Barack Obama/campaign team



The following relates to Sen. Barack Obama and the members of his political campaign team and advisers.

African Americans for Obama in Nevada
On October 24, 2007, Obama announced the launch of African Americans for Obama in Nevada, featuring Floyd Mayweather, the International Welterweight Boxing Champion, in a free event in Las Vegas.

Controversy: Floyd Mayweather, Jr.
However, John Aravosis of AMERICAblog wrote the following on October 24, 2007, about Floyd Mayweather, Jr. :


 * "In 2004, Mayweather was convicted on two counts of battery for punching two women at a Las Vegas nightclub the previous year. He was given suspended prison sentences, $1,000 in fines and ordered to complete impulse control counseling.


 * "Mayweather in 2002 pleaded guilty to two counts of domestic violence in one case and battery in another. In 2005, a jury acquitted him of a third domestic violence charge, a felony, after his accuser changed her story. He reportedly was convicted of battery in his hometown of Grand Rapids, Mich., and he has also been the subject of civil lawsuits accusing him of battery."

Aravosis added that


 * "An Obama spokesman called the guy's wife-beating 'mistakes.' (The campaign is now trying to downplay this guy's role, he's 'just a supporter' - well, he was the title and subject of a press release they sent our earlier this week, so he's clearly not just some supporter like your or me.) Mistakes? Yeah, I'd say. And he keeps making em. But Obama's spokesman says the guy has paid for his mistakes, so it's okay for them to use his as one of their mascots. But just to be sure, did Obama's spokesman mean the guy had paid for his 2002 two counts of domestic violence and battery, did she mean his two counts of battery in 2004 when he punched two women, did she mean the reports of his battery conviction back home in Michigan, or the various civil lawsuits? It's so hard to keep track with these Obama celebrities - if they're not beating the crap out of women, they're busy trying to eradicate the world of gay people."

Related external articles


 * Ron Lewis, "Price of love is high when it comes to Mayweather family values. They are one of the sporting world’s most celebrated clans, but also one of the most scary, with a history of crime and quarrels," Times Online (UK), May 5, 2007.
 * "Senator Barack Obama asks to meet with Floyd Mayweather Jr; Mayweather Speaks," Doghouse Boxing, October 18, 2007.

Campaign team members and consultants

 * Mark C. Alexander, Policy Director (Issues Team)
 * David Axelrod, partner in AKP&D Message & Media, strategist
 * Cornell Belcher, pollster (also pollster for Democratic National Committee)
 * Bill Burton, Campaign Spokesman
 * John Del Cecato, senior adviser and "rapid responder"; partner at AKP&D Message & Media
 * Robert Gibbs, Communications Director
 * Scott Goodstein, Online Organizing
 * Harstad Strategic Research, public polling
 * Steve Hildebrand of Hildebrand Tewes Consulting, Inc. helped Obama in Iowa in 2006
 * Mark Lippert, former principal foreign policy advisor, called up in July 2007 for Naval Reserve duty
 * Dan Pfeiffer, senior aide
 * David Plouffe, partner in AKP&D Message & Media, Campaign Manager
 * Penny Pritzker, Finance Chair
 * Dan Shapiro, Advisor/Strategist on Middle East "issues" and Jewish "outreach"
 * Paul Tewes of Hildebrand Tewes Consulting, Inc. (web), Iowa Campaign Manager and adviser


 * Worth noting is that Lee Rosenberg, American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC)'s treasurer, is also "a backer, and a member of Obama's finance committee".

Economic advisers

 * Austan Goolsbee, University of Chicago Business School (conservative faculty)

Foreign policy advisers
"Obama's key advisers who speak for him on foreign policy include Gregory Craig, Anthony Lake, and Samantha Power. Craig is a leading Washington lawyer who was a White House special counsel under Bill Clinton and defended the president in his impeachment trial. Lake was also a Bill Clinton adviser who was involved in the Bosnian conflict. Power is an Irish-born Harvard professor from the Kennedy School who is regarded as an expert on Third World issues. None of the three is considered to be particularly partisan on any foreign policy issues but genocide, which Power has written a book about, but Obama is also accelerating his efforts to woo Jewish donors and to improve his standing with AIPAC, which has been suspicious of him because of youthful indiscretions that included expressions of sympathy for the plight of the Palestinians. He recently appointed Eric Lynn as "liaison to Jewish Community and advisor on Middle East issues".

Accompanying Obama when he "outlin[es] his views on the Iraq war in a major speech [September 12, 2007,] in Iowa" will be Zbigniew Brzezinski, former Democratic President Jimmy Carter's "national security advisor, who says that Obama offers 'a new definition of America's role in the world.'"

