Joe Lieberman-Campaign Organization
 
Joe Lieberman for President, Inc. view earlier listing
Senator Joe Lieberman announced his presidential campaign and filed papers with the FEC establishing his presidential campaign committee on January 13, 2003.  Craig T. Smith is Campaign Director and Senior Advisor.  On March 31, 2003 the campaign moved to its new headquarters office in Arlington, VA, and it is to open a second headquarters office in Hartford, CT. 
 
Joe Lieberman for President, Inc. Leadership
Arlington, VA.
Campaign Director and Senior Advisor Craig T. Smith
Responsible for setting the overall strategy and direction of the campaign.
(Announced Jan. 31, 2003)  Senior Vice President at mCapitol Management, a government and business relations firm; previously President of the public affairs firm Chief Advantages.  Smith is a native Arkansan and spent almost all of the 1990s working for Bill Clinton and Al Gore.  He served as Finance Director of the Clinton for President Exploratory Committee; Field Director of the 1992 Clinton/Gore campaign; Political Director of the DNC; Deputy Director of White House Personnel; Deputy Director of White House Office of Political Affairs; Deputy Campaign Manager and Political Director of the 1996 Clinton/Gore reelection campaign; Co-Executive Director of 53rd Presidential Inaugural Committee; White House Political Director; Campaign Manager for Gore 2000 from January 1999 until it moved to Nashville.
 
 

P O L I T I C A L

Deputy Campaign Director for Political Affairs Joe Eyer
Helping to oversee the campaign's day to day political operations.
(Announced Feb. 10, 2003)  Eyer served as Political Director for ROCPAC, Lieberman's leadership PAC, 2001-02.  In the 2000 general election campaign, Eyer directed the Gore-Lieberman effort in Oregon.  He worked at SpeakOut.com for six months.  From Jan.-Oct. 1999 he worked on fundraising for the Gore campaign.  In 1998, he was the Northeast Political Director for Gore's leadership PAC, Leadership '98.  Prior to that, Eyer served as a special assistant to the Deputy Chief of Staff for then Vice President Al Gore,1995-98.  Eyer has a Master's degree in political science from OU (1995).
Southern Political Desk - Nadia Garnett
Midwestern Political Desk - Scott Tenley
 
 

C O M M U N I C A T I O N S

Communications Director Jonathan Sallet
Overseeing the press, research, policy and speechwriting operations.
(Announced April 3, 2003)  In 2001 Sallet formed a consulting group, Quintessence, LLC, to advise start-up technology companies on marketing and business development.  He headed Lieberman's 2000 vice presidential debate team and and managed Lieberman's announcement and convention speeches.  From 1996 to 2000, he served as Chief Policy Officer of WorldCom.  From 1993 to 1996 Sallet headed the Office of Policy & Strategic Planning at the U.S. Department of Commerce.  He worked on Al Gore's vice presidential campaigns in 1992 and 1996.  Sallet practiced law in Washington, DC from 1980 to 1993.  He clerked for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Lewis F. Powell, Jr. in 1979-80.  Sallet is a graduate of the University of Virginia Law School and has his undergraduate degree from Brown University. 
 
Deputy Communications Director/Press Secretary Jano Cabrera
Day-to-day press operations and national spokesman.
(Announced Jan. 31, 2003) Served as former Vice President Al Gore's spokesman from Jan.-Dec. 2002.  Previously spokesman for the Recording Industry Association of America.  Deputy National Spokesman on the Gore-Lieberman 2000 campaign; worked in the White House communications office.  Started as an aide to Rep. Xavier Becerra (D-CA).
     Deputy Press Secretary Adam Kovacevich
        (May 1, 2003) Moved over from position as press secretary in Lieberman's Senate office.
 
Deputy Communications Director Tovah Ravitz-Meehan
Regional press operations and public events.
(Announced April 3, 2003) Most recently communications director at the DSCC.  In 2000 she was communications director in Washington State for the Gore-Lieberman campaign.  In 1996 she worked as assistant director for state communications on the Clinton-Gore campaign.
 
Deputy Communications Director Dan Gerstein
Long-term communications strategy and planning; emphasis on policy.
(Announced April 3, 2003, started July)  Started working for Lieberman as his Senate campaign press secretary in 1994, then became chief policy advisor for education, communications and cultural issues, with a special focus on media responsibility, and in 1999 became Lieberman's communications director in the Senate.  Gerstein took leave for several months in 2000 to serve as Lieberman's national spokesman for his vice presidential campaign.  Prior to working for Lieberman, Gerstein was communications director for Rep. Gerald Kleczka (D-WI).  From 1989-1992 he was a staff writer for the Hartford Courant, covering local news, politics and sports.  A graduate of Harvard University, Gerstein is a native of West Hartford, Connecticut 
 
 
Issues Director Elliot F. Gerson
Gerson has worked in the corporate world since the mid-1980s.  He became president of FHC Health Systems in June 2000; previously, he was CEO of Lifescape, LLC, a joint venture between FHC Internet Services and Liberty Digital, Inc. He served as president and then CEO of a technology division of TCI Ventures and Liberty Media.  After starting as a vice president at the Travelers Corporation in 1986, he continued to work for Travelers and its successor companies in various senior executive positions for the next decade.  Gerson served as Deputy Attorney General of Connecticut.  He has practiced law in Connecticut and Washington, DC.  Graduate of Harvard College, Oxford University--as a Rhodes Scholar, and Yale Law School.  Law clerk for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart. 
 
