Guest Biographies

Photo of Joe Trippi

Heralded on the cover of The New Republic as the man who “reinvented campaigning,” Joe Trippi has been at the forefront of movement politics for nearly 40 years. Trippi began his political career working on Edward M. Kennedy’s presidential campaign in 1980 and has worked on numerous presidential, gubernatorial, senate, and congressional campaigns ever since. Most recently, Trippi was a senior strategist on Doug Jones’ historic victory in Alabama, helping elect the first Democrat U.S. Senator in Alabama in 25 years. Trippi wrote the ads and helped build the campaign strategy which was recognized with 7 Reed Awards and 3 Pollie Awards, including the “Best in Show” award for a Democratic Campaign. Trippi helped engineer a number of groundbreaking House victories for Representatives Ro Khanna, Tulsi Gabbard, Mark Takano, and Seth Moulton. In 2014, Trippi advised and produced the ads for Seth Moulton in one of the biggest upsets of the year, beating 18-year incumbent John Tierney. One ad, “Re-elect,” propelled Seth to victory and was named “the best […] of the primary ads.” In 2010, Trippi was a senior strategist and media consultant in Jerry Brown’s successful run for California Governor. The campaign’s ads were described as “clever” and “amazing,” and they were widely considered some of best of 2010. TIME magazine named one ad, “Echo,” the best ad of 2010, and the Brown ads received four “Pollie” awards for excellence in political media.n 2004, as the National Campaign Manager for Howard Dean’s presidential campaign, Trippi pioneered the use of online technology to organize what became the largest grassroots movement in presidential politics. Through his innovative use of the Internet for small-donor fundraising, “Dean for America” raised more money than any Democratic presidential campaign to that point – all with donations averaging less than $100. (From TNR Campaigns).