Wednesday, March 19, 2014

Ted Strickland to Head CAP's Lobbying Arm

Former Ohio Governor Ted Strickland said today (March 19) that he will become the President of the Center for American Progress Action Fund (CAPAF), the lobbying arm of the think tank Center for American Progress (CAP).  Strickland, who is a former Democratic congressman representing Ohio, will start his new position effective April 1, 2014.

Here is a CAPAF press release on the announcement, which also notes that Strickland will serve as Counselor to the Center American Progress.  CAPAF oversees the influential blog Think Progress and the CAP Action War Room, the group's advocacy communications hub.

Here is more on CAPAF and the Strickland move from the Huffington Post:
Strickland's move to CAP Action Fund ends a major shuffle of the organization's leadership. It also continues the tradition of attracting oft-rumored Democratic candidates to the powerful non-profit. When Strickland assumes the post on April 1, he will succeed Tom Perriello, a former congressman who chose to head the Action Fund amid speculation he'd run for Virginia governor. Perriello, who is leaving CAP Action Fund for the State Department, succeeded Jen Palmieri, who became communications director at the White House. Tara McGuinness, who was senior vice president of the Action Fund under Perriello, also departed for the White House.
The Action Fund may not be elected office. But it is an important piece of progressive real estate with the capacity to influence Democratic politics. ThinkProgress has more than 6 million unique readers per month, and its CAP Action War Room (under the Action Fund rubric) helps shape legislative debate on and off the Hill.
...Strickland's move to CAP Action is reminiscent of Jim DeMint leaving the Senate at the end of 2012 to take over the conservative Heritage Foundation. But Strickland is not in the Senate currently, and he's not taking over CAP itself, which remains headed by Neera Tanden. He also insisted he will use his perch in a less political fashion.

CAP has made other major personnel announcements this year, including naming Tom Daschle as Chairman of the Board of Directors of the think tank.

Last month, CAP announced that Chief of Staff and Senior Vice President Jessica O'Connell would be leaving the think tank to become the executive director of EMILY's List.  Lindsay Hamilton replaced her as Chief of Staff.

Strickland currently serves as a member of the Governors' Council at the Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC), a Washington, DC-based think tank.

CAP was recently ranked as the 10th best think tank in the United States and the 30th best think tank in the world by the annual University of Pennsylvania think tank rankings.