Nancy Mitchell Pfotenhauer (born Nancy Wadley) is currently the president of MediaSpeak Strategies. She was former Senior Policy Advisor and National Spokesperson with the 2008 John McCain presidential campaign

John McCain presidential campaign, 2008

John McCain, the senior United States Senator from Arizona, launched his second candidacy for the presidency of the United States in an unsuccessful bid to win the 2008 presidential election. His candidacy, in the works for a number of years, was informally announced on February 28, 2007 during a...

 and political commentator on Fox News, CNN

CNN

Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...

 and MSNBC

MSNBC

MSNBC is a cable news channel based in the United States available in the US, Germany , South Africa, the Middle East and Canada...

  She was also former Executive Vice President of Citizens for a Sound Economy

Citizens for a Sound Economy

Citizens for a Sound Economy was a conservative political group operating in the United States, whose self-described mission was "to fight for less government, lower taxes, and less regulation." In 2004, Citizens for a Sound Economy split into two new organizations, with Citizens for a Sound...

 (CSE), former President of the Independent Women's Forum

Independent Women's Forum

The Independent Women's Forum is an American conservative, non-profit, non-partisan research and educational institution focused on domestic and foreign policy issues of concern to women...

, and former President of Americans for Prosperity

Americans for Prosperity

Americans for Prosperity is a Washington, D.C.–based political advocacy group. According to their literature, they promote economic policy that supports business, and restrains regulation by government...

 (originally CSE).

Early career

She started her career as graduate research assistant to Walter Williams at George Mason University, where she was taking an MA in economics. At George Mason, Pfotenhauer studied under Walter Williams, a substitute host on the Rush Limbaugh Show. After graduating from George Mason University

George Mason University

George Mason University is a public university based in unincorporated Fairfax County, Virginia, United States, south of and adjacent to the city of Fairfax. Additional campuses are located nearby in Arlington County, Prince William County, and Loudoun County...

, Pfotenhauer became chief economist at the Republican National Committee

Republican National Committee

The Republican National Committee is an American political committee that provides national leadership for the Republican Party of the United States. It is responsible for developing and promoting the Republican political platform, as well as coordinating fundraising and election strategy. It is...

 (1988). She worked for George H. W. Bush

George H. W. Bush

George Herbert Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 41st President of the United States . He had previously served as the 43rd Vice President of the United States , a congressman, an ambassador, and Director of Central Intelligence.Bush was born in Milton, Massachusetts, to...

's transition team (at age 24) and then (1988–1990) Sen. William L. Armstrong

William L. Armstrong

William Lester "Bill" Armstrong is an American businessman and politician. He is member of the Republican party and was a United States Representative and Senator from Colorado. Armstrong was born in Fremont, Nebraska...

 (R-CO); in 1990 she was appointed chief economist of the President's Council on Competitiveness.

Citizens for a Sound Economy

In 1995 Pfotenhauer joined Citizens for a Sound Economy

Citizens for a Sound Economy

Citizens for a Sound Economy was a conservative political group operating in the United States, whose self-described mission was "to fight for less government, lower taxes, and less regulation." In 2004, Citizens for a Sound Economy split into two new organizations, with Citizens for a Sound...

 as Executive Vice President for Policy. With her then-husband Daniel J. Mitchell

Daniel J. Mitchell

Daniel J. "Dan" Mitchell is a libertarian economist, senior fellow at the Cato Institute. He is a proponent of the flat tax and tax competition, financial privacy, and fiscal sovereignty-Personal life:...

, an economist at The Heritage Foundation

The Heritage Foundation

The Heritage Foundation is a conservative American think tank based in Washington, D.C. Heritage's stated mission is to "formulate and promote conservative public policies based on the principles of free enterprise, limited government, individual freedom, traditional American values, and a strong...

, she co-hosted the call-in show Mitchells in the Morning on National Empowerment Television

National Empowerment Television

National Empowerment Television , also known as America's Voice, was a cable TV network designed to rapidly mobilize conservative followers for grassroots lobbying. It was created by Paul Weyrich, a key strategist for the paleoconservative movement...

, run by Heritage Foundation founder Paul Weyrich

Paul Weyrich

Paul M. Weyrich was an American conservativepolitical activist and commentator, most notable as a figurehead of the New Right. He co-founded the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank and the Free Congress Foundation, another conservative think tank...

.

Koch Industries (1996 - 2001)

From 1996 to 2001, she served as Director of the Washington office for Koch Industries (KII). She built and managed the DC team’s lobbying operation, PAC and all legislative and regulatory strategies in addition to jointly running KII’s government affairs operations globally. The largest privately-held company in the country, KII’s interests fell heavily in the energy, environment, transportation and tax fields. She ran multi-million dollar issue campaigns at the federal and state level, using earned and paid media and the most sophisticated message-development tools and grassroots and opinion-leader mobilization techniques.

While working for Koch, she married Gordon Smith's (R-OR)'s chief of staff Kurt Pfotenhauer, now a mortgage-industry lobbyist.

Recent career

Currently the president of MediaSpeak Strategies, Pfotenhauer was a Senior Policy Advisor and National Spokesperson with the McCain for President campaign and frequent political commentator on FOX, CNN and MSNBC. She is the former President and C.E.O. of the Independent Women’s Forum (IWF) (2000–2005). She was Vice Chairman of IWF’s Board of Directors from 2005-2007. In 2002, Pfotenhauer was nominated by President George W. Bush

George W. Bush

George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....

 to serve as a delegate to the United Nations’ Commission on the Status of Women and served during the 46th session of the Commission. The Bush Administration also appointed her to the National Advisory Committee on Violence Against Women. Additionally, she served on advisory committees reporting directly to Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao

Elaine Chao

Elaine Lan Chao served as the 24th United States Secretary of Labor in the Cabinet of President George W. Bush from 2001 to 2009. She was the first Asian Pacific American woman and first Chinese American to be appointed to a President's cabinet in American history. Chao was the only cabinet...

 and former Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham

Spencer Abraham

Edmund Spencer Abraham is a former United States Senator from Michigan. He served as the tenth United States Secretary of Energy, serving under President George W. Bush. Abraham is one of the founders of the Federalist Society....

.

She was an advisor for the 2008 John McCain presidential campaign

John McCain presidential campaign, 2008

John McCain, the senior United States Senator from Arizona, launched his second candidacy for the presidency of the United States in an unsuccessful bid to win the 2008 presidential election. His candidacy, in the works for a number of years, was informally announced on February 28, 2007 during a...

. During the campaign she sparked controversy by referring to areas of Virginia

Virginia

The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...

 outside of Northern Virginia

Northern Virginia

Northern Virginia consists of several counties and independent cities in the Commonwealth of Virginia, in a widespread region generally radiating southerly and westward from Washington, D.C...

 as "real Virginia", picking up on a GOP talking point that Sarah Palin

Sarah Palin

Sarah Louise Palin is an American politician, commentator and author. As the Republican Party nominee for Vice President in the 2008 presidential election, she was the first Alaskan on the national ticket of a major party and first Republican woman nominated for the vice-presidency.She was...

 promoted, namely that red states are the "real America" and more "pro-America."

In early 2011, she appeared as a spokeswoman for Koch Industries

Koch Industries

Koch Industries, Inc. , is an American private energy conglomerate based in Wichita, Kansas, with subsidiaries involved in manufacturing, trading and investments. Koch also owns Invista, Georgia-Pacific, Flint Hills Resources, Koch Pipeline, Koch Fertilizer, Koch Minerals and Matador Cattle Company...

 on FoxNews and other media outlets.