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Robert Creamer is an American political consultant, community organizer, and author. He is the husband of congresswoman
Jan Schakowsky Janice Schakowsky ( ; née Danoff; born May 26, 1944) is an American politician who has served as the United States House of Representatives, U.S. representative from since 1999. She is a member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democrat ...
, the Representative for Illinois's 9th congressional district. His firm, Democracy Partners, works with progressive electoral and issue campaigns and has 34 partners located throughout the United States. In 2006, Creamer pled guilty to bank fraud and failure to pay withholding taxes and was sentenced to five months in federal prison. Creamer has been a progressive strategist and political organizer for over 50 years, beginning during the
Civil Rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and political life of ...
and anti Vietnam War movements of the 1960s. He worked as an organizer with Saul Alinsky's last major project in Chicago. Later he founded and then led Illinois's largest coalition of progressive organizations and unions for twenty-three years. Creamer became a political consultant in 1997, and served as a consultant to the
Democratic National Committee The Democratic National Committee (DNC) is the governing body of the United States Democratic Party. The committee coordinates strategy to support Democratic Party candidates throughout the country for local, state, and national office, as well a ...
during the 2008, 2012, and 2016 Presidential election campaigns. In 2005, Creamer was one of the architects and organizers of the successful campaign to defeat the privatization of Social Security. He has also been a consultant to the campaigns to end the war in Iraq, increase the minimum wage, and pass progressive budget priorities, pass and defend the Affordable Care Act, oppose right wing judicial nominees, and pass comprehensive immigration reform.


Early life and education

Creamer was born in 1947. He graduated from
Duke University Duke University is a private research university in Durham, North Carolina. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco and electric power industrialist James ...
in 1969, writing his thesis, "''Duke Employees Local 77: Confrontation over Impartial Arbitration of Grievances''", about the AFSCME Local 77 union. He later did graduate work in Ethics and Society at the
University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...
. During his high school years, Creamer lived in
Shreveport, Louisiana Shreveport ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is the third most populous city in Louisiana after New Orleans and Baton Rouge, respectively. The Shreveport–Bossier City metropolitan area, with a population of 393,406 in 2020, is t ...
where he became involved in the civil rights movement. At Duke, he expanded his activity as a student activist organizing for civil rights, ending the
Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...
, and economic justice. Creamer helped organize "the Duke Vigil" after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. The silent "Vigil", which ultimately included thousands of students, demanded that Duke increase the pay of its mainly African American non-academic employees, take steps leading to the recognition of their union (Local 77 of AFSCME), and that the President of the university withdraw from the all-white Hope Valley Country Club. Soon after it began these demands were bolstered by a strike of the non-academic employee union and many in the Duke faculty. Four days after the Vigil began, the University Administration came to an agreement with the demonstrators that ultimately met the protester's demands. Creamer served as Chair of the Vigil Strategy Committee.


