Lawrence Henry Summers is an American economist who served as the 71st United States Secretary of the Treasury from 1999 to 2001 and as director of the National Economic Council from 2009 to 2010. He also served as president of Harvard University from 2001 to 2006, where he is the Charles W. Eliot university professor and director of the Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business and Government at Harvard Kennedy School.
The Democratic Leadership Council (DLC) was founded in 1985 and closed in 2011. Founded and directed by Al From, prominent members include Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton, Delaware Senator Joe Biden, and Tennessee Senator Al Gore. The DLC argued that the United States Democratic Party should shift away from the leftward turn it took in the late 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. One of its main purposes was to win back white middle class voters with ideas that addressed their concerns. The DLC hailed the election and reelection of Bill Clinton as proof of the viability of Third Way politicians and as a DLC success story. It was a non-profit 501(c)(4) corporation.
"Vast right-wing conspiracy" is a phrase popularized by a 1995 memo by political opposition researcher Chris Lehane and then referenced in 1998 by the then First Lady of the United States Hillary Rodham Clinton, in defense of her husband, President Bill Clinton, characterizing the continued allegations of scandal against her and her husband, including the Lewinsky scandal, as part of a conspiracy by Clinton's political enemies. The term has been used since, including in a question posed to Bill Clinton in 2009 to describe verbal attacks on Barack Obama during his early presidency. Hillary Clinton mentioned it again during her 2016 presidential campaign.
New Democrats, also known as centrist Democrats, Clinton Democrats, or moderate Democrats, are a centrist ideological faction within the Democratic Party in the United States. As the Third Way faction of the party, they are seen as culturally liberal on social issues while being moderate or fiscally conservative on economic issues. New Democrats dominated the party from the late 1980s through the mid-2010s, and continue to be a large coalition in the modern Democratic Party. However, with the rise of progressivism with presidential candidate Bernie Sanders in 2016 and 2020, higher support for protectionism in the United States, and a general leftward shift of the Democratic Party on social issues since the 2010s, this faction of the party has lost popularity to the liberal wing of the party.
David Plouffe is an American political and business strategist best known as the campaign manager for Barack Obama's successful 2008 presidential campaign. A long-time Democratic Party campaign consultant, he was a partner at the party-aligned campaign consulting firm AKPD Message and Media, which he joined in 2000.
Campaign for America's Future (CAF) is an American nonprofit progressive political advocacy organization. Founded in 1996, the organization bills itself as "the strategy center for the progressive movement."
Dennis Cutler Blair is the former United States Director of National Intelligence and is a retired United States Navy admiral who was the commander of U.S. forces in the Pacific region. Blair was a career officer in the U.S. Navy and served in the White House during the presidencies of both President Jimmy Carter and President Ronald Reagan. Blair retired from the Navy in 2002 as an Admiral. In 2009, Blair was selected as President Barack Obama’s first Director of National Intelligence, but after a series of bureaucratic battles, he resigned on May 20, 2010.
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.
The 2008 United States presidential election in Massachusetts took place, as in all 50 states and D.C., as part of the 2008 United States presidential election of November 4, 2008. Voters chose 12 representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who, in turn, voted for the office of president and vice president.
This article compares the presidential candidates in the United States' 2008 presidential election. It does not cover previous elections. Because of ballot access restrictions in the United States, not all candidates appeared on the ballots in all states.
Michael Braverman Goodman Froman is an American lawyer who served as the U.S. Trade Representative from 2013 to 2017. He was Assistant to the President of the United States and Deputy National Security Advisor for International Economic Affairs, a position held jointly at the National Security Council and the National Economic Council. In that position he served as the United States sherpa to the G7, G8, and G20 summits of economic powers. On May 2, 2013, President Barack Obama nominated him to succeed Ambassador Ron Kirk as the U.S. Trade Representative. He was confirmed on June 19, 2013.
Brian Christopher Deese is an American economic and political advisor who was the 13th Director of the National Economic Council, serving under President Joe Biden. In February 2023, it was reported that Deese would depart from the Biden administration.
Barack Obama assumed office as President of the United States on January 20, 2009, and his term ended on January 20, 2017. The president has the authority to nominate members of his Cabinet to the United States Senate for confirmation under the Appointments Clause of the United States Constitution.
Game Change: Obama and the Clintons, McCain and Palin, and the Race of a Lifetime is a book by political journalists John Heilemann and Mark Halperin about the 2008 United States presidential election. Released on January 11, 2010, it was also published in the United Kingdom under the title Race of a Lifetime: How Obama Won the White House. The book is based on interviews with more than 300 people involved in the campaign. It discusses factors including Democratic Party presidential candidate John Edwards' extramarital affair, the relationship between Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama and his vice presidential running mate Joe Biden, the failure of Republican Party candidate Rudy Giuliani's presidential campaign and Sarah Palin's vice presidential candidacy.
James Michael Cole is an American attorney who served as United States Deputy Attorney General from December 29, 2010 to January 8, 2015. He was first installed as Deputy Attorney General following a recess appointment by President Barack Obama on December 29, 2010. He then was confirmed by the United States Senate in a 55–42 vote on June 28, 2011.
Obamadon is an extinct genus of polyglyphanodontian lizards from the Late Cretaceous of North America. Fossils have been found in the Hell Creek Formation of Montana and the Lance Formation of Wyoming. Researchers describe it as being distinguished by its "tall, slender teeth with large central cusps separated from small accessory cusps by lingual grooves." The type species was named Obamadon gracilis after United States president Barack Obama, "in reference to the tall, straight teeth, and the manner in which Mr. Obama has acted as a role model of good oral hygiene for the world." According to Nicholas R. Longrich of Yale University, the species "was probably a foot long, [and] with these tall, slender teeth it used to eat insects and plant matter."
Buffy Jo Christina Wicks is an American politician who serves in the California State Assembly. A Democrat, she represents the 14th Assembly District, which includes the cities of Berkeley, Piedmont, Richmond, San Pablo, and El Cerrito in the East Bay. Prior to being elected to the State Assembly, she was an American political strategist who is credited as one of the architects of President Barack Obama's grassroots organizing model. She also served on the senior staff of Obama's 2008 and 2012 presidential campaigns, and as Deputy Director at the White House Office of Public Engagement.
Ann M. O'Leary is an American political advisor, attorney, and nonprofit leader, who served as Chief of Staff to California Governor Gavin Newsom and as co-chair of the Governor's Task Force on Business and Jobs Recovery. She is now a partner at the international law firm Jenner & Block.
Brian Edward Fallon Jr. is an American political activist. He was the national press secretary for Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign, a role he began in March 2015.
Carlos Alberto Monje Jr. is an American government official and senior advisor to Secretary Pete Buttigieg. He has served as the Under Secretary of Transportation for Policy within the Biden administration since July 2021.
