Bernard Whitman is a Democratic Party political pollster and strategist in the United States. He makes regular appearances on Fox News, [1] and has appeared as a commentator and strategist on CNN, MSNBC, CNBC, [2] Fox Business, ABC and Al Jazeera America.
He is the author of 52 Reasons To Vote For Obama and has been a pollster to political candidates such as Bill Clinton [3] and Michael Bloomberg, [4] as well as international clients. [5] [6] Bernard has been involved in the past eight U.S. presidential campaigns and has served as strategic advisor to numerous heads of state, Fortune 500 CEOs, and some of the world's leading issue advocacy organizations and nonprofit institutions.
Bernard's commentary and opinions on current political topics have been covered by national media outlets, and he regularly appears on Fox News to debate conservative commentators. [7] He is a strong supporter of marriage equality and has written opinion columns [8] and appeared on major news networks to advocate his position. [9]
Whitman is the President and founder of Whitman Insight Strategies, a strategic consulting firm that conducts polls and market research to advise corporations, political leaders, and issue-advocacy organizations. [10] He is a three-time recipient of the David Ogilvy Excellence in Research Award, [11] and pioneered the development of The Political Model to identify the “swing” consumer, and the messages and media channels that can unlock additional votes for a brand or cause.
He graduated from Brown University in 1988, [12] and served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Senegal, West Africa. [10]
Richard Samuel Morris is an American political author and commentator who previously worked as a pollster, political campaign consultant, and general political consultant.
Scientific, nationwide public opinion polls conducted relating to the 2008 United States presidential election include:
David M. Axelrod is an American political consultant, analyst, and former White House official. He is best known for being the chief strategist for Barack Obama's presidential campaigns. After Obama's election, Axelrod was appointed as Senior Advisor to the President. He left the position in early 2011 and became the Senior Strategist for Obama's successful re-election campaign in 2012. Axelrod wrote for the Chicago Tribune, and joined CNN as Senior Political Commentator in 2015. Until recently, Axelrod served as the director of the non-partisan University of Chicago Institute of Politics. His memoir is titled Believer: My Forty Years in Politics.
Patrick Hayward Caddell was an American public opinion pollster and a political film consultant who served in the Carter administration. He worked for Democratic presidential candidates George McGovern in 1972, Jimmy Carter in 1976 and 1980, Gary Hart in 1984 (primary), Walter Mondale in 1984, Joe Biden in 1988, and Jerry Brown in 1992. He also worked for Mario Cuomo, Bob Graham, Michael Dukakis, Paul Simon, Ted Kennedy, Harold Washington, Andrew Romanoff and Donald Trump.
The Harris Poll is an American market research and analytics company that has been tracking the sentiment, behaviors and motivations of American adults since 1963. In addition to the traditional consulting offered, Harris has developed software data platforms that allow brands to track health and campaign success. The firm works with clients in three primary areas: brand strategy and tracking, corporate reputation, and research for public release.
Aaron Klein is an American-Israeli conservative political commentator, journalist, strategist, bestselling author, and senior advisor to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He served as campaign manager for several of Netanyahu's election campaigns and chief strategist for Netanyahu's 2020 election campaign that resulted in a rotating unity government with Netanyahu at the helm and his 2022 campaign in which Netanyahu won a full-term. Klein was Netanyahu's full-time strategic advisor in government from 2020 to 2021, during the period Netanyahu was prime minister of Israel's 36th government and he serves as a strategic advisor to Netanyahu during Israel's 37th government.
Richard Socarides is founder and CEO of Kozani Capital LLC, a venture capital and corporate advisory firm. Previously, he was head of global corporate communications and government affairs for Gerson Lehrman Group (GLG). Socarides has also led communications at New Line Cinema and has held other senior media jobs at Time Warner, AOL and in government and politics. He is an American Democratic political strategist, writer for The New Yorker, TV commentator and a New York attorney. He was a White House adviser under United States President Bill Clinton from 1993 to 1999 in a variety of senior positions, including as Special Assistant to the President and Senior Adviser for Public Liaison. He worked on legal, policy and political issues and served as principal adviser to Clinton on gay and lesbian civil rights issues. Under Clinton, he was chief operating officer of the 50th Anniversary Summit of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). Socarides also worked as special assistant to Senator Tom Harkin (D-Iowa).
The Bradley effect is a theory concerning observed discrepancies between voter opinion polls and election outcomes in some United States government elections where a white candidate and a non-white candidate run against each other. The theory proposes that some white voters who intend to vote for the white candidate would nonetheless tell pollsters that they are undecided or likely to vote for the non-white candidate. It was named after Los Angeles mayor Tom Bradley, an African-American who lost the 1982 California gubernatorial election to California attorney general George Deukmejian, a white person, despite Bradley being ahead in voter polls going into the elections.
Mark J. Penn is an American businessman, pollster, political strategist, and author.
Douglas E. Schoen is an American lawyer, political analyst, author, lobbyist, and conservative commentator. In 1977, he co-founded the political consulting firm Penn, Schoen & Berland, and was hired by President Bill Clinton and Ukrainian steel oligarch Victor Pinchuk. From 2009-2021 he worked for Fox News, and since 2021 for Newsmax TV.
Joel Benenson is an American pollster and consultant known for his role as a strategist for Barack Obama's 2008 and 2012 presidential campaigns. He was the chief strategist for Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign.
Patrick Ruffini is a Republican Party pollster and political strategist in the United States. He founded Engage, LLC, a Washington, D.C.-based political media firm, and now runs the political research and intelligence firm, Echelon Insights.
Neil Newhouse is an American pollster. He is the co-founder of Public Opinion Strategies, a political survey and polling firm, and was the lead pollster for the unsuccessful presidential campaigns of both John McCain and Mitt Romney against Barack Obama.
PSB Insights is a consultancy firm founded in 1997 by Mark Penn and Douglas Schoen.
Christopher Campbell is a senior executive-level business strategist, former American political aide, and senior government official who previously served as Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Financial Institutions. He was unanimously confirmed as Assistant Secretary by the United States Senate in 2017. Prior to assuming his Department of Treasury role, Campbell was the majority staff director for the United States Senate Committee on Finance and a senior staff member on the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary.
Purple Strategies is an American communications firm headquartered in Alexandria, Virginia and founded in 2008. The name Purple Strategies reflects the company's bipartisan blend of strategists from both "blue" and "red" political backgrounds. Purple Strategies also operates a subsidiary, a reputation management firm Citizen2.
Kristen Lynne Soltis Anderson is a Republican pollster, television personality, and writer whose work has appeared in The Daily Beast, Politico, and HuffPost.
David Morey is an American consultant, strategist, author, speaker, professor, and magician.
David L. Mercer was an American political strategist, fundraiser and commentator who appeared regularly on Fox News, France24, SkyNews and other national and international media outlets. He was a longtime member of the Democratic Party.
Bernard Whitman and his wife, Deborah, proudly announce the birth of their first child, Zachary David, on Aug. 24. Bernard works in New York City but plans to attend Harvard's Kennedy School of Government in the fall.