My Favorite Mistake: Naomi Wolf Regrets Being Paid To Work For Gore

"My Favorite Mistake" is a biweekly series in which writer Seema Kalia asks various luminaries about the one mistake that taught them the most.

This week's MFM interview subject shares her perspective on a highly public and still raw professional mistake. Naomi Wolf talks about the frustrating consequences of accepting a paid job as a campaign adviser on Al Gore's failed bid for the Presidency in the 2000 election. By switching from long-time political volunteer to paid consultant, Wolf was barred from addressing her attackers, who managed to shift the discourse, at least temporarily, from the candidates to her role in the campaign.

Seema Kalia: What has been your favorite mistake?

Naomi Wolf: Professionally, my biggest mistake [was] in 2000. I worked for [Al Gore's presidential campaign] and took money to do it. That is a big mistake for any writer because you can't then say whatever you want to say whenever you want to say it. That was the great luxury of being a freelance writer and beholden to nobody--which I had been, up until then.

Writers have to be free to criticize anybody and criticize the powers that be and to always be transparent with their readers. So since I was formally signed up with the campaign rather than volunteering as I had in '96 I wasn't in a position, contractually, to hit back against the evil Republican National Committee when they started to circulate pernicious things about what I was doing on the campaign. The whole "Alpha Male" flap, the whole "earth tone" (wardrobe) flap was completely invented out of whole cloth - the stuff of urban legends, but they were such good urban legends they quickly got picked up by the mainstream media because no one was fact-checking it, and my hands were tied.

On the [Republican] side they've learned - and this is Karen Hughes' genius, and I think Karl Rove had a hand in this (and I don't think he's gone), they've learned that Americans now really get their information from dramatic media and from comedy shows and from Oprah so they're competing on that stage.

So it was very frustrating, when I'm used to being able to speak up, to not have a voice when the Bush Team was doing such a brilliant job of what we have subsequently learned is their specialty: creating imaginative lies and saturating the media with them.

But let me tease this out - I think women should be paid for their work. I think if I were a political operative I should have taken money, but I think writers shouldn't put themselves in that position.

SK: But now political operatives have to be writers, don't they, in order to reach the American public?

NW: Sure. Political operatives should be writers, but writers shouldn't be political operatives. Writers have to stay unaffiliated. Not professionally affiliated.

SK: Did you feel muzzled at the time?

NW: I do want to say that I felt "muzzled"...[but] I only have myself to blame for having to not talk back and push back on the attacks. No one forced me to do that. That was my own decision. I was responsible for that mistake, and I can't blame that on anyone else. I signed that contract.

SK: When you signed the contract, do you recall thinking that this would be a big burden for you?

NW: Well, my Dad, Leonard Wolf, who is an old lefty, has been on every protest march for the last 60 years told me it was a very bad idea for a writer to sign up for that role. I should have known better.

SK: Why do you think you did it?

NW: I'm a feminist. If I was going to do the work, I wanted to be compensated the way men are compensated for similar work.

SK: So what are you doing differently now as a result of your mistake?

NW: What I'm doing now, which is raising my voice independently. Helping to co-found an organization of five million Americans, The American Freedom Campaign with partner organizations who are raising their voices independently and putting pressure on our elected officials to support the constitution, respect the rule of law, pass a ten point legislative agenda to preserve democracy. I'm involved in an incredibly important historic and timely call by 1000 lawyers to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate the crimes this Administration may have committed.

SK: Most of us won't be in a position of having to weigh the costs of being high level political advisors, so is there a lesson here for the rest of us?

NW: Well, you're right to say that I had unusual circumstances. But the thing I hear across the country from people in any job, they can feel that they have to censor themselves either about coworkers or higher ups in the company. People often feel they can't say anything. People with a lot of privilege can feel silenced. We still have the power to raise our voices, and my advice to anyone is that we should cherish that right. Especially at a time like this, when there's a concerted effort to close down a democracy it is a terrible mistake to think silence will protect us. Silence never protects you. We have to be verbal - everybody all together. Your silence won't protect you, your innocence won't protect you. That's why people will join our call to speak up.

SK: So one shouldn't be afraid to be a troublemaker?

NW: Well, you shouldn't be afraid to be a troublemaker in the millions. If you don't speak up, there's no power is passivity. If millions of people make "trouble" together, that is the role of a democracy.

SK: But somebody has to be first.

NW: Yes, and I applaud those who went first in every community.

SK: Maybe you need to re-brand the term "troublemaker" or come up with a catchy euphemism to market it better.

NW: Actually we're thinking of calling it "The Resistance."

"My Favorite Mistake" will be back on Wednesday January 12th with Joan Rivers.

Comments

[RedBarberian]

You never said what you thought about the stolen election. You never said what you thought about the kind of president Gore would have been. You never gave your thoughts on Gore's running for reelection this time. How about forming a "Draft Gore" committee.

[maxstar]

main stream media will twist anything to get the Republicans elected. doesn't have to be true.

[Ecomom2008]

I am very glad that Naomi Wolf believes that when you are criticized (especially women) that you need to speak up for yourself.
I was very active in the California4Gore movement this year. I had never been involved in politics before. I listened to the California County Registrar Recorder's office representatives rather than to volunteers higher in this volunteer group for directions on how to collect signatures. As a result, I was forced to become independent, and I disassociated myself from that group.
I continued to work to get Al Gore on the ballot with a few individuals who believed that what I said was accurate, and who believed that my knowledge of the process was going to lead to more votes being counted, and less votes being invalidated.
I think Al Gore's message to us this year was to educate ourselves, to think about the political process, and that one individual can make change happen.

