James Kotecki (born October 23, 1985, in

Syracuse, New York Syracuse ( ) is a City (New York), city in and the county seat of Onondaga County, New York, Onondaga County, New York, United States. It is the fifth-most populous city in the state of New York following New York City, Buffalo, New York, Buffa ...

) is an American video blogger, online commentator, and self-described "political geek" who turned into a YouTube celebrity during the United States presidential election in 2008. Washingtonian Favorites: James Kotecki - Capital Comment Blog (washingtonian.com)
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Education and Rise to Fame

Kotecki graduated from

Raleigh Charter High School Raleigh Charter High School is a free, independent public school chartered by the North Carolina State Board of Education. It was founded in 1998 by parents of eighth graders at Magellan Charter School. From its inception through the 2010–2011 ...

, then magna cum laude from

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private research university in the Georgetown (Washington, D.C.), Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789 as Georg ...

in May 2007 with the degree of Bachelor of Science in Foreign Service. As a senior student at Georgetown, Kotecki spent his spare time in his dormitory, creating videos critiquing the 2008 presidential campaign candidates, and subsequently posting them on YouTube. James Kotecki - Young People Who Rock - CNN.com Blogs
/ref> His witty and slightly cynical remarks and occasional rapping and playing the guitar in his videos had caught the attention of many people including politicians who agreed to appear in his dormitory for an interview; namely,

Mike Gravel Maurice Robert "Mike" Gravel ( ; May 13, 1930 – June 26, 2021) was an American politician and writer who served as a United States Senator from Alaska from 1969 to 1981 as a member of the Democratic Party, and who later in life twice ran for ...

, former Democratic United States Senator from Alaska and a candidate in the 2008 presidential election, and

Ron Paul Ronald Ernest Paul (born August 20, 1935) is an American author, activist, physician and retired politician who served as the U.S. representative for Texas's 22nd congressional district from 1976 to 1977 and again from 1979 to 1985, as well ...

, Republican Congressman for the State of Texas. Kotecki was also able to interview Democratic presidential candidate

Dennis Kucinich Dennis John Kucinich (; born October 8, 1946) is an American politician. A U.S. Representative from Ohio from 1997 to 2013, he was also a candidate for the Democratic nomination for president of the United States in 2004 and 2008. He ran for ...

. Kotecki's video commentaries also attracted

The Politico ''Politico'' (stylized in all caps), known originally as ''The Politico'', is an American, German-owned political journalism newspaper company based in Arlington County, Virginia, that covers politics and policy in the United States and intern ...

and offered him full-time employment as a video blogger. At The Politico, Kotecki wrote, produced and hosted his own online video series called KoteckiTV. POLITICO - James Kotecki
/ref> James Kotecki now does public policy research and analysis for The Cypress Group.

References

External links

Website of James KoteckiTwitter page of James Koteckifirst Youtube channel of James Koteckisecond Youtube channel of James KoteckiVideo Blog of James Kotecki at Politico
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kotecki, James Living people 1985 births American male bloggers American bloggers Writers from Syracuse, New York