Credit Susan Demas for a nice catch, spotting a passage in a
new Politico Magazine story that is described as nerdy Gov. Rick Snyder’s “Godfather”
moment.
Demas, editor and publisher of Inside Michigan Politics,
references a piece by Jason Zengerle, “Winning Isn’t Everything,” about John
Weaver, a high-priced Republican campaign consultant. A highly controversial
figure in the world of GOP campaign consulting, Weaver was the top strategist
for John McCain’s 2000 presidential campaign and he is currently running John
Kasich’s presidential superPAC.
was given much credit for mild-mannered Snyder’s improbable rise, from less
than 1 percent in early polls to winner on Election Day, in the 2010
gubernatorial race. But there is a fascinating back story that Zengerle
reveals:
“Sure enough, on November 2, 2010, Snyder was elected the
48th governor of Michigan. But Weaver was not the one to give Snyder the good
news. That August, less than a week after the primary triumph, Weaver,
according to multiple sources, had been dropped as Snyder’s strategist. The
move was handled in such a quiet fashion that it has not been made public until
now, more than five years later. One Snyder campaign aide likened it to a scene
from The Godfather. ‘It was the settling of all family business,’ the aide told
me. Another Snyder campaign aide recalls that on the day of Weaver’s exit,
‘They made sure there was nobody in the campaign office. They divided everyone
up and told them, ‘This is what is happening.’’ According to multiple people
familiar with the matter, aides to Snyder had discovered evidence of what they
considered to be irregular spending in the campaign’s media buying and
phonebanking operations. When these allegations were brought to Snyder, these
sources say, advisers talked him into handling the matter quietly. ‘If you’re
running for governor as the nerd accountant,’ says one Michigan Republican with
knowledge of the episode, ‘it’s not really what you want to see on the front
page of the Detroit Free Press.’ Privately, Snyder tried to downplay the
financial nature of the dispute, telling one person that he dumped Weaver
because the consultant ‘did not have the same personal values’ as the
candidate.”
