McCurry '76 speaks on politics, Internet

While journalists and reporters crammed the White House briefing room, firing questions and scribbling notes, Michael McCurry '76 stood behind the podium "facing about a billion cameras the day the Lewinsky story broke," he said.

On the receiving end of the fusillade of clamoring media, this was only one day, though undoubtedly one of the most memorable, in McCurry's three-year tenure as President Clinton's press secretary from 1995-98.

"Scandals were easy," McCurry candidly said, recalling the Lewinsky events via e-mail. "There was only one subject du jour. The harder days were the quiet ones, though rare, because the press might want briefings on 10 to 15 different subjects. I worked much harder those days than . . . days when the subject matter was, ahem, a little more zesty."

McCurry — a Wilson School major — said he will speak about "how the press and public officials inform the American people" and why public information systems do not always work.

Additionally, he will discuss why he made the switch from politics to a technology company. The speech will be held today in Dodds Auditorium at 4:30 p.m.

A president of the Press Club while at Princeton, McCurry said he wanted to be a reporter before he was "cheated out of a job by The Washington Post." He "ended up in politics" for the next 25 years, forming a career that mostly focused on behind-the-scenes strategy and up-front public relations roles — the last of which was his job as press secretary.

Looking back on his Princeton career, McCurry reminisced about majoring in the Wilson School and suggested that students take as many philosophy, religion and arts classes and "all the things that make life more interesting if you are in politics."

Though three years removed from the hallways of the White House and "the guided tours of the Kremlin with Boris Yeltsin leading Bill Clinton around by the arm," McCurry has now taken his experiences to the private sector and the Internet.

McCurry is the CEO of Grassroots.com, a Web-based business that helps politicians and advocacy groups communicate information.

The San Francisco-based applications service provider, which also has offices in Washington, D.C., has developed a suite of programs and software products that political groups can purchase and implement.

"Our software helps groups and organizations place a pretty powerful advocacy engine directly into the group or organization Website," McCurry explained. "From there, you can launch e-mails to Congress, sign petitions, take other actions that make the member more prolific as an advocate on the Internet."

McCurry said he looks to the Internet for future and permanent changes in how elections and political campaigns are run.

Get the best of ‘the Prince’ delivered straight to your inbox. Subscribe now »

"The Internet will produce profound, long-lasting changes in politics even though this year did not produce the dramatic revolution some predicted," McCurry said. "The Internet is so highly interactive that the quality of communication on the Web will improve the dialogue between public officials and citizens."

Though shifting from the public to the private sector, McCurry said his new job has several similarities to some of the work he did as national press secretary for the 1988 vice-presidential campaign of former Sen. Lloyd Bentsen (D-Tex) who ran with former Mass. Gov. Michael Dukakis.

"The hours and intensity of a start-up are much like a political campaign," McCurry said, referring to some of the time he spent as a political strategist. "But at least my schedule now has more predictability than the White House."

Though more predictable, McCurry's job at Grassroots.com now has the long-time Democrat working with Republicans. The non-partisan board of advisers includes current National Security Advisor to President Bush Condoleeza Rice.

"Our politics do not matter when it comes to sales," McCurry said. "That means I have to sell hard to lots of right-leaning causes — an interesting transformation, to be sure."