Rachel Marsden

Rachel is a New York based political columnist, political and media strategist, radio/TV personality, CEO of Grand Central Political online political/PR/media talent scouting, and Editor-in-Chief of Grand Central Political magazine -- serving the USA, Canada, UK, and France. She is considered an expert in both US and international politics.

Born in suburban Vancouver, British Columbia, Rachel grew up listening to Jack Webster, who pioneered combative political talk-radio long before it ever spread to the USA.

Fully bilingual in both French and English, Rachel survived growing up in Canada during the socialist regime of Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, best known for his close friendship with Fidel Castro, decimation of the Canadian military, a wife who partied at Studio 54 with the Rolling Stones, and doing pirouettes behind the Queen of England's back.

Always a capitalist at heart, Rachel spent her childhood on her parents' farm selling eggs from the family driveway. To ensure the operation looked legit and to score an advantage over the competition (the neighborhood Safeway), she would hold her pet chicken, Brenda (named after her Sunday school teacher), on her lap as proof that the eggs were truly "farm fresh".

She was also influenced early in life by the bravery and determination of a young man in her hometown named Terry Fox, who remains a personal hero.

Rachel attended Vancouver Canucks hockey games, where she waved at Wayne Gretzky from the front row while his face was smashed into the glass, whenever the Edmonton Oilers came to town.

After ripping like a tornado through one of Canada's most liberal universities (sciences, then criminology), she moved on to a broadcast journalism degree, then formal political journalism training in Washington, DC.

Working in Canada, she spent her media career debating and liberals in both of her native languages (French and English), and perplexingly, has no hint of an accent in either language.

Rachel started out with the Fox News Channel in 2004 as the Canadian Correspondent for "The O'Reilly Factor" -- the top-rated cable news show in the world -- after she was spotted as a regular panelist on Dennis Miller's CNBC show in Los Angeles. She later became a daily panelist on FNC's late-night show and has also since appeared on CNN, FOX Business Network, and other news networks.

Most recently a political columnist for the Toronto Sun and other Sun Media newspapers, she has contributed to United Press International/Washington Times, and the National Post (one of Canada's two national newspapers). Her writing has appeared in other print and online publications around the world, including the New York Post and Newsmax magazine.

In addition to working in network news production in New York City and nationally-syndicated radio in Washington, DC, Rachel has served as a DC-based Director of a political think-tank, worked as a political campaign strategist and run political campaigns in both Canada and the USA, and as CEO of a public relations, lobbying, and strategic communications business.

Prior to beginning a 2-year stint in Toronto in 2005, Rachel hosted a weekly open line, political talk-radio radio program out of Vancouver, BC, which was broadcast worldwide. She used to tell listeners that she did all her own technical controls for the show, so any calls would go straight onto the air without screening. Rachel would like to thank all the the folks who took advantage of this for helping her hone her comedic improvisational skills.

A former national level competitive swimmer who still holds records in her home province, Rachel lives for challenges and thrives on competition. She likens political debate to a boxing match -- and she's never happier than when she's in the ring.

In her spare time, Rachel enjoys volunteering for various organizations, and dating guys who usually turn out to be jerks.

She hates it when people "big themselves up" in their bios.