As telecom executive Don Gips watched an up-and-coming Illinois senator deliver a now-famous speech at the 2004 Democratic National Convention, he knew the young politician on the TV screen was a man he wanted to know.
And as a former chief policy adviser to Vice President Al Gore and former director at the Federal Communications Commission, Gips had the connections to make it happen.
Four years later, the Boulderite ranks among President-elect Barack Obama’s most trusted advisers, earliest Colorado supporters and most successful gatherers of campaign contributions.
Gips, 48, declined to comment on the idea of a presidential appointment, but at least one spot where he’d be a natural fit — the FCC — has a seat opening this year. As one of Colorado’s most limelight-shy Obama allies, Gips prefers to discuss what has drawn him to the president-elect.
“He’s an amazing combination of intelligence, judgment, vision and integrity that I’ve never seen or witnessed,” said Gips, who is overseeing an agency-by-agency review as part of Obama’s transition team in Washington, D.C. “The more we got to know him, my wife describes it as an incredible Zen quality.”
In October, Gips took unpaid leave from his vice presidency at Broomfield-based Level 3 Communications, which took a beating during the tech bust and has seen its stock price plummet to less than $1 a share in recent weeks. Friends and colleagues describe Gips as an intelligent, strategic man who would make a valuable addition to the new administration.
Obama has relied on Gips repeatedly for assistance since they met at a 2004 fundraiser for Sen. Ken Salazar. Gips helped Obama choose his staff when he was a new Illinois senator.
In Obama’s book “The Audacity of Hope,” he lists Gips as one of “several good friends (who) took the time to read the manuscript and provided me with invaluable suggestions.”
That relationship became apparent when Obama visited Colorado, said Bruce Oreck, who served with Gips on the president-elect’s national finance committee.
“When Barack landed, we were all behind the scenes with him, and he’d immediately sort of pigeonhole Don and start talking with him,” Oreck said. “It was very clear that he was looking for Don to be a part of his team.”
Gips ranks among Obama’s top money men in Colorado, having personally delivered $500,000 in contributions.
In early August, Obama tapped him and a few others to begin work on transition plans, Oreck said. The team began analyzing federal agencies, identifying potential land mines and preparing to brief incoming Cabinet members.
It’s a key job that Gips has excelled at, said Lisa Brown, outgoing co-chairwoman of the agency-review committee.
Before joining the White House as Gore’s top domestic-policy adviser, Gips became chief of the FCC’s International Bureau. There he helped broker a World Trade Organization deal that opened foreign markets to telecommunications competition.
Brown said she could easily see Gips in an Obama administration, but it could be a tough choice for the family man and father of three teenage boys.
Friends say he’s not really a “Beltway type,” and it’s a compliment, Brown said.
“It’s so refreshing to work with him. He cares very deeply about what the president-elect wants to accomplish,” Brown said. “He brings a fresh attitude.”
Jessica Fender: 303-954-1244
