Austin native Scott McClellan named presidential press secretary

President Bush on Friday named Austin native Scott McClellan, son of Texas Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn, to one of the most stressful and influential jobs in Washington — presidential press secretary.

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McClellan, 35, is a graduate of Austin High and the University of Texas. He learned politics at the knee of his mother, a school board member, Austin mayor, state railroad commissioner and now comptroller. McClellan grew up in the back room of the City Council chambers and remembers, as a third-grader, speaking into a car-mounted public address system to implore listeners to "please vote for my mother."

He ran three of his mother's statewide campaigns, gaining a deep understanding of Texas politics. Now he moves into a job that demands a strong working knowledge of foreign affairs, national politics and congressional activity — facing a daily barrage of questions on all three topics by an aggressive and information-hungry press corps.