1. This post was republished to elmsprogressivemedia at 7:36:36 PM 2/6/2012
Meet Governor Scott Walker’s New Political
Hit Women
The embattled Wisconsin governor hires two young Republicans who are veterans of no-holds-
barred campaigns and propaganda efforts.
February 5, 2012 |
Jocelyn Webster, left, and Ciara Matthews, right, were hired as spokes women by Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker.
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As Wisconsin’s recall elections approach, Republican Governor Scott Walker has
enlisted an eyebrow-raising pair of well-connected, out-of-state political operators to sell
his administration's policies and promote his reelection. Of the two young women, one
cut her teeth with Karl Rove and the other promoting anti-abortion causes and working
with Tea Party favorite Sharon Angle.
Late last year, the governor's office announced it had hired 28-year-old Jocelyn Webster
to serve as communications director for the Wisconsin Department of Administration
(DOA). The department manages the state buildings where most of the anti-Walker
protests have been held, and its duties include setting rules for protests. Webster

2. started her career with Rove's notorious Office of Political Affairs in the George W. Bush
administration.
A congressional investigation of the activities of that office yielded allegations --
including specific allegations against Webster – that Rove's team was involved in
partisan campaigning on the public dime, a claim also leveled at aides of her newest
boss during his tenure as Milwaukee County Executive.
As activists gathered signatures to recall the governor in late 2011, Walker also hired
new campaign staff, including Ciara Matthews as campaign communication director.
Matthews, a 20-something Nevada native, has worked as spokesperson for an anti-
abortion group as well as Angle's 2010 senate campaign, where she defended Angle's
racially tinged ads and banned reporters from a candidate event for asking questions
without permission.
Webster's Eye-Rolling Leads to Discovery of Her Karl Rove Roots
Jocelyn Webster, the new DOA communications director, first caught the eye of citizens
attending a public "information session" about restrictions on rallies in the capitol.
On December 1, Walker's DOA released a 23-page policy announcing new limits on
demonstrations in and around the state capitol, the site of massive protests in early
2011. Most observers viewed the new rules as an effort to suppress dissent. Webster's
name was at the top of the December 1 press release announcing the new restrictions,
and she was quoted in the press claiming that the “updated policy is meant to remove
confusion and create consistency” for law enforcement officers and the public.
DOA announced a two-week “educational period” to help the public understand the new
restrictions before they took effect. During the contentious public information sessions,
Webster hovered in the background, but her eye-rolling in response to citizens
expressing concerns about restrictions on their freedom of speech led some to take a
closer look at her experience and her background.
From Washington to Wisconsin
Webster is no cheesehead. She was most recently in Dallas, Texas, working
government relations for the global convenience store chain 7-Eleven. Previously, she
worked four months for New Jersey governor Chris Christie's PR shop. For nine months
before that she pushed press inside the Beltway on education policy in the 2008
election year. She also worked PR for New Yorker Rudy Giuliani's presidential
campaign.
But before those experiences, Webster worked for the federal government
in Washington DC, and was cited in a major congressional investigation.
After graduating from college in California, Webster got a gig at the new Department of

3. Homeland Security as a liaison to the George W. Bush White House. After six months,
she moved to the White House and became a staffer in the Office of Political Affairs
(OPA) in February 2006. OPA was overseen by Karl Rove and was reportedly tasked
with tracking the political environment. A three-year investigation into OPA concluded in
January 2011 with a report showing the office routinely violated the Hatch Act, a federal
law prohibiting the use of taxpayer dollars for partisan political activities.
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walker, jocelyn webster, ciara matthews, sharon angle