Taylor Marsh (born 1954), the pseudonym for Michelle Marshall, is an author, political analyst and strategist, and also the founder and publisher of the new media blog TaylorMarsh.com. Marsh is best known for being a "die hard Clintonite," as The Washington Post described her.^[1] However, Marsh started out skeptical of Hillary Clinton, as the National Journal's Hotline OnCall^[2] revealed early in 2007. TaylorMarsh.com became a central hub for Clinton's supporters during the 2008 primary election cycle. She was a contributor to The Huffington Post, covering SEIU^[3] events, and the AFSCME Democratic debate during 2007,^[4] and has written for several other new media sites.^[5][6][7]

Personal history and education

Marsh was born in Columbia, Missouri, but grew up in St. Louis, raised by her mother after her father died.

Taylor competed in beauty pageants to pay for college, starting with Miss Teenage St. Louis and earning the title of "Miss Friendship" in the Miss Teenage America Pageant.^[8] Years later, she was crowned Miss Missouri,^[9] of 1974 going to the Miss America 1975 pageant.^[10]

Marsh went to Stephens College in Columbia, Missouri, a liberal arts school, on scholarship, where she performed in the modern dance troupe and was lead dancer in productions, as well as the drama department's "Sweet Charity", in the lead role of "Charity."^{[citation needed]}

Marsh's interest in politics began as a child, through her older brother Larry R. Marshall,^[11] who was an assistant attorney general for the state of Missouri when John Ashcroft was Attorney General of Missouri.

Professional background

Acting

Jerry Herman cast Marsh in her first audition that led to her part in The Grand Tour, with the show receiving several Tony Award nominations.^{[12][better source needed]} Marsh did other shows, including bit parts and acting as understudy, living in New York City for several years.^[12]

In 2005, Marsh wrote, produced and directed “Weeping for J.F.K.” at Two Roads Theater,^[13] a one-woman show staged in Los Angeles that traced the intersection of politics, John F. Kennedy and her life, from the 1960s to the early 2000s.^{[citation needed]}

Writing

Taylor worked at the alternative newsweekly LA Weekly in the personal ad department, starting in the early 1990s, as online dating was hitting. "Relationship consultant" became her official title. Marsh was responsible for starting the first "alternative" personal ad section at the LA Weekly. In 1996, Taylor started publishing short pieces online about dating and the personals, marriage and relationships. Taylor Marsh's trademark column inside the LA Weekly was "What Do You Want?," which included mixture of dating and personal ad advice, with political opinion included periodically.^{[citation needed]}

In 1997, Taylor Marsh became managing editor to one of the first sites online to make money.^[14] Marsh wrote about politics daily on "The Editor's Desk," covering the fight between Ken Starr and Susan McDougal regularly, as the Monica Lewinsky scandal unfolded. Marsh resigned from the post after about a year. She wrote about her brief experience in her memoir, My Year in Smut...^{[citation needed]}

Taylor was quoted in the Los Angeles Times in a 2000 article titled "L.A.'s Long Strange Tryst with Democrats,"^[15] just after the time she began freelance writing, consulting and strategizing, which lasted throughout the 2000s. The Times quoting Marsh about former Pres. Bill Clinton: "I think Clinton understands the messiness of being human. Clinton knows how bright he is, but deep in his soul he has some sexual healing that he needs to go through, that he has some sexual urges that take him in an opposite direction [from] his intellect. Whole people are messy and incongruous and terribly, terribly flawed."^{[citation needed]}

Taylor Marsh began blogging online during the John Kerry primary campaign of 2004. Marsh backed Hillary Clinton in July 2007, after reporting on the candidates.^{[citation needed]}

In 2009, Marsh moved to the Washington, D.C. area.