Peter Daou (born 1965) is a Lebanese-American political activist, musician, and author. A former member of the Democratic Party and advisor to Hillary Clinton's 2008 campaign, Daou served as the campaign manager for Marianne Williamson's

presidential campaign A political campaign is an organized effort which seeks to influence the decision making progress within a specific group. In democracies, political campaigns often refer to electoral campaigns, by which representatives are chosen or referen ...

in the 2024 Democratic primaries for the month of April 2023, before joining the Independent

Cornel West Cornel Ronald West (born June 2, 1953) is an American philosopher, theologian, political activist, politician, social critic, and public intellectual. West was an independent candidate in the 2024 United States presidential election and is an ou ...

as campaign manager in September 2023.

Early life

Daou was born in

Beirut Beirut ( ; ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, just under half of Lebanon's population, which makes it the List of largest cities in the Levant region by populatio ...

and lived there for part of the

Lebanese Civil War The Lebanese Civil War ( ) was a multifaceted armed conflict that took place from 1975 to 1990. It resulted in an estimated 150,000 fatalities and led to the exodus of almost one million people from Lebanon. The religious diversity of the ...

. At 15, he says he was conscripted by the

Lebanese Forces The Lebanese Forces ( ') is a Lebanon, Lebanese Christianity in Lebanon, Christian-based political party and Lebanese Forces (militia), former militia during the Lebanese Civil War. It currently holds 19 of the 128 seats in Lebanon's Parliamen ...

, a Christian militia, and underwent three years of military training alongside his schooling. He attended the

American University of Beirut The American University of Beirut (AUB; ) is a private, non-sectarian, and independent university chartered in New York with its main campus in Beirut, Lebanon. AUB is governed by a private, autonomous board of trustees and offers programs le ...

, and amid ongoing strife in

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

, moved to New York to study philosophy at

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

. Daou's father was

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

and Daou was baptized into his father's faith. Daou is of

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

descent on his mother's side; his mother is an American who was born and raised in New York.

Career

Music

During the 1990s, Daou was a producer and keyboardist, appearing on hundreds of remixes and recordings by artists including

Björk Björk Guðmundsdóttir ( , ; born 21 November 1965), known mononymously as Björk, is an Icelandic singer, songwriter, composer, record producer, and actress. Noted for her distinct voice, three-octave vocal range, and eccentric public per ...

Frankie Knuckles Francis Warren Nicholls Jr. (January 18, 1955 – March 31, 2014), known professionally as Frankie Knuckles, was an American DJ, record producer, and remixer. He played an important role in developing and popularizing house music, a genre of mus ...

Miles Davis Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926September 28, 1991) was an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th century music, 20th-century music. Davis ado ...

Mariah Carey Mariah Carey ( ; born March 27, 1969) is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and actress. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Songbird Supreme" by ''Guinness World Records'', Carey is known for her five-octave voc ...

, and

Diana Ross Diana Ross (born Diane Ernestine Earle Ross March 26, 1944) is an American singer and actress. Known as the "Queen of Motown Records", she was the lead singer of the vocal group the Supremes, who became Motown#Major divisions, Motown's most suc ...

. A jazz pianist, he produced three #1 Billboard Club singles and was signed to

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American reco ...

and

Universal Music Group Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as Universal Music Group or Universal Music) is a Netherlands, Dutch–United States, American multinational Music industry, music corporation under Law of the Netherlands, ...

. He toured the U.S. and Europe, and was featured in ''

Vibe Vibe, alternatively '' vibes,'' is short for ''vibration''. A "vibe" is an emotional reaction to the aura or energy felt to belong to a person, place or thing. Vibe may also refer to: People * DJ Vibe (born 1968), Portuguese DJ * Lasse Vibe (b ...

'', ''

Spin Spin or spinning most often refers to: * Spin (physics) or particle spin, a fundamental property of elementary particles * Spin quantum number, a number which defines the value of a particle's spin * Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thr ...

'', ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'', and ''

Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...

