Potomac Flacks: Biden Comms Director, Former Time DC Bureau Chief Carney Named New White House Press Secretary

January 28, 2011

Biden Comms Director, Former Time DC Bureau Chief Carney Named New White House Press Secretary

Jay Carney, the Communications Director for Vice President Joe Biden, has been named the new White House Press Secretary, replacing Robert Gibbs. Carney is expected to begin briefing duties in mid-February when Gibbs exits.

Carney was a journalist at Time magazine for 20 years, rising to the position of Washington Bureau Chief, before heading to the White House to work for then Vice President-elect Biden in 2008.

Carney is married to ABC News correspondent Claire Shipman and they have two children.

Most reporting describes the choice of Carney as an outsider (in that he was never part of the Obama inner circle) but also someone who has worked in the West Wing for the Vice President for two years. Carney is known to have strong relationships with the Washington press corps, of which he was recently a member, and he is described as less confrontational than Gibbs.

Carney was selected over other candidates, including internal White House candidates Bill Burton, Jen Psaki and Josh Earnest, and external candidates former DNC Communications Director Karen Finney, current DNC Communications Director Brad Woodhouse, Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell and Treasury Counselor Jake Siewert.

Carney will not receive the title of Counselor to the President, as Gibbs did, and will report to White House Communications Director Dan Pfeiffer.

Here’s how the major news organizations led their stories about Carney’s hiring:

NEW YORK TIMES: Jay Carney, the spokesman for Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. and a former Washington bureau chief for Time magazine, will become White House press secretary as part of a final flurry of personnel changes in a months-long makeover of the West Wing.

WASHINGTON POST: President Obama named ex-journalist Jay Carney as the next White House press secretary on Thursday, rounding out a broad personnel restructuring within the West Wing after the midterm elections.

WALL STREET JOURNAL: President Barack Obama named Jay Carney to be White House press secretary Thursday, elevating a former journalist to be a prominent public face of the administration.

LOS ANGELES TIMES: Jay Carney, the spokesman for Vice President Joe Biden, will replace Robert Gibbs as President Obama's press secretary, the White House announced Thursday.

USA TODAY: Jay Carney, the communications director for Vice President Biden, will be the new White House press secretary, chief of staff William Daley announced Thursday. Carney, 45, a former reporter for Time magazine, will replace spokesman Robert Gibbs when he leaves in mid-February.

POLITICO: President Barack Obama on Thursday named Jay Carney, communications director for Vice President Joe Biden and former Washington bureau chief for TIME magazine, to replace Robert Gibbs as White House press secretary.

Posted by Matt Mackowiak on January 28, 2011 in Administration , People , White House | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

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Matt Mackowiak - Site Manager
Matt Mackowiak is a Washington, D.C. and Austin,TX-based Republican strategist and communications consultant and President of Potomac Strategy Group, LLC. In his career he has managed a winning Congressional campaign and worked in the U.S. Senate, at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, at a leading international PR firm, on a presidential campaign in Iowa and in White House presidential advance. Follow him on Twitter - @MattMackowiak

Laura Gross - Contributor
Laura Gross is currently president of Scott Circle Communications. She has served as deputy director of communications at the DNC, was Gov. Howard Dean's Communications Director and she worked in the press office at USAID during the Clinton administration. Her experience also includes time in the PR department of National Public Radio and she was part of Vice President Gore's advance team when he was in The White House.
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Blain K. Rethmeier - Contributor
Blain K. Rethmeier is currently the Senior Vice President for Public Affairs for the American Insurance Association (AIA). Rethmeier joined AIA from the White House where he served as Special Assistant to the President for Communications and directed communications for the National Economic Council and Homeland Security Council. Prior to joining the White House, Rethmeier served as Press Secretary for the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Follow him on Twitter: @BlainR

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