The Political Life – Détails, épisodes et analyse

Suzanne Swink is Vice President of Government Relations for KORE Power, the leading U.S.-based developer and manufacturer of battery cell technology for the clean energy industry. In this role, she is responsible for the company’s legislative and regulatory strategy for federal and state affairs, community engagement, and sustainability.  Ms. Swink joined KORE Power from bp, where she spent the better part of 12 years as a government affairs and strategic communications leader. She has nearly 20 years of government, advocacy, and policy communications expertise.  Prior to joining bp, Suzanne was Senior Legislative Assistant to Congresswoman Susan A. Davis (D-CA) and served as the Congresswoman’s lead advisor on a broad domestic portfolio, including energy, environment, infrastructure, trade, tax and judiciary issues.  She received her bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Southern Mississippi and her master’s in public relations and corporate communications from Georgetown University, where she also serves as adjunct faculty. Suzanne currently serves on the Board of Trustees for the American Council of Young Political Leaders, the Board of the Public Affairs Council, and is a past president of Women in Government Relations.

Today we are joined by bestselling historian and Pulitzer Prize finalist Garrett M. Graff who has spent two decades covering politics, technology, and national security, and is now recognized as one of the nation’s most prolific and wide-ranging journalists and historians. His award-winning work—including nine books on topics ranging from presidential campaigns, Watergate, 9/11, and cybersecurity, to D-Day and the U.S. government’s Cold War Doomsday plans, as well as dozens of magazine articles, essays, podcasts, and documentaries—uses history to explain the story of today, illuminating where we’ve been as a country and where we’re headed as a world. Today, he’s a columnist for the Washington Post, where he writes on leadership, serves as the director of cyber initiatives at the Aspen Institute, and hosts the history podcast, "Long Shadow," which this year received a 2024 Edward R. Murrow Award. The former editor of POLITICO Magazine and a longtime contributor to WIRED and CNN, he’s written for publications like Esquire, Rolling Stone, Vanity Fair, and Foreign Affairs, and authored nine books—including the #1 national bestseller "The Only Plane in the Sky: An Oral History of 9/11," and the New York Times bestseller "Watergate: A New History," which was a finalist in 2023 for the Pulitzer Prize in History. His most recent books include "UFO: The Inside Story of the US Government’s Search for Alien Life Here—and Out There" and "When the Sea Came Alive: An Oral History of D-Day." Graff is a regular voice and analyst on NPR, PBS NewsHour, the History Channel, speaker at high-profile venues like corporate conferences, presidential libraries, and the Aspen Ideas Festival, and taught journalism and social media at Georgetown University for nearly a decade. Among other multimedia, TV, and film projects, he was executive producer of “While the Rest of Us Die,” a two-season VICE TV series based on his book "Raven Rock," and a consulting producer on the blockbuster Netflix documentary “Turning Point,” about the Cold War.

As Vice President and General Counsel, Carl analyzes, advocates, and testifies on tech-related legislative and regulatory initiatives relevant to online companies. Carl is also an adjunct professor of internet law at the George Mason Antonin Scalia Law School.  Before joining NetChoice, Carl was an intellectual property attorney at the lawfirm of Wildman, Harrold, Allen & Dixon where he advised clients on privacy, Internet, e-commerce, and contractual matters. He also worked at the lawfirms of Venable and Arnold & Porter.  Before law school, Carl worked at the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) on the staff of Commissioner Orson Swindle, where he helped create and implement the FTC’s Consumer Information Security Outreach Plan and assisted the White House in establishing the National Strategy for Cyber Security. Carl obtained his J.D. and Communications Law Certificate from the Catholic University of America, magna cum laude, and Carl obtained his B.A. in Economics, Managerial Studies, and Policy Studies from Rice University. Carl is licensed to practice law in Washington, DC and is a Certified Information Privacy Professional (CIPP/US) and has been recognized as a “Tech Titan” by the Washingtonian.

Scott Talbott is Senior Vice President of Government Affairs at the Electronic Transactions Association (ETA) in Washington, D.C. and is responsible for its governmental strategies, and directing ETA’s all of policy and advocacy efforts. Talbott has over twenty years of experience advocating for the financial services and FinTech industries. 

He has received numerous accolades in his tenure, including being named a top lobbyist by The Hill for eleven years in a row from 2009 to 2020, as well as a “winner” for his work during the economic crisis of 2008 by Washingtonian magazine. In 2010, he appeared in the Oscar-winning film “Inside Job.”

Once named NPR’s favorite bank lobbyist and the voice of the financial services industry, he frequently testifies before U.S Congress, in state capitols, and the Canadian Senate, and is a regular contributor to both national and international media. Talbott received his B.A. from Georgetown University, cum laude, and his J.D. from George Mason University School of Law.

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Martin B. Gold is a partner with Capitol Counsel, LLC. He has over 40 years of legislative and private practice experience, and is a recognized authority and author on matters of congressional rules and parliamentary strategies, and U.S. policy in Asia.

He frequently advises senators and their staff and serves on the adjunct faculty at George Washington University. Before domestic business, professional, and academic audiences, he speaks about Congress as well as political and public policy developments. Gold has been a guest lecturer at Tsinghua University, the Beijing Foreign Studies University, the Beijing International Studies University, Moscow State University, the Moscow State Institute of International Relations, the State Parliament of Ukraine, and the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation.

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Stacey Johnson-Batiste is the author of Friends from the Beginning, which celebrates the dear friendship and shared experience between Stacey and her close, childhood friend Vice President Kamala Harris.
 
