselves NEVER to say that Hillary “cackles.”
“Cackles”… like the Wicked Witch of the West… yeah that’s what she’s up against.
Giancarlo85
@onthemark: What slightly to the left candidate? I see a plethora of bad teapublicans running. I don’t see any other democrats asides from Hillary running. I think Hillary realized her mistake in supporting the Iraq war. As they say, you live and you learn.
onthemark
@Giancarlo85: You and others here have an odd double standard on this issue.
To borrow Kangol’s example, I doubt you or anyone would ever write anything like this: “I think [Maureen Dowd, Frank Rich, Chris Matthews etc.] realized her/his mistake in supporting the Iraq war. As they say, you live and you learn.” That would sound awfully silly. But at least none of them was ever an elected official.
And you’d surely never write this: “I think Dan Savage realized his mistake in supporting the Iraq war. As they say, you live and you learn.” LOL. Still, never an elected official (thank god), and not even by a very loose definition a “journalist” or “news media” figure. Writes a sex column in free papers with ads for prostitutes in the back pages.
And yet you give a pass to Hillary who actually voted as a US senator to authorize the war, and defended it, assuming it would be politically popular, even though she undoubtedly realized from the very beginning that it was all lies. (Senators get a lot of information that non-senators don’t get.)
“realized her mistake” – oh really? Has she said that?
Which mistake?: (a) Voting for a pointless war the minute she was voting for it? Or (b) “realizing” five years later that the voters didn’t want it?
“What slightly to the left candidate?” Maybe not there yet. Sanders said he’s considering it.
Well, the voters have short memories so maybe it doesn’t matter now.
Giancarlo85
@onthemark: No double standard.
Dan Savage never retracted or went back on his support.
You are a raving idiot. You don’t know about the issues and I believe you are dyslexic. As I said in the other thread, I don’t have time for a raving lunatic. I will not respond to any more of your histrionics in this thread.
So go fuck yourself. I will support who I want and I don’t need your stupid worthless approval.
onthemark
@Giancarlo85: Nobody was influenced by Dan Savage’s opinion in the first place. He’s not an elected official or even a journalist.
People got killed because of Hillary C’s opinion. (Which was totally fake and not even her real opinion.) And she never “retracted” it either.
I get it. You hold Hillary to a lower standard than crazy Dan Savage.
“I will not respond to any more of your histrionics in this thread.” Promises, promises!
1EqualityUSA
Maleko, I would not doubt that many did not want to see a black president pull the country out of the brink of a depression, improve jobs numbers, stop Osama Bin Laden, recognize all Americans as equal and stand publicly and state it, (timing is everything) and figure out a way to have healthcare. Preventative care is so much less expensive and less uncomfortable for patients. Waiting until the problem ends up in an understaffed E.R. with symptoms that were ignored for far too long is senseless. The money saved by avoiding long-term health care, such as rehab for strokes or dialysis for one whose blood pressure went unchecked for too many years or wound care for diabetics who may have benefitted from preventative care, prior to venous stasis commanding toes, one by one, over years. It’s where under-served communities, are given the short end of the stick. Basic fruits and vegetables are harder to come by in some neighborhoods, but soda is, “buy two, get two free.” Cheese Puffs are a dollar something, whereas fruit, higher than it should be. This kind of nutritional situation seems purposeful. The deadly combination of poor nutritional choices and lack of preventative health care seems like an effective way to weaken a segment of a population. It spirals down from there to a generational burden. Hopelessness can have some resort to comfort measures that tend to encumber health more. Diseased parents rely on children who have children. Tempers may flare. Stress and financial hardship create a situation where neither the parent, nor the children feel as though they have gotten a fair shake. Being sandwiched between is nearly impossible. Bored children, not understanding that the parents are maxed, find companionship, those with whom they relate. We all find each other. Health care is a rope that we cannot afford to withhold. The long term effects of neglect will catch up with us sooner or later. Do the right thing. Do it for the right reasons, as well as for the good financial sense it makes. Just do it. So the harm that you spoke of is real, Maleko. No, we cannot change how we are born. Our Constitution may be challenged, but it must never be defeated. It is an amazing piece of work. Where I’m losing faith in our system is how politically manipulative this current Supreme Court has been. That’s where real power resides, lifetime appointments. President Obama faced this swift current of Republican motivation, a good swimmer, considering how choppy the waters were made for him, at the expense of the Country.
tusgold
Are you telling me if he isnt able to run this campaign and is replaced it’s a black eye for all gays. That’s just vrazy. He get’s no discrimination and no special favors because he is gay