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Get Ready for Earful From Obama Aides

Matt Cantor — Mon, 22 Aug 2011 14:59:16 CDT

Amid press conferences and big speeches, President Obama spent his first two years in office as “his own messenger.” But expect that to change in the run-up to the next election, writes Michael Scherer in Time . In those first two years, Obama lacked a solid team of spokespeople; aides like...

Latest Steele Hire Bilked DC Group for $70K

Harry Kimball — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 10:37:00 CDT

Under fire for recent flaps over RNC spending, Chairman Michael Steele has hired a new “special assistant for finance”—and possibly walked into another gaffe. Neil S. Alpert, the 31-year-old wunderkind whose new job it will be to “help raise money” and “find new funds,” according to a spokesman, has...

Steele Book Tour Has GOP Steamed

Harry Kimball — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 09:24:36 CST

GOP lawmakers are so irate over loose-canon Michael Steele's pronouncements on his book tour—including a prediction Monday that Republicans will not win back the House and Senate in 2010—that they had their aides give his aides a dressing down on a conference call Wednesday. “You really just have...

5 Things Obama Has Done Right (or Better Than You Thought)

Harry Kimball — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 12:13:26 CST

Obama clearly ran a successful campaign—but what kind of a job did he do running the country in his first year at the helm? While the president "has not been overmatched, he has not yet mastered the role either," Mark Halperin writes in Time . Some things he's done better...

Meet Michelle's 'Body Woman'

Harry Kimball — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 13:40:00 CDT

Kristen Jarvis has had tough jobs. She joined Barack Obama’s office in 2004, when he was a newly minted senator. But that was nothing compared to last year’s presidential campaign, when she was given a different charge: Michelle Obama. As her "body woman," Jarvis did everything from watch her boss...

How Edwards' Aide Morphed From Devotee to Sellout

Harry Kimball — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 12:45:01 CDT

Andrew Young was right there every time John Edwards needed a Diet Coke, dry cleaning, a ride from the airport, and finally a babydaddy for his mistress. The "personal servant" who turned tell-all author—other aides even called him Edward’s “butt boy”—showed a fierce devotion that seemingly knew no...

Anti-Earmark Rep. Scores Earmark for Blimp Research

Matt Cantor — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 12:21:00 CDT

Rep. Pete Sessions is a vocal opponent of earmarks, but last year he scored one for a company that's not even in his district. Thanks to Sessions, $1.6 million for airship research went to a firm with no experience in either government contracting or blimp-making, Politico reports. Seems that...

Aide's Salary Doubled During Affair With Senator

Rob Quinn — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 02:09:05 CDT

Campaign treasurer Cynthia Hampton's salary doubled after she began an affair with her boss, Sen. John Ensign, the Las Vegas Sun reports. Federal election documents show that pay for Hampton—whose husband and son also worked for Ensign—jumped from around $1400 to $2800 a month early last year.

Gibbs Will Meet the Press

Wesley Oliver — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 16:56:00 CST

Barack Obama today named Robert Gibbs as White House press secretary, the Washington Times reports. Gibbs, 37, worked for 2 years as an Obama spokesman on the campaign trail and was widely expected to take the job. Well-liked by reporters, Gibbs flared up at times on the campaign and is...