Growing up together in Berkeley in the ’60 and '70s, Stacey and Kamala were born of a time and place bursting with cultural diversity and freedom of expression. This memoir provides a candid, colorful, look at the formative years during which Stacey and Kamala shared and experienced an inclusive environment of community support, love, and non-traditional education—set against the backdrop of roiling political tension, demonstrations held frequently on and around the U.C. Berkeley campus and People's Park, and bold expressions from people from all walks of life.
 
Friends from the Beginning also offers readers a window into Kamala's mother, Shyamala—as observed by Stacey—the brave woman who set the future Vice President on a path of many firsts. While that path was not always easy, Shyamala’s light and legacy shines through on these pages. In addition, Johnson-Batiste introduces several other essential formative figures who informed their early lives and whose influences have played a role in shaping the character of both the author and of our Vice President.
 
Friends from the Beginning is a story of enduring friendship, life lessons described in bright, loving detail, and the courage, sacrifice, and dedication to shared values that have sustained their friendship for decades.

Stacey is a National Sales Channel Manager at AT&T. She received her Bachelor of Science degree in Organizational Behavior from the University of San Francisco and was an honoree featured in CRN Magazine’s "The Power 100: The Most Powerful Women in the Channel" in 2018. 

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John Russell is a member of Dentons' Public Policy practice. Focusing on federal advocacy and strategic communications, John worked for nearly a decade on Capitol Hill, serving on the leadership staffs of a speaker, a House majority whip and the chairman of the House Campaign Committee. In his career, John has worked both extensively and effectively in the legislative, communications and campaign arenas.

Described by the National Journal's Richard Cohen as experienced and discreet, John has built and maintained strong relationships with members of Congress, as well as committee and personal office staffs. His strong and nuanced working knowledge of the policy, political and personal aspects of Washington, DC, allows him to design winning strategies to accomplish dynamic policy and market objectives. John was named a Top Lobbyist for 2018, 2019 and 2020 by The Hill newspaper.

John is devoted to improving literacy in California, Ohio and Washington, DC, and has served numerous nonprofits as a volunteer to help children improve reading skills.

John's sends out a weekly email - Washington on One Page - which captures what happened over the last week in DC, and what's coming in the week ahead. You can sign up by emailing him at john [dot] russell [at] dentons.com. 

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Shawn Day is a Senior Director of Public Affairs at Capital Results – a Virginia-based full-service public affairs and business consulting firm helping a wide range of companies, associations and government entities achieve their public policy and business goals.

Shawn directs integrated communications strategies designed to raise political and public support for clients primarily in the healthcare, technology and energy industries. His background in journalism and understanding of complex public policies provide a unique perspective on crafting effective campaigns to help clients achieve their goals.

Shawn oversees media relations, stakeholder outreach and strategic communications to build coalitions and foster a favorable environment for clients’ business objectives. He manages clients’ relationships with news reporters and opinion leaders, as well as nonprofit groups, trade associations, public policy think-tanks, and civic and business organizations. Shawn has extensive experience conducting in-depth policy research and analysis, and he works with regulatory and government affairs teams to shape messaging, media strategy and other aspects of strategic communications plans.

Prior to joining Capital Results, Shawn worked at The Virginian-Pilot, where he served as the lead editorial writer on state government and politics. He previously served as a news reporter at The Virginian-Pilot, the Daily Press and at newspapers in Oregon and Arizona, and he has written about a variety of issues at the local, state and federal levels. Shawn also is an adjunct professor at Thomas Nelson Community College, where he teaches composition and persuasive writing courses.

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This week we discuss the New Jersey Governor's race with Gerry Gibbs, a founding principal at the Trenton, New Jersey-based Capital Impact Group (CIG).

Gerry’s areas of focus are business development and financial services where he utilizes his extensive networks and expertise on behalf of his clients.

Prior to founding CIG, Gerry held high-level positions at the New Jersey Department of Treasury, serving under as Assistant State Treasurer and Director of the Legislative Affairs Unit which assists and oversees the annual budget process.  Working with Republicans and Democrats alike, the legislative unit also handled legislator’s constituent requests.  While at Treasury, he helped implement the State Alternative Investment Program which invested a portion of the State’s $70 billion pension portfolio to outside money managers and oversaw the Division of Public Finance, Pensions and Investments.

He was a presidential appointee in the Clinton Administration, serving in the U.S. Department of Labor in the Secretary’s public affairs office where he was responsible for preparation of briefing materials for use by department officials; and in the U.S. Department of Commerce where he was responsible for the advance planning for all logistic arrangements for domestic and international travel for the Secretary of Commerce.

He has extensive political campaign experience serving as senior adviser to legislative and gubernatorial candidates, political director in New Jersey for the presidential campaign of Al Gore, and national advance staff member for President William J. Clinton’s re-election campaign.

Most recently, Gerry served as part of an informal policy team to then Gubernatorial Candidate Ambassador Phil Murphy and after the campaign served as member of the Governor-Elect’s Budget Transition Team.

Gerry started his professional career as a legislative assistant for Congressman Donald M. Payne for four years. He founded the New Generation Leadership PAC, a bipartisan organization which raised money for and supported progressive congressional candidates.

A graduate of Howard University with a BA in Political Science, Gerry also holds Series 7 and 63 securities licenses and is a founding principal at Capital Impact Group.

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We are joined this week by Rich Gold, who is a Partner at Holland & Knight, one of the largest lobbying firms in D.C., where he serves as a leader of the firm’s Public Policy and Regulation team.

Rich provides us with a real-time update on reconciliation, the infrastructure package, and more. 

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