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Joel Benenson
| Joel Benenson | |||
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| Basic facts | |||
| Organization: | Benenson Strategy Group | ||
| Role: | Co-founder and CEO | ||
| Location: | New York, N.Y. | ||
| Affiliation: | Democratic | ||
| Education: | Queens College | ||
| Website: | Official website | ||
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Joel Benenson is the co-founder and CEO of the Benenson Strategy Group, a New York-based strategy firm.[1] A former beer distributor and journalist, Benenson was chief strategist and pollster for Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign.
Benenson's chief work on the Hillary Clinton campaign was in crafting campaign strategy based on the polling he and other strategists perform. He has previously worked as a pollster for Presidents Bill Clinton (D) and Barack Obama (D). Benenson was one of the leaders of the 2012 Obama campaign's efforts to combine traditional polling and highly specific voter data to assess the electorate.
Early career and campaigns
Joel Benenson initially worked as a beer distributor in New York after leaving Queens College 12 credits shy of a bachelor's degree. Benenson performed avant garde theater in New York and then returned to Queens to finish his degree in 1979. In the 1980s, as he explained to Queens College's Newswire, "I decided out of the blue that I wanted to be a journalist and didn’t want to be a beer distributor." He became a reporter and then Albany bureau chief for the New York Daily News.[2][3]
He began participating in politics in 1994 as a communications director for New York Gov. Mario Cuomo's (D) re-election.[4][5] During the Cuomo campaign, Benenson first worked with David Axelrod, the chief strategist for Obama's two presidential campaigns. In 2009, Cuomo explained that he wanted Benenson to work for him because of his toughness: "Joel was a tough guy, strong-willed. Joel's candor is a valuable asset."[6]
In the 1996 election cycle, Benenson conducted polls for former President Bill Clinton's (D) presidential campaign.[7][2] He explained to David Axelrod, on the podcast The Axe Files, that he initially wanted to be a media consultant but was drawn to polling because he was drawn to "having the numbers, having the data, being able to translate that into a story." He also said that his experience on the Clinton campaign "was a great education ... that was my Harvard and my Yale."[8]
Benenson Strategy Group
In 2000, Benenson co-founded the Benenson Strategy Group, whose clients include Toyota, Bank of America, the NFL, ESPN, Campbell's, MSNBC, Walmart, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, AARP and Southwest Airlines, among others.[9]
The company also works with electoral campaigns. In 2002, Benenson was a strategist for New Jersey Gov. James McGreevey's (D) gubernatorial campaign. A 2009 profile in the Newark Star-Ledger outlined Benenson's duties with McGreevey:[6]
| “ | In McGreevey's early days, Benenson was dispatched to try to get reporters off the controversy over the then-governor's unqualified homeland security adviser, Golan Cipel. It was futile, and McGreevey eventually resigned because of an affair he said he'd had with Cipel.[10] | ” |
Benenson then worked with Rep. Anthony Weiner's (D) 2005 New York mayoral campaign.[11] As the campaign's pollster, Benenson stated that Weiner's runner-up finish was because of growing support in minority communities. He told The New York Times that "the [election] results confirmed his own surveys that had Mr. Weiner growing in popularity beyond his base of white voters, drawing double-digit support from blacks and Hispanics.[12]
According to The New Yorker, "Benenson was deeply involved in helping Democrats win in the 2006 midterm elections."[13] He was a strategist for Bob Menendez's (D) U.S. Senate campaign.[6] After the elections, Benenson said that polling showing high Democratic favorability proved that the voters wanted Democrats to have more say in governing the country. He told USA Today, "They expect the Democratic Party to have influence with the president. They want things to get done. They think the Democrats can help make that happen."[14] According to the Newark Star-Ledger, it was also in 2006 when "he saw the push for change in his poll results."[6]
Obama presidential campaigns
In 2008, Benenson was hired by Barack Obama's presidential campaign as a pollster.[4] At the time of his hiring, a campaign source told Talking Points Memo that Benenson's work in the 2006 elections was part of his appeal for the campaign. The source said, "He [Benenson] won eight of the ten races that he was working on -- three in which Republican incumbents were defeated. He's one of the best out there. We absolutely wanted to have him on board."[15] According to CBS News, Benenson was the lead pollster for the campaign and remained a pollster for Obama into his first term in office. CBS reported, "On the campaign, other former staffers say, Benenson was an early voice against two pieces of conventional wisdom: The notion that experience would be a meaningful issue in the contest between Obama and Clinton; and the idea that John McCain brought a well-defined brand to the contest. Instead, Obama shifted the primary to the terrain of change, and defined McCain early on as the lobbyist-dominated heir to George W. Bush."[16]
