User:Rnyr/Cliff Schecter

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Cliff Schecter
Clifford D. "Cliff" Schecter (born 1971) is an American political writer, commentator, and operative. Schecter is considered to be a political progressive; best known for penning a book highly critical of 2008 Republican Presidential nominee John S. McCain, he has a reputation as a pugnacious advocate for progressive politics and policies. Schecter is married and lives with his wife and family in Columbus, OH.

Early life & education
Schecter was born and raised in New York City. He attended the University of Pennsylvania (known as Penn), where he became politically active as a progressive and worked on his first political campaigns. He graduated from Penn in 1994 with distinction with a Bachelor's in American History.

Early political experience & academics
Schecter then worked on Wall Street, gaining experience in the business sector, before returning to the political world as a polling analyst at the heavyweight political consulting firm Penn & Schoen. He spent the 1996 campaign cycle working on the firm's behalf for their biggest client, Democratic President Bill Clinton.

Having helped secure the President's successful re-election to a second term, Schecter left Penn & Schoen to join a master's program at Columbia University's School of International Affairs. This master's program saw Schecter specialize in international journalism and public relations. He would graduate with a Masters' Degree in International Affairs in June of 1999.

In 2004, Schecter was admitted as a Graduate Fellow to the Ph.D. program in American History at American University. He has completed his coursework, and is in the process of completing his dissertation.

Re-entering politics
Once he graduated from Columbia, Schecter interned at the famed political magazine The Washington Monthly. He then joined the Global Strategy Group (GSG), a polling and communications firm, where he served as a strategic counselor to several of the firm's most valued clients, including crusading New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer. Schecter worked at GSG for nearly two years, before departing to consult on his own. Doing so afforded him the opportunity to lecture at the United States Information Agency. Schecter also consulted for the Democratic National Committee, theDemocratic Congressional Campaign Committee, Working America and other clients. He also traveled extensively during this time, working for various statewide campaigns across the upper South. Among the candidates Schecter worked for were Mark Warner, who was elected governor of Virginia in 2001, and Lois Combs Weinberg and Bruce Lunsford, who failed in their bids to become Kentucky's Senator and Governor, respectively.

Ruling the air
It was then that Schecter became a sought-after commentator and political analyst. He made hundreds of appearances on MSNBC, FOX News, CNBC, CNN, Air America Radio and National Public Radio. Schecter quickly gained a reputation for being a fierce defender of progressive ideals and candidates, giving his conservative opponents no quarter in televised debates. His pugnacity made him an extremely popular guest on various cable news shows, and made for gripping footage whenever aired. His fervor wasn't limited to television. Schecter had written extensively in both college and graduate school - he penned a humor and politics column for the Columbia School of International Affair's newspaper, Communique - and he used these skills in writing dozens of columns and essays eloquently articulating progressive ideals. These appeared in Salon, The Washington Monthly, The American Prospect, and were syndicated by Knight Ridder and United Press International, among other outlets. He also became a regular on The Young Turks radio program with a weekly segment called "Republican Sexcapades". Schecter served as a paid political analyst for the Sinclair Broadcast Group during the 2004 campaign cycle, and reprised the same role in 2008 for Al-Jazeera.

The Real McCain
In April 2008, Schecter published his first book, The Real McCain: Why Conservatives Don't Trust Him And Independents Shouldn't. The book, which was released on a rushed schedule in order to be available for the general election, took on the popular image of Republican Presidential nominee Sen. John McCain.

McCain, at the time, possessed a reputation as a maverick politician who worked assiduously in the public's interest. Schecter's book helped shatter that reputation, by offering extensive evidence that McCain was really animated by a need to wreak vengeance upon his political foes, a desperate need to be liked by others, an all- consuming love affair with the spotlight, and a willingness to do whatever was necessary to get ahead politically.

The book broke a number of highly controversial stories, all of which McCain's campaign stoutly denied. The most controversial story featured McCain calling his wife Cindy a "cunt" in front of reporters and aides at the end of a long day campaigning for re-election in 1992. The McCain campaign responded by calling Schecter a "trash journalist" and "unstable". Another story, which had McCain assaulting fellow Congressman Rick Renzi, was subsequently backed up by other parties across major news outlets.

In Ohio
Schecter moved with his family to Columbus, OH in 2007. There, he served as a communications strategist for the Ohio House Democratic Caucus, helping the Democratic Party take the majority in the Ohio House of Representatives in 2008 for the first time in 14 years. Schecter then worked as communications director for Ohio State Treasurer Kevin Boyce.

Schecter left that position to start a public relations firm, Libertas, in July 2009. Among his clients are New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg's coalition Mayors Against Illegal Guns; former Vice-President Al Gore's Alliance for Climate Protection; and the American Association for Justice (formerly the American Trial Lawyers Association). In addition, Schecter writes a weekly column on politics for al-Jazeera English, contributes regularly to both the Huffington Post and the British newspaper The Guardian, and serves as a regular panelist for "Your Voice", a Sunday morning show dedicated to discussing political issues which is broadcast across the central Ohio region by both ABC and FOX.