Check out the website https://lenspoliticalnotes.com Political Note #332 The Campaign for the Senate, Political Note #333 The State of the House
Election Day. Democracy in action. OR as Senator Jon Tester says: Run through the f—-ing tape.
Joe Biden, if we are all fortunate enough for him to be elected, will be one of the best prepared new presidents in American history. His transition team is one good reason for how well prepared he is. His transition team will put him in a position to take advantage of a Democratic House of Representatives and, if we are truly fortunate, a Democratic Senate.
The transition team information is a gift from Eric Appleman’s organization: Democracy in Action. In September they provided everyone with this list of Joe Biden’s transition team. Take a look while the day goes by. Appleman explains:
I have managed all aspects of this work including covering hundreds of major and minor events (photography and writing) Iowa caucus and NH primary campaigns and national conventions since the 1996 cycle as well as doing research, editing and design….
Your … donations help with this work … (contributions are not tax-deductible and will be reported as income). Large donations are also helpful. … I’d like know what you think. If you have ideas, suggestions, comments or criticisms please send an email (action08@gmail…) with a clear subject line.
Eric M. Appleman
Democracy in Action
P.O. Box 19007
Washington, DC 20036-9007
action08@gmail
c. 310 496-9633
Appleman reported that Biden started working on transition in April 2020; multiple news outlets reported on June 20, 2020 the team was starting to staff up; on Sept. 5, 2020 CNN reported five co-chairs, a 15-person advisory board and more staff. I have made a few revisions and bolded information about the Co-Chairs, the Advisory Board, and the staff’s connections with Joe Biden, with the Obama administration, and with Delaware. Those connections are numerous. This is a group that will be working together to ensure that Joe Biden will succeed as President Joe Biden’s campaign has had little or no internal competition. We can expect the same from the transition team.
These are people who know a lot about government. They have experience in the executive branch – mostly in the Obama administration. They have experience with the legislature – mostly with Joe Biden. And they have experience with politics. They have some understanding of what is possible and what is not; what creates problems and what solves them. Today, as we get ready to count the ballots, everything points to the likelihood that they will have the chance to do the work they have been organized to do – help Joe Biden be the President we deserve. Even now, we need to remember: Complacency Kills Campaigns. We can take a moment to wish them well. I wish them success in their efforts. I hope you do, too
CO-CHAIRS
Ted Kaufman and Anita Dunn have had particularly close relationships with Joe Biden. If Jeffrey Zents has a close relationship with Joe Biden other fixing the Affordable Care website, it is not apparent to me. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s presence is a sign that Joe Biden does not intend to allow further deterioration in his relationship with Hispanics. Cedric Richmond’s presence is a sign that Joe Biden intends to retains his close relationship with African-American members of Congress.
Former U.S. Sen. Ted Kaufman
Appointed to the U.S. Senate from Delaware on Jan. 15, 2009 and served to Nov. 10, 2010. Appointed by President Clinton to the Broadcasting Board of Governors and served from 1995-2008. President of Public Strategies, a political and management consulting firm. College professor. Staff assistant and chief of staff to Sen Joe Biden, 1973-94; started with Biden as a volunteer on his 1972 campaign. Engineer with DuPont. M.B.A. from University of Pennsylvania, 1966; B.S. in mechanical engineering from Duke University, 1960.
Jeffrey Zients
Taking leave of absence from position as CEO of Cranemere, a private equity firm. Director of the National Economic Council and Assistant to the President for Economic Policy, at the White House Feb. 2014-Jan. 2017. Credited with leading the surge to fix HealthCare.gov, 2013. Acting Director at the Office of Management and Budget, Jan. 2012-Apr. 2013 and June-Oct. 2010. Chief Performance Officer and Deputy Director of the OMB, confirmed in June 2009. Founder and managing partner of Portfolio Logic LLC. President and CEO of the Washington Baseball Club, one of the groups which sought to attract a baseball team to Washington, DC, 2004-05. Chairman (2001-04), CEO (from 1998) and COO (from 1996) at The Advisory Board Company, started there in 1990. Management consultant at Bain & Company, Aug. 1988-June 1990. B.A. in political science from Duke University, 1988.
