Joe Biden’s Jewish outreach director Aaron Keyak on why the former VP’s time has come
Photos: AP Images
Two weeks ago, Joe Biden’s presidential campaign tapped Aaron Keyak, a longtime political strategist and consultant from Washington, as the campaign’s director for Jewish outreach.
Keyak is the managing partner and co-founder of Bluelight Strategies, a Washington-based consulting firm. He previously served as the communications director for Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY), and as the communications director and top Middle East advisor for former Rep. Steve Rothman (D-NJ). Keyak is Modern Orthodox and attends Washington’s Kesher Israel congregation.
During the 2012 presidential election, he headed the campaign media “Hub,” a rapid-response research and media outreach team that promoted President Barack Obama’s message regarding foreign policy issues to the Jewish community. Following Obama’s reelection in 2012, he became interim executive director for the National Jewish Democratic Council. During the 2008 election and for the first year of Obama’s term, he led the Council’s press operations.
I first met him when I arrived in Washington in 2016. Together with his partner in Bluelight, Steve Rabinowitz, Keyak maintains a working relationship with many reporters and Jewish organizations in the nation’s capital — who, together with House members and policymakers, usually meet at Bluelight’s “vodka and latkes” Chanukah party, a festive candle-lighting in their office.
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