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Campaign Cliques

Penny Pritzker

A.B. ’81

Age: 48

Role: National Finance Chair

Day Job: CEO, Classic Residence by Hyatt

Political Chops: A longtime contributor to Democratic candidates.

Best Known For: Selling minority stake in Hyatt for $1 billion.

Inside Track: Pritzker may be motivated by sibling rivalry: Her brother, Jay Robert Pritzker, is a fundraiser for Hillary Clinton.

Betsy Myers

MPA ’00

Age: 47

Role: Chief Operating Officer

Political Chops: The first director of the White House Office for Women’s Initiatives and Outreach under Clinton.

Best Known For: Spearheading Obama’s outreach efforts to women.

Inside Track: Myers’ ability to narrow Clinton’s two-to-one lead among women could determine the outcome of the campaign.

Chris Hughes

A.B. ’06

Age: 23

Role: Online Organizer

Day Job: Product Developer, Facebook (on leave)

Political Chops: None.

Best Known For: Co-founding Facebook with roommate Mark Zuckerberg.

Inside Track: Since joining the campaign in January, Hughes has built an online network with over 80,000 members.

Danielle Gray

J.D. ’03

Age: 29

Role: Deputy Policy Director

Day Job: Litigation Associate, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom (on leave) Political Chops: Was a member of Obama’s senate campaign’s staff.

Best Known For: Voted “most likely to be a Supreme Court Justice” by HLS classmates.

Samantha Power

J.D. ’99

Age: 37

Role: Foreign Policy Advisor

Day Job: Anna Lindh Professor, Kennedy School of Government

Political Chops: Foreign policy advisor to former candidate Wesley Clark.

Best Known For: Her Pulitzer-winning book, A Problem from Hell: America and the Age of Genocide.

Inside Track: Power might be too outspoken to serve in an administration.

Carlos Monje

A.B. ’00

Age: 29

Role: Deputy Policy Director

Political Chops: Aide to Colorado Senator Ken Salazar; former deputy press secretary to Senator John Edwards.

Best Known For: His work with Salazar to secure $125 million in federal funds for post-Katrina rebuilding.

Inside Track: A New Orleans native, he helped draft Obama’s recovery plan for the city.

Sam Graham Felsen

A.B.’04

Age: 26

Role: Campaign blogger, MyBarackObama.com

Political Chops: A stint at The Nation.

Inside Track: At The Nation, he launched VideoNation, an online feature; Felsen now oversees a video campaign featuring Obama supporters.

Glenn Hubbard

Ph.D ’83

Age: 49

Role: Co-Chair, Economic Advisory Council

Day Job: Dean, Columbia Business School

Political Chops: Former deputy assistant secretary at the Treasury under George H.W. Bush.

Best Known For: His role as chief architect of george w. bush’s tax cuts.

Inside Track: Hubbard was on the short list to replace Greenspan at the Fed.

Meg Whitman

MBA ’79

Age: 51

Role: National Finance Co-Chair

Day Job: CEO, eBay

Political Chops: The billionaire hosts fundraisers for conservative GOPers at her Atherton, Calif., manse.

Best Known For: Helping raise $23 million for her former Bain colleague in the first quarter of 2007.

Inside Track: Said to be on Romney’s veep short list.

Tagg Romney

MBA ’98

Age: 37

Role: Son

Day Job: Chief Marketing Officer, Los Angeles Dodgers (resigned)

Political Chops: Worked on Dad’s gubernatorial campaign and managed Kerry Healey’s 2002 run for lieutenant governor.

Best Known For: Traveling around the country with brothers Matt, Josh, Ben, and Craig in a Winnebago; keeping a blog called “Five Brothers” on MittRomney.com.

Inside Track: By their presence alone, the Romney sons remind voters that Rudy Giuliani’s children are estranged from their father.

Katie Biber Chen

J.D. ’04

Age: 29

Role: General Counsel

Day Job: Election Law Attorney, Patton Boggs (on leave)

Political Chops: Press secretary for John Ashcroft, legal staffer on Bush/Cheney ’04

Best Known For: Her sure-handed selection of Romney’s judicial advisory committee.

Inside Track: Romney turned to GOP troubleshooter and Patton Boggs lawyer Ben Ginsberg for a star, and Ginsberg recommended Chen.

Lanhee Chen

A.B. ’99, A.M. ’04, J.D. ’07

Age: 29

Role: Domestic Policy Director

Day Job: Associate, Gibson Dunn & Crutcher (on leave)

Political Chops: Fellow, Heritage foundation; health policy advisor, Bush/Cheney ’04

Best Known For: His role crafting Romney’s healthcare plan.

Inside Track: Chen, frequently the youngest in meetings, is often the most articulate and best dressed.