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham
Elected Governor of New Mexico Nov. 2018. Served three terms in the U.S. House, first elected Nov. 2012, resigned Dec. 31, 2018. Owner of Delta Consulting Group, Aug. 2008-June 2017. Bernalillo County Commissioner, Jan. 2011-Sept. 2012. Unsuccessful candidate for Congress in 2008. New Mexico secretary of health, 2004-07. New Mexico secretary of aging and long-term services, 2002-04. Executive director of the New Mexico state agency on aging, 1991-2002. J.D. from New Mexico School of Law, 1987; B.U.S. from the University of New Mexico, 1981.
U.S. Rep. Cedric Richmond
Member of the U.S. House representing LA-2, first elected in Nov. 2010. Unsuccessful candidate for Congress in 2008. Member of the Louisiana House of Representatives, 1999-2011. J.D. from Tulane University, 1998; B.A. from Morehouse College, 1995. Born in New Orleans, Orleans Parish, LA
Anita Dunn
Senior advisor on the [Biden] campaign. Managing director at SKDKnickerbocker. Acting White House communications director, Apr.-Nov. 2009. Senior communications advisor/director of communications, policy and research on Obama’s 2008 campaign. Principal at Squier Knapp Dunn; joined the firm in 1993 after working for Sen. Bill Bradley. Media consultant to Sen. Evan Bayh’s All America PAC in 2006 and developed strategy and produced the media for Bayh’s 2004 re-election campaign. Senior political advisor to Senate Democratic Leader Tom Daschle, 2001-02. Took leave from the firm in 1999 to serve as communications director and chief strategist for Sen. Bill Bradley’s presidential campaign. Communications and political director and then chief of staff to Sen. Bill Bradley. Communications director at the DSCC for the 1988 and 1990 election cycles. Communications director for U.S. Rep. Bob Edgar’s 1984 congressional and 1986 senatorial campaigns. Press assistant on Sen. John Glenn’s 1984 campaign. Began her career in politics working for White House chief of staff Hamilton Jordan under President Jimmy Carter and as an intern for White House communications director Gerald Rafshoon.
ADVISORY BOARD
The Advisory Board is filled with people who were part of the Obama-Biden administration. Exceptions include two labor union presidents and the president of a think tank known for particularly imaginative left of center ways of looking at political and economic problems.
Tony Allen – President of Delaware State University, a HBCU in Dover, DE.. Speechwriter and a Special Assistant for then-U.S. Sen. Biden from 1997-2000. Previously served on transition teams for Delaware Governors Jack Markell and John Carney. Executive Vice President of Delaware State University 2017-2020, Head of Corporate Reputation, Bank of America 2004-2017, President Metro Wilmington (DE) Urban League 2000-2004, BA Univ of Del, MPA Baruch, PhD Univ of Del.
Jared Bernstein – Chief economist and economic advisor to Vice President Biden, 2009-11; senior fellow at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, 2011-present. Previously a senior official at the EPI liberal think tank, and Deputy Chief Economist for the Labor Department. Taught at Howard, Columbia, and NYU.
Pete Buttigieg – Former Mayor of South Bend and former Democratic candidate for president in 2020. Previously, a management consultant for McKinsey and an intelligence officer in the US Navy Reserve. BA Harvard, Rhodes Scholarship, Pembroke College, Oxford University.
Leslie Caldwell – Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division at the US Department of Justice May 2014-Jan. 2017, for which she had previously led the Enron investigation. She is a partner at Latham & Watkins. BA Penn State, JD George Washington.
Mark Gitenstein – U.S Ambassador to Romania, 2009-12; currently senior counsel in the International Trade practice in Mayer Brown’s DC office. Serves on the Board of Director of the Biden Foundation. Formerly the Executive Director of the Foundation for Change and the Chief Council to the Senate Judiciary Committee. Managed the Judiciary Committee staff during the Bork nomination.
Cecilia Martinez – Executive director and co-Founder of the Center for Earth, Energy, and Democracy. Formerly on the faculty of University of Delaware. She has also taught at Metropolitan State University and served as Research Director of the American Indian Policy Center. BA Stanford, PhD University of Delaware.
