Anita Dunn

Partner, Squier Knapp Dunn (since January 2010)

(Chip Somodevilla/
Getty Images)

Why She Matters

Dunn tried to stay out of the White House. One of Barack Obama's closest advisers during the 2008 presidential campaign, she was the president's first choice for communications director but said she wanted to return to her political consulting firm.

However, when Ellen Moran left her post in the communications shop in April 2009 to be chief of staff for Commerce Secretary Gary Locke, Obama once again asked Dunn to join him at the White House. This time, she acqiuesced, and agreed to join the Obama team on a temporary basis.

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Background

At a Glance

Career History: Partner, Squier Knapp Dunn (since January-April 2010); White House Communications Director (May 2009 to November 2009); Senior adviser for strategic communications (April 2008 to November 2008); Director of Hopefund (May 2006 to December 2006); Political adviser at Squier Knapp Dunn (1993 to 2009)
Birthday: Jan. 8

Spouse: Robert Bauer
Web site

Path to Power

Dunn, the daughter of a social worker, got her start in politics during the Carter administration when she worked for Carter's chief of staff. She worked for Sen. John Glenn's (D-Ohio) unsuccessful 1984 presidential bid before joining the Senate office of Bill Bradley (D-N.J.). In 1993, she left Capitol Hill to join Bob Squier's legendary political consulting firm.

Dunn returned to Bradley's side as his communications director and chief strategist for his failed 1999 presidential run. She left the firm and worked for little money to help Bradley, with whom she remained close. "There's no question that the Bradley presidential campaign really, for me, represented why I had gone into politics and was, in many respects, a campaign that reflected my views about the American political system and the changes that needed to be made," Dunn said.

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Adviser to Sen. Tom Daschle

Dunn began working closely with Senate Democratic Leader Tom Daschle (S.D.) after the 2000 election as a senior political adviser to his political action committee DASHPAC. In the meantime, she continued to serve as a political adviser for Squier Knapp Dunn.

During the 2004 Senate primary in Illinois, Dunn advised one of Obama's opponents, Blair Hull (D), and she counseled Sen. Evan Bayh (D-Ind.), who was considered a possible 2008 presidential contender. Dunn was also part of Daschle's team when he lost to Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) in the 2004 Senate race. It was as a member of Daschle's team that she became close friends with future Obama advisers such as now-senior White House aide Pete Rouse.

Obama's Team

In May 2006, Rouse convinced Dunn to take a job as head of Obama's leadership PAC, Hopefund, through the end of 2006. Obama was still more than six months away from announcing his intention to run for president, but the move increased speculation that he would challenge Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.) for the 2008 Democratic nomination.

After a hiatus, Dunn returned to Obama's team in April 2008 with the title of senior adviser for strategic communications as Obama prepared for the general election. Though Obama was not yet the Democratic nominee, he bolstered his communications staff as he neared the nomination.

After Obama won the presidential race, Dunn declined a job in the White House, saying she wanted to return to Squier Knapp Dunn. "After the privilege of participating in this historic campaign I look forward to returning to my firm and bringing the fresh approach to strategic communications developed on the Obama campaign to new projects," Dunn told The Washington Post. "It is a unique opportunity to build on that experience."

When Ellen Moran left in April 2009 to become Commerce Secretary Gary Locke's chief of staff, Obama against approached Dunn about taking the job. This time, she accepted.

But Dunn made it clear that she was only taking the job temporarily, and would soon return to her family and to Squier Knapp Dunn.

In November 2009, Dunn announvced she would leave the White House at the end of that month.

The Issues

"She's extraordinary in her ability to frame complex policy issues in ways that are relevant to people's everyday lives, and there aren't many out there who are better at driving message," said fellow Democratic strategist Mo Elleithee.

Dunn's expertise is as a media consultant. Dunn says she feels strongly that candidates should introduce themselves to the public through ads that discuss their background, not just run issue ads.

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The Network

Dunn is a longtime business partner of Bill Knapp at Squier Knapp Dunn. The former Daschle aide is a close personal friend of senior Obama adviser Pete Rouse and is familiar with other Obama aides who worked on the 2004 Daschle Senate campaign, including White House Deputy Communications Director Dan Pfeiffer, who will take over for her as communications director when she steps down. She is also a regular attendee of White House Senior Adviser David Axelrod's bi-weekly pizza and politics meetings of top Obama political operatives, including David Plouffe, Joel Benenson and Jennifer O'Malley Dillon.

Dunn is married to Robert Bauer, an attorney who worked as Obama's personal lawyer during the campaign and is now counsel at the Democratic National Committee.

Campaign Contributions

Dunn has personally donated more than $30,000 to political candidates since 1997, all of it going to Democrats or left-leaning groups like EMILY's List. She donated $2,300 to Barack Obama in 2008.

(photos courtesy White House photostream / Pete Souza, Linda Davidson / TWP)

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