''. He and then-wife

Vanessa Daou Vanessa Dale Daou (born October 4, 1967) is an American singer, songwriter, poet, visual artist and dancer. Most notably a musician, her work is known among nu jazz, trip hop and electronic music circles for her trademark spoken word and aspirat ...

also formed a New York City-based dance music group, and made a number of recordings in the 1990s, initially under the name The Daou and then under the solo name Vanessa Daou. Their 1992 debut single " Surrender Yourself" briefly reached number one on the ''

Dance Club Songs The Dance Club Songs (also known as National Disco Action, Hot Dance/Disco Club Play, and Hot Dance Club Play) was a chart published weekly between 1976 and 2020 by ''Billboard'' magazine. It used club disc jockeys set lists to determine the mos ...

chart. Daou also co-wrote and produced two other number one Billboard Dance Club singles, "Sunday Afternoons" and "Two To Tango." A 1994 album '' Zipless'' was a

concept album A concept album is an album whose tracks hold a larger purpose or meaning collectively than they do individually. This is typically achieved through a single central narrative or theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, or lyrical. Som ...

based on the novel ''

Fear of Flying Fear of flying is the fear of being on an aircraft, such as an airplane or helicopter, while it is in flight. It is also referred to as flying anxiety, flying phobia, flight phobia, aviophobia, aerophobia, or pteromerhanophobia (although aero ...

'' by Peter Daou's aunt

Erica Jong Erica Jong (née Mann; born March 26, 1942) is an American novelist, satirist, and poet known particularly for her 1973 novel ''Fear of Flying''. The book became famously controversial for its attitudes towards female sexuality and figured pro ...

Politics

Daou was an online communications adviser to the

John Kerry 2004 presidential campaign The 2004 presidential campaign of John Kerry, the longtime U.S. senator from Massachusetts, began when he formed an exploratory committee on December 1, 2002. On September 2, 2003, he formally announced his candidacy for the Democratic nomina ...

. In 2006, when he was hired as a consultant by the

Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, lawyer and diplomat. She was the 67th United States secretary of state in the administration of Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, a U.S. senator represent ...

campaign, ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' described him as "one of the most prominent political bloggers in the nation." According to ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'' in 2007, Daou was seen by early political bloggers "as the Yoda of the blogosphere because of the Daou Report, a comprehensive snapshot of the Web's blue and red blogs that he wrote until joining the Clinton campaign." He led Hillary Clinton's digital operation in her 2008 campaign and was an outspoken Clinton advocate in 2016. During the 2020 primaries, Daou penned an op-ed for ''

The Nation ''The Nation'' is a progressive American monthly magazine that covers political and cultural news, opinion, and analysis. It was founded on July 6, 1865, as a successor to William Lloyd Garrison's '' The Liberator'', an abolitionist newspaper ...

'' in which he implored Democrats, progressives, and leftists to move past their 2016 battles over the candidacy of

Bernie Sanders Bernard Sanders (born September8, 1941) is an American politician and activist who is the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States Senate, United States senator from the state of Vermont. He is the longest-serving independ ...

, uniting behind a shared goal of defeating Trump. In November 2019, he appeared on the Sanders campaign "Hear the Bern" podcast in support of the #NotMeUs movement. In March 2020, he explained on ''

The Intercept ''The Intercept'' is an American left-wing nonprofit news organization that publishes articles and podcasts online. ''The Intercept'' has published in English since its founding in 2014, and in Portuguese since the 2016 launch of the Brazilia ...

