Obama for America Announces 35 National Campaign Co-Chairs: The Complete List

Mayors, Governors, Members of Congress, business executives, celebs, military, state-level volunteers...
The Obama campaign on Wednesday announced a list of 35 national co-chairs, 13 women and 22 men, who will serve as "ambassadors" for President Obama, as well as "advise the campaign on key issues, and help engage and mobilize voters in all 50 states." Actors Eva Longoria and Kalpen Modi are the only celebrities on the list; Modi worked at the White House until last year. Caroline Kennedy is also a co-chair. Both of President Obama's former Chiefs of Staff are now co-chairs: Chicagoan Bill Daley and Rahm Emanuel, now Mayor of Chicago, where campaign headquarters are located. Daley was announced as co-chair after he submitted his resignation. (Above: Tthe President and Emanuel in the Oval Office, after he won the Chicago election)

Many of the co-chars are from battleground states, and key voting blocs are represented. For instance, Joe Solmonese, president of the Human Rights Campaign, will woo LGBT supporters. Attorney Alan Solonow, a past Chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, will woo the Jewish vote (he already serves as an advisor to the campaign). The list includes a few Governors, such as Deval Patrick of Massachusetts, Mayors, such as Antonio Villaraigosa of Los Angeles; and California Attorney General Kamala Harris; current and former Members of Congress such as Sen. Michael Bennet (CO) and Rep. Jan Schakowsky (ILL-9), as well as state-level volunteers, a few representatives from the military, and business moguls: Chicagoan Penny Pritzker, a longtime supporter, and Salesforce.com's CEO Marc Benioff.

Obama For America's announcement:

CHICAGO - Obama for America announced today the campaign's National Co-Chairs, a diverse group of leaders from around the country committed to re-electing President Obama. They will serve as ambassadors for the President, advise the campaign on key issues, and help engage and mobilize voters in all 50 states.

"The President's National Co-Chairs will be tremendous assets on the ground as we build the biggest grassroots campaign in history," said Jim Messina, Obama for America Campaign Manager. "They each share the President's vision for a future where every American can have a fair shot at success, where hard work pays off and responsibility is rewarded."

Our National Co-Chairs' varied backgrounds and experiences will prove invaluable as they connect with the President's supporters and advocate on his behalf on the campaign trail. They are proud of the President's record and leadership in rebuilding the economy after the worst economic crisis in generations and helping restore security to middle-class families through cutting taxes, investing in education, expanding manufacturing, increasing America's energy independence, ensuring that everyone has access to affordable health care, and making sure that everyone - from Wall Street to Main Street - plays by the same rules.

The full list:

· Lynnette Acosta - OFA volunteer leader from Florida

· Marc Benioff - CEO of Salesforce.com

· Senator Michael Bennet - U.S. Senator from Colorado

· Mayor Julian Castro - Mayor of San Antonio

· Governor Lincoln Chafee - Governor of Rhode Island

· Ann Cherry - Retired teacher and OFA volunteer leader from North Carolina

· Representative Judy Chu - Representing the 32nd District of California

· Representative Emanuel Cleaver - Representing the 5th District of Missouri

· Bill Daley - Former White House Chief of Staff to President Obama, former U.S. Secretary of Commerce

· Maria Elena Durazo - Executive Secretary-Treasurer of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO

· Senator Dick Durbin - U.S. Senator from Illinois

· Mayor Rahm Emanuel - Mayor of Chicago

· Senator Russ Feingold - Former U.S. Senator from Wisconsin

· Representative Charles A. Gonzalez - Representing the 20th District of Texas

· Loretta Harper - High School Counselor and OFA volunteer leader from Nevada

· Attorney General Kamala Harris - Attorney General of California

· Sai Iyer - Student at Virginia Commonwealth University and OFA volunteer leader from Virginia

· Caroline Kennedy - Author/President of the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation

· Eva Longoria - Actress and Philanthropist

· Felesia Martin - OFA volunteer leader from Wisconsin

· Bishop Vashti McKenzie - African Methodist Episcopal Bishop

· Attorney General Tom Miller - Attorney General of Iowa

· Kalpen Modi - Actor/Former White House Associate Director for the Office of Public Engagement

· Admiral John Nathman - Retired U.S. Navy Admiral

· Governor Deval Patrick - Governor of Massachusetts

· Secretary Federico Pena - Former U.S. Secretary of Transportation and U.S. Secretary of Energy

· Elaine Price - Retired Ohio resident and OFA volunteer leader from Ohio

· Penny Pritzker - Founder and CEO of PSP Capital Partners

· John Register - U.S. Army Veteran and Paralympian

· Representative Jan Schakowsky - Representing the 9th District of Illinois

· Senator Jeanne Shaheen - U.S. Senator from New Hampshire

· Joe Solmonese - President of the Human Rights Campaign

· Alan Solow - Partner at DLA Piper LLP and past Chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations

· Governor Ted Strickland - Former Governor of Ohio

· Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa - Mayor of Los Angeles

Statements from National Co-Chairs:

Senator Jeanne Shaheen: "President Obama has the right vision for this country. I am proud to support a campaign that embraces investment in America's future and support a leader in innovation, education, and energy."