Career


Community organizing and political consultancy

Creamer began his organizing career in 1970 working with Chicago's Citizen Action Program (CAP), the last project of community organizer Saul Alinsky. At CAP, Creamer was trained by the organization's Executive Director, Peter Martinez. Creamer and Martinez are now both partners in the consulting firm Democracy Partners. During his tenure, CAP successfully campaigned to reduce the
sulfur dioxide Sulfur dioxide (IUPAC-recommended spelling) or sulphur dioxide (traditional Commonwealth English) is the chemical compound with the formula . It is a toxic gas responsible for the odor of burnt matches. It is released naturally by volcanic activ ...
in Chicago's air by almost two-thirds and stopped a major urban expressway. Creamer founded the Illinois Public Action Council (later known as Illinois Citizen Action) in 1974, a statewide coalition of progressive organizations that included unions, farm groups, senior citizen organizations, community groups, consumer advocates, environmental and peace organizations. It became Illinois's largest consumer advocacy organization, advocating for lower utility rates (including the formation of a state-sponsored utility rates watchdog organization), environmental concerns, and legislation benefiting senior citizens. In addition to conducting issue mobilization campaigns to promote progressive policies in Springfield and Washington, it established a political committee that supported progressive candidates. The organization led a national shift of grass roots citizen organizations into electoral politics. At its height the organization was a substantial presence in Illinois politics. It ultimately had offices in five cities, 130 organizational affiliates and 150,000 individual members, across Illinois. However, the organization had money problems, defaulting on several loans and owing back taxes. It was also criticized for the support it received from special interest groups, including personal injury lawyers and a loan from what was then one of the world's most profitable casinos, and for Creamer's failure to register as a lobbyist under Illinois state law. Creamer directed the organization for 23 years. He resigned after being questioned by federal law enforcement about a Citizen Action affiliate's $1 million bank overdraft. In 1997, Creamer co-founded the Strategic Consulting Group, a political consulting firm that works with issue and electoral campaigns. His clients have included
MoveOn.org MoveOn (formerly known as MoveOn.org) is a progressive public policy advocacy group and political action committee. Formed in 1998 around one of the first massively viral email petitions, MoveOn has since grown into one of the largest grassroot ...
, Americans United for Change, and
USAction USAction was a 501(c)(4) federation of progressive community organizing groups. It was founded in 1999 by Heather Booth. Its 501(c)(3) counterpart was the USAction Education Fund. In September 2007, TrueMajority and its related organization True ...
. He helped organize a successful campaign to stymie the
privatization of Social Security This article concerns proposals to change the Social Security system in the United States. Social Security is a social insurance program officially called "Old-age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance" (OASDI), in reference to its three component ...
. He has acted as a consultant for campaigns geared towards ending the
Iraq War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Iraq War {{Nobold, {{lang, ar, حرب العراق (Arabic) {{Nobold, {{lang, ku, شەڕی عێراق (Kurdish languages, Kurdish) , partof = the Iraq conflict (2003–present), I ...
, enacting comprehensive immigration reform, and passing
universal health care Universal health care (also called universal health coverage, universal coverage, or universal care) is a health care system in which all residents of a particular country or region are assured access to health care. It is generally organized ar ...
legislation, and enacting gun violence prevention legislation. Creamer has worked on numerous Democratic Party campaigns. Strategic Consulting Group (SCG) organized field operations for scores of Congressional and state-wide races. In 2011, SCG joined with a number of other progressive consultants to form a group practice, called Democracy Partners. During the Obama Administration Creamer worked closely with the White House to coordinate the effort to mobilize support for the
Iran nuclear agreement The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA; fa, برنامه جامع اقدام مشترک , barnāmeye jāme'e eqdāme moshtarak (, ''BARJAM'')), commonly known as the Iran nuclear deal or Iran deal, is an agreement on the Iranian nuclear ...
, pass the
Affordable Care Act The Affordable Care Act (ACA), formally known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and colloquially known as Obamacare, is a landmark U.S. federal statute enacted by the 111th United States Congress and signed into law by Presid ...
, mobilize support for Obama nominees to the Supreme Court, and pass the
Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act The Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, commonly referred to as Dodd–Frank, is a United States federal law that was enacted on July 21, 2010. The law overhauled financial regulation in the aftermath of the Great Recessi ...
. Strategic Consulting Group, led by Creamer, and other progressive consultants across the country organized into a larger group practice of political consulting firms, forming Democracy Partners in 2011 Creamer spoke at the 2010 America's Future Now Conference. Creamer signed The Progressive Agenda to Combat Income Inequality, an initiative launched by New York City Mayor
Bill de Blasio Bill de Blasio (; born Warren Wilhelm Jr., May 8, 1961; later Warren de Blasio-Wilhelm) is an American politician who served as the 109th mayor of New York City from 2014 to 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, he held the office of New Yor ...
on May 12, 2015. To document the history of community organizing during the 20th Century in the United States, the Center for Community Change created the Community Organizer Genealogy Project. Brown University maintains this archive, which includes an interview with Creamer concerning his work and career. Since 2016, Creamer devoted much of his time to the progressive movement organizing against the policies of then President Donald Trump – and electing progressive Democrats. Starting in early 2017, he convened twice-weekly Progressive Mobilization calls for the broad Progressive Community. His firm has worked with progressive organizations and unions to mobilize support for progressive initiatives in Congress like COVID-19 relief, gun violence prevention programs and tax cuts for the wealthy – generating tens of thousands of calls to Congress through its patch-through call programs from constituents. Creamer also worked with his partner in Democracy Partners, Heather Booth, who served as Director of Progressive and Senior Mobilization for the Biden for President campaign in the 2020 General Election.


