Patrick Caddell, a pollster who in his mid-20s helped propel Jimmy Carter to the White House but who later backed Donald Trump for president, has died.
Caddell died at 68 of complications from a stroke, the New York Times reported.
Caddell earned national buzz advising the 1972 Democratic primary campaign of Sen. George McGovern. The campaign of McGovern, a left-wing populist from South Dakota, used new party rules to capture the nomination over more establishment rivals, though he lost in a landslide that fall to Republican president Richard Nixon.
Caddell, a Harvard senior during that campaign, then hooked on with the nascent White House effort of former Georgia governor Jimmy Carter. Little-known nationally, Carter followed Caddell’s advice in campaigning heavily ahead of the Iowa caucuses and building up party support in states his rivals weren’t targeting as heavily.
After beating President Gerald Ford, Carter frequently turned to Caddell for political advice. But not all of Caddell’s governing-related insights proved as far-sighted as his campaign work. Caddell urged Carter in 1979 to address the nation on what the president perceived as a national torpor and loss of spirit. Widely derided as the “malaise” speech — though Carter never used that term — Caddell’s professional reputation took a hit.
Still, he continued to attract big-name Democratic clients. During the late Reagan years, he advised Sen. Joe Biden’s campaign for the 1988 Democratic presidential nomination. Caddell was known as an outsize presence on the Delaware senator’s campaign who frequently clashed with other advisers. No matter, the future vice president’s campaign imploded amid plagiarism charges, and Caddell was out in the political cold.
Caddell in the 1990s became disaffected with the Democratic Party, criticizing it for shunning its populist roots and relying on corporate cash. In later years, Caddell appeared frequently on Fox News and advised Steve Bannon, who became President Trump’s chief White House strategist.