Bob McDonald – U.S. Secretary of Veterans Affairs, July 2014-Jan. 2017. Former President and Chairman of the Board of Proctor and Gamble which he initially joined in 1980 for which he held various national and international responsibilities. A Republican and a graduate of West Point, he has an MBA from the University of Utah.
Minyon Moore – Principal at Dewey Square Group, political and corporate strategists. Assistant to the President and Director of Political Affairs under Clinton, former CEO and COO of the DNC, and consultant to several Democratic Presidential campaigns. Founder of Women Building for the Future and co-author of For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Politics. Graduate of Boston University’s Film School.
Vivek Murthy – U.S. Surgeon General, Dec. 2014-Jan. 2017 was appointed the first Indian-American Surgeon General by Barack Obama. While an undergraduate at Harvard, he founded VISIONS Worldwide to combat HIV/AIDS in the US and India. As an adult, he founded the non-profit Doctors for American to increase access to healthcare. He is a graduate of Harvard Medical School; as well as Harvard College.
Susan Rice – National Security Advisor, 2013-17 and U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, 2009-13. Rice was a child of African-American national level leaders in education and economics, landed at the Brookings Institute after high school at the National Cathedral School in DC, a BA at Stanford, a Truman and a Rhodes Scholarship that brought her to Oxford where she earned an MPhil and a PhD in international relations. She was a foreign policy advisor to several Democratic political campaigns before her appointments during the Obama administration.
Teresa Romero – President of the United Farm Workers from Dec. 2018 and the first Mexican immigrant to head a union. Before her election, she was Secretary-Treasurer of the Uhion, the #2 official. Before becoming part of the UFW leadership, she managed a construction company and law firm that specialized in immigration.
Cathy Russell – Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women’s Issues, May 2013-Jan. 2017; previously chief of staff to Second Lady Jill Biden. A graduate of Boston College with a JD from George Washington, she worked on Walter Mondale’s campaign in 1984 and Joe Biden’s campaign in 1988. She served senior Counsel to the Senate Judiciary Committee’s Technology Subcommittee and then as Staff Director to the Senate Judiciary Committee. She particularly worked on the Violence Against Women Act. She has been married since 1991 to Tom Donilan, who served as National Security Advisor to Barack Obama.
Lonnie Stephenson – International president of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers has been connected with the Union for 40 years. He started with roles in his local and continued on to tak roles in the national and international union. He has been president since 2015.
Felicia Wong – President and CEO of the Roosevelt Institute, a New York-based think tank which intends to reexamine the policies and proposals for Franking and Eleanor Roosevelt for 21st Century problems. She has a BA from Stanford and a PhD from University of California at Berkeley. She came to Roosevelt from Democracy Alliance. Before that, she ran operations and product development at a venture-funded education services company. She had a White House Fellowship in the Office of the Attorney General and served in the Office of the Secretary of the Navy.
Sally Yates – is an attorney King & Spaulding in Atlanta. She was confirmed as Deputy Attorney General at the US Department of Justice in May, 2015. Before that, she had served as a US Attorney. After that, she was briefly Acting Attorney General until she was fired by Donald Trump for standing up to him. Her father was a judge for the Georgia Court of Appeals; her grandmother was one of the first women to be admitted to the Georgia Bar, though she never practiced. Yates has a BA and JD from the University of Georgia.
STAFF
Nearly every member of the staff has had prior experience with Joe Biden and/or Barack Obama. One exception is Ben Ray Lujan’s Chief of Staff – part of Joe Biden’s effort to ensure that he has an improved relationship with Hispanic political leaders.
Yohannes Abraham
Adjunct lecturer (from Sept. 2018) and fellow (Sept. 2017-Sept. 2018) at Harvard Kennedy School. COO and senior advisor at The Obama Foundation, Jan. 2017-Jan. 2018. Deputy Assistant to the President and Senior Advisor to the National Economic Council (Dec. 2015-Jan. 2017) and chief of staff at the Office of Public Engagement and Intergovernmental Affairs (Mar. 2013-Jan. 2017) at The White House. Deputy national political director on Obama’s 2012 re-election campaign, April 2011-Nov. 2012. National political director of Organizing for America at the DNC, May 2010-Apr. 2011. Legislative assistant in the White House Office of Legislative Affairs, Jan. 2009-May 2010. Staff on Obama’s 2008 campaign starting as a Polk County field organizer in Iowa in May/June 2007; then GOTV director on the Feb. 12 Virginia primary; and in the Fall was field director on the Virginia Campaign for Change. M.B.A. from Harvard Business School; B.A. in political science from Yale University, 2007. Ethiopian American from Springfield, VA.
