Thompson Campaign Press Release - Veteran GOP Communications Strategist Karen Hanretty Joins Friends of Fred Thompson

McLean, VA - The Friends of Fred Thompson committee announced today the hiring of veteran GOP communications strategist Karen Hanretty as Deputy Communications Director. Hanretty will assist in the coordination of all communications and media strategy and will serve as an on-the-record spokesperson for the committee.

During California's historic gubernatorial recall campaign of 2003, Hanretty served as press secretary to Arnold Schwarzenegger's successful campaign for Governor and managed the press operation for the governor-elect during his transition into office. In the capacity of press secretary, Hanretty helped coordinate communications and media strategy for one of the country's most talked about political campaigns and served as a principal spokesperson to hundreds of media outlets throughout the country and around the world.

"Quite simply, Karen is one of the best there is and she will be an enormous asset to our team," said Todd Harris, Communications Director for the Friends of Fred Thompson committee.

From 2003-2005, Hanretty was Communications Director for the California Republican Party. In this senior-level position, she served as chief spokesperson for the Party, coordinated communications and media strategy and developed rapid response effort on behalf of the party operations and Governor Schwarzenegger's 2005 special election campaign.

Hanretty has also been a national political commentator, regularly appearing on Fox News Channel, MSNBC and CNN to provide political analysis on programs such as The O'Reilly Factor and Hardball with Chris Matthews. She is a frequent guest on Fox News' Hannity & Colmes where she has appeared as guest host for the popular show.