Russell J. Schriefer is an American political strategist and media consultant who has worked on six out of the last seven presidential campaigns. [1]
Schriefer attended Manhattan College. [2] He briefly became a lobbyist, but he soured on the profession after being asked to defend a product that harmed wildlife. [2]
Schriefer got his start working for two Republican House members, and was Mid-Atlantic political director for George H. W. Bush in the 1988 campaign. [2] He then managed Rudolph W. Giuliani's unsuccessful New York mayoral campaign in 1989. During the 1996 presidential primary season, Schriefer did consulting work for Robert J. Dole for president. [3]
Schriefer produced campaign advertisements for George W. Bush in the 2000 and 2004 elections, gaining notoriety for an advertisement that aired in 2004 picturing Senator John Kerry windsurfing. [4] In 2007, Stevens & Schriefer briefly served as one of Senator John McCain's media consultants. [4] [5] [6]
In 2009 & 2013, Schriefer was the media consultant for Governor Chris Christie's campaign for governor in New Jersey. [7]
In 2012, he was a senior advisor and media consultant on Governor Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign. [8]
In 2014, Schriefer helped elect: Governor Larry Hogan, Governor Asa Hutchinson, Governor Mary Fallin, Congresswoman Elise Stefanik, Congressman Michael Grimm, and Attorney General Sam Olens.[ citation needed ]
In 2018, Schriefer was the lead strategist and media consultant that helped re-elect Governor Larry Hogan. [9] Hogan became the first Republican to be re-elected Governor in Maryland since 1954 and only the second Republican in the state's history. [10]
As a founding partner with Stuart Stevens and Ashley O'Connor in Strategic Partners & Media, Schriefer has worked with many Republican governors, senators, and Congressmen, including Governor Robert Ehrlich (MD), Senator Johnny Isakson (GA), Governor Tom Ridge (PA), Governor Bill Weld (MA), Governor Paul Cellucci (MA), Governor Bob Riley (AL), Governor Charlie Crist (FL), Senator Richard Lugar (IN), Senator John Cornyn (TX), Governor Mary Fallin (OK), Senator Dan Coats (IN), Senator Roy Blunt (MO) and Senator Rob Portman (OH).[ citation needed ] He served as program director of the 2004 & 2012 Republican conventions. [11]
Schriefer also does corporate consulting. [12]
Russ is passionate about live theater and actively contributes as the board vice chair at the Tony Award-winning Signature Theatre and is a juror for the prestigious Peabody Awards. [13] [14]
Russ lives in Chevy Chase, Maryland, with his wife, former journalist, author, and CO-CEO of Sellers Easton Media, Nina Easton, [15] and their daughter, Ellie. [16]
The Rockefeller Republicans were members of the United States Republican Party (GOP) in the 1930s–1970s who held moderate-to-liberal views on domestic issues, similar to those of Nelson Rockefeller, Governor of New York (1959–1973) and Vice President of the U.S. (1974–1977). Rockefeller Republicans were most common in the Northeast and the industrial Midwestern states, while they were rare in the South and the West.
The 2008 United States presidential election was the 56th quadrennial presidential election, held on November 4, 2008. The Democratic ticket of Barack Obama, the junior senator from Illinois, and Joe Biden, the senior senator from Delaware, defeated the Republican ticket of John McCain, the senior senator from Arizona, and Sarah Palin, the governor of Alaska. Obama became the first African American to be elected to the presidency, as well as being only the third sitting United States senator elected president, joining Warren G. Harding and John F. Kennedy. Meanwhile, this was only the second successful all-senator ticket since the 1960 election and is the only election where both major party nominees were sitting senators. This was the first election since 1952 in which neither the incumbent president nor vice president was on the ballot, as well as the first election since 1928 in which neither ran for the nomination.
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.
Michael Ellis Murphy is a Republican political consultant, entertainment industry writer, and producer. He advised Republicans including John McCain, Jeb Bush, David Dreier, John Engler, Tommy Thompson, Spencer Abraham, Christie Whitman, Lamar Alexander, Meg Whitman, and Arnold Schwarzenegger. Until January 2006, he was an adviser to Republican Mitt Romney. Murphy resigned his position with Romney when his former client John McCain made it clear he would also pursue the Republicans presidential nomination in 2008; Murphy decided to be neutral in the contest between them. Murphy is a vocal Republican critic of President Donald Trump. He endorsed Democratic candidate Joe Biden in the 2020 U.S. Presidential election.