Stopping the Crosstown Expressway in Chicago

In the early 1970s, Peter Martinez, then Director of the Citizens Action Program (CAP), asked Creamer to become lead organizer of the campaign to stop the Crosstown Expressway in Chicago. Had it been built, the Crosstown Expressway would have been, per mile, the most expensive highway in the history of humankind. It would also have displaced 30,000 residents and 10,000 places of business. Just as importantly, CAP felt that its construction would have continued the diversion of money to urban expressways and away from mass transit. The campaign was organized around Catholic parishes on Chicago's Northwest and Southwest sides, as well as the town of Cicero. On the South Side, African-American churches were the main building block. It brought together a multi-racial coalition in a common battle that didn't happen often in 1970s Chicago.   The campaign's major constituency consisted of people who lived along the proposed route. In many areas it engaged the pastors of the big Catholic parishes that would be impacted. It also involved leaders in the parishes that mattered to the pastor: the group that ran the Holy Name, the Altar and Rosary societies; the crew that ran the church bingo; the leaders at the church parochial school. In some sections it engaged more traditional community organizations, small business associations and block clubs. Many of the tactics involved "actions" where middle-class whites and blacks took on public officials with TV cameras in tow. CAP held mass meetings with officials. It released reports on the impact of the highway and it organized a march of 10,000 people near
Midway Airport Chicago Midway International Airport , typically referred to as Midway Airport, Chicago Midway, or simply Midway, is a major commercial airport on the Southwest side of Chicago, Illinois, located approximately 12 miles (19 km) from the Lo ...
. In the end, the coalition of groups conducted a voter education project that helped the Democrat Dan Walker defeat Republican Governor Dick Ogilvie. Walker had promised to kill the project if he won and transfer the funding to mass transit. Election night 1972 ended with a declaration of victory by Walker, and his announcement that the Crosstown Expressway would not be built. Many of the decisive votes had come from the “Crosstown Corridor.” Eventually, much of the money that had been set aside to build the Crosstown Expressway was transferred to fund two major mass transit projects – building the Orange Line from downtown Chicago to Midway airport, and expending the Blue Line rapid transit service to O’Hare airport.


Bringing Field Operations Back to Center Stage in National Democratic Campaigns

In 1974, Creamer was approached by a former door-to-door encyclopedia salesman named Marc Anderson, who believed that public interest organizations could use door-to-door techniques to organize members and raise money.  Anderson joined with Creamer in setting up the Illinois Public Action Council which immediately launched a door-to-door canvassing program.  The program eventually operated out of five offices in Illinois and contacted thousands of people each night at the door. It continued for 23 years. Anderson set up similar programs throughout the country for other Citizen Action organizations and public interest groups and environmental organizations that still use them today. In addition to recruiting members, raising money and motivating people to take action on issues, these door-to-door canvasses would tell voters about the endorsements of the Illinois Public Action's PAC.  Senator Paul Simon often credited his defeat of Republican Chuck Percy to Illinois Public Action's canvass. Creamer worked for years in Chicago, where door-to-door operations were often key to winning elections, and where progressive candidates often had to compete with the patronage army of the first Mayor Richard Daley. One of those progressive candidates was
Abner Mikva Abner Joseph Mikva (January 21, 1926 – July 4, 2016) was an American politician, federal judge, lawyer and law professor. He was a member of the Democratic Party. Mikva served in the United States House of Representatives representing Illinois' ...
, a progressive icon who was elected to Congress against the Daley machine by organizing his own army of volunteers. That was the model Creamer adopted to support his wife, Jan Schakowsky, when she first ran for Congress in 1998. Creamer and Schakowsky Campaign Manager, Jerry Morrison, put ads out across the country offering aspiring young organizers the opportunity to come to Chicago to participate in a progressive campaign for Congress and learn organizing first-hand in a "campaign school" coupled with a field program. The campaign hired 15 organizers, provide the regular training seminars with top notch political strategists. Those organizers built an army of 1,500 volunteers who identified 30,000 Schakowsky voters and turned them out door-to-door Election Day. Schakowsky won handily, beating the Regular Democratic Organization candidate Howie Carroll and wealthy investor
JB Pritzker Jay Robert "J. B." Pritzker (born January 19, 1965) is an American billionaire businessman, philanthropist, and politician serving as the 43rd governor of Illinois since 2019. A member of the wealthy Pritzker family, which owns the worldwide h ...
(current Governor of Illinois). The success of that effort led to the creation of the Democratic Campaign Management Program that recruited and trained aspiring campaign professionals who served as organizers for scores of Democratic races across the country. By 2000, Strategic Consulting Group's Campaign Management Program did 20 key swing Congressional races at a time when many Democratic political consultants still believed that the TV was the new "precinct captain." Creamer believed that person to person, door-to-door and phone contact were the critical to persuasion – and essential for serious get out the vote operations. In fact, as late as 1998, the
Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) is the United States Democratic Party, Democratic Hill committee for the United States House of Representatives, working to elect Democrats to that body. The DCCC recruits candidates, raises ...
(DCCC) did not have a national field director. Following their 1998 victory, Creamer and Schakowsky lobbied the DCCC to hire Cathy Duvall, who had served as a DCCC regional political director, to run the DCCC's field program. Duval was hired and over time the DCCC's field operation has taken on the responsibility of consulting and supervising massive field programs in all of its swing races. Democratic presidential campaigns expanded their field focus as well, culminating in the massive field effort for Barack Obama's 2008 Presidential Race.  Creamer was asked to teach at the "Camp Obama" sessions for early interns and organizers in that effort.


