Speaker Bios for Campaign Strategy Discussion 9/25/2012

Chris Lehane, Democratic Political Consultant, former Press Secretary for Vice President and for his 2000 Presidential campaign Michael McCurry, Press Secretary to President (1995-1998). Mark McKinnon, political consultant for President George W. Bush, Senator John McCain, and co-founder of No Labels Gary Segura, Professor of Political Science, Stanford University and Principal Investigator of the 2012 American National Election Study

Short biographies of each guest below.

Gary Segura Gary M. Segura is a Professor of American Politics and Chair of Chicano/a-Latino/a Studies at Stanford University. He is also a principal in the polling firm Latino Decisions™. His work focuses on issues of political representation, and the politics to America’s growing Latino minority. Among his most recent publications are "The Future is Ours:" Minority Politics, Political Behavior, and the Multiracial Era of American Politics, published in 2011 by Congressional Quarterly Press, and Latinos in the New Millennium: An Almanac of Opinion, Behavior, and Policy Preferences published by Cambridge University Press in 2012. Segura is one of three Principal Investigators of the 2012 American National Election Studies, and in 2009-10 was the President of the Midwest Political Science Association. In 2010, he was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Gary Segura’s homepage: http://politicalscience.stanford.edu/faculty/gary-segura

Chris Lehane Christopher Lehane, a partner in the -based company Fabiani & Lehane, has since 2001 provided strategic advice and tactical execution to corporate, entertainment, political and professional sports clients facing complex financial, communications, government affairs and legal challenges. Lehane has worked on successful presidential, gubernatorial, congressional and initiative/referendum campaigns. From 1997-2000, Lehane served as the Press Secretary for former Vice President Al Gore both at the White House and on the 2000 presidential campaign. From 1995 through 1997, Lehane was Special Assistant Counsel to President Bill Clinton and provided legal, communications and political counsel to the President and First Lady of the . Lehane moved to the White House after previously working on then-Governor Bill Clinton's 1992 presidential campaign. Lehane graduated from in 1994 and received his undergraduate degree from Amherst College in 1990. Lehane lives in San Francisco with his wife Andrea and son, Dominic.

Michael McCurry Michael D. McCurry is a partner at PSW, where he provides strategic communications counsel to the firm’s corporate and non-profit clients. McCurry is a veteran communications strategist and spokesperson with nearly three decades of experience in Washington D.C. McCurry served in the White House as press secretary to President Bill Clinton (1995-1998). He also served as spokesman for the Department of State (1993-1995) and director of communications for the Democratic National Committee (1988-1990). McCurry has also held leadership roles in several national campaigns -- senior advisor for Senator John Kerry (2004), national press secretary for the vice presidential campaign of Senator Lloyd M. Bentsen (1988), and spokesman and political strategist in the presidential campaigns of Senator John Glenn (1984), Governor Bruce Babbitt (1988) and Senator Bob Kerrey (1992). McCurry began his career on the staff of the United States Senate, working as press secretary to the Senate Committee on Labor and Human Resources and to the committee's chairman, Senator Harrison A. Williams, Jr. (1976-1981). He also served as press secretary to Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan (1981-1983). In the private sector, he served as public affairs director for the ERISA Industry Committee (1984-85) and as senior vice president of the consulting firm then known as Robinson, Lake, Lerer, & Montgomery (1989-92). McCurry received his Bachelor of Arts from Princeton University in 1976 and a Master of Arts in Liberal Studies from Georgetown University in 1985.

Mark McKinnon For three decades, Mark McKinnon has been helping to solve complex strategic challenges for causes, companies and candidates, including George W. Bush, John McCain, , Charlie Wilson, and . He is a cofounder of No Labels, a non-profit organization dedicated to bipartisanship, civil discourse and problem solving in politics.

An award-winning media producer and communications strategist, McKinnon has helped engineer five winning presidential primary and general elections, and has been awarded more than 30 Pollie and Telly awards, honoring the nation’s best political and public affairs advertising.

According to Broadcasting and Cable magazine, McKinnon is one of “a handful of players behind every big decision, consensus or roadblock in Washington...putting a unique, sometimes hidden stamp on the outcome of today’s debates.” Politics Daily writes: “He’s known for his originality in a field typified by copycats, a mellow personality in a world populated with high-strung brutes and ecumenical urges in a profession dominated by its unadulterated partisans.”

“McKinnon is evidence that principled centrism is not an oxymoron,” wrote John Avalon in a Daily Beast column about the 25 Best Centrist Pundits. “McKinnon piloted John McCain’s 2008 primary campaign to victory. But he announced in advance that if won the Democratic nomination, he would ride off into the sunset rather than participate in the negative attacks he knew would be required. This is unheard of in the world of modern politics, where partisanship trumps principle as a matter of course.”

Former President George W. Bush says of McKinnon, “I was really impressed by Mark’s creativity, and I was particularly impressed by his honesty.” Senator John McCain, in his typical straight-talk fashion, remarks, “He’s almost a genius.” And President Barack Obama calls McKinnon “a class act.”

For 20 years, McKinnon worked at Public Strategies Inc. where he was an owner and served as vice chair. For the last two years, he served as global vice chair of Hill & Knowlton Strategies. He remains an advisor to the firm. McKinnon is co-chair of Arts+Labs, a collaboration between technology and creative communities that have embraced today’s rich internet environment to deliver innovative and creative digital products to consumers. President Bush appointed McKinnon to serve as a governor of the Broadcasting Board of Governors. He serves on the board of the Lance Armstrong Foundation, and has taught at the JFK School of Government at and the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of at Austin.

McKinnon is a regular columnist for and (U.K.), and is currently a fellow at the Institute of Politics at Harvard University.

Other Information

McKinnon attended the University of Texas at Austin and served as editor of the award-winning university newspaper, The Daily Texan. He spent several years in Nashville working as a songwriter with Kris Kristofferson (and was wildly unsuccessful). McKinnon also is a two-time Ironman finisher. His quality of life is exceptionally enhanced by the enduring love and patience of his wife, Annie (whom he met before he could drive), and his daughters, Brita and Kendall.