Joel Benenson

Joel Benenson (born July 24, 1952) is an American pollster and consultant known for his role as a strategist for Barack Obama's 2008 and 2012 presidential campaigns.^[1][2] He was the chief strategist for Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign.^[3]

Joel Benenson
Born	(1952-07-24) July 24, 1952 (age 72) New York City, New York, U.S.
Alma mater	Queens College, City University of New York
Occupation(s)	Pollster, political operative
Political party	Democratic

Early life

Benenson was born in New York City to a Jewish family. He grew up in Laurelton, Queens^[4] and Manhattan with his family. He attended Andrew Jackson High School in the late 1960s.^[4] Benenson is a Queens College graduate.^[5]

Career

He is the CEO of Benenson Strategy Group, a strategic consulting firm, and served as a communications and polling advisor to the White House for Barack Obama.^[6] He has been a strategist for U.S. senators, governors and mayors, as well as Fortune 500 companies. He was a pollster for the DCCC in 2006, when the Democrats won back the majority in the House of Representatives.^[7]

In 1995, he worked as a Political Journalist for the Daily News in New York^[8] and served as Communications Director for Governor Mario Cuomo’s 1994 campaign.^[9] He was previously a vice president at the New York ad agency FCB.^[10]

Benenson has served as a consultant to American companies and CEOs, including Procter & Gamble’s A.G. Lafley, General Electric’s Jack Welch and AOL’s Bob Pittman. He has helped corporate clients.^[11] He was a strategic researcher for Procter & Gamble's launch of Olestra, the fat substitute;^[12] he helped AOL manage its capacity crisis in the late 1990s and a New York City coalition block Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s plans for an Olympic stadium in Manhattan.^[13]

Benenson is also the co-founder of iModerate Research Technologies.^[14][15]

In January 2015, Hillary Clinton hired Benenson and Robby Mook as strategists.^[16]

The Israeli Blue and White political alliance appointed Benenson as its strategist for the September 2019 Israeli legislative election.^[17][18]

References

1. "Emerging Clinton campaign draws heavily from Obama alumni". MSNBC. 14 January 2015.
2. "Hillary Clinton recruits chief strategist, media adviser for 2016 and the reason why Hillary Clinton lost the 2016 electioneffort". The Washington Post.
3. "Hillary for America-Organization and Staff of Hillary Clinton's 2016 campaign".
4. Mishkin, Bud (November 8, 2016). "One on 1 Profile: Clinton Chief Strategist and Pollster Joel Benenson's Journey into Politics Included Intriguing Stops Along the Way". NY1Noticias.com. Retrieved 28 February 2019.
5. CAPUZZO, JILL (3 February 2008). "Obama Seldom Asks His Pollster to Play the Role of an Oracle". New York Times. Retrieved 17 August 2011.
6. C-SPAN Video Polling in the 2012 Election, 9/4/12
7. Goodspeed, Peter. "Pollster fine-tunes President's message." National Post, 19 June 2009
8. "Obama Seldom Asks His Pollster to Play the Role of an Oracle". The New York Times. 3 February 2008.
9. "President Counts on Jersey Pollster". Archived from the original on 2009-08-29. Retrieved 2012-11-07.
10. "Pass notes No 2,725: Joel Benenson". The Guardian. 8 February 2010.
11. Issenberg, Sasha (1 September 2012). "Why Campaign Reporters Are Behind the Curve". The New York Times.
12. "Benenson Strategy Group".
13. "LDI Health Policy Seminar with Joel Benenson – LDI". 11 February 2015.
14. "Joel Benenson, Co-Founder of iModerate, to Speak at the ARF Industry Leader Forum". 21 October 2008.
15. "Daily Research News Online no. 17780 – Kantar Snaps Up Obama Pollster BSG".
16. "Clinton brings in Mook, Benenson for likely team". Politico.
17. "יועץ חדש לכחול לבן: האיש שעומד מאחורי ההצלחות של אובמה". www.maariv.co.il. 9 July 2019. Retrieved 2019-07-12.
18. "היום הזה בזמן ההוא: מתדרכים נגד, פועלים בעד". כאן-תאגיד השידור הישראלי. Retrieved 2019-07-12.

External links

• Benenson Strategy Group
• Appearances on C-SPAN