[Ecomom2008]

I was very glad to see that Naomi Wolf said that we(especially women)need to speak up when we are criticized. I was very active as a volunteer for the California4Gore campaign this year. I have never been involved in politics before, and I never want to be to that level again. But as a volunteer, I was getting directions from the Registrar Recorder's office to do things one way, and from volunteers higher up in this group to do things another way. I chose to listen to the California County Registrar Recorder representatives on how to collect signatures legally rather than listen to the volunteers. I wanted every signature to count, and no signatures to be voided because of technicalities. Because I became a "free agent", I was forced to disassociate myself from the group. People said that I wasn't a "team player".
But we need people to stand up when they believe that they are right. I think that this is what Al Gore told us in "The Assault on Reason". Many individuals together can make change. You need to be educated, you need to think, and not to be sheep

[godlessclif]

Naomi Wolf is sad she supported Gore?

What about poor John Edwards.

[Ryter]

Regardless of all the speculative gossip about wardrobe choices etc., Naomi was probably worth every dime they paid her. Unfortunately, she was paid and that made her vulnerable. Lesson learned!

I'm thinking that her most valuable mistake was in assuming that, as a feminist, she should be compensated. Cute. But if all the feminists lined up to be paid for work done, specifically worthwhile work done well, we'd have no feminism. And that includes all the male feminists that I've known. Money is only one way to measure equality, and even at that it isn't reliable. Money comes with a price for all, men and women.

The true sign that feminism survived and is still quite healthy is that Naomi was offered the job in the first place. This is a huge leap for the human race that women are now architects for campaigns. I'm still waiting to see the big positives in that, but I believe it is a good thing. Feminism is always about more than finding work for women.

There is no shortage of people wanting to be paid for work done (and even for work not done). Women and men are no different in that regard. Even non-feminist women want to be paid. And where is all the shame for volunteering coming from? I continue to volunteer hours for the candidate of my choice, and I'm enjoying it. what's wrong with this feminist?

[oogabooga]

Hillary, when the swift-boating starts, will fight back. All she has to do is say to the imaginative liars, "Prove it or drop it." Unfortunately, Gore sort of played along with the internet invention thing, the wooden persona, etc. Worse, he let himself be tarred and feathered with the Monica thing. He should have explained that he thought the affair was wrong but that he agreed with Clinton's policies. He failed to carve out his own standing, and the Republicans mopped up, with some help from Florida's inept vote counters and finally the Supreme Court.

[Harrier]

I have always enjoyed watching people selling themselves out for a buck when they new exactly what they were doing. Truly a campaign Gore kissed away. He literally snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. Both he and Kerry lost elections a Jr High schooler could have won. Their campaigns were lost on so many levels, it proved who out of touch the democratic past is in and how truly ignorant law makers are

[i1der2]

Why didn't Naomi say anything about the effectiveness of her advice to Al Gore?

[fourex]

Naomi, you could have used a surrogate or pseudonym.

[Bulbul]

Would she call it a mistake, if his Presidency was not interfered by the Supreme Court ?
Imagine what could have been, NO war on Iraq !

[lovethesinner]

Has anyone notice that the absense of Jon Stewart, and Steven Colbert has had a dramatic effect on the beginning of the primaries? Rove has had a field day along with Frank Luntz who seem to be working for the new powers that will be. The grumpy old men Paul and Gravel are out there entertaining everyone while the real clowns are rising in the polls. Meanwhile the cable news is taking a hard left as though they're getting ready to re-brand their spin.

Is it just me or does it seem like somebody has stuck a sock in mouth of the resistance just when we need to be shouting the loudest?

I'm concerned that the large section of America that uses those shows to filter the bullshit from the news will be unable to actually process what's happening.

Bring back the Daily Show, and Colbert Report!

Vivre la liberty!

Loved "The End of America," Naomi, I've been sending a link to it to everyone I know. (Watch I'm going to do it again)

The End of America, Naomi Wolf:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=RjALf12PAWc

;-)

[shengirl]

She's the one whose campaign advice included the ludicrous "wear earth tones"; yeah, I'd say her working on Gore's campaign WAS a huge mistake. But then, Gore didn't have to listen to all these "advisers", just as Kerry didn't have to listen to Mary Beth Cahill's advice to ignore the Swift Boat ads.

[ConnieInCleveland]

The reason I wanted Al Gore to run in "08 was to stop the spin by mainstream media. I wanted him to run and when his voice could be heard, challenge the spin with facts. I have heard him, he does a great job challenging the spin with facts. Al Gore"s defeat in 2000 has made his voice stronger. Al Gore could have started a conversation with Americans of all ages. We could have joined him in figuring out the best direction for America. It"s going to take a lot to right the wrongs of this administration. It"s going to take Americans working together, not fighting amongst ourselves. I still have hope that Americans have not really changed. They have been misled by spin. We need to force the sponsors of mainstream media to report fact not spin We are paying for TV, we need to get our monies worth. If we have to accept spin, they should be paying us!

[Deschanel]

Actually, I take my nice comments about Ms. Wolf back.

Camille Paglia's right, she's a shallow bourgeois twit.

Earth tones, Alpha Males, all that crap. And SHE's the one moaning about "mistakes"?

Ms. Wolf , as said below, is utterly of a kind with Ms. Dowd, the lady who couldn't ever stop herself from ignoring an Iraqi ethnic cleansing to pontificate about the Clintons' marriage YET AGAIN IN GODDAMN 2007.

No, catty remonstrances to Hillary are still on the menu for this alleged "Are Men Necessary" feminist. As one blogger said, "Dear God, Maureen, close the robe already"".