Jill Hazelbaker

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Jill Hazelbaker is a political campaign spokesperson and campaign staff member for candidates of the Republican party.

Hazelbaker was largely unknown outside Washington until her name surfaced in connection with controversies during the 2006 United States Senate race in NJ relating to postings on political weblogs and to edits on Wikipedia articles of opponents.

She is currently the national communications director for John McCain's presidential campaign, and has been profiled in several recent news articles discussing her increasingly important role in the presumptive Republican Party nominee's campaign.

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[edit] Early life and career

A native of Oregon, Hazelbaker attended the University of Oregon, she has worked at the newspaper the Oregon Daily Emerald.

[edit] 2006 US Senate campaign in New Jersey

Hazelbaker served as a campaign spokeswoman for the 2006 US Senate campaign of Republican Thomas Kean Jr., who was ultimately defeated after a hard-fought campaign against the incumbent, Democrat Robert Menendez. Charges against Menendez of past corruption formed a centerpiece of the Kean campaign. [1] [2]

New Jersey grad student Juan Melli, founder of a weblog and online forum called Blue Jersey, noticed that between July and September one IP address had registered four different accounts, each one claiming to be a Democrat but posting multiple anti-Menendez comments using pseudonyms like usedtobeblue and cleanupnj. This IP address had also been used to send emails signed by Hazelbaker to other correspondents, according to the New York Times. [3][4]

The same IP address [5] was also used for multiple Wikipedia edits attacking Menendez.[6] [7]

Hazelbaker and Kean both denied that she had played any role in astroturfing, and no evidence ever surfaced definitively linking Hazelbaker herself to the specific emails in question, aside from the fact that they were sent from the Kean's campaign computer she had herself used to send other emails.

The Kean campaign also drew scrutiny over its relationship with opposition researcher Christopher Lyon. Kean staffers denied that Lyon worked for Kean directly. A New York Times article about Lyon's role includes Hazelbaker's response to the issue:

"I think the selective outrage here is a little laughable," said Hazelbaker, a Kean spokeswoman, who added that Mr. Menendez's former law partner, who was at his side when he was sworn in as a senator, had been convicted of dealing cocaine. [8]

[edit] John McCain staffer

On 2006-12-21 Hazelbaker was hired to serve as New Hampshire communications director on the staff of John McCain.[9]

It was reported on 2007-07-16 that Hazelbaker would be promoted to national communications director, to be based out of Washington, D.C.[10]

Press stories quote Hazelbaker discussing aspects of the McCain campaign including fundraising, poll results, and countering a potentially lethal New York Times story.[11] Such stories describe her job giving varied titles, such as "the campaign's national spokeswoman"[12], "press secretary for the McCain campaign",[13] and " McCain Communications Director."[14]

Several reports discuss Hazelbaker's increasing role in the McCain campaign. Hazelbaker has been profiled in Glamour Magazine, calling her "McCain's Press Pro"[15] In February, 2008 she was cited in the AP as one of the "5 People Who Run McCain's Campaign."[16] The Independent profiled her in the piece on "The people who sell presidents."[17]


[edit] References

  1. ^ Jim Dwyer (June 25, 2006). Kean Faults Menendez in 80's Corruption Case, but History Begs to Differ. New York Times. Retrieved on 2007-10-28.
  2. ^ Laura Mansnerus (Nov. 12, 2006). Sometimes Mud Sticks to the Thrower. New York Times. Retrieved on 2007-10-28.
  3. ^ New York Times
  4. ^ empirezoneblogs.nytimes.com
  5. ^ Wikipedia Internet Protocol address
  6. ^ Wikipedia diff
  7. ^ New York Times Empirezone blog
  8. ^ Laura Mansnerus and Mike McIntire (October 5, 2006). A Behind-the-Scenes Player Draws Notice in New Jersey. New York Times. Retrieved on 2008-04-11.
  9. ^ McCain.org
  10. ^ The Atlantic.com
  11. ^ McCain turns tables on Times
  12. ^ Des Moines Register
  13. ^ "Washington Times
  14. ^ New York Daily News
  15. ^ How to love a crazy job
  16. ^ McCain Advisers Chart a New Direction
  17. ^ The people who sell presidents

[edit] External links