Yonker‘ Free Pre‘‘ MONDAY MARCH 2, 2020 - BRIAN HARROD PUBLISHER EDITOR Kevin Madden started out in local government and campaigns in Yonkers and was a rising star in the Republican Party until Mitt Romney ’ s two presidential loses caused the spokesman to gravitate to cable Happy Birthday To Yonkers Native And Republican Political Commentator Kevin Madden A Happy 48th birthday to Kevin Madden, who is a is an American pundit or public relations professional in newspapers and magazines and ap- pears regularly on television news and talk shows, largely on cable news. He was a senior advisor to and spokesman for Mitt Romney ’ s 2012 U.S. presidential campaign. After graduating from college in 1994, Madden went to work for the Yonkers City Council, working for Councilman Carlo DiNota. He soon became the spokesman for family friend John Spencer ’ s suc- cessful 1996 Yonkers mayoral cam- paign. After helping Spencer win re- election, Madden moved to Washing- ton, D.C. and, beginning in 2001, be- came senior policy advisor and chief spokesman for Congressman John E. Sweeney. By the mid 2000s, Madden had had several public relations positions for Republicans in federal govern- ment, including as press secretary for House Republican leadership for Ma- jority Leader Tom DeLay and later Majority Leader John Boehner. In 2003, the Irish Voice described Madden ’ s growing stature in the GOP as " further proof of the heavy influence New York Irish Americans have in the Republican party " In 2004 he joined the George W. Bush presidential campaign and as one of a handful of national spokespersons Later he was appointed Deputy Director of Public Affairs for the George W. Bush administration De- partment of Justice. Betting The Farm On Mitt Romney ’ s Failed Campaigns Kevin Madden began working for Mitt Romney ’ s 2008 presidential campaign in 2007, soon with the joint titles ’ National Press Secretary ’ and ’ Senior Communications Strategist ’ During her 2008 campaign, Er- ick Erickson claimed " one of the biggest pushers of anti-Palin sto- ries...was Romney spokeshack Kevin Madden " John McCain won the Republican (GOP) nomination. As Romney was securing the nom- ination in July 2012, Politico reported that Madden, " would be expected to be named White House spokesman. " Following Romney ’ s 2012 loss, Madden pointed to immigration in particular as " a missed opportunity for Romney " Yonkers Free Press MONDAY MARCH 2, 2020 - BRIAN HARROD PUBLISHER EDITOR 2 A Social Media Horror Story Kevin Madden just did get " that social media thing " and could not get Mitt Romney on voter ’ s smart phones like successful do. A study released by University of North Carolina journalism professor Daniel Kreiss found that the hierar- chy and bureaucracy inside the Rom- ney campaign was far higher than on President Obama’s political team. The findings came from extensive interviews with Romney and Obama campaign staffers. “Whether it was a tweet, Face- book post, blog post, photo any- thing you could imagine it had to be sent around to everyone for ap- proval,” said Caitlin Checklett, the digital integration director for the Romney campaign. “Towards the end of the cam- paign, that was 22 individuals who had to approve it. The digital team unfortunately did not have the oppor- tunity to think of things on their own and post them.” The Obama campaign could make decisions far faster and react with more autonomy. Kevin Madden was known for supervising the best tweets ever written by 22 people. Many Traditional Media Appearances Since then Kevin Madden has appeared on dozens of episodes of many political discussion programs on American cable news programs. His profile at a speaker agency states: " Madden is regularly called upon to serve as a commentator on the media and politics on net- work news shows as well as CNN, Fox News Channel, MSNBC, CNBC, Bloomberg and the BBC among oth- ers. Kevin Madden ’ s TV appearances include Hardball with Chris Matthews, Larry King Live, Verdict with Dan Abrams, The Situation Room, Meet the Press, Morning Joe and local television programs. Madden ’ s Personal Life And Future Prospects Kevin Madden often alludes to his childhood in Yonkers and says he is a proud a Yankees fan and Irishman. His Galway-born father and Tyrone-born mother emigrated from Ireland in the early 1960s. His father was an auto mechanic, his sister works in journalism, and his brother is a lawyer. Madden attended parochial Ro- man Catholic schools. He attended Morrisville State College in 1992, and earned an un- dergraduate degree in communication studies from the State University of New York at Cortland in 1994. On November 22, 2003, Madden married Jaclyn Norris, then legisla- tive director for Congressman Ric Keller and former intern for Senator Rick Santorum. Norris continued employment in a range of Congressional staff assign- ments until 2007. The couple has three sons. And Kevin Madden ’ s next po- litical chapter will probably not be written until after President Don- ald Trump leaves office, because Mitt Romney was the lone Republican vot- ing for impeachment. Madden often cites his " pro-life " identification as a big reason for his affiliation as a Republican. Kevin Madden and the GOP may have to do some soul searching and take a new direction with some better talking points.