Stephanie Cutter

Stephanie Cutter (born October 22, 1968) is an American political consultant. She served as Deputy Campaign Manager for President Barack Obama's 2012 re-election campaign,[1] and has previously worked in campaign and communications roles for other Democrats including Ted Kennedy, John Kerry and Michelle Obama.[2] The New York Times described her as "a popular but polarizing face of (Obama's) campaign", and a "soldier who says the things the candidate can’t (or won’t) say."[3]

Stephanie Cutter
Born (1968-10-22) October 22, 1968
Taunton, Massachusetts, U.S.
EducationSmith College (BA)
Georgetown University (JD)
Political partyDemocratic

Early life and education

Cutter was born in Taunton, Massachusetts, and was raised in nearby Raynham, Massachusetts.[4] She graduated from Bridgewater-Raynham Regional High School in 1986.[5] Her mother, Grace, is a school teacher, and her brother served in Afghanistan.[6] She received a B.A. degree from Smith College and a J.D. degree from Georgetown Law School.[7][2]

Career

In the 1990s, Cutter worked as a junior aide to Mario Cuomo[8] and also worked for the Environmental Protection Agency.[9]

She worked for President Bill Clinton as Deputy Communications Director at the White House during his administration[10] "to help restore Mr. Clinton’s image in the aftermath of (his) impeachment and Monica Lewinsky",[3] and as Associate Administrator for Communications at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.[11][12]

Beginning in 2001, she served as Communications Director for Senator Ted Kennedy.[13]

In November 2003, she was named communications director for the John Kerry campaign,[14] at Kennedy's recommendation.[9] During that campaign, she was criticized for having a surly and difficult personality and was often scapegoated for Kerry's loss.[9] Kerry considered the criticism of her unfair and praised her work.[9][15] After the Kerry campaign, Cutter returned to work for Kennedy.[8]

In June 2008 Cutter was appointed Chief of Staff to Michelle Obama for the 2008 Presidential general election campaign.[16][8] Stephanie Cutter and Michelle Obama immediately clicked and Cutter is widely credited with building Obama's popularity with the public,[17] particularly her Let's Move! health initiative. She is credited with enlisting Republican Mike Huckabee to the program, to help prevent criticism from conservatives.[9]

She served as the Chief Spokesperson for the Obama-Biden Transition Project.[18][2] She served in the Treasury Department as Timothy Geithner's counselor[19] where "she protected Geithner’s fragile reputation and tried to spin unpopular policies like the Troubled Asset Relief Program and the A.I.G. bailout."[3] In May 2009, Cutter was appointed to serve as adviser to President Obama in the Supreme Court nominations.[20] Later that year, GQ Magazine named Cutter one of the 50 most powerful people in Washington.[21]

In 2010, Cutter was named Assistant to the President for Special Projects, charged with managing communications and outreach strategy for the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.[22] In 2011, Cutter was named Deputy Senior Advisor to President Barack Obama.[23][2]

In September 2011, the White House announced Cutter would leave her position as Deputy Senior Advisor to serve as deputy campaign manager for Obama for America.[24] She has appeared in numerous campaign videos and ads for Obama's campaign, as well as a guest in TV appearances.[9] During the 2012 campaign, Steve Schmidt, a Republican strategist, stated that Cutter is "arguably the strongest player on either side out there now."[9]

CNN announced on June 26, 2013, that Cutter will join a new version of Crossfire re-launching[19] in the fall of 2013, with panelists Newt Gingrich, S. E. Cupp, and Van Jones.[25]

Besides her role at CNN Cutter founded Precision Strategies, where she is a partner.[26][10] Precision Strategies is a strategic consulting firm based in Washington D.C. and New York City.[26] Cutter started the firm with three veterans that worked for the Obama 2012 campaign team.[10]

Cutter informed CNN staffers on October 7, 2013 that she was pregnant with her first child. With a due date of early March 2014, she informed the network she would return to Crossfire after maternity leave. She remained with the series until it ended in July of that year.[27][28]

Cutter is serving as the Program Executive for the 2020 Democratic National Convention.[29]

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gollark: Thanks!
gollark: Fear my dependency list.
gollark: * use
gollark: You should obviously not buy it, so you can afford commodity mice.

