Monday, August 06, 2012
Michele Davis
Mitt Romney has tapped a leading public relations expert with a long resume of controversial work to help deflect attack ads targeting the Republican candidate’s years at Bain Capital.
Michele Davis, currently a partner at the Brunswick Group, worked on Capitol Hill in the early 1990s, where she helped Newt Gingrich craft the 1994 “Contract With America.”
She later took a position at Fannie Mae and held an executive position at a time when the mortgage giant engaged in “extensive financial fraud,” according to ABC News.
During the administration of George W. Bush, Davis served as deputy national security adviser for strategic communications and global outreach. In this role she helped craft the White House’s strategy for winning the “hearts and minds” of Muslims following the invasion of Iraq.
She eventually became a key aide to Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson who took the lead in bailing out Wall Street banks with billions of tax dollars.
After joining the Brunswick Group, Davis helped BP defend itself during the Gulf of Mexico oil disaster, even as oil was spilling into the waters.
Democrats may make Davis’ prior work a campaign issue as she tries to spin Romney’s early years at Bain, when the firm helped offshore American jobs to other countries.
-Noel Brinkerhoff
To Learn More:
Romney Hires PR Vet To Bite Back on Bain Attacks (by Gregory J. Krieg, ABC News)
Romney Taps Former Paulson Aide, Fannie Mae Vet For Bain Rehab (by Ben Smith, BuzzFeed)
Michele Davis Biography (Brunswick Group)
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