Who is Neera Tanden?

Update: Neera Tanden is now Domestic Policy Director for the Obama Campaign now that Hillary Clinton’s White House dreams have turned to dust.

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Neera who, you might say.

But if Hillary Clinton were to win the Presidency, you can bet on hearing a lot more about Neera Tanden in the coming years.

An Indian-American, Neera is the Policy Director of the Hillary Clinton 2008 Presidential Campaign.

Neera is part of the inner circle of advisers helping Hillary win the White House and makes about $127,000 per annum after taxes.

In an October 2000 profile of Neera during Hillary’s first Senate campaign, the New York Times described her as The Wonk, er, Woman Behind Mrs. Clinton.

Neera’s association with Hillary Clinton goes back a long way.

In the serial philanderer Bill Clinton’s White House, Neera worked for then First Lady Hillary Clinton as Senior Policy Adviser and Associate Director in the Domestic Policy Council.

When Hillary decided to run for the Senate in 2000, Neera joined her team as Deputy Campaign Manager and Policy Director.

Neera also worked on the Clinton-Gore campaign in California in 1996 and the Michael Dukakis presidential campaign before that.

An Yale Law School graduate, Neera was born in 1970 in Bedford, Massachussetts to immmigrant parents from India.

Neera and her brother were raised by her mother after her parents divorced when she was five.

Neera is married to Ben Edwards, an artist she met while working on the Dukakis campaign. They have two children – a four-year-old daughter and a two-year-old son.

Neera’s brother Raj Tanden, also a lawyer, is a partner with the Proskauer Rose law firm in its Los Angeles office and advises clients on tax matters relating to domestic and international transactions.

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