Republican consultant Christopher Barron, on contract with the Republican Main Street Partnership since April 2006, has assumed a more public role with the centrist GOP advocacy group since former Rep. Charles Bass (R-N.H.) took over as president and CEO of the group this year. [IMGCAP(1)]

Previously charged only with conducting behind-the-scenes communications tasks such as drafting press releases and writing opinion pieces, Barron is now RMSP’s on-the-record spokesman.

“That may explain why I seem relatively new at RMSP,” Barron said.

Barron’s firm, CapSouth Consulting, was founded in March 2006 and offers a wide range of services, including media relations, direct mail and general political consulting.

Among Barron’s clients are RMSP’s political action committee; the Log Cabin Republicans, an organization that advocates for gay rights; and Campbell & Campbell Campaigns, a New Jersey-based consulting firm specializing in direct-mail work. In 2006, he worked for Catherine Davis, the Republican nominee in Georgia’s 4th district.

Before founding Washington, D.C.-based CapSouth, Barron served as the national political director for the Log Cabin Republicans.

Joining Bass on the board of the RMSP, which often serves as a counterpoint to the conservative Club for Growth, are former Sens. John Danforth (Mo.) and Warren Rudman (N.H.) as well as former Reps. Sherwood Boehlert (N.Y.), Nancy Johnson (Conn.) and Doug Ose (Calif.).

Boundyful Hire. David Boundy was named political director for the Democratic National Committee, replacing Pam Womack.

“We are thrilled to have David joining the DNC team,” DNC Chairman Howard Dean said in a statement.

Boundy comes to the DNC from Grassroots Solutions, a Democratic consulting firm in which he was a partner.

He served from 1996 to 2005 as campaign director and deputy political director for the AFL-CIO, where he headed the union’s field operations. Boundy also served in the Labor Department under President Bill Clinton and worked for the former president’s 1992 and 1996 campaigns.

Breakfast at Tiffany’s. Tiffany Muller has been hired to serve as director of opposition research by Hamilton Beattie & Staff, a Democratic polling firm with offices in Washington, D.C. and Fernandina Beach, Fla., while Scott Simpson has been brought in to work as a political strategist.

Muller was lured away from Kansas-based Land of Aahs, a Democratic consulting firm that advised the Kansas Democratic Party and Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius’ (D) successful re-election campaign as well as other winning Jayhawk State Democrats.

Simpson, a veteran adviser to House and Senate candidates, spent the 2004 and 2006 cycles with Lake Research Partners, a Democratic polling firm.

On the Marc. Marc Dunkelman has just left his gig as chief of staff to Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-N.Y.) to become vice president of the Democratic Leadership Council, the New York Daily News political blog reported this week.

According to the paper, Dunkelman will be in charge of ideasprimary.com, the DLC project launched by the group’s new chairman, ex-Rep. Harold Ford Jr. (Tenn.), to spark discussion of key issues in advance of the Democratic presidential primaries.

Team Ryun. Kyle Robertson has been hired as campaign manager to former Rep. Jim Ryun