'' his support for Sanders and insights gained from past experience working for the Democratic Party's establishment. In 2019, Daou and his wife, Leela, became advisors to the progressive congressional campaigns of Lindsey Boylan (NY-10), Lauren Ashcraft (NY-12), Rebecca Parson (WA-06), and Melanie D'Arrigo (NY-03). In April 2020, Daou posted on Twitter that he was leaving the Democratic Party. On February 14, 2022, Daou posted a tweet where he denounced

capitalism Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their use for the purpose of obtaining profit. This socioeconomic system has developed historically through several stages and is defined by ...

and stated that he considers himself a non-specific "leftist". However, he views

David Graeber David Rolfe Graeber (; February 12, 1961 – September 2, 2020) was an American and British anthropologist, Left-wing politics, left-wing and anarchism, anarchist social and political activist. His influential work in Social anthropology, social ...

as an influence and sympathizes with

anarchism Anarchism is a political philosophy and Political movement, movement that seeks to abolish all institutions that perpetuate authority, coercion, or Social hierarchy, hierarchy, primarily targeting the state (polity), state and capitalism. A ...

. In April 2023, Daou announced that he was joining the presidential campaign of

Marianne Williamson Marianne Deborah Williamson (born July 8, 1952) is an American author, speaker, and political activist. She began her professional career as a spiritual leader of the Church of Today, a Unity Church in Warren, Michigan. Williamson has written s ...

as her campaign manager. He said he joined her campaign "because I've known her for years and deeply appreciate her lifelong dedication to helping people." In May 2023, Daou announced on Twitter that he was resigning from his position as campaign manager for Marianne Williamson's presidential campaign. A few days later in a joint statement with the campaign, he cited his and his wife Leela Daou's obligations to care for their ailing parents. On September 10, 2023, Daou became the campaign manager of 2024 Green Party presidential candidate

. Daou told ''New Yorker'' interviewer

Isaac Chotiner Isaac Chotiner (pronounced ) is an American journalist and interviewer, best known for his in-depth interviews with prominent political and cultural figures for ''The New Yorker''. He has been recognized for his probing interviewing style, which o ...

that "there has been a systemic eradication of all the routes that third parties can take, which is a violation of the Fourteenth Amendment. Let alone this constantly propagandistic vote shaming. Vote shaming is

voter suppression Voter suppression is the discouragement or prevention of specific groups of people from voting or registering to vote. It is distinguished from political campaigning in that campaigning attempts to change likely voting behavior by changing the o ...

." In October 2023, Daou described West's decision to leave the Green Party to run for president as an independent by saying West wanted "to be 100 percent laser-focused on people as opposed to the party process." On October 26, 2023, Daou announced via X (formerly Twitter) that he was resigning from West's campaign over "ongoing emotional distress" from the

Gaza war The Gaza war is an armed conflict in the Gaza Strip and southern Israel fought since 7 October 2023. A part of the unresolved Israeli–Palestinian conflict, Israeli–Palestinian and Gaza–Israel conflict, Gaza–Israel conflicts dating ...

, its effects in Gaza and the Biden administration's response.

Media

Daou served as the chief executive of Shareblue Media (now The American Independent) and the co-founder of the media platform Verrit, which was shut down in 2018. Daou and James Boyce claimed to have performed a founding role in the ''

Huffington Post ''HuffPost'' (''The Huffington Post'' until 2017, itself often abbreviated as ''HPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and covers ...

'' and said they were shut out of any profits from its sale to

AOL AOL (formerly a company known as AOL Inc. and originally known as America Online) is an American web portal and online service provider based in New York City, and a brand marketed by Yahoo! Inc. The service traces its history to an online ...

. A suit was filed in 2010 by Daou and Boyce, which was settled in 2014. Daou is the author of ''Digital Civil War: Confronting the Far-Right Menace''.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Daou, Peter 1965 births 20th-century American musicians American bloggers American campaign managers American chief executives American jazz pianists American male bloggers American people of Lebanese-Jewish descent American activists American record producers American University of Beirut alumni Lebanese emigrants to the United States Lebanese people of American descent Lebanese Roman Catholics Living people New York (state) Democrats New York University alumni Cornel West Marianne Williamson Hillary Clinton 2008 presidential campaign John Kerry 2004 presidential campaign People associated with the 2004 United States presidential election People associated with the 2008 United States presidential election People associated with the 2024 United States presidential election Lebanese people of Jewish descent