Ace Smith, Partner at Bearstar Strategies, has lived a fascinating political life intersecting with a long list of the most iconic figures of the last several decades...Harvey Milk, Pat and Jerry Brown, Bill and Hillary Clinton, Rahm Emanuel, Richard M. Daley, Gavin Newsom, Kamala Harris, & many more. In this conversation, we talk his memories of growing up in a Bay Area political family, cutting his teeth in smaller races and opposition research, transitioning to running campaigns, his role in several key states for Hillary Clinton in 2008, and building Bearstar Strategies to become a dominant media and strategic firm. 

IN THIS EPISODE

The prominent Democratic pol Ace is named after…

Ace remembers his father, Arlo, working for iconic CA politician Pat Brown…

Ace’s memories of the 1966 surprise win of Ronald Reagan and similarities to the Trump 2016 win…

Ace talks about Harvey Milk, the groundbreaking LGBT pol, that he knew personally…

Ace’s personal connection to the Harvey Milk / George Moscone assassination…

Ace weighs in on why the Bay Area is a breeding ground for many of the state’s most successful politicians…

Ace talks the value of working small, local races…

Why Ace left a successful career in California politics to start fresh in DC…

A fateful 1987 meeting between Ace and a young Rahm Emanuel…

How opposition research gets Ace’s foot in the door in DC politics…

Ace talks his formula for being an effective political researcher…

Ace’s role in the Bill Clinton 1992 Presidential campaign…

Ace gives insight about Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton from knowing both personally for decades…

Ace talks running Texas and North Carolina for Hillary Clinton in the 2008 primaries…

Ace’s best practices of what makes a good campaign manager…

Ace gives a California Politics 101 of what makes CA politics different…

Ace gives a case study from the Kamala Harris 2010 Attorney General’s race…

Ace talks the rise of Bearstar Strategies…

Ace on what makes Jerry Brown so unique…

Ace talks the strategy utilized (and defining moment) to beat back the 2021 recall attempt against Gavin Newsom…

Ace looks back on the 2020 Kamala Harris Presidential campaign in which he was involved…

Ace’s insight on building political teams…

Ace’s agenda for anyone visiting the Bay Area…

AND David Axelrod, Albert Camus, chaotic minds, Richard M. Daley, dearths and deluges, disappointing Political Science classes, Mike Dukakis, Joe Freitas, Gallic Wars, Averell Harriman, Fred Harris, hippie journey years, Harry Johnston, Tom Lynch, George McGovern, news pyramids, the political club movement, printing obscenities, Robert Redford, Bernie Sanders, Arlo Smith, Adlai Stevenson, testing hunches, Donald Trump, the twinkie defense, Elizabeth Warren, Dan White … & more!