References
  1. "Cutter to leave White House for Obama campaign", politicaltracker, CNN, September 26, 2011, retrieved February 13, 2012
  2. "Stephanie Cutter". whitehouse.gov. January 11, 2011. Retrieved December 11, 2018.
  3. Chozick, Amy (October 12, 2012) "A Messenger Who Does the Shooting", The New York Times, Retrieved October 29, 2012
  4. Zeleny, Jeff (November 21, 2008). "Stephanie Cutter". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved April 13, 2019.
  5. Alspach, Kyle (November 8, 2008). "Raynham native named chief spokesperson for Obama transition". The Enterprise. Retrieved August 28, 2012.
  6. Chozick, Amy (October 14, 2012). "A Messenger Who Does the Shooting". The New York Times. p. 1. Retrieved October 30, 2012.
  7. Zeleny, Jeff (November 21, 2008). "The New Team - Stephanie Cutter". New York Times. Retrieved November 23, 2008.
  8. Ball, Molly (May 30, 2012). "The Resurrection of Stephanie Cutter". The Atlantic. Retrieved December 11, 2018.
  9. Lois Romano (July 8, 2012). "Stephanie Cutter, President Obama's 1-woman rapid response team". Politico. Retrieved August 28, 2012.
  10. "CNN Programs - Anchors/Reporters - Stephanie Cutter". edition.cnn.com. Retrieved April 13, 2019.
  11. "Obama for America 2012 Campaign Organization". www.p2012.org. Retrieved April 13, 2019.
  12. "Obama Transition Leadership". p2008.org. Retrieved April 13, 2019.
  13. Johnson, Dennis W. (October 18, 2016). Democracy for Hire: A History of American Political Consulting. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780190272708.
  15. Ashburn, Lauren (September 4, 2012). "How Stephanie Cutter, Obama's One-Woman Warrior, Wages Political Combat". The Daily Beast. Retrieved January 27, 2012. Stephanie Cutter may have kind words for Ann Romney, but she’s a pit bull when it comes to the Republicans. She talks to Lauren Ashburn about gender issues and the 2012 campaign. A graduate of Smith College and Georgetown Law School, Cutter, 43, has climbed the political ladder one rung at a time. She moved from the Clinton White House to Ted Kennedy’s staff, from communications director of the Democratic National Committee to the same post on John Kerry’s 2004 presidential campaign
  16. Shailagh Murray, New Staffer for Michelle Obama, The New York Times, June 16, 2008
  17. "Michelle Obama's legacy as a model of a modern political spouse". Retrieved April 13, 2019.
  18. "All today's politics in one place | Front Page". PoliticsHome. Retrieved April 13, 2012.
  19. "Our Team". Precision Strategies. Retrieved April 13, 2019.
  20. Cillizza, Chris (May 17, 2009). "Cutter to White House for Court Fight". The Washington Post. Retrieved May 17, 2009.
  21. "49. Stephanie Cutter". GQ. October 2009. Archived from the original on June 16, 2010. Retrieved November 21, 2009.
  22. Ben Frumin (April 22, 2010). "White House Taps Stephanie Cutter To Sell Health Care Reform". TPMDC. Retrieved April 13, 2012.
  23. Daley, Bill (January 27, 2011). "Full text of Bill Daley's announcement". Politico.com. Retrieved January 27, 2011.
  24. Schneider, Elena. "Meet The Five Secret All-Stars Behind Barack Obama's 2012 Campaign". Business Insider. Retrieved April 13, 2019.
  25. "'Crossfire' coming back to CNN". CNN. June 26, 2013. Retrieved June 26, 2013.
  26. "Our Team". Precision Strategies. Retrieved April 14, 2019.
  27. "Stephanie Cutter Pregnant With First Child". Huffingtonpost.com. October 7, 2013. Retrieved November 8, 2014.
  28. "Stephanie Cutter, Obama strategist turned CNN star, is pregnant". Washington Post.
  29. ""Uniting America"—Democrats Announce Themes for Four Nights of Convention". 2020 Democratic National Convention. August 7, 2020. Retrieved August 8, 2020.
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