 

F I N A N C E

Finance Director Shari Yost
(Announced Feb. 10, 2003) Overseeing the campaign's fundraising operations
Vice President for Government Affairs at Cablevision Systems Corporation.  Previously served as Finance Director for the DSCC under U.S. Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle. Served as Daschle's Finance Director.
 
Deputy Finance Director Jennifer Yocham
(Announced Feb. 10, 2003) Yocham worked at the DSCC starting as Midwest Deputy Finance Director, then Northeast Regional Finance Director and then Senior Advisor to DSCC Chair, Sen. Patty Murray and National Finance Director to Sen. Murray's re-election campaign.  She began her career on Missouri Attorney General Jay Nixon's re-election campaign in 1996 and worked on his US Senate campaign in 1998.
Regional Deputies
Finance Offices: Chicago, Fort Lauderdale, Los Angeles, New York.
Senior Advisor for Finance Fran Katz Watson
(Announced Feb. 10, 2003) Served as the Finance Director for ROCPAC and is President of the Katz Watson Group.  National Finance Director for the DNC from 1997-99 and Senior Advisor to the DNC Chairs through the 2000 Presidential election.  Deputy Political Director of AIPAC from 1992-97.  Prior to that Watson was National Finance Director for the McCarthy for Senate race in California and the Deputy Finance Director at the DSCC.
National Finance Co-Chairs: Mitchell Berger of Fort Lauderdale, FL; Francisco L. Borges of Simsbury, CT; Susanne Brody; Scott Heiman of Deerfield, IL; Peter Joseph of New York, NY; Marvin Lender of Woodbridge, CT; Mel Levine of Beverly Hills, CA; Michael Sonnenfeldt of New York, NY; Rep. Ellen Tauscher (CA-10) of Alamo, CA; and Brett Messing.
A N D (in no particular order)
Campaign Manager for Hadassah Lieberman Cynthia Jasso Rotunno
Manage campaign appearance and events for Hadassah Lieberman.
(Announced Feb. 10, 2003) Previously served as the Southwestern States Campaign Director for the DNC. She has also served the DNC in the Chairman's Office, the Campaign Division as Deputy Director of Latino Outreach & Base Vote, and as the Deputy Southern Political Director in the '94 Coordinated Campaign. In the Clinton/Gore Administration, Jasso Rotunno served as Special Assistant to the President and Chief of Staff for the White House Office of Political Affairs.  She was Deputy Director for Government, Business and Community Affairs on the 53rd Presidential Inaugural, and Deputy Public Liaison Director on the '96 Clinton/Gore Re-Elect Campaign.
 
 
Director of Delegate Operations Matt Nugen
Help the campaign manage its relations with all potential delegates to the 2004 convention
(Announced Feb. 10, 2003) Most recently served as Vice President of Operations for Kwame Building Group, Inc. In 2000, he was Deputy Chief Operating Officer for the 2000 Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles. From 1998-2000, Nugen was the Deputy Director and then the Director for the Office of the Secretary at the DNC. He spent time as a regional field director for the '98 South Carolina Coordinated Campaign and as the field director for the 2000 South Carolina tracking operation.
 
 
Director of Scheduling Melissa Winter
Moved over from position as scheduler in Lieberman's U.S. Senate office in Washington, DC.
 
 
Director of Information Technologies Dodd Guevara
Experience includes work as a systems engineer at Bitco Enterprises in Ashburn, Virginia.
 
 
Chief Financial Officer and Assistant Treasurer Brian Foucart
Foucart also held this position for Gore 2000, Inc. when it was headquartered in Washington, DC during much of 1999.  He was deputy chief operating officer for Clinton/Gore '96 under Ted Carter.  Foucart worked at the DNC for over 10 years through November 1992.
 

Hartford, CT. >
111 Founders Plaza, East Hartford, 10th Floor
Chief of Staff Sherry Brown
Responsible for day-to-day operations.
(Announced Jan. 31, 2003)  Lieberman's chief political aide since 1982.  Campaign Manager for his successful Attorney General bid in 1982, his 1986 reelection campaign, his 1988 Senate victory, and two Senate re-election campaigns.  Starting in 1989, in between campaigns she served as State Director in Lieberman's Senate office.  Most recently she served as Executive Director of ROCPAC, the leadership PAC Lieberman established in March 2001.
 
Campaign Treasurer Francisco L. Borges
(Announced Feb. 10, 2003) President and CEO of Landmark Partners Inc., a private equity advisory firm based in Simsbury, CT.   In 1998, he was Managing Director and a Member of the Board of Directors of Financial Guaranty Insurance Company.  Borges served as Treasurer of the State of Connecticut from 1987-1993, and prior to that was Deputy Mayor of the City of Hartford and legal counsel for the Travelers Insurance Companies.
 

