“It’s also a chance to contrast himself with the other side… I used to say to Obama: Is this a referendum on the incumbent? The incumbent usually loses. If it’s a choice, the incumbent usually wins, and you start to set that choice up in this period.”
— Jim Messina, quoted by Politico, on the opportunity the State of the Union address presents for President BIden.
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Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.
Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.
Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.
Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.
Goddard is the owner of Goddard Media LLC.