Campaign Against Social Security Privatization

Late in 2004, President George  W. Bush began to hint that he would propose a plan to privatize Social Security. It was to be the underpinning of his
ownership society Ownership society is a slogan for a model of society promoted by former United States president George W. Bush. It takes as lead values personal responsibility, economic liberty, and the owning of property. The ''ownership society'' discussed by ...
– the central domestic initiative of his second term. The fight over the proposal to privatize Social Security would become one of the defining battles of Bush's second term domestic policy. A campaign to oppose privatization was assembled by major progressive organizations and unions, and was named Americans United to Protect Social Security. Experienced political operative Paul Tewes became campaign manager and
Brad Woodhouse Brad Woodhouse is an American Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party activist who currently serves as the president of Protect Our Care, a group seeking to protect the Affordable Care Act. He also serves as co-chair of the Health Care Vo ...
, who had been Communications Director of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, was named Communications Director. Creamer served initially as its General Consultant, and later became the Field Director of the effort. The first priority of the campaign was to develop a message that addressed the administration's arguments. Polling determined there should be three strategic objectives: # Undermine the presumption that there was a Social Security “crisis.” # Remind Americans that Social Security was a spectacular success # Persuade elite, public and swing congressional opinion that the proposed solutions for the problems of Social Security was much worse than the disease The Bush administration campaigned their efforts as a necessary fix to what they claimed to be a broken system. The Campaign countered this narrative by leading with a message that action was needed to guarantee Social Security remained secure over the long run, but the Bush plan to privatize Social Security would only make matters worse by siphoning $2 trillion from the Social Security Trust Fund. The Campaign argued that the Republican Party's true motivation was to fabricate a Social Security crisis motivated by Wall Street's desires to access the Social Security Trust Fund. The campaign had to prevent Democrats from proposing their own "solution." The campaign realized that any legislation that involved Social Security during the Republican Congress and Bush presidency would necessarily involve privatization. Creamer advised the campaign to take on the presidential road show that was intended to promote the proposal. The president formally announced his plan in his
State of the Union The State of the Union Address (sometimes abbreviated to SOTU) is an annual message delivered by the president of the United States to a joint session of the United States Congress near the beginning of each calendar year on the current conditio ...
message in January 2005. He also announced an extensive tour to sell the plan. Over the next four months he held 60 events throughout the country, focused on target congressional districts. At every one of these 60 stops, Americans United organized an event to counter his message.  Each time, the formula was similar.  The day before the president arrived, it held a press event to frame the debate and attack his plan. The events the day before he arrived provided a hook for the press that made that story more interesting. On the day of the president's visit, AUPSS would put on a mass turnout event as close to the president's event as possible. These featured lots of people holding large black and yellow Day-Glo signs with messages similar to "Hands Off My Social Security." Any picture of the protest would therefore deliver the message with or without written copy. The visual of hundreds of signs was always widely covered, and often spokespeople would give a counterpoint to the president on television as well. The campaign then took on naming the battle. It succeeded early in naming the president's proposal, as his attempt to "privatize" Social Security. The research showed that people were much more prone to consider a proposal to create "personal accounts" – which the administration tried desperately to name the proposal.  They claimed they didn't want to "privatize Social Security," just create "personal accounts."  The fact that the campaign was  able to name the issue was critical. Creamer helped organize groups of angry seniors to confront targeted members of Congress at town meetings and public appearances. When Republican targets waffled, the campaign ran a month-long "Take A Stand" campaign, demanding that they go on record as either for privatization or against it. The campaign also got state legislatures and city councils to pass resolutions against privatization, and generated tens of thousands of phone calls to congressional offices through "patch through" calls and email alerts. Finally, the Campaign planned a 4,000-person rally to coincide with the first day of Congressional hearings on the plan. One hundred forty members of the House and Senate, including the Democratic leadership of both houses, marched onto bleachers at the front of the crowd and each pledged not to privatize Social Security. By early summer the polls had turned against privatization, and there was no further legislative movement. The closing act in the privatization battle was a celebration of the 70th anniversary of Social Security, held in August 2005. The event gave Americans United the opportunity to highlight the importance of Social Security's guaranteed benefits. AU organized 70th anniversary celebrations around the country, especially in targeted districts.  It also organized a commemoration ceremony at the Roosevelt Memorial that was widely covered nationally. By early fall, the pundits began writing the obits – Bush's plan to privatize Social Security was dead. In the spring of 2006, Washington Post columnist E.J. Dionne wrote, "The collapse of the Social Security initiative was thus more than a policy failure. It was a decisive political defeat that left Bush and Rove with no fallback ideas around which to organize domestic policy." After the 2006 mid-term election victories, Rick Klein of the Boston Globe wrote, "Democrats made huge gains in the mid-term elections for a variety of factors – an unpopular war in Iraq, congressional scandals, frustration with Bush's style of leadership." But the victory had its roots in that early and successful battle against Social Security reform, which gave Democrats crucial unity and momentum at a time when many pundits were predicting a permanent Republican majority, according to party strategists and veteran Democratic lawmakers.