Avril Haines
Deputy director of Columbia World Projects, lecturer in law at Columbia Law School, and a senior fellow at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory. Assistant to the President and principal deputy national security advisor to President Obama. Deputy director of the Central Intelligence Agency from 2013. Deputy Counsel to the President for National Security Affairs in the Office of White House Counsel, appointed 2010. Assistant legal advisor for treaty affairs at the U.S. Department of State, 2008-09. Deputy chief counsel for the majority (under Biden) at the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, 2007-08. Worked in the Office of the Legal Advisor at the U.S. Department of State, 2003-06. Law clerk to U.S. Court of Appeals Sixth Circuit Judge Danny Julian Boggs, 2002-03. Legal office at the Hague Conference on Private International Law, 2001-02. With her husband opened operated an independent bookstore and cafe in Fell’s Point, Baltimore. J.D. from Georgetown Law Center, 2001; bachelor’s degree in physics from University of Chicago, 1992.
Gautam Raghavan
Chief of staff to U.S. Rep. Pramila Jayapal from Dec. 2018. Consultant with GR Strategic LLC, an Indian American public advocacy group, Mar. 217-Dec. 2018. Vice president of policy at The Gill Foundation, Sept. 2014-Mar. 2017. Associate director of public engagement (LGBTQ and AAPI and advisor at The White House, Oct. 2011-Sept. 2014. White House liaison and deputy White House liaison to the U.S. Department of Defense, Apr. 2009-Sept. 2011. Midwest finance director at the DNC, Apr. 2006-Feb. 2009. Asian American finance director on Obama for America, June-Nov. 2008. Development assistant at Progressive Majority, May 2005-May 2006. B.A. in science, technology and society from Stanford University, 2004. twitter
Angela Ramirez
Chief of staff to U.S. Rep. Ben Ray Luján; formerly Executive director of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, 2006-08. Senior legislative assistant to U.S. Rep. Joseph Crowley, 2002-06. Analyst at The Advisory Board Company, 1999-2000. Trial preparation assistant with the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, 1998-99. Fellow in the office of Calif. State Sen. Karnette, 1997-98. Bachelor’s degree in political economy from Princeton University, 1997.
Evan Ryan
Executive vice president at Axios, Jan. 2017-May 2020. Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs, 2013-17. Assistant for intergovernmental affairs and public liaison for Vice President Joe Biden, Jan. 2009-June 2013. Consultant to the Council on Foreign Relations, Apr.-Sept. 2018. Deputy campaign manager on Biden for President, Jan. 2007-Jan. 2008. Deputy chair for the governance track at Clinton Global Initiative, 2005. Consultant to PeacePlayers International, May 2001-Oct. 2003. Deputy director of scheduling for the First Lady (July 1997-Jan. 2000) and special assistant to the chief of staff to the First Lady, Sept. 1994-June 1997. Master’s in international public policy from John Hopkins University SAIS, 2006; B.A. in political science from Boston College, 1993. Wife of former Deputy Secretary of State Tony Blinken. twitter
Julie Siegel
Senior counsel for economic policy (May 2019-June 2020) and banking counsel (from Aug. 2017) to Sen. Elizabeth Warren. Law clerk at the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland, Aug. 2016-Aug. 2017. Deputy chief of staff and counsel to the general counsel (2016) and senior advisor in the Office of the Director at the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau. Special assistant to the Office of the White House Counsel (Jan.-July 2012) and special assistant to the chief of staff (May 2011-Jan. 2012) at the White House. Special assistant in the Office of Communications and Strategic Planning at OMB, Sept. 2010-May 2011. Special assistant to the chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, May 2009-Sept. 2010. J.D. from Harvard Law School; B.A. in diplomatic history from University of Pennsylvania, 2009.