Benenson was hired again for President Obama's 2012 re-election campaign.[1] According to Kenneth Walsh of U.S. News and World Report, Obama's success in 2012 was largely due to the efforts of Benenson and what the campaign called "the ethnography project." Benenson took 100 undecided voters who "were asked to go to a special website and answer 8 to 10 questions about their everyday activities on six occasions over a 16-day period." These same voters then participated in a 2 1/2-hour question-and-answer session "about their routines, their families, their concerns about the present and their hopes and fears about the future." This information was combined with regular polling to give the campaign an accurate portrait of the electorate. According to Walsh:[17]
| “ | Team Obama devoted unprecedented attention to what the president's strategists called 'the ethnography project,' studying the electorate in exhaustive and minute detail. In the end, Obama and his strategists had a lot better understanding of the public, especially Middle America, than the strategists of Republican nominee Mitt Romney.[10] | ” |
Hillary Clinton presidential campaign, 2016
Benenson was announced as chief strategist and pollster for Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign in January 2015. The Washington Post noted that Benenson would be focusing more on strategy and that polling responsibilities would be divided between the Benenson Strategy Group and two former Obama campaign veterans: John Anzalone and David Binder.[1] Benenson's previous work with Obama overlapped with that of Jim Margolis, who works as the media advisor for Clinton's 2016 campaign.[18][7]
Electoral strategy
The website for Benenson Strategy Group explains their method as aiming to "uncover and clarify the deeply-held values that shape decision frames and choices."[19] In a March 2016 interview with Politico, Benenson spoke on what he thinks makes a candidate electable: "Look, in the American--in presidential elections I've always said--and I've been in a few of them, as you know--I believe voters in presidential elections, more so than any other election, who you are is going to come through to them as people. And they're going to see who you are. You're not going to fake anybody out in these elections."[20]
In the same interview, Benenson also spoke about the Republican Party and how the tone of the primary election projected to the general election:[20]
| “ | You've got to differentiate between general electorate and the Republican Party. The dissatisfaction levels with Republican candidates among Republicans is the highest it has ever been in history, like that part is going through a fracture right now, that every day this goes on, you know, their angry, loud voices are not winning them support even in their own party, frankly, right now, and it's a real--it's beyond an identity crisis, when you have 52 percent of your people in your party would not be satisfied with any one of your leading candidates for president.[10] | ” |
| More on Hillary Clinton's 2016 campaign staff |
|---|
| Staff overview |
| • Clinton staff overview |
Management and strategy |
| • Robby Mook, Campaign manager • Joel Benenson, Chief strategist and pollster • Amanda Renteria, Political director • John Podesta, Campaign chairman • Huma Abedin, Vice chair |
Communications |
| • Jennifer Palmieri, Communications director • Jim Margolis, Media advisor |
Policy and outreach |
| • Jake Sullivan, Senior policy advisor • Marlon Marshall, Director of state campaigns and political engagement • Maya Harris, Senior policy advisor • LaDavia Drane, Congressional liaison |
Anticipated opposition for general election
Regarding possible attacks on Clinton from Republicans during the primary and general elections, Benenson stated: "If Republicans try to go after Hillary Clinton with the same kind of personal attacks that they have used in the past, they will only reinforce the worst characteristics of their current image."[21]
Speaking with The Washington Post in March 2016, Benenson commented on the Republican candidates, saying, "But when you come down to the big issues that we’re debating, every one of these Republicans is aligned with the most extreme policies of the Republican Party economically." Benenson went on to say, "They are on the wrong side of the majority of Americans on opposing comprehensive immigration reform, opposing marriage and anti-discrimination laws for LGBT Americans, and in continuing to deny climate change. They have their heads in the sand on social issues. Those are fights that we would welcome against any of these candidates."[22]
In May 2016, in reference to a potential general election against Donald Trump, Benenson told Bloomberg Politics that the Clinton campaign's chief strategy would be to use Trump's policy positions to influence voters. Benenson said, "We’re going to pin him down by taking him at his word, and making his words count."[23]