DC.
Media Consultant Mandy Grunwald
(Announced April 15, 2003)  President of Grundwald Communications, a Washington, DC communications firm.  Has done strategy and produced ads for dozens of candidates. Served as media advisor and director of advertising for Clinton/Gore '92.
 
Polling Mark Penn, Penn Schoen & Berland

 
Senior Advisor Carter Eskew

 


Key Early States:

I O W A
Iowa State Director Ted Osthelder
(Announced February 12, 2003, to start March 1)  Osthelder, a Wisconsin native, most recently served as director of operations for Bill Richardson's successful 2002 gubernatorial campaign in New Mexico.  He was the campaign manager for Antonio Villaraigosa's 2001 Los Angeles mayoral campaign.  In 2000 he managed Adam Schiff's challenge of Rep. Jim Rogan of California, one of the most expensive congressional races ever.  Osthelder served as executive director of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin in 1996.

N E W   H A M P S H I R E

New Hampshire State Director Peter Greenberger
(announced March 3, 2003)  Most recently, Greenberger served as senior advisor to the New Hampshire Democratic Party.  He was Al Gore's trip director for New Hampshire during the 2000 primary, and Gore's state director for Western Pennsylvania in the general election.  In 1998, Greenberger served as field director for Gov. Jeanne Shaheen's re-election campaign.  He worked in the White House Office of Legislative Affairs from 1997-98.  During the 1996 general election campaign he served as the New Hampshire political director for Clinton/Gore, and during the NH primary campaign he did field.

S O U T H   C A R O L I N A

Political Director Carleton Atkinson
(announced April 13, 2003)  Most recently served as state GOTV co-director for the North Carolina Democratic Party in 2002.  Previously state field director on Erskine Bowles for U.S. Senate campaign.  Served as a policy advisor to the Office of the North Carolina Lieutenant Governor.  Law degree from North Carolina Central University School of Law (2000). 

More States:

A R I Z O N A
Political Directors
(announced April 15, 2003)
Rep. Steve Gallardo
Rep. Robert Meza

O K L A H O M A

State Director Josh Geise
(announced June 26, 2003)  Managed two congressional campaigns during the 2002 cycle: Richard Romero in New Mexico and Jill Long Thompson in Indiana (both unsuccessful).  Successfully managed the Albert Pollard for Delegate campaign in Virginia.  A graduate of Indiana University, he also served as communications director to Congressman Peter Visclosky (D-IN).

C O L O R A D O

N E W   Y O R K

C A L I F O R N I A

The campaign's website went up on Jan. 13, 2003.  Ross Garber, Erik Josowitz, and Dan Higgins did the site. On May 29, 2003 the campaign put up a major redesign featuring "a campaign trail diary from Joe and Hadassah Lieberman, personalized news based on users’ interests, and a number of tools to organize Lieberman supporters at the grassroots level."  Redesign by Convio, Inc.

See also Campaign Organization-1st Quarter 2003 FEC report.
 

ROCPAC
Although Sen. Lieberman pegged a possible 2004 presidential run to Al Gore's decision, he prepared for over a year as if he would run.  Lieberman launched his leadership PAC, the Responsibility, Opportunity and Community PAC (ROCPAC) in late March 2001.  ROCPAC had its offices in the building at 236 Massachusetts Avenue NE in Washington, DC.  By Election Day 2002, it had a staff of 11.  Sherry L. Brown, who managed Lieberman's two campaigns for Attorney General and his three U.S. Senate campaigns, served as executive director.  Fran Katz Watson was finance director, Joe Eyer political director, Christopher Koob director of operations, and Heather Picazio national scheduling director. Craig T. Smith, who served as political director in the Clinton White House, advised ROCPAC.

In contrast to some of the other '04 prospects' leadership PACs, ROCPAC did not take soft money (non-federal) contributions, meaning the maximum amount any individual or PAC could contribute in a calendar year was $5,000.  Through Nov. 25, 2002 (Post-General FEC report), ROCPAC reported total receipts of almost $2.9 million, and total disbursements of close to $2.5 million, leaving cash on hand of $398,017.  (See Finances).  By Election Day, November 5, 2002, ROCPAC reported contributing a total of $729,878 to four gubernatorial candidates, 25 US Senate candidates, 87 US House candidates and 19 state parties, and Senator and Mrs. Lieberman had traveled to 31 states. Our analysis found $718,568 in contributions to candidates and committees, of which $98,600 (about 13.7 percent) went directly to New Hampshire candidates and committees and $ (about  percent) went directly to Iowa candidates and committees.

Groundwork continued after the Nov. 5, 2002 midterm elections as Lieberman hosted receptions for operatives returning to DC from campaigns around the country.  Sherry Brown stated, "Senator and Mrs. Lieberman hosted several receptions for political operatives who worked diligently in the 2002 campaign races across the country.  The Liebermans particularly wanted to say thank you to them for their hard work and additionally, sought their counsel on the prospect of the Senator's running for President, if Al Gore decides not to run."  On Dec. 15 Gore made that announcement.
 

 

Copyright © 2002, 2003  Eric M. Appleman/Democracy in Action.