Bob Bauer, Lawyer to Obama and Democratic Party, Eyed as New White House Counsel

Robert (Bob) Bauer, the top lawyer for the Democratic National Committee and personal lawyer to President Obama and his chief campaign counsel, is emerging as the top candidate to replace Greg Craig as White House Counsel, Fox News has learned.

Senior White House officials declined to comment on Bauer's future status with the White House. But Democrats close to the situation said Bauer is under serious consideration as Craig's replacement. Craig is expected to leave the White House by year's end - if not sooner.

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said no decisions have been made on Craig's future or on any potential replacement.

Here is Wikipedia on the job:

Bauer is married to White House Communications Director Anita Dunn. Dunn is also expected to leave the White House by year's end. Unlike Craig, Dunn's departure was understood when she took the communications post on an interim basis in late April. Dunn replaced Ellen Moran, Obama's first communications director, who resigned on April 21 to become Chief of Staff at the Commerce Department.

Dunn declined to comment on any role her husband's might play in the Obama White House.

Dunn also served as a top campaign adviser to Obama's presidential campaign. During the campaign, Bauer played a significant role in Obama's decision to forgo general election spending limits, allowing him to vastly outraise and outspend Republican rival John McCain.

Bauer is highly regarded in Democratic circles as a tenacious and brilliant lawyer with an expertise in election law and the convergence of law and politics. In addition to his current work for the DNC and his role as general counsel to Obama's presidential campaign, Bauer has also been counsel to the Democrats' national Senate and House campaign committees. He was also chief outside counsel to Senate Democratic leader Tom Daschle during the impeachment trial of President Clinton and counsel to New Jersey Sen. Bill Bradley's presidential campaign.

Bauer is currently chair of the Political Law Group at the Washington law firm of Perkins Coie LLP. He was graduated magna cum laude from Harvard University in 1973 and received his law degree in 1976 from the University of Virginia.

Here is a recent Washington Post profile of Bauer:

In October 2008, the Huffington Post and the American Bar Association speculated that Bauer could be Obama's first White House Counsel.

During the summer heat of the 2008 campaign, Bauer clashed with McCain's campaign about talks over rejecting public financing for the general election.