Steve Hildebrand has the opportunity to become one of the highest-ranking openly gay members of a presidential administration if Sen. Barack Obama is elected this year.
Hildebrand has been with the campaign since before it officially formed, and currently serves as deputy national campaign manager.
“I was the Kool-Aid drinker from the beginning,” Hildebrand said, smiling during a recent trip to Atlanta.
Hildebrand grew up in a small South Dakota city best known for the Mitchell Corn Palace. He wears his graying hair in a buzz cut, and admits to feeling unfashionable at some of the campaign’s more trendy events. He doesn’t enjoy talking about himself and hates having his picture taken.
Hildebrand started in politics working for Democrats in western states. Quickly earning praise for his field operations skills, he ran the Gore Iowa Caucus campaign in 2000 and managed campaigns for Sen. Tom Daschle and Sen. Tim Johnson in his home state. He was also one of the first to talk about an Obama presidency.
“I was the one who was literally emailing 300 people Barack Obama clips every day for months, driving people crazy,” he said. “I then got connected with him and had a long series of meetings around a conference table trying to make sure that this made any sense.”
Find more after the jump...
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment