Daniel Schnur

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Daniel Schnur is a Republican political strategist best known for his work as Senator John McCain's Communications Director in his 2000 presidential campaign against George W. Bush.

Born in Shorewood, Wisconsin, Dan Schnur was raised in a proudly Democratic household. After attending local schools, Schnur left Shorewood for Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota, where he was pupil of future U.S. Senator and now deceased Paul Wellstone. After some mutual disagreements between the school administration and Schnur, Schnur left Carleton to find his place in the world.

Schnur started work in politics as a media assistant for the Ronald Reagan / George Bush campaign for the election of 1984.[1] Bush campaign strategist Lee Atwater encouraged Schnur to finish college after the campaign. He did so, at American University in Washington, D.C.

He later was the spokesman for the George Bush / Dan Quayle campaign of 1988, before he moved to California to work as the Communications Director of the California Republican Party. He joined Governor Pete Wilson's staff in 1990 as Press Secretary and Communications Director.[2]

After Wilson's successful 1994 re-election campaign, Schnur moved into education, teaching campaign politics at University of California, Berkeley's Institute of Governmental Studies. He then went to work for McCain's campaign, where he worked as the campaign's chief media spokesperson and oversaw the communications operation.

Following McCain's withdrawal from the 2000 race, Schnur returned to UC Berkeley and also began teaching political communication at the University of Southern California.

Dan Schnur currently teaches Campaign Strategy: Media and Message at the University of California, Berkeley.[1] In addition to teaching courses on campaign communication and strategy at both USC and UC Berkeley, Schnur is a founder and principal at Command-Focus, a Sacramento-based political strategy and communications firm with offices both in Sacramento and Los Angeles. Schnur joined Edelman public relations in December 2007 as executive vice president and director to lead its California Public Affairs practice. He can also be found as a regular political commentator on Fleischman's "FlashReport" Blog--a staple in the daily news diet of conservatives and moderates in the California political scene. Schnur also writes for the New York Times blog "Campaign Stops".

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b Dan Schnur - Political Science, UC Berkeley (2008). Retrieved on 2008-02-09.
  2. ^ schnur_bio. 2002 Professional Development Seminar for Legislative Communications Professionals. National Council of State Legislatures (2002). Retrieved on 2008-02-09.