Scott Stanzel, a former Bush-administration aide, offers a “maybe” answer to rumors that he may take on Sen. Maria Cantwell in Washington in 2012:
My immediate focus is on marrying the woman of my dreams on September 10.
I have spoken with leaders in this state and my former White House colleagues about the idea of running for the United States Senate. I’m flattered that individuals I worked with to defeat the disastrous state income tax proposal last year believe that I could provide a positive voice for Washington in the U.S. Senate.
Washington, DC, is broken. Voters of this state are hungry for principled leadership which addresses the serious fiscal crisis that politicians like Sen. Cantwell have caused. Sen. Cantwell and her allies in our nation’s capital are busy burying our children and grandchildren in a blizzard of debt. This has got to stop. Rather than tackle the big issues of getting Americans back to work and putting our economic house in order, it seems the only jobs program in Congress is the one where they try to preserve their own. We deserve better.
In the coming weeks, I’m going to continue to plan my wedding with my lovely fiancé, Priscilla Jones. After September, I’ll work to grow my business and will consider this opportunity to be a constructive voice for Washington.
A bit of Stanzel’s biography:
In September 1999, Stanzel left the Grassley office to work for the Bush for President campaign. After serving in communications roles in several primary states, at the campaign headquarters in Austin, Texas, and on the Florida Recount Team in Tallahassee during the historic post-election recount, Stanzel was selected to be a spokesman for the Bush-Cheney Transition Team, which guided President-elect Bush’s Cabinet nominees during the Senate confirmation process. When President Bush was inaugurated in January 2001, Stanzel was asked to become a White House spokesman. He served in the White House Office of Media Affairs, where he was the primary spokesman for President Bush for reporters serving news outlets in 14 Midwestern and Industrial Belt states.
In August of 2003, Stanzel accepted a position with President Bush’s reelection campaign. In his role as Press Secretary at Bush-Cheney ’04, Stanzel traveled with President Bush to campaign events throughout the country serving as national campaign spokesman to television, radio, newspaper and wire reporters covering the campaign. After President Bush’s election victory, Stanzel became a Senior Communications Advisor to the 55th Presidential Inaugural Committee.
Following President Bush’s second inauguration in 2005, Stanzel moved to the private sector to work for Microsoft Corporation in Redmond, Washington, as a Senior Public Relations Manager.
After about two years at Microsoft, Stanzel returned to the White House to be deputy press secretary. Connections to a network of Bush donors and experience at Microsoft have to be pretty helpful in Washington state politics . . .