Mandy Grunwald, Once and Future Clinton Consultant, Is a Pop Culture Archetype
WASHINGTON, DC - JUNE 13: Patti Solis Doyle, campaign manager; Ann Lewis. 2. (l-r) Neera Tanden; Milanne Verveer; Capricia Marshall, Minyon Moore; Huma Abedin. 3. Cheryl Mills; tamera Luzzatto; Mandy Grunwald; Lissa Muscatine. Photographed June 13, 2007 in Washington, DC.
Photographer: Melina Mara/Washington PostThe New York Times reported Friday that Mandy Grunwald is expected to join Hillary Clinton’s still-unofficial presidential campaign, as a senior advisor for communications. Grunwald has been working for another formidable female politician, as a top strategist to Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachussetts. With this move, Grunwald becomes yet another link between Clinton 2016 and Clinton 1992.
When Grunwald was a girl, on the Upper East Side and Martha's Vineyard, she used to make place cards to show Barbara Walters and Mike Wallace where to sit at the dinner table. Her father, Henry Grunwald, was the editor of Time magazine, and this was the kind of company he kept. “It actually was a great childhood for what I'm doing,” she said, in 1999, “because nobody intimidates you.” That's a useful character trait if you're a communications consultant, especially if your job involves consulting for a Clinton—or, as Grunwald has, both.