Marc Benioff: "It's an honor to serve the President as a campaign co-chair. His focus on American jobs and support for companies that create jobs here in America are just what we need to keep this recovery moving."

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa: "I am honored to serve as a national co-chair for Obama For America because this is a 'make or break' moment for the middle class. November's election will provide voters with a clear choice: On the one side is a President who is fighting to create jobs, investing in our future, and working to reform our immigration system. On the other side is a Republican Party that is rejecting common-sense jobs measures, gutting investments in our future, and espousing 'self-deportation' policies that divide us as a nation."

Governor Deval Patrick: "I am proud and honored to serve as a co-chair for President Obama's reelection campaign. We need this President's continued leadership to help us leave our country better than we found it."

Representative Emanuel Cleaver: "President Obama has called for a national commitment to create an economy built to last - one based on fairness, opportunity, and investments in our future. With strong investments in K-12 and higher education in our most vulnerable communities and investments in job training, infrastructure and community reinvestment, the President has helped ease the burden for hard working American families and open doors of opportunity for generations to come. I am committed to working tirelessly as a National Co-Chair for Obama for America to ensure the President can continue to carry out his vision for an economy built to last and continue to bring positive change to our great country."

Elaine Price: "In a time of great uncertainty, President Obama stepped up and saved our community from a depression and rescued the auto industry - our region's biggest employer. Now we are growing and the American auto industry is again leading the world. Both my community and everyone I speak with feels like they have a new lease on life. The President's sincerity and vision for America keeps me passionate about doing everything I can to make sure he has a second term."

Attorney General Kamala Harris: "As a longtime supporter of Barack Obama, I am honored to serve as a National Co-Chair for Obama for America. Since taking office, the President has worked tirelessly to provide relief for struggling middle-class families and to lay a foundation for a strong economy that's built to last. The President's leadership and vision for the future will continue to move the country forward, rather than taking us back to the failed policies of the past."

*Photo by Pete Souza/White House, taken in the Oval Office, March 4, 2011

First Lady Michelle Obama Responds To New Book, Denies White House Tensions

Video of CBS interview: First Lady says "I love this job," and she is tired of "angry black woman" stereotype...
First Lady Michelle Obama says that depictions of White House friction in Jodi Kantor's new book "The Obamas" aren't true. In a wide-ranging interview with CBS This Morning co-host Gayle King that aired on Wednesday, Mrs. Obama spoke out against the story that characterizes her as a behind-the-scenes force with strong views that drew her into conflict with President Obama's Senior Advisers. The First Lady said she's tired of people stereotyping her as "some kind of angry black woman," and that the story of tensions between the East and West Wings are fictitious. Kantor, a New York Times correspondent, did not interview the President and Mrs. Obama for the book.

King visited the White House on Tuesday, and spoke to the First Lady in her East Wing office. Mrs. Obama said she hasn't read the book, but characterized Kantor's reporting as "a game, in so many ways, that doesn't fit."



"I never read these books. There are so many books that have my picture on the cover, my name on it, I don't even know what's going on," Mrs. Obama said. "Who can write about how I feel? What third person can tell me about how I feel?"

The First Lady has had little contact with her husband's Senior Advisors, she said, and put to rest the idea that there were problems with two in particular, former Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel and Press Secretary Robert Gibbs.

"I do care deeply about my husband," Mrs. Obama said. "I am one of his biggest allies. I am one of his biggest confidants." But she debunked "this notion that I sit in meetings."

"I don't have conversations with my husband's staff. I don't go to the meetings," Mrs. Obama said. "I guess it's more interesting to imagine this conflicted situation here, a strong woman. But that's been an image that people have try to paint of me since the day that Barack announced, that I'm some angry black woman."

King asked specifically about an assertion of trouble between the First Lady and Emanuel, now the Mayor of Chicago. Mrs. Obama said she has "never had a cross word" with Emanuel.

"Rahm is -- and Amy, his wife, are some of our dearest friends," Mrs. Obama said.

Mrs. Obama joined Emanuel in Chicago last October for the first-ever Let's Move! Food Desert Summit.