Bank fraud and failure to pay withholding tax convictions

On March 11, 2004, Creamer, then the former executive director of the Illinois Public Action Fund, was indicted in federal court on 16 counts of bank fraud involving three alleged
check-kiting Check kiting or cheque kiting (see American and British English spelling differences, spelling differences) is a form of check fraud, involving taking advantage of the float (money supply), float to make use of non-existent funds in a checking acc ...
schemes in the mid-1990s, leading several banks to experience temporary shortfalls of at least $2.3 million. Though the check kiting was widely reported in 1997, the Justice Department did not seek an indictment until 7 years later. In August 2005, Creamer pleaded guilty to one count of failure to collect $1,892 in withholding tax and one count of bank fraud, for writing checks with insufficient funds. All of the money was immediately repaid from the organization's receivables. His wife, Jan Schakowsky was not accused of any wrongdoing, although she served on the organization's board during the time the crimes occurred, and signed the
IRS The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is the revenue service for the United States federal government, which is responsible for collecting U.S. federal taxes and administering the Internal Revenue Code, the main body of the federal statutory tax ...
filings along with her husband. The U.S. district judge noted that Creamer was not a typical bank fraud defendant and that he had no intention of causing a loss. He went on to note that no one suffered " out of pocket losses," and Creamer acted not out of personal greed but in an effort to keep his community action group going without cutting programs, though prosecutors argued that Creamer paid his own $100,000 salary with fraudulently obtained funds. More than 200 people wrote letters of support on Creamer's behalf, including U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL), Cook County Clerk David Orr, consultant David Axelrod, and Rev. Jesse Jackson. On April 5, 2006, Creamer was sentenced to five months in prison and 11 months of
house arrest In justice and law, house arrest (also called home confinement, home detention, or, in modern times, electronic monitoring) is a measure by which a person is confined by the authorities to their residence. Travel is usually restricted, if all ...
. Creamer served his five-month incarceration at the Federal Correction Institute in Terre Haute,
Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...
and was released on November 3, 2006.