Comments on Clinton's unfavorability ratings
In a July 2016 interview with The Washington Post, prior to the Democratic National Convention, Benenson commented on Clinton's high unfavorability ratings nationally. He said, "We had a tough primary. We had a vigorous debate on the Democratic side. We only got the endorsement of our opponent in the last week. A lot of what we’ll see at the convention is unity, coalescing, and consolidation. The way Hillary Clinton’s favorable numbers will go up is, we’re going to be running against Donald Trump every day. We’re going to be drawing a contrast between who she fights for and what she stands for — against one of the most divisive, dangerous figures that the public has had as a major party presidential candidate probably in most Americans’ lifetimes."[24]
Comments on Clinton press conferences
When asked about why Hillary Clinton had held comparatively few press conferences during her 2016 presidential campaign, Benenson commented that the campaign had answered questions in interviews but had not emphasized press conferences, preferring to speak with voters. According to The Washington Post, Benenson said:[25]
| “ | She has answered hundreds, if not thousands, of questions from reporters in one-on-one interviews. ... She has done hundreds of interviews; she's doing them every week. You're setting up a standard that Donald Trump sets up of 'she hasn't had a press conference.' We'll have a press conference when we want to have a press conference. There's no problem with that. But the American people hear from her directly every day. They get to ask her questions every day. And she answers questions from journalists. She's been doing interviews for months on some of the toughest issues that have come up with her.[10] | ” |
Chan Zuckerberg Initiative
In August 2017, Benenson and his strategy group were hired to do polling for the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative—the philanthropy run by Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, physician Priscilla Chan. A spokesperson for the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative said the hiring was for polling on issues vital to the charity and not for politics, saying, "As a philanthropic organization focused on a number of substantive issues including science, education, housing, and criminal justice reform, any research efforts we undertake is to support that work."[26]
Media
See also
- Barack Obama
- Bill Clinton
- Hillary Clinton presidential campaign, 2016
- Hillary Clinton presidential campaign key staff and advisors, 2016
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 The Washington Post, "Hillary Clinton recruits chief strategist, media adviser for 2016 effort," January 13, 2015
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Benenson Strategy Group, "Joel Benenson," accessed June 19, 2015
- ↑ Queens College Newswire, "Yes, Obama Could," November 18, 2009
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 New York Times, "Obama Seldom Asks His Pollster to Play the Role of an Oracle," February 3, 2008
- ↑ MSNBC, "Emerging Clinton campaign draws heavily from Obama alumni," January 14, 2015
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 NJ.com, "Jersey pollster was unconventional choice for Obama campaign," April 19, 2009
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 New York Times, "Connecting the Dots Behind the 2016 Presidential Candidates," June 8, 2015
- ↑ CNN, "The Axe Files, Ep. 29- Joel Benenson," February 8, 2016
- ↑ Benenson Strategy Group, "Clients," accessed June 19, 2015
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ New York Times, "ON POLITICS; McGreevey's Tin Ear Begins to Hear the Music," August 18, 2002
- ↑ New York Times, "Runner-Up Says He Quit With No Quid Pro Quo," September 15, 2005
- ↑ The New Yorker, "Battle Plans," November 17, 2008
- ↑ USA Today, "Public expects the Democrats to deliver," November 14, 2006
- ↑ Talking Points Memo, "Obama Hires Clinton-Gore Pollster Joel Benenson," archived August 6, 2008
- ↑ CBS News, "Obama Maintains Polling Operation," April 3, 2009
- ↑ U.S. News and World Report, "Book: How Obama Used 'Ethnography Project' to Defeat Mitt Romney in 2012," May 2, 2013
- ↑ Politico, "The power players behind Hillary Clinton's campaign," May 26, 2015
- ↑ Benenson Strategy Group, "Uncover the Hidden Architecture of Opinion," accessed March 21, 2016
- ↑ 20.0 20.1 Politico, "Full transcript: POLITICO’s Glenn Thrush interviews Joel Benenson," March 14, 2016
- ↑ Politico Magazine, "How to Back Hillary Into a Corner," November/December 2014
- ↑ The Washington Post, "Hillary Clinton’s chief strategist: Sanders can’t win, and we’re ready to take down Trump," March 16, 2016
- ↑ Bloomberg, "Hillary Clinton Plans to Pin Down Donald Trump on Policy," May 16, 2016
- ↑ The Washington Post, "This will be a brutal presidential race. Clinton’s top strategist talks about what’s next," July 14, 2016
- ↑ The Washington Post, "Hillary Clinton’s campaign: ‘We’ll have a press conference when we want to have a press conference,’" July 28, 2016
- ↑ Politico, "Zuckerberg hires former Clinton pollster Joel Benenson," August 2, 2017
