Kenneth Baer

Last updated

Kenneth Baer
Born (1972-10-17) 17 October 1972 (age 51)
Alma mater University of Pennsylvania (BA)
University of Oxford (PhD)
Occupation(s)Speechwriter, author
Political party Democratic

Kenneth S. Baer [1] (born 17 October 1972) [2] is an American political advisor and author who served as Associate Director for Communications and Strategic Planning and Senior Advisor for White House's Office of Management and Budget from 2009 to 2012. [3] [4] [5] He is the founder and co-editor of Democracy: A Journal of Ideas . [6] Baer is a former White House speechwriter, author, and analyst. [7] And he is the CEO and Founder of the strategic communications firm, Crosscut Strategies. [8]

Contents

Early life and education

Baer graduated from the University of Pennsylvania, where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa and was editorial page editor of The Daily Pennsylvanian . Afterward, Baer obtained a doctorate in Politics from the University of Oxford as a Thouron Scholar. [9]

Career

Baer was Deputy Director of Speechwriting for Al Gore 2000 presidential campaign and Senior Speechwriter for Vice President Al Gore. He also wrote on technology and telecommunications issues for Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman William Kennard.

During the 2004 presidential election, he was a senior advisor to the Joe Lieberman 2004 presidential campaign and later advised the John Kerry 2004 presidential campaign on a variety of policy issues. During the election, Baer was an online columnist for The American Prospect . He was also a contributor to the blog TPMCafe.

Following the election of President Barack Obama in 2008, he was named Associate Director for Communications and Strategic Planning for Peter R. Orszag, then director of the Office of Management and Budget. Baer remained in the position when Orszag resigned, and left OMB in July 2012. [10]

In addition to running his own consultancy firm, Crosscut Strategies, he has taught at Georgetown University and at Johns Hopkins University.

Baer is the author of Reinventing Democrats: The Politics of Liberalism from Reagan to Clinton. He has also published commentaries in Slate , the Los Angeles Times , and the Washington Post. He has appeared as a political analyst on CNN, MSNBC, Fox News, ABC News, NPR, BBC, and CBC.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bob Shrum</span> American journalist

Robert M. "Bob" Shrum is the director of the Center for the Political Future and the Carmen H. and Louis Warschaw Chair in Practical Politics at the University of Southern California, where he is a professor of political science in the Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences. He is a former American political consultant, who has worked on numerous Democratic campaigns, including as senior advisor to the Kerry-Edwards campaign in 2004 and to the Gore-Lieberman campaign in 2000. Shrum wrote the famous speech Ted Kennedy gave at the 1980 Democratic National Convention conceding to and supporting President Jimmy Carter. He has been described as "the most sought-after consultant in the Democratic Party." Shrum served as speechwriter to New York Mayor John V. Lindsay from 1970 to 1971, speechwriter to Senator George McGovern's 1972 presidential campaign and speechwriter and press secretary to Senator Edward M. Kennedy from 1980 to 1984 and political consultant until 2009.

Scott Reid is a political analyst and commentator currently working for CTV News, Newstalk 1010AM and writing columns for a variety of news organizations including the Ottawa Citizen, CBC.ca, Macleans and others. He is a former political advisor to a number of Canadian politicians, having served as Advisor and Director of Communications in the Prime Minister's Office of Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin. Along with Macleans columnist Scott Feschuk, he also owns and operates Feschuk.Reid a strategic communications and speechwriting consultancy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Axelrod (political consultant)</span> American political consultant (born 1955)

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peter R. Orszag</span> American economist (born 1968)

Peter Richard Orszag is the Chief Executive Officer of Lazard.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ken Khachigian</span> American speechwriter

Kenneth L. Khachigian is an American political consultant, speechwriter, and attorney. He is best known for being a longtime aide to President Richard Nixon and chief speechwriter to President Ronald Reagan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">White House Office</span> Part of the Executive Office of the President of the U.S.

The White House Office is an entity within the Executive Office of the President of the United States (EOP). The White House Office is headed by the White House Chief of Staff, who is also the head of the Executive Office of the President. The staff work for and report directly to the president, including West Wing staff and the president's senior advisers. Almost all of the White House Office staff are political appointees of the president, do not require Senate confirmation and can be dismissed at the discretion of the president.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Philippe Reines</span> American political consultant (born 1969)

Philippe I. Reines is an American political consultant. He joined the Department of State as a senior advisor to Hillary Clinton when she became United States Secretary of State in January 2009, and was promoted to deputy assistant secretary of state for strategic communications in 2010.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bruce Reed (political operative)</span> American political advisor (born 1960)

Bruce Reed is an American political advisor and non-profit administrator who was the president of the Broad Foundation. Prior to assuming that role in December 2013, he served as Chief of Staff to U.S. Vice President Joe Biden and as CEO of the Democratic Leadership Council (DLC). On December 22, 2020, it was announced that Reed would serve as a White House deputy chief of staff in the Biden administration, along with Jen O'Malley Dillon.