The book reports that Gibbs cursed Mrs. Obama during a meeting dealing with the fallout from a book written by her French counterpart, Carla Bruni Sarkozy, which claimed that Mrs. Obama said living in the White House "was hell."

Mrs. Obama says she hadn't heard that at the time, and that Gibbs "is a trusted advisor. He's been a good friend and remains so."

"I can count the number of times I go over to the West Wing, period," Mrs. Obama said.

Kantor includes a chapter titled "The Lady Who Did Not Lunch," devoted to portraying Mrs. Obama as a reluctant First Lady who bristled at the demands and constraints of life in the White House, and writes that she did not want to attend events that are typically part of the First Lady's job, such as the annual Congressional Spouses Luncheon, which Mrs. Obama has attended each year since her husband became President, and will attend again this Spring.

"I love this job. It has been a privilege from day one," Mrs. Obama said.

She told King that there are plenty of challenges for the First Family, however.

"Now, there are challenges with being a mother and trying to keep your kids sane," Mrs. Obama said. "And I worry a lot about that. I mean, if there's any anxiety that I feel, it's because I want to make sure that my girls come out of this on the other end whole. But me, Barack, we're grown-ups. You know, all the ups and downs, we take it on."

Speaking with her co-anchors after the interview, King did not conceal that she is a personal friend of Mrs. Obama's, and praised the First Lady for not canceling the interview, which King said was scheduled months ago.

"We reached out to the First Lady before Christmas," King said.

The White House issued a statement last week characterizing the book as an "overdramatization of old news," and a briefing on Monday was devoted largely to battling the idea that parts of the Presidential Halloween party in 2009 were kept secret from the media. Not so, said the White House.

Kantor interviewed Gibbs for the book, along with 32 other current and former White House aides, including Senior Advisor Valerie Jarrett and Mrs. Obama's then-Chief of Staff Susan Sher.

*CBS video

White House Calls Baloney On "The Obamas"

The White House has already pushed back against "The Obamas," a new book by journalist Jodi Kantor that hits stores on Jan. 10. Kantor last interviewed the Obamas for a magazine article in 2009, but says she spoke with more than 30 current and former aides for the book, which details contentious relationships between First Lady Obama and President Obama's Senior Advisors, as well as Mrs. Obama's influence over her husband's presidency. The book is an "overdramatization of old news," according to the White House.

Kantor frames the book as an analysis of Mrs. Obama's "transformation" from Campaign Trail Wife to First Lady, and suggests she used her influence to protect what she regarded as her husband's vision, which led to clashes with staff, and what sounds like a war between the East and West Wings. According to Kantor's book excerpt in The New York Times, Mrs. Obama had especially uncomfortable relationships with the President's first Press Secretary Robert Gibbs, and with first Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, both now out of the White House.

The First Lady believed that "Mr. Obama’s advisers were too insular and not strategic enough," writes Kantor, and continues:

The first lady never confronted the advisers directly — that was not her way — but they found out about her displeasure from the president. “She feels as if our rudder isn’t set right,” Mr. Obama confided, according to aides.

Rahm Emanuel, then chief of staff, repeated the first lady’s criticisms to colleagues with indignation, according to three of them.

As tensions rose early in the Administration, Kantor reports that the First Lady's office became cut off from the rest of the White House, and aides began "referring to the East Wing as 'Guam' -- pleasant but powerless."

“The book, an overdramatization of old news, is about a relationship between two people whom the author has not spoken to in years," White House spokesman Eric Schultz said in a statement on Friday.

"This is the author’s take, reflecting her own opinions...The emotions, thoughts and private moments described in the book, though often seemingly ascribed to the President and First Lady, reflect little more than the author’s own thoughts," said Schultz.

"These second-hand accounts are staples of every Administration in modern political history and often exaggerated.”

Emanuel is now Mayor of Chicago, and Mrs. Obama joined him last October for the first-ever Let's Move! Food Desert Summit.

The closing paragraphs of the Times excerpt describe Mrs. Obama's toast at the President's 50th birthday party at the White House in August of 2011. Kantor describes the toast as "a stemwinder:"

As the sun faded, the 150 guests — friends, celebrities, officials — sat on the South Lawn, listening to the first lady describe her version of Barack Obama: a tireless, upright leader who rose above Washington games, killed the world’s most wanted terrorist and still managed to coach his daughter Sasha’s basketball team. The president, looking embarrassed, tried to cut her off, several guests said, but she told him he had to sit and listen.

She also thanked him for putting up with how hard she had been on him. At that line, a few of the advisers glanced at each other in recognition.

Obama Foodorama's Marian Burros has more on "The Obamas," here next week...