Alumnus creates TV ads for presidential candidate Hillary Clinton

After graduating from CESJDS, alumnus Daniel Maughan (‘06) went into the field of political campaign advertising, and is currently working on Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign.

In 2008, Maughan started interning with GMMB when the company was working for Barack Obama’s election campaign. GMMB is a company that helps politicians and other companies devise strategies to push their messages. In 2012, Maughan returned to GMMB for Obama’s reelection campaign. When Maughan learned that GMMB was working on Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign, he wanted to join.

“I think it’s time for our country to have a female president,” Maughan said. “I think she is the right person for the job. I think she’s qualified. I think she’s not perfect on a lot of things, but who is? She is the best to lead this country and continue Obama’s legacy.”

On the campaign, Maughan’s job is to create any form of paid media, including TV advertisements and online videos. Once the strategists have scripted the media, Maughan converts the scripts into advertisements. He does anything from filming the advertisements themselves to making sure that all aspects of the advertisement are licensed before being aired.

In 2016 alone, 120 TV advertisements that Maughan helped make have aired. Many of these advertisements have the same general content, but at the end they are tagged differently according to the particular audience the ad will appeal to on different airing dates. So far, Maughan has been enjoying the fast pace of this job.

“You always have to be on your toes which I really like,” Maughan said. “What we do is really interesting and seen by a lot of people … I think it’s a unique position to be in, being able to truly try to affect so many people with a message.”

While Maughan plans to continue working for the Clinton campaign for as long as the circumstances allow, he does not describe himself as someone who would always be working on election campaigns. After the campaign, Maughan plans on moving to New York and hopes to work in a field which he finds as meaningful as the Clinton campaign.

“It has been really gratifying and rewarding for me personally to be working on this,” Maughan said. “I want to find something back in New York that I really care about.”

Campaign specialist leads super PAC for Marco Rubio

Jon Lerner, father of sixth-grader Shevi Lerner, sophomore Lena Lerner and alumnus Eli Lerner (‘16), recently concluded his work with Marco Rubio’s presidential campaign.

Throughout his career, Lerner has been involved with dozens of election campaigns and has worked on polling and advertisement production. While working on Rubio’s campaign, Lerner was the media consultant and pollster for Rubio’s super Political Action Committee (PAC).

A super PAC is an organization that promotes a candidate, but is prohibited from working directly with the candidate.

There are two main organizations working on behalf of the candidate: the candidate’s campaign and the super PAC. The Rubio super PAC, which Lerner helped run, was called Conservative Solutions PAC. He found Rubio and his campaign motivating.

“Marco Rubio is a very inspiring guy, [and a] very good candidate, so it was very enjoyable working on his behalf,” Lerner said.

After Rubio dropped out of the race, Lerner started working with organizations that were opposed to Donald Trump’s candidacy. Now that Trump is the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, Lerner will not be working in the general election, or supporting Trump.

Throughout his many years working on election campaigns, Lerner has had the experience of working on President Bush’s reelection campaign in 2004 and Tim Pawlenty’s presidential election campaign in 2012. From his experiences, Lerner has learned about the amount of work and strategy that goes into the process.

“Campaigns are a lot of fun, too,” Lerner said. “Working on behalf of candidates or causes that you believe in, or working against candidates or causes that you want to see defeated for the good of the country can be very inspiring. It’s hard work, but it’s fun work.”

Foreign policy expert advises, fundraises for Rubio

Bonnie Glick, junior Jonathan Foldi’s mother, was listed as a delegate on the Maryland election ballot for Marco Rubio while he was in the race.

While working on the Rubio campaign, Glick was employed as a foreign policy advisor as well as a bundler, someone who agrees to raise money for the candidate’s election campaign. After Rubio dropped out, Glick continued her job as a foreign policy advisor to Ted Cruz and was a donor to the campaign prior to Cruz leaving the race.

In her experience with Rubio, Cruz and other presidential campaigns, including Mitt Romney’s and John McCain’s, Glick has come to a new understanding of how important the elections are.

“I’ve learned that you don’t always win but you never stop trying to win,” Glick said. “The stakes are very high.”

Glick sees great importance in this upcoming election for two reasons. The first is that she thinks the economy is in need of a boost in the form of a rationalized tax code, which will lead businesses to make more jobs. The second is that Glick is a strong supporter of Israel, and believes the Obama administration has abandoned Israel and that the Republican party has Israel’s best interests in mind.

Foreign policy is not something new to Glick, as she has 25 years of experience working in the field. After spending 13 years as an American diplomat, she spent the next 12 years working with Latin American companies and businesses. She used this experience in her work for election campaigns when writing policy recommendation papers for candidates. Glick has also hosted fundraisers and raised money from other donors, specifically when working on the Rubio campaign.

“The best part of working on an election campaign is rallying a group of like-minded people to take positions and to help a candidate formulate a position on issues that you believe are critically important to the future of your country,” Glick said.

Editor’s Note: Bonnie Glick is the mother of Jonathan Foldi, a member of The Lion’s Tale staff. Due to her unique position as an one of Marco Rubio’s employees, The Lion’s Tale Editorial Board decided it was important to include her in this article. Jonathan Foldi was not involved in the writing of this article.