Securing the Iran Nuclear Agreement

After President Obama's administration had completed negotiating the agreement to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons in 2015 (the
Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA; fa, برنامه جامع اقدام مشترک , barnāmeye jāme'e eqdāme moshtarak (, ''BARJAM'')), commonly known as the Iran nuclear deal or Iran deal, is an agreement on the Iranian nuclear ...
or JCPOA), it had one final obstacle to consummate the deal.  It had to assure that the agreement had sufficient support in Congress to assure that the President could veto any legislation that might pass Congress to invalidate the deal without the threat that the veto would be overridden by two-thirds of both the House and Senate. At the time, Creamer was General Consultant to Americans United for Change (AUC), and had been working closely with the Obama White House to mobilize public support for Obama's initiatives. He had served as a consultant to the Obama Campaign and the DNC for Obama's original Presidential Campaign in 2008, and his reelection campaign in 2012. He and Americans United for Change went to work in early 2015 to help set the stage for the coming battle over the Iran Nuclear Agreement by commissioning a poll by Hart Research to determine the most persuasive arguments for the agreement. Creamer and AUC worked closely with the Ploughshares Fund, Win Without War, MoveOn.org, the Iran Project, and J Street to assemble a broad coalition of organizations supporting the Agreement. J Street was especially crucial.  Since it was founded in 2007, J Street had established itself as the major organization in the Jewish Community that was both pro-Israel and in favor of a two-state solution to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in the Middle East. By 2015, the
American Israel Public Affairs Committee The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC ) is a lobbying group that advocates pro-Israel policies to the legislative and executive branches of the United States. One of several pro-Israel lobbying organizations in the United Stat ...
(AIPAC), had come to represent a shrinking minority of more right-wing American Jews – and had increasing allied itself with the Republican Party. It had also become increasing clear that J Street represented the vast majority of American Jews. J Street's support for the agreement gave political cover to many Jewish Members of Congress who wanted to support it. In his book, Losing an Enemy: Obama, Iran, and the Triumph of Diplomacy,
Trita Parsi Trita Parsi ( fa, تریتا پارسی, born 21 July 1974) is the co-founder and executive vice president of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, as well as the founder and former president of the National Iranian American Council. He ...
quotes Creamer saying, "J Street gave Members of Congress cover to do what was right, whereas before J Street that would not have happened." The organization also provided enormous amounts of person-power and money to mobilize grass roots support.


Feud with Glenn Beck

In December 2009, conservative ''
Fox News The Fox News Channel, abbreviated FNC, commonly known as Fox News, and stylized in all caps, is an American multinational conservative cable news television channel based in New York City. It is owned by Fox News Media, which itself is owne ...
'' host
Glenn Beck Glenn Lee Beck (born February 10, 1964) is an American conservative political commentator, radio host, entrepreneur, and television producer. He is the CEO, founder, and owner of Mercury Radio Arts, the parent company of his television and rad ...
criticized Creamer for accompanying his wife, Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky, to a November 2009 state dinner at the
White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in 1800. ...
(the same dinner was noted in the media for its security breaches). On his show, Beck highlighted Creamer's convictions and called Creamer's book a "prison manifesto", claiming that it had been the basis for the
Affordable Care Act The Affordable Care Act (ACA), formally known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and colloquially known as Obamacare, is a landmark U.S. federal statute enacted by the 111th United States Congress and signed into law by Presid ...
. Creamer later retorted that " is is a man who lies about everything" and called Beck a part of a "new
McCarthyist McCarthyism is the practice of making false or unfounded accusations of subversion and treason, especially when related to anarchism, communism and socialism, and especially when done in a public and attention-grabbing manner. The term origina ...
movement of the far right."


