Lieberman Hires Political Opportunist
We can't say we're surprised that Joe Lieberman has chosen as his spokesman an ideological acrobat -- the only Jew ever to serve as chief lobbyist for the Christian Coalition The New York Times describes Marshall Wittmann as "a Trotskyite turned Zionist turned Reaganite turned bipartisan irritant turned pretty much everything in between".
We can’t say we’re surprised that Joe Lieberman has chosen as his spokesman an ideological acrobat — the only Jew ever to serve as chief lobbyist for the Christian Coalition. The New York Times describes Marshall Wittmann as “a Trotskyite turned Zionist turned Reaganite turned bipartisan irritant turned pretty much everything in between…. “
Wait, before you go…New York Times:
“I think I’m the only person who has worked for both Cesar Chavez and Linda Chavez,” Mr. Wittmann said of the union pioneer who inspired him in the 1970s and the conservative Republican whose Senate campaign in Maryland he joined in the 1980s.
“I think I’m the only person who’s worked for both Ralph Reed and Bruce Reed,” Mr. Wittmann added, referring to the former executive director of the Christian Coalition and the top lieutenant to former President Bill Clinton.
There are of course plenty of political people who have undergone philosophical evolutions over the years. But Mr. Wittmann, 53, has zigzagged in the extreme, from stints in left-leaning unions to right-wing policy shops. He describes his career as “eclectic,” saying he has always been drawn to independent thinkers. “The good lord has made me a contrarian,” Mr. Wittmann said.
The good lord has also blessed him with the gift of speaking in punchy and irresistible sound bites.
He has been quoted thousands of times in newspapers, magazines, newsletters and journals, according to Lexis-Nexis. And this does not count the at least 939 times his name has appeared misspelled as “Marshall Wittman.”
He suffered through a two-year dry patch from 2002 to 2004 when he was a spokesman for Senator John McCain, the Arizona Republican, a job that largely required him to suppress his inner quotemeister for his boss’s even-more-impressive knack for drawing attention.
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