Talk:Steve Schmidt

Verizon connection

Just a minor point: how is it possible that his father worked for Verizon when Schmidt was growing up, when Verizon didn't exist pre-2000? --160.94.142.71 (talk) 18:17, 30 October 2008 (UTC)

Scherer remark edit

The following edit was recently made to the article. As far as I can see, it is a derogatory remark about Schmidt, provided without suitable context or any semblance of balance, and thus a violation of neutral point of view policy. I have reproduced it below for everybody's viewing. RayAYang (talk) 20:56, 16 September 2008 (UTC)

Time's Michael Scherer, in an opinion piece from September 15, 2008 relating to Schmidt's involvement with John McCain's presidential campaign dubbed Schmidt the "lord of outrage".

• I suggest you reread WP:ASF. The source itself does not need to be neutral. Indeed, as a general rule we do not assume that all but the most authoritative sources are anywhere near neutral or comprehensive. It is our simple, straightforward and truthful representation of what the sources say that makes the article neutral. The only potential issue with the above material (i.e. the entire sentence I added and you removed) is if you argue that it adds undue weight to the article. To which I'd respond that Schmidt's senior position in the McCain campaign is of high relevance in this article and the according coverage he receives in high-profile news outlets is most certainly worthy of inclusion. However, I agree that the relatively bare sentence is not particularly useful. But the way to go about it is not to remove it but instead to expand on his work with the campaign. And if the majority of media response to his contributions is negative, we will neutrally report just that, and not clean up his article and "free it" from easily verifiable "derogatory remarks". Several available sources clearly attribute the change of the campaign's overall tone with Schmidt taking over the campaign as Operative Chief. The deliberate employment of untruthful statements, which has been noted as a trademark of Schmidt's campaign work in 2004 as well, has drawn increasing criticism even from some Republicans and conservative commentators. All of that is verifiable, relevant to the article about Schmidt, and it should be included. Everyme 23:57, 16 September 2008 (UTC)

Thank you for agreeing that the bare sentence is not helpful. You have offered no useful reply to my charge that the bare sentence, as it is, is a biased contextless derogatory remark on a biography of a living person. Violations include, but are not limited to, WP:BLP and WP:NPOV, as well as basic questions of style and taste. You have asserted a "fact" in a most unhelpful manner.

If you wish to contribute constructively to this article in a helpful manner, you are welcome to write about the change in the McCain campaign following Steve Schmidt's takeover; I have been a little too busy of late to expand on this article as I had originally hoped.

However, we are now at the WP:3RR threshold. Please have the decency to either remove or expand on your edit; if this is not settled soon, I will take this to the BLP noticeboard. RayAYang (talk) 00:42, 17 September 2008 (UTC)

I can only presume you are deliberately ignoring the extensive point I've made explaining how the sentence is not a derogatory remark. In addition to brushing up on actual BLP violations, I also strongly recommend rereading WP:OWN. And the lawyering tone is not exactly helping your cause. Everyme 00:52, 17 September 2008 (UTC)

(e/c) I've just stumbled onto this article (and for the record, I have no idea who this guy is - in fact he's from a completely different country), but it is clear that this is not a violation of the biographies of living persons policy or the neutral point of view policy. The point of WP:BLP is to avoid slandering a subject, or invading their privacy - not to prevent any negative coverage (otherwise this would not be an encyclopaedia, but an advertisement). Given that this comment has come from a reputable publication, is well sourced as well as qualifying it as an "opinion piece", there is no reason to remove this piece, from my perspective. :) – Toon^(talk) 00:55, 17 September 2008 (UTC)

Third opinion

This is a tough one. The negative-ness is not an issue. To quote from WP:BLP If an allegation or incident is notable, relevant, and well-documented by reliable published sources, it belongs in the article — even if it's negative and the subject dislikes all mention of it. Clearly, the allegations are from notable and well-documented reliable sources. Are they relevant though? Ideally, relevance should be obvious from the context and it is true that the quotes are not set in an appropriate context. Ideally, the article should describe his campaign style and then provide the quotations as support, provided the act of contextualizing does not wander into WP:OR. That said, the article is about a notable person much in the news these days and, given the stubbiness of the article itself, the quotations are informative and do provide a service to the reader (WP:RF). A context would be nice but, on the balance, the Scherer quotation can be kept. --Regents Park (count the magpies) 14:05, 17 September 2008 (UTC)

more worthwhile sources

• Marinucci, Carla (February 12, 2006). "Governor's team adds former Rove protege". sfgate.com. Retrieved 2008-09-29.

• Lowe, Laurence (July 31, 2008). "The Post-Rove Guru". tnr.com. Retrieved 2008-09-29.

• Spillius, Alex (02 Aug 2008). "John McCain's 'bullet' leads the assault on Barack Obama". telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 2008-09-29. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)

• Harris, Paul (Aug 04, 2008). "McCain deploys The Bullet". nzherald.co.nz. Retrieved 2008-09-29. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)

• Romano, Lois (August 21, 2008). "The Silver Bullet". washingtonpost.com. Retrieved 2008-09-29.

Everyme 07:03, 29 September 2008 (UTC)

Sexual behavior

I don't think it's necessary to include Schmidt's past sexual behaviors. What a man does in the privacy of his bedroom or bathhouse is private. Talking about it is just an effort to attack his pro-homosexual agenda. 68.0.119.139 (talk) 02:54, 18 April 2009 (UTC)

Stevie Boy's Family

In Game Change, it references Stevie Boy's wife. Was that made up bollox by the filmmakers? If not, you people need something in the wiki about this guy's old lady, etc...