Doug Hattaway is an American communications consultant, political advisor, and businessman, currently serving as the founder and CEO of Hattaway Communications, Inc., a strategic communications firm based in Washington, D.C. Hattaway was a senior adviser to Hillary Clinton during the 2008 Democratic Party presidential primaries, as well as Al Gore’s spokesman during the 2000 United States presidential election. He was reported by The Washington Post to be on a short list of candidates to serve as White House Press Secretary in the Obama Administration.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anita Dunn</span> American political strategist (born 1958)

Anita Dunn is an American political strategist serving as a senior advisor to U.S. President Joe Biden, having originally held the post from January 20, 2021, to August 12, 2021, and returning May 5, 2022.

Jonathan Marc Orszag is an American economist and former government official. He is a Senior Managing Director at Compass Lexecon, LLC, an economic consulting firm. Orszag was a co-founder of Compass Lexecon, which was sold to FTI Consulting, Inc. in 2006. His work has been recognized in The International Who's Who of Competition Economists and Global Competition Review. During the Bill Clinton administration, Orszag served within the National Economic Council (NEC) as an economic policy advisor.

Mike Lux is the co-founder and president of Progressive Strategies, L.L.C., a political consulting firm founded in 1999, focused on strategic political consulting for non-profits, labor unions, PACs and progressive donors.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Daniel Pfeiffer</span> American political advisor and commentator (born 1975)

Howard Daniel Pfeiffer is an American political advisor, author, and podcast host. He was senior advisor to President Barack Obama for strategy and communications from 2013 to 2015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Morehouse</span>

David Morehouse is an American businessman and former president and chief executive officer of Pittsburgh Penguins of the National Hockey League. During his tenure, the Penguins won three Stanley Cups, reached four Stanley Cup finals and was sold out every game for 14 seasons. He previously served in politics as a member of the Clinton administration, and on the presidential campaigns of Al Gore (2000) and John Kerry (2004).

PunditWire is a news commentary site featuring contributors from across the political spectrum who are all current or former political speechwriters. Launched on September 13, 2010, the content on PunditWire varies in scope – from foreign policy to campaigns and elections to civil rights and political rhetoric. The website is sponsored by American University in Washington, D.C., and was conceived by American University Professor Leonard Steinhorn, a former political speechwriter and strategist, and Robert Lehrman, adjunct professor in the School of Communication at American University and former speechwriter for Al Gore.

Mark D. Fabiani is an American political strategist, crisis management expert, former Deputy Mayor of Los Angeles and chief of staff to Mayor Tom Bradley, and former White House lawyer and spokesman. He is recognized for his work as special counsel to President Bill Clinton and legal spokesperson for the Clinton White House from 1994 through 1996, as well as for his work as head of communications for the Gore presidential campaign in 2000. He also served in senior positions at the Department of Housing and Urban Development and at the Department of Justice.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Burns Strider</span>

Burns Strider is an American consultant, lobbyist and former political aide. He is co-founder of the consulting firm The Eleison Group and co-founder and president of the lobbying group American Values Network.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eric Schultz</span>

Eric Schultz is an American political advisor who served as Deputy White House Press Secretary in the Obama Administration from 2014 to 2017. Recognized by Politico as the strategist "White House officials turn to in a crisis to handle communications", Schultz was originally hired at the White House in 2011 to respond to congressional oversight investigations.

Roger Alexander Conant is an American political operative, communications and media strategist and consultant. He served as Communications Director for Marco Rubio's 2016 presidential campaign and is a founding partner of Firehouse Strategies, a communications consulting firm.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vinay Reddy</span> Indian-American speechwriter and political advisor

Vinay Reddy is an American speechwriter and political advisor serving as the White House director of speechwriting. Reddy was chief speechwriter to Joe Biden during his second term as vice president. After the Obama administration, Reddy worked as vice president of strategic communications for the National Basketball Association.

References

  1. "[Reinventing Democrats] | C-SPAN.org".
  2. https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QJZQ-21LH [ bare URL ]
  3. United States Government Manual (December 2012 edition) - Executive Branch: The President, Office of Management and Budget
  4. "Let's Scrap the ATF—and Other Fun Ways to Work Together". Politico . 6 November 2014.
  5. "Kenneth Baer". whitehouse.gov. 11 August 2011. Retrieved 3 February 2023.
  6. Broder, David S. (22 June 2006). "Thinking Outside The Blog". The Washington Post . Retrieved 16 August 2010.
  7. Arena Profile: Kenneth Baer
  8. "Kenneth Baer". Crosscut Strategies. Retrieved 3 February 2023.
  9. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 June 2013. Retrieved 23 May 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  10. "Through the lens of the White House photographers". The Washington Post. 19 July 2012. Retrieved 3 February 2023.