Hillary Clinton’s Gritty Ambassador To Labor, Latinos, And Capitol Hill-HRC ROOM [View all]

[hrmjustin]

HILLARY CLINTON ROOM

Adrian Carrasquillo

At the gym behind Our Lady Queen of the Americas Church in Washington, D.C., there is a regular 6 a.m. basketball game. Former felons, brought in by a nonprofit, play with a revolving set of people like economist Ike Brannon (worked for John McCain), Reggie Love (Obama’s former body man), and a secret service agent — real athletes.

For a long time, there was another regular player: Amanda Renteria, now the political director for Hillary Clinton’s campaign. A basketball walk-on at Stanford (and a varsity athlete in two other sports), Renteria developed a reputation over eight years of 6 a.m. games.

“If someone gives a really hard foul, that’s kind of intentional, we still refer to it as ‘the Renteria,’” said Bryan Weaver, who works with at-risk individuals and brings the former felons in his nonprofit program to the game, and is also married to Democratic strategist Maria Cardona.

http://www.buzzfeed.com/adriancarrasquillo/hillary-clintons-gritty-ambassador-to-labor-latinos-and-capi#.deyr60zKj