Project Veritas videos

In October 2016, activist James O'Keefe's Project Veritas Action released hidden-camera videos showing Creamer and others who worked for firms hired by the
Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States sen ...
campaign engaging in conversations about
voter registration In electoral systems, voter registration (or enrollment) is the requirement that a person otherwise eligible to vote must register (or enroll) on an electoral roll, which is usually a prerequisite for being entitled or permitted to vote. The ru ...
. The videos have together garnered over 12 million views as of October 2016. One clip in the video shows Creamer meeting with an undercover activist posing as potential donor. After the actor suggests finding a way around voter registration laws, Creamer responds "my fear is that someone would decide that this is a big voter fraud scheme." They also discussed using operatives in
Donald Duck Donald Fauntleroy Duck is a cartoon character created by The Walt Disney Company. Donald is an anthropomorphic white duck with a yellow-orange bill, legs, and feet. He typically wears a sailor shirt and cap with a bow tie. Donald is known fo ...
costumes to remind voters that
Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...
had not released his tax returns, and referred to the scheme as something Clinton wanted. A subordinate seemingly discussed tactics for baiting supporters into violence at Trump rallies. As a result of the video, Creamer announced he was stepping back from his firm's contract with the Democratic National Committee. Creamer's Democracy Partners released a statement on October 18, 2016: Creamer described the contractor's statements in the video as "unprofessional and careless hypothetical conversations" and said that the schemes discussed had not taken place. Former interim democratic chairperson
Donna Brazile Donna Lease Brazile (; born December 15, 1959) is an American political strategist, campaign manager and political analyst who served twice as acting Chair of the Democratic National Committee (DNC). She is currently an ABC News contributor, ...
similarly said, "We do not believe, or have any evidence to suggest, that the activities articulated in the video actually occurred." Trump senior communications adviser Jason Miller said, "In a totally disqualifying act that is a violent threat to our democracy, Hillary Clinton directly involved herself in inciting violence directed at Trump supporters." The statement demanded an investigation into the matter. The Clinton campaign said that Project Veritas has "been known to offering misleading video out of context." They denied that the Donald Duck costumes were Clinton's idea, stating that: In June 2017, Creamer, and Democracy Partners filed a lawsuit against O'Keefe and his organization, Project Veritas, seeking a million dollars in damages for various violations of DC and Federal law. The case was heard in Federal Court in Washington, DC. a jury ruled against Project Veritas on a claim of fraudulent misrepresentation, awarding $120,000 to Democracy Partners. The judge had not yet ruled on some of the damages and claims in the case.


Publications


Listen to Your Mother, Stand Up Straight: How Progressives Can Win

In 2007, he published ''Listen to Your Mother: Stand Up Straight: How Progressives Can Win,'' which outlined Creamer's framework for a new progressive political strategy. During his five months in the Federal Prison, Creamer used his time to write a book on his experiences as a progressive organizer and strategist, and to describe the strategies necessary to create a progressive movement and realign American politics. In the book's introduction, Creamer described the book's premise that, "In order to win, Progressives need to proudly and self-confidently talk to Americans about our values and our vision of the future. We need to listen to our mothers and stand up straight." The book described specific approaches to targeting and communications, building organizations, planning campaigns, progressive vision and values and creating structural change.


