David Binder

David Binder, a professionally trained statistical and qualitative analyst, is our guru of all things research. A twenty-three year research veteran, he also sign the checks around here. His professional destiny was set in childhood when he studied the percentages of each color in dozens of bags of m&m's. "My mom thought it was a bit odd, but was happy I sorted and counted them instead of eating them all at once," David remembers.

One of David's career passions is helping keep good people in government. David is widely respected for his social and political insights. Local and national media seek his observations and opinions on a regular basis. Time, Newsweek, the New York Times and dozens of other publications frequently seek David's input and quote his findings.

David is also a favorite guest of electronic media including ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC and PBS stations. In the Bay Area, David is well-known for his live, in-studio election eve analysis on KCBS Radio. He has also appeared on the "CBS Evening News" and "The News Hour with Jim Lehrer". David often works in a t-shirt and shorts. He's learned to keep a dress shirt, tie and suit jacket handy. "In case one of the TV reporters pops in at 9:30 PM wanting to interview me for the 11 o'clock news," explains David.

If you insist, David will tell you he has a B.S. from Syracuse University, an M.B.A. from Cornell, and is a member of the American Association of Political Consultants. He won't tell you that he is a well-known speaker at the national meetings of various research organizations or that he has been awarded numerous honors for his community service. Maybe you can google David to find more about him in the profile San Francisco magazine did on him a few years back.

Because of his commitment to it, David will talk about his unique volunteer work. He makes post-election analysis presentations to community, public interest and non-profit groups as well as foundations and political clubs. David explains, "I try to show them not only what happened in an election, but how and why it happened and projected future trends. I hope this helps these groups plan more efficiently so they can achieve their very worthwhile goals."

Does David have a life outside of research? A bit. He loves to bike around San Francisco. However, he's usually carrying a stack of newspapers so he can catch up when he gets tired and finds a nice place to sit down. And yes, he's still trying to discover trends in m&m's annual color mix changes. "Their color mix was static for years, now they're making me work at it again," he says with a slight whine.

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