Trippi Couldn’t Be Persuaded to Stay On

The meeting between the two men was calm, by all accounts.

On Wednesday, after absorbing his second straight loss of the presidential season, Democratic candidate Howard Dean retreated home to Burlington and sat down with campaign manager Joe Trippi to talk about the future.

Dean told Trippi he was concerned about the lack of organization in his headquarters, according to campaign sources familiar with the conversation. Trippi was doing too much -- strategy, response, media message -- and, as a result, the overall campaign was suffering.

The candidate said he wanted to bring in Roy Neel, a longtime Al Gore advisor, to act as the chief executive officer. Trippi’s response was quick: Fine, but he would leave.

Surprised by Trippi’s reaction, Dean tried to talk him out of it -- and was later joined by other senior advisors -- but Trippi could not be dissuaded.

Trippi told the staff at campaign headquarters of his decision and urged them to stay on. Shocked staffers responded with appreciative applause, high-fives and tears.

“There was no huff,” said one aide who was there. “It was a real class act on his part.”

Then, without packing his office, Trippi walked out, closing another chapter on what has been a heady and heartbreaking year for the Dean campaign.

When Trippi took the helm last spring, Dean was barely a blip in the polls. The campaign had a handful of staff and $157,000 in its bank account.

Within six months, the former Vermont governor had rocketed to the top of the polls, scooping up major endorsements and raising a record-setting amount of money over the Internet.

Trippi was the brain behind much of the success. A longtime politico who had worked on presidential campaigns for Massachusetts Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, Missouri Rep. Dick Gephardt and former California Gov. Jerry Brown, Trippi had grown disgusted with presidential campaigns and had started a new career in Silicon Valley. But he said he was drawn back into the game by Dean’s irreverence.

The new campaign manager aggressively sought endorsements and devised new ways to use the Internet, concluding that the medium could help circumvent the need for the traditional, time-consuming fundraising dinners.

“He did some brilliant things,” said Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-San Jose), a Dean supporter and friend of Trippi’s for more than 20 years. “Joe understood the power of the Internet and the ability to use it as an organizational tool.”

He also emerged as a mini-celebrity among Dean supporters, known for swigging Diet Pepsis and chewing cherry Skoal.

Alternately loquacious and gruff, with his trademark hangdog expression, Trippi would be recognized at airports and pressed for autographs at Dean rallies.

He became so identified with the campaign that some political experts credit him with fashioning the upstart, Internet-savvy, anti-establishment image that emerged as Dean’s hallmark. They point out that the former governor was a centrist and a technophobe before he began running for president.

“Where does Dean end and Trippi begin?” asked Democratic strategist Bill Carrick.

But the honeymoon ended. Dean stumbled as he entered the voting season, criticized for a string of blunt remarks, as well as comments made years ago. The campaign wasn’t able to right itself in time, and its storied organization failed to propel Dean beyond third place in the Iowa caucuses.

On Tuesday night, as the results of the New Hampshire primary trickled in, Dean and his campaign manager were not together. While the candidate was sequestered in his Manchester hotel room, monitoring the early returns, Trippi was pacing downstairs in the lobby, swigging Diet Pepsi and keeping his eyes glued to CNN.

Fewer than 24 hours later, he posted a terse message on the campaign’s Web log, or blog, confirming his departure.

“I’ve always believed that the most important thing was to change our country and our politics,” he wrote. “I’m proud of all of you and the work we have done together. I may be out of the campaign but I’m not out of the fight. Don’t give up -- stay with Howard Dean’s cause to change America.”

Within minutes, the blog filled with more than 100 messages responding to his decision, almost all bemoaning his departure and praising him.

Inside the Burlington headquarters Wednesday night, the staff tried to take stock and prepare for the arrival of a new boss, while mourning Trippi’s departure.

“We love Joe,” said senior advisor Steve McMahon, his partner in a Washington-based political firm. “He did a remarkable thing for the campaign and for politics. We’re sorry he’s gone, and we’re going to do the best we can without him.”