Political Commentary

Creamer is a published author and regularly contributes his political commentary in published articles. The following are a selected collection of Creamer's recent contributions to articles and blog posts as sole author, joint author, or contributor: * Creamer, Robert. “Why 2020 Is a Turnout Election.” ''The American Prospect'', March 5, 2020. * Creamer, Robert. "History Shows That Being ‘Moderate’ Does Not Make a Candidate for President More Electable." ''Daily Kos'', February 18, 2020. * Creamer, Robert. "Massive Facebook Influence on Public Opinion Makes Its Ad Policy a Serious Election Threat." ''USA Today'', January 22, 2020. * Creamer, Robert, et al. "Lessons from British Elections: Change Candidates Win – That's Why We Need Elizabeth Warren.” ''Medium'', December 14, 2019. * Creamer, Robert. "5 Reasons Why Elizabeth Warren Has the Best Chance to Beat Donald Trump." ''USA Today'', October 2, 2019. Creamer is also a regular contributor to ''
HuffPost ''HuffPost'' (formerly ''The Huffington Post'' until 2017 and sometimes abbreviated ''HuffPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and ...
''. The following is a selection of his most prominent contributions: * Creamer, Robert. “America Isn't As Polarized As You Think It Is.” ''HuffPost'', December 31, 2018. * Creamer, Robert. "Nancy Pelosi Should, And Will, Be Democrats' Speaker Of The House." ''HuffPost'', November 15, 2018. * Creamer, Robert. "For Susan Collins, A Vote For Kavanaugh Would Be Political Suicide." ''HuffPost'', September 7, 2018. * Creamer, Robert. "Trump's Iran Decision Leaves Only 2 Likely Outcomes." ''HuffPost'', May 9, 2018. * Creamer, Robert. "Trump's Immigration Proposals Would Change The Identity Of America." ''HuffPost'', February 13, 2018. * Creamer, Robert. "The GOP Won Its Tax Cut For The 1 Percent, But The Battle To Stop It Will Help Progressives Win The War." ''HuffPost'', December 21, 2017. * Creamer, Robert. "The Greatest Threat To U.S. Security Is A Miscalculation Or Mistake." ''HuffPost'', September 28, 2017. * Creamer, Robert. "Trump Runs The Country Like He's Driving A Bumper Car." ''HuffPost'', September 9, 2017. * Creamer, Robert. "Are There Really Two Sides When It Comes to Political Violence in the U.S.?" ''HuffPost'', August 16, 2017. * Creamer, Robert. "Congress Should Curb Trump's Ability To Launch A Nuclear First Strike." ''HuffPost'', August 10, 2017. * Creamer, Robert. "We Need To Change The Federal Law To Avoid A Repeat Of The United Outrage." ''HuffPost'', April 11, 2017. * Creamer, Robert. "The Next Battle To Defend Democratic Values In Europe Is In Serbia." ''HuffPost'', March 28, 2017. * Creamer, Robert. "Three Real Reasons "TrumpCare" Failed." ''HuffPost,'' March 26, 2017. * Creamer, Robert. "Why The Anti-Trump Progressive Mobilization Could Mark A Major Inflection Point In American Political History." ''HuffPost''. March 20, 2017. * Creamer, Robert. "This MLK Day, Let's Honor Dr. King's Principled Defiance." ''HuffPost''. January 16, 2017. * Creamer, Robert. "What Democrats Must Do To Stop A Right-Wing Hijacking Of The Judiciary." ''HuffPost''. January 3, 2017. * Creamer, Robert. "Progressives Can't Sugar-Coat This Disaster – So, What Now?" ''HuffPost''. November 10, 2017. * Creamer, Robert. "Why A Vote For A Third Party Cannot Be An Option For Progressives." ''HuffPost''. September 23, 2017. * Creamer, Robert. "Why Trump And The White Supremacist Alt-Right Are Threats To Our National Security." ''HuffPost''. August 26, 2017. * Creamer, Robert. "Should America Entrust The Nuclear Launch Codes To Someone Who Is Unhinged?" ''HuffPost''. August 4, 2017. * Creamer, Robert. "In Response to the Tragedy in Orlando – America Should Launch a New War – Against Intolerance and Hate Speech." ''HuffPost''. June 13, 2017. * Creamer, Robert. "Big Business Uses Universities in Last Ditch Effort to Kill Fair Overtime Rules." ''HuffPost''. April 25, 2017. * Creamer, Robert. "Can Fascism Triumph in America?" ''HuffPost''. March 14, 2017. * Creamer, Robert. "GOP Obstruction of Obama Court Nomination – Radical, Without Precedent – With a Big Political Price." ''HuffPost''. February 15, 2017. * Creamer, Robert. "Koch-Tied Group Asks High Court for Radical New Limits on Worker's Rights to Negotiate for Higher Wages." ''HuffPost''. January 10, 2017. * Creamer, Robert. "The Real Attack on the Spirit of Christmas." ''HuffPost''. December 25, 2016. * Creamer, Robert. "Warning: CEO Class' Next Big Attack on the Incomes of Ordinary Americans." ''HuffPost''. N.p., December 1, 2016.


Personal life

Creamer was previously married to Day Piercy. He married
Jan Schakowsky Janice Schakowsky ( ; née Danoff; born May 26, 1944) is an American politician who has served as the United States House of Representatives, U.S. representative from since 1999. She is a member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democrat ...
in 1980. She has served as a member of the
United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the Lower house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...
from Illinois's 9th congressional district since 1999. Schakowsky and Creamer have three children and six grandchildren. They live in Evanston, Illinois.


References


External links


Creamer
at ''
The Huffington Post ''HuffPost'' (formerly ''The Huffington Post'' until 2017 and sometimes abbreviated ''HuffPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and ...
''
Strategic Consulting GroupDemocracy Partners
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Creamer, Robert 1947 births Living people American community activists American male writers American people convicted of fraud American political consultants Writers from Evanston, Illinois Duke University alumni Democratic Party (United States)