Obama taps longtime aide Psaki for campaign’s traveling press secretary

{mosads}“With the president on the road in the campaign, we needed a traveling press secretary,” senior Obama strategist David Axelrod told The New York Times. “Jen has a long association with the president and is respected and trusted by the news media. She is a thorough-going pro. There simply was no one better for this role.”

Psaki said Monday she was excited to rejoin the president’s team.

“With so much at stake this election whether it is a fair shake for middle class families or access to affordable healthcare for women-there is nowhere I would rather be than a part of the President’s team that will send him back for four more years,” she said in a statement.

Psaki is a veteran of the Obama campaign’s first effort for the White House, working as a deputy under press secretary Robert Gibbs in 2008. Previously, Psaki worked in 2006 for then Rep.-Rahm Emanuel (D.-Ill.) at the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and for Sen. John Kerry’s (D-Mass.) 2004 presidential campaign. As deputy communications director in the White House, Psaki focused primarily on economic and financial-regulatory policy.

The William and Mary grad was on the short list to replace Gibbs as White House press secretary in January 2011. The job ultimately went to Jay Carney, who was director of communications for Vice President Biden.

This article was updated at 5:13 p.m.