Matthew Dowd

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Matthew John Dowd (born May 29, 1961, Detroit, Michigan) is an American political consultant who was the chief strategist for the Bush-Cheney '04 presidential campaign. In December 2007, he was introduced on ABC's Good Morning America as its new political contributor. He also appears on the same network's This Week with George Stephanopoulos.

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[edit] Personal

Dowd graduated from Cardinal Newman College, Saint Louis, Missouri. He was formerly married to Tammy Edgerly, Director of the Senate Research Center in Austin, Texas, and Nicole Baines, of San Antonio, Texas and a distant relative of President Lyndon Baines Johnson. Dowd has three sons from his marriage to Tammy Edgerly. His eldest son is a soldier and is deploying to Iraq. Dowd has twin daughters from his marriage to Nicole Baines; however, one of the girls died shortly after birth. He currently resides in Austin, Texas.[1]

[edit] Firms

  • Dowd Strategic Consulting, a marketing consulting firm.
  • Public Strategies, Inc, an international public affairs firm.
  • Vianovo, a corporate brand and positioning firm.
  • LiveGentle.com

[edit] Career

Dowd began his political career as a Democrat, working for, among others, Texas Lt. Governor Bob Bullock. In 1999, he switched parties to become a Republican.[2].

During the 2002 election, Dowd was a senior adviser to the Republican National Committee.

During the 2004 election, Dowd was chief strategist for George W. Bush's re-election campaign[3].

As reported in the New York Times on April 1, 2007, Dowd had come to a great disappointment in George W. Bush and the likelihood that Bush's isolation could be breached. According to Democracy Now, Dowd claims to have undergone a change of heart regarding the Iraq War--i.e., advocating a pullout--after contemplating the likelihood of his own son's deployment to the country, as well as after seeing Bush refuse to meet with grieving war-mother Cindy Sheehan in 2005, even though President Bush had already met with Sheehan and her husband, Pat in June of 2004. Dowd was also upset by Bush's failure to dismiss Donald Rumsfeld immediately following the surfacing of the Abu Ghraib scandal, as well as the renomination of John Bolton as Ambassador to the United Nations. According to friends of the president, Bush was "particularly hurt" by Dowd's disavowal, at a time where other aides were also leaving him.[4] Upon leaving the Bush administration, Dowd has not been on speaking terms with former White House political adviser Karl Rove. [5] Sidney Blumenthal, in an opinion piece in Salon, entitled "Matthew Dowd's not-so-miraculous conversion", described Dowd as an 'opportunist'.[6]

Dowd has not yet endorsed a candidate but he said the only one he liked was Barack Obama.[7]

He has since been an adviser to California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and Michigan gubernatorial candidate Dick DeVos.

[edit] Academic career

Dowd has been a visiting professor since the Spring of 2005 at the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas, Austin. The course he teaches is called "The Modern American Political Campaign."

[edit] Charities

  • Ballet Austin, Incorporated.

[edit] Bibliography

  • Dowd, Matthew J., Ron Fournier, and Douglas B. Sosnik. "Applebee's America: How Successful Political, Business, and Religious Leaders Connect With the New American Community." New York: Simon and Schuster, 2006. Includes interviews with people whom the authors met at Applebee's restaurants.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Ex-Aide Says He’s Lost Faith in Bush - New York Times
  2. ^ NPR: Matthew Dowd, Turning Sour on Bush
  3. ^ NPR: Matthew Dowd, Turning Sour on Bush
  4. ^ Peter Baker: A President Besieged and Isolated, Yet at Ease. Washington Post, July 2, 2007; Page A01
  5. ^ Rove says it's Dems who are divisive / Outgoing Bush aide rejects blame from critics on both sides
  6. ^ Matthew Dowd's not-so-miraculous conversion | Salon
  7. ^ Republicans defect to the Obama camp - Times Online

[edit] External links