Longtime political organizer to head Biden’s Jewish outreach

Democratic strategist Aaron Keyak previously held same position for Obama’s successful 2012 election campaign

By PHILISSA CRAMER 12 July 2020, 6:53 pm

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US Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden answers questions, after speaking about the coronavirus pandemic and the economy, in Wilmington, Delaware, June 30, 2020. (Brendan Smialowski/AFP)

JTA — With four months to Election Day, Joe Biden’s presidential campaign now boasts a staffer dedicated to mobilizing Jewish voters.

Aaron Keyak, who has already been working on Biden’s campaign, is filling the role, first advertised late last month. Jewish Insider was the first to report Keyak’s appointment on Friday.

Keyak is a longtime Democratic political strategist whose work has included leading a Jewish outreach effort for Barack Obama’s successful 2012 reelection bid; cofounding Bluelight Strategies, a consulting group; and briefly heading the National Jewish Democratic Council, a lobbying group that essentially folded because of lawsuits from political adversaries.

Aaron Keyak, former head of the National Jewish Democratic Council, and managing partner of Bluelight Strategies, a Washington-based consultancy (Courtesy)

In his new role, Keyak “will build and manage a national outreach program to support the political objectives of the campaign,” according to the job posting, which is no longer online.

Last year, Keyak made the case in a Jewish Telegraphic Agency op-ed that US President Donald Trump should bring on a White House Jewish liaison — a position, he wrote, that existed for more than four decades before Trump entered office.

“Even when the Jewish liaison wasn’t able to change the position of their boss, a nuanced and full understanding of the Jewish community is essential to advising the most powerful person on earth,” Keyak wrote.