In October 2007, the Washington Post published a list of Obama's foreign policy advisers.

TheRealNews.com has a report on Obama's foreign policy advisors.


 * Former Amb. Jeffrey Bader, "President Clinton’s National Security Council Asia specialist and now head of Brookings’s China center, national security adviser"
 * Mark Brzezinski, "President Clinton’s National Security Council Southeast Europe specialist and now a partner at law firm McGuireWoods, national security adviser"
 * Zbigniew Brzezinski, "President Carter’s national security adviser and now a Center for Strategic and International Studies counselor and trustee and frequent guest on PBS’s NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, foreign policy adviser"
 * Richard A. Clarke, "President Clinton and President George W. Bush’s counterterrorism czar and now head of Good Harbor Consulting and an ABC News contributor, sometimes Obama adviser"
 * Gregory B. Craig, "State Department director of policy planning under President Clinton and now a partner at law firm Williams & Connolly, foreign policy adviser"
 * Roger W. Cressey, "former National Security Council counterterrorism staffer and now Good Harbor Consulting president and NBC News consultant, has advised Obama but says not exclusive"
 * Ivo H. Daalder, "National Security Council director for European affairs during President Clinton’s administration and now a Brookings senior fellow, foreign policy adviser"
 * Richard Danzig, "President Clinton’s Navy secretary and now a Center for Strategic and International Analysis fellow, national security adviser"
 * Philip H. Gordon, "President Clinton’s National Security Council staffer for Europe and now a Brookings senior fellow, national security adviser"
 * Maj. Gen. J. (Jonathan) Scott Gration, "a 32-year Air Force veteran and now CEO of Africa anti-poverty effort Millennium Villages, national security adviser and surrogate"
 * Lawrence J. Korb, "assistant secretary of defense from 1981-1985 and now a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, informal foreign policy adviser"
 * W. Anthony Lake, "President Clinton’s national security adviser and now a professor at Georgetown’s school of foreign service, foreign policy adviser"
 * James M. Ludes, "former defense and foreign policy adviser to Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., and now executive director of the American Security Project, national security adviser"
 * Robert Malley, "President Clinton’s Middle East envoy and now International Crisis Group’s Middle East and North Africa program director, national security adviser"
 * Gen. Merrill A. ("Tony") McPeak, "former Air Force chief of staff and now a business consultant, national security adviser"
 * Denis McDonough, "Center for American Progress senior fellow and former policy adviser to then-Senate Democratic Leader Tom Daschle, foreign policy coordinator"
 * Samantha Power, "Harvard-based human rights scholar and Pulitzer Prize winning writer, foreign policy adviser"
 * Susan E. Rice, "President Clinton’s Africa specialist at the State Department and National Security Council and now a Brookings senior fellow, foreign policy adviser"
 * Bruce O. Riedel, "former CIA officer and National Security Council staffer for Near East and Asian affairs and now a Brookings senior fellow, national security adviser"
 * Dennis B. Ross, "President Clinton’s Middle East negotiator and now a Washington Institute for Near East Policy fellow, Middle East adviser"
 * Sarah Sewall, "deputy assistant secretary of defense for peacekeeping and humanitarian assistance during President Clinton’s administration and now director of Harvard’s Carr Center for Human Rights Policy, national security adviser"
 * Daniel B. Shapiro, "National Security Council director for legislative affairs during President Clinton’s administration and now a lobbyist with Timmons & Company, Middle East adviser"
 * Mona Sutphen, "former aide to President Clinton’s National Security adviser Samuel R. Berger and to United Nations ambassador Bill Richardson and now managing director of business consultancy Stonebridge, national security adviser"

Vice Presidential Search Team

 * Caroline Kennedy, daughter of President John F. Kennedy
 * James A. Johnson, former Chief Executive Officer of the Federal National Mortgage Association
 * Eric Holder, former deputy Attorney General in the Clinton administration

External articles

 * Chris Cillizza, "Barack Obama's Impressive Team," The Fix Blog/Washington Post, January 17, 2007.
 * Key People-Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) (updated November 26, 2007), George Washington University.
 * "Obama Loads Up With 150+ Foreign Policy Advisers, Many Former Clinton Officials," Wall Street Journal (The Huffington Post), September 5, 2007.
 * "Obama, Brzezinski, and the Neolib-Neocon Family Feud," Another Day in the Empire Blog, September 13, 2007.
 * Michael R. Gordon and Jeff Zeleny, "If elected ... Obama Envisions New Iran Approach," New York Times, November 2, 2007.
 * TheRealNews.Com Obama vs Clinton foreign policy advisers