Paul Begala

Begala was born in New Jersey, to an Irish American mother, Margaret "Peggy" (née Cass), and a Hungarian American father, David Begala. He was raised in Missouri City, Texas, where his father was an oil-field equipment salesman.[1][2] In 1979, Begala graduated from Dulles High School in Sugar Land, Texas.

He earned both his Bachelor of Arts and Juris Doctor from the University of Texas at Austin, where he taught briefly. While at the University of Texas, Begala was a candidate for student government president. However, he finished second to a write-in campaign for Hank the Hallucination, a character from the campus comic strip Eyebeam. Following his loss, Begala wrote a tongue-in-cheek complaint for the Daily Texan, arguing "I cannot help but feel Hank's platform is illusory at best...I must say that the candidate himself lacks substance". Begala was declared the winner, following a ruling that imaginary characters could not hold the position.[3]

Begala in 2005

Begala, along with business partner James Carville, helped then-Governor of Arkansas Clinton win the 1992 presidential election. Begala was a chief strategist for the 1992 Clinton–Gore campaign. Clinton carried 33 states and became the first Democrat elected president since 1976. Begala later served as a counselor to the President in the Clinton White House, where he coordinated policy, politics, and communications.[4]

Aside from the 1992 presidential election, Begala and Carville had other well-known political victories including the 1991 Pennsylvania U.S. Senate victory of Harris Wofford, the 1988 re-election campaign of incumbent New Jersey U.S. Senator Frank Lautenberg, and the gubernatorial victories of Robert Casey in Pennsylvania in 1986, Wallace G. Wilkinson in Kentucky in 1987, and Zell Miller in Georgia in 1990. Begala later revealed he had favored his former client, Pennsylvania senator Harris Wofford, over Al Gore as Bill Clinton's running mate in the 1992 presidential election.[5]

He was a contributor to John F. Kennedy, Jr.'s political magazine George in the late 1990s.

From 1999 until its cancellation in 2000, Begala co-hosted the political debate show Equal Time with Oliver North on MSNBC.[6] From 2002 until its cancellation in 2005, he co-hosted the political debate show Crossfire on CNN, alternating with Carville as the left-wing host, while the position of right-wing host alternated between Robert Novak and Tucker Carlson.

As an author and co-author, Begala has written five political books: Is Our Children Learning?: The Case Against George W. Bush; Buck Up, Suck Up and Come Back When You Foul Up (with James Carville); It's Still the Economy Stupid; and Third Term: Why George W. Bush (Hearts) John McCain.

He was an early supporter of Hillary Clinton during the 2008 presidential primaries. However, after she dropped out of the race, he became a backer of Barack Obama.

On January 12, 2008, Begala appeared on NPR's radio show Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!, playing the game Not My Job. He won by answering two out of three questions correctly.

Begala was a consultant in the service of mortgage lender Freddie Mac, an arrangement that ended in September 2008.[7]

Begala is currently a CNN political commentator and a research professor of public policy at Georgetown University's McCourt School of Public Policy.

He is a member of the board of directors of Democratic Majority for Israel, an organization that promotes U.S.-Israel cooperation and whose political arm, DMFI PAC, ran attack ads against Senator Bernie Sanders's candidacy before the 2020 presidential election.[8][9]

Looking back at his career and the U.S. political scene, Begala has remarked that a "presidential campaign is like a film. It never comes together until it's scored and tracked".[10]

Begala and his wife, Diane Friday, have four sons. They currently live in Virginia.[11]

Begala is Roman Catholic.[12]

• Is Our Children Learning?: The Case Against George W. Bush, New York: Simon & Schuster, 2000. ISBN 0-7432-1478-1
• It's Still the Economy, Stupid: George W. Bush, The GOP's CEO, New York: Simon & Schuster, 2002. ISBN 0-7432-4647-0
• Third Term: Why George W. Bush (Hearts) John McCain, New York: Simon & Schuster, 2008. ISBN 1-4391-0213-9
• You're Fired: The Perfect Guide to Beating Donald Trump, New York: Simon & Schuster, 2020. ISBN 1-9821-6004-7

Co-authored with James Carville

• Buck Up, Suck Up... and Come Back When You Foul Up: 12 Winning Secrets from the War Room, New York: Simon & Schuster, 2002. ISBN 0-7432-2422-1
• Take It Back: Our Party, Our Country, Our Future, New York: Simon & Schuster, 2006. ISBN 0-7432-7752-X

Wikiquote has quotations related to Paul Begala.

• Paul Begala at the Huffington Post
• Paul Begala at the group blog TPMCafe
• Paul Begala at IMDb
• Appearances on C-SPAN