OBAMA'S POTENTIAL
PICKS
Steve Hildebrand, political strategistCampaign role: deputy national campaign manager
A longtime confidant of former Senate majority
leader Tom Daschle and an early Obama booster,
Hildebrand was Midwest political director for the
Democratic National Committee and political director for the
Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. In 2005 he
launched a consulting firm with politico Paul Tewes.
Jeremy Bernard and Rufus Gifford, cofounders, B+G AssociatesCampaign role: financial consultants
This duo oversees fund-raising for Obama in
California. Bernard worked on Bill Clinton's
first presidential campaign and was a delegate to the
1996, 2000, and 2004 Democratic National Conventions and
will be there this year; Gifford is a former movie
industry executive who raised $30 million as the
DNC's deputy finance director for western states
during John Kerry's 2004 campaign.
Matt Nosanchuk, counsel to Sen. Bill NelsonCampaign role: convener of Obama's LGBT Policy
Committee, member of his National LGBT Leadership Council
Before working in the Senate, Nosanchuk was a senior
policy fellow for Third Way, founding the progressive
think tank's gay equality initiative. He also
had stints at the House Judiciary Committee and the
Justice Department.
Stampp Corbin, technology executive and entrepreneurCampaign role: member of National LGBT Leadership Council
Corbin's history with Obama dates back to
his Chicago childhood, when he and Michelle Obama were
schoolmates; years later, the three attended Harvard
together. The founder of technology firms RetroBox and
Resource One, Corbin was a national adviser to the
Small Business Administration under President Clinton.
Tobias Wolff, University of Pennsylvania law professorCampaign role: chair of Obama's LGBT Policy Committee
Wolff is an expert on civil procedure and
constitutional law who has consulted on major class
action proceedings and is on the executive board of
the Equal Justice Society. Before his academic career, he
was a litigator at the blue-chip firm Paul, Weiss.
Also in the running...
Eric Stern, associate director, career development,
University of California, Berkeley, law school
Stern has been executive director of National
Stonewall Democrats and head of the DNC's LGBT
outreach program. Before endorsing Obama he was an
adviser to John Edwards's campaign.
David Mixner, political strategist and activist
Mixner, an unofficial adviser to elected
officials and business leaders on domestic and foreign
policy for decades, became a prominent Obama supporter
after Edwards bowed out. He was national chairman for Rep.
Richard Gephardt's 2004 presidential campaign and a
key player in Bill Clinton's first White House
run.
Ben LaBolt, campaign spokesman
Before joining the campaign, LaBolt worked in
Obama's Senate office, and he's a former
aide to Democratic congresswoman Jan Schakowsky of
Illinois. He also put in time on Howard Dean's 2004
campaign and at the DNC.
Kevin Jennings, executive director, Gay, Lesbian,
and Straight Education Network
Jennings, a former high school history teacher,
founded GLSEN in 1990.
CLINTON'S
POTENTIAL PICKS
Guy Cecil, political activistCampaign role: national political and field director
Before joining the campaign full-time, Cecil was
political director for the Democratic Senatorial
Campaign Committee, where he developed the
multimillion-dollar voter contact program that helped Dems
win control of the Senate in 2006.
Mark Walsh, CEO, GeniusRocketCampaign role: LGBT outreach director
An entrepreneur, venture capitalist, and
activist who served as head of Internet strategy for
John Kerry's 2004 campaign, Walsh is the former
chief technology adviser for the Democratic National
Committee and was the founding CEO of Air America.
Roberta Achtenberg, workforce and economic
development consultantCampaign role: on the LGBT Americans for Hillary
Steering Committee
Achtenberg was the first openly gay appointee
nominated by a president and confirmed by the Senate
when she became assistant secretary of the Department
of Housing and Urban Development under Bill Clinton. She
quit in 1995 to run (unsuccessfully) for San Francisco
mayor.
Fred Hochberg, dean of the Milano School for
Management and Urban Policy at the New SchoolCampaign role: on the LGBT Americans for Hillary
Steering Committee
Hochberg, who founded the investment firm Heyday
Co., was deputy, then acting, administrator of the
U.S. Small Business Administration under President
Clinton.
Elizabeth Birch, founder, Birch & Co.Campaign role: on the LGBT Americans for Hillary
Steering Committee
The former executive director of the Human
Rights Campaign and the current CEO of her own
consulting firm as well as Rosie O'Donnell's
production company, Birch was a senior adviser for Howard
Dean's failed presidential bid.
Sheila James Kuehl, California state senatorCampaign role: on the LGBT Americans for Hillary
Steering Committee
Kuehl was the first openly gay person to be
elected to the California legislature and was chosen
to address the Democratic National Convention in 1996
and 2000.
Also in the running...
Doug Hattaway, president and CEO, Hattaway Communications
Hattaway is a campaign veteran who served as
spokesman for the Gore campaign in 2000.
Claire Lucas, entrepreneur-philanthropist
A longtime Democratic Party volunteer and donor,
Lucas currently chairs the Democratic National
Committee LGBT Leadership Council.
Eldie Acheson, vice president and general counsel, Amtrak
A former trial attorney, Acheson served as
assistant attorney general under Bill and went to
Wellesley with Hillary.
Q. Todd Dickinson, chief intellectual property
counsel, General Electric
Dickinson served as director of the Patent and
Trademark Office and undersecretary of Commerce in the
Clinton administration.
Peter Pappas, broadcast executive
Pappas served in several capacities in the
Clinton administration, including assistant White
House counsel.
Mirian Saez, director, Treasure Island Development Authority
Vice chair of the DNC's LGBT Caucus, Saez
was the director of the Department of Housing and
Urban Development's Office of Rental Assistance
under Bill.
FREE AGENTS
Robert Raben, founder, Raben Group
Unaffiliated with either candidate, Raben
launched his influential political consulting and
lobbying practice after stints as a senior aide to
Barney Frank, counsel for the House Judiciary Committee, and
assistant attorney general for legislative affairs
under Bill Clinton.
Kate Kendell, executive director, National Center
for Lesbian Rights
Kendell, who has led the powerful San
Francisco-based organization since 1996, is
also unaffiliated to date. Before joining NCLR, where
she's also served as legal director, she worked
for the American Civil Liberties Union of Utah.