From January 3 to June 3, 2008, voters of the Republican Party chose their nominee for president in the 2008 United States presidential election. Senator John McCain of Arizona was selected as the nominee through a series of primary elections and caucuses culminating in the 2008 Republican National Convention held from Monday, September 1, through Thursday, September 4, 2008, in Saint Paul, Minnesota. President George W. Bush was ineligible to be elected to a third term due to the term limits established by the 22nd Amendment.
The Mitt Romney presidential campaign of 2008 began on January 3, 2007, two days before Mitt Romney left office as governor of Massachusetts, when he filed to form an exploratory committee with the Federal Election Commission to run for President of the United States as a Republican in the 2008 election. Subsequently, on February 13, 2007, he formally announced his candidacy for the Republican nomination for president in 2008. He did so at the Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village in Dearborn, Michigan, as an emblem of American ingenuity.
The 2008 presidential campaign of Rudy Giuliani began following the formation of the Draft Giuliani movement in October 2005. The next year, Giuliani opened an exploratory committee and formally announced in February 2007 that he was actively seeking the presidential nomination of the Republican Party.
The 2008 presidential campaign of John McCain, the longtime senior U.S. Senator from Arizona, was launched with an informal announcement on February 28, 2007, during a live taping of the Late Show with David Letterman, and formally launched at an event on April 25, 2007. His second candidacy for the Presidency of the United States, he had previously run for his party's nomination in the 2000 primaries and was considered as a potential running mate for his party's nominee, then-Governor George W. Bush of Texas. After winning a majority of delegates in the Republican primaries of 2008, on August 29, leading up to the convention, McCain selected Governor Sarah Palin of Alaska as his running mate for Vice President. Five days later, at the 2008 Republican National Convention, McCain was formally selected as the Republican Party presidential nominee in the 2008 presidential election.
Alejandro Castellanos is a Cuban-American political consultant. He has worked on electoral campaigns for Republican candidates including Bob Dole, George W. Bush, Jeb Bush, and Mitt Romney. In 2008, Castellanos, a partner at National Media Inc., co-founded Purple Strategies, a bipartisan communications firm. Castellanos is also a regular guest commentator on Meet the Press and a contributor for CNN.
The first political debate before the 2008 Republican primaries was held on May 3, 2007, at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in California. Other debates have taken place in New Hampshire, South Carolina, and Florida. They were generally broadcast by television networks.
The 2000 presidential campaign of John McCain, the United States Senator from Arizona, began in September 1999. He announced his run for the Republican Party nomination for the presidency of the United States in the 2000 presidential election.
From January 24 to June 6, 2000, voters of the Republican Party chose its nominee for president in the 2000 United States presidential election. Texas Governor George W. Bush was selected as the nominee through a series of primary elections and caucuses culminating in the 2000 Republican National Convention held from July 31 to August 3, 2000, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
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Lawrence C. "Larry" McCarthy is an American political consultant and media advisor to Republican Party (GOP) campaigns. He is best known as a master of the attack ad, having produced the infamous Willie Horton TV spot during the 1988 presidential election. He serves as President of McCarthy, Marcus, Hennings, Ltd., whose clients include American Crossroads and pro-Romney Super PAC Restore Our Future.
Stuart Stevens is an American author and political consultant. He was the cofounder of Washington, D.C. - based political media consultancy Stevens & Schriefer Group. In 2013, he became a founding partner in Strategic Partners & Media. He served as a top strategist for Mitt Romney's 2012 presidential campaign in addition to several other significant presidential campaigns over the course of his career. He later joined The Lincoln Project, a Republican Never Trump group for the 2020 United States presidential election.
The 2018 Maryland gubernatorial election was held on November 6, 2018. The date included the election of the governor, lieutenant governor, and all members of the Maryland General Assembly. Incumbent governor Larry Hogan and Lieutenant Governor Boyd Rutherford, both Republicans, were re-elected to a second term against Democrat Ben Jealous, the former NAACP CEO, and his running mate Susan Turnbull.
The 2018 United States Senate election in Utah took place on November 6, 2018, to elect a member of the United States Senate to represent the State of Utah, concurrently with other elections to the United States Senate, elections to the United States House of Representatives, and various state and local elections. The primaries took place on June 26.
Since 1980, the Republican Party of the United States has held debates between candidates for the Republican nomination in presidential elections during the primary election season. Unlike debates between party-nominated candidates, which have been organized by the bi-partisan Commission on Presidential Debates since 1988, debates between candidates for party nomination are organized by mass media outlets.