Cynthia Hogan
A co-chair of Biden’s Vice Presidential Selection Committee. Vice president for public policy and government affairs for the Americas at Apple from May 2016. Executive vice president for policy at the National Football League, Sept. 2014-Apr. 2016. Long-time aide and advisor to Biden. From 2009 to 2013, Cynthia served as Deputy Assistant to the President and Counsel to the Vice President, 2009-13. Staff director and chief counsel of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, 1991-96. Practiced law at the Washington, D.C. firm Williams & Connolly. J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law, 1984; undergraduate degree from Oberlin College, 1979.
Cecilia Muñoz
Vice president for public interest technology and local initiatives at New America from 2017. Served eight years in the Obama administration; Director of the Domestic Policy Council (Jan. 2012-Jan. 2017) and earlier Director of Intergovernmental Affairs at the White House. Senior vice president at the National Council of La Raza (NCLR now UNIDOS US). MacArthur Fellow in 2000. Master’s degree in Latin American studies from UC Berkeley; undergraduate degrees in English and Latin American studies from University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, 1984. Born in Detroit and grew up in Michigan. Daughter of Bolivian immigrants. Author of More than Ready: Be Strong and Be you….and other lessons for women of color on the rise (Apr. 2020).
Tanya Bradsher
Chief of staff to U.S. Rep. Don Beyer (VA-8), May 2019-2020. Chief of communications at the American Psychiatric Association, Sept. 2016-May 2019. Chief of plans for public affairs at the Defense Health Agency, Aug. 2015-Sept. 2016. Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Apr. 2014-Aug. 2015. Assistant director in the Office of Public Engagement (July 2013-Apr. 2014) and assistant press secretary for national security and defense on the National Security Council (June 2011-June 2013) at the White House. Press officer in the Department of Defense, Sept. 2009-June 2011. Public affairs officer 2BCT, 4ID (June 2007-Sept. 2009), deputy public affairs officer in Seoul, Korea (Mar. 2005-June 2007) and postal co. CDR in Seoul, Korea (June 2003-Feb. 2005) in the U.S. Army. Public affairs officer in the Office of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, 2001-03. M.P.S. in public relations from The George Washington University, 2019; B.A. from UNC at Chapel Hill, 1991.
Suzy George
COO at The ONE Campaign from Mar. 2018. Deputy Assistant to the President, Chief of Staff and Executive Secretary on the National Security Council at The White House, Aug. 2014-Jan. 2017. Principal at Albright Stonebridge Group, Jan. 2001-Aug. 2014. Deputy chief of staff for Sec. Madeleine Albright (Jan. 1997-Jan. 2001) and special assistant and assistant counsel (USUN) (Jan. 1995-Jan. 1997) at the U.S. State Department. Consultant to the National Democratic Institute, 1990-93. J.D. from The George Washington University Law School, 1994; B.A. in politics from Mount Holyoke College, 1990.
Don Graves
Head of corporate responsibility and community relations (June 2018-Sept. 2020) and SVP and senior director of corporate community initiatives and relations (Apr. 2017-Apr. 2018) at KeyBank in Cleveland, OH. Deputy Assistant to the President and Counselor to the Vice President (June 2014-Jan. 2017) and executive director of the President’s Council on Jobs and Competitiveness (Feb. 2011-Jan. 2017) at The White House. U.S. representative to the G8 Global Task Force on Social Impact Investment, Aug. 2013-June 2015. Deputy Assistant Secretary at the U.S. Department of the Treasury, Feb. 2010-Apr. 2014. Managing partner at Graves & Horton, LLC, Sept. 2005-Aug. 2009. Director of public policy at Business Roundtable, May 1999-Aug. 2005. Policy advisor to the Department of the Treasury, 1997-99. Vice president and director of the Washington office of the Organization for a New Equality, May 1995-Apr. 1997. J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center, 1995; B.A. in political science and history from Georgetown University Law Center, 1992.
Jessica Hertz
Director and associate general counsel, regulatory (Sept. 2019-June 2020) and associate general counsel regulatory (Apr. 2018-Sept. 2019) at Facebook. Partner at Jenner & Block, July 2014-Apr. 2018. Principal deputy counsel in the Office of the Vice President, Dec. 2012-July 2014. Special Assistant U.S. Attorney, July-Dec. 2012. Counsel to the Deputy Attorney General, Jan. 2011-Dec. 2012. Counselor to the Administrator of OIRA at the Office of Management and Budget, Feb. 2009-Jan. 2011. Law clerk for the US District Court SDNY, Aug. 2008-Feb. 2009; law clerk for the U.S. Court of Appeals, Aug. 2007-Aug. 2008. J.D. from University of Chicago Law School, 2007; A.B. in art history and French literature from Harvard University, 2003.
Tara McGuinness
Senior fellow at New America and founder of their New Practice Lab, from 2017. Senior advisor, executive director of the Community Solutions Task Force at the Office of Management and Budget, Mar. 2015-Jan. 2017. Senior communications advisor at the White House, Mar. 2013-Mar. 2015. Executive director of the CAP Action Fund (Jan. 2012-Mar. 2013) and director of progressive media (Nov. 2008-Nov. 2012) at the Center for American Progress. Communications and policy advisor to various campaigns, 2006-08. Communications director to U.S. Rep. Ed Markey, Feb. 2005-Apr. 2006. Deputy press secretary and started on the campaign in Iowa on John Kerry for President, 2004. Program advisor (Nov. 2001-Dec. 2003) and program assistant (Aug. 2000-Nov. 2001) at National Democratic Institute. Bachelor’s degree in urban studies/affairs from University of Pennsylvania, 2000. twitter
Darla Pomeroy
Member and manager at Pomeroy Investments from 2008. Co-owner and SVP of corporate development at Edge Wireless, 2000-08. Vice president for business development of Nextlink Communications, 1997-2000. Manager for international business development at McCaw Cellular, 1996-97. Associate at Fulbright & Jaworski International LLP, 1992-94. Staff assistant to the chief counsel of U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, 1987-88 (Biden was chairman). M.B.A. from the The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania; J.D. from Duke University; B.A. from the University of Washington.
Carlos Monje
Director of public policy and philanthropy, U.S. and Canada for Twitter, Mar. 2017-Sept. 2020. Senior fellow for policy innovation at Georgetown University’s Beeck Center, Feb.-May 2017. Director of agency review on the Clinton-Kaine Transition team, Sept.-Nov. 2016. Assistant Secretary for Transportation Policy (Mar. 2015-Sept. 2016) and counselor to the Secretary (Feb. 2014-Mar. 2015) at the U.S. Department of Transportation. Special Assistant to the President and chief of staff (Jan. 2011-Jan. 2014) and senior policy advisor (Feb. 2009-Jan. 2011) to the Domestic Policy Council at the White House. National security working group on the 2008 transition, Nov. 2008-Jan. 2009. Deputy policy director on Obama for America, Mar. 2007-Nov. 2008. Special assistant for policy and communications to U.S. Sen. Barack Obama, Jan. 2006-Feb. 2007. Legislative assistant to U.S. Sen. Ken Salazar, Jan.-Dec. 2005. Press secretary on Erskine Bowles for U.S. Senate, Mar.-Nov. 2004. Deputy press secretary on John Edwards for President, Aug. 2003-Mar. 2004. Deputy press secretary too U.S. Sen. John Edwards, Oct. 2001-Aug. 2003. Assistant account executive at FleishmanHillard, Nov. 2000-July 2001. B.A. in history and literature from Harvard University.
Cameron French
Vice president of public affairs at SKDKnickerbocker from June 2018. Director at Burson-Marsteller, 2016-18. Deputy Assistant Secretary at HUD, Apr. 2014-June 2016. Director of press operations at the U.S. Department of Education, 2013-14. North Carolina press secretary on Obama for America, Sept. 2011-Nov. 2012. Communications specialist at the Center for Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships at HHS from Jan. 2011. Communications director to U.S. Rep. John Hall, June 201–Jan. 2011. Deputy communications director to U.S. Rep. Brad Sherman, May 2009-May 2010. A regional press secretary at the DNC, Oct.-Nov. 2008. Deputy press secretary for the Democratic National Convention Committee, May-Aug. 2008. Press assistant at Podesta Group, 2006-08. Bachelor’s degree in political science from UNC at Charlotte, 2006.