UPDATE, Oct. 14: Dunn is in Williamsburg, VA, with President Obama as he prepares for his second debate at the luxurious Kingsmill Resort. Dunn is "playing" debate moderator Candy Crowley of CNN, according to a campaign official.***
The original post:
Former White House Communications Director Anita Dunn is helping President Obama prepare for his first Presidential Debate on Wednesday, according to a campaign spokesman. Dunn has played a role in First Lady Michelle Obama's Let's Move! campaign, albeit a negative one. In 2011, Dunn created a marketing blitz for a collective of powerful food and beverage industry corporations that joined forces to oppose the Obama Administration's proposed guidelines for voluntary limits on advertising unhealthy food and drink to children. (Dunn, center, in the Oval Office with the President in 2009)
After serving as Communications Director from April-November of 2009, Dunn became a lead in the consultancy SKDKnickerbocker, and it was under that umbrella that she spearheaded the campaign against the Administration from the "Sensible Food Policy Coalition." Members include PepsiCo, Viacom, Kellogg's, General Mills, Time Warner, the American Association of Advertising Agencies, and the Association of National Advertisers.
The standards that members of the coalition ultimately unveiled as part of another industry collective, the Children's Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative, were weaker than those proposed by the Obama Administration.
This not the first time Dunn has rejoined President Obama: Her firm also represents Georgetown law student Sandra Fluke, who became a spokesmodel for the campaign for women's health issues.
The nationally broadcast Debate will be held at the University of Colorado in Denver. President Obama is prepping for his debate at the Westin Lake Las Vegas Resort in Henderson, Nevada, a suburb of Las Vegas. The lavish resort has a Middle Eastern theme, and features a championship golf course overlooking the lake.
Also on hand for the debate camp are Sen. John Kerry, who is "playing" Mitt Romney, and Ron Klain, formerly chief of staff to Vice President Joe Biden and Al Gore. The President was also accompanied to Nevada by chief speechwriter Jon Favreau, economic advisor Gene Sperling, Chief of Staff Jack Lew, and Senior Advisor David Plouffe as well as his Press Secretaries.
The location of the debate camp was carefully selected, according to campaign Press Secretary Jen Psaki. The President has taken sixteen trips to Nevada since 2009, and eight trips this year.
"Henderson, as you know, is a suburb of Las Vegas," Psaki told reporters on Sunday. "This is a key state for us and for our campaign as we pursue our goal of winning 270 electoral votes. It's a place where we think the President's commitment to fighting for middle-class tax cuts, his commitment to remaining focused on improving the housing market....It's a place where people care deeply about having someone in office who will fight for comprehensive immigration reform in the White House."
"And it was an opportunity for us to spend some time in the state before early voting starts, as the voter registration deadline is approaching, and I expect he'll be doing that over the next couple of days."
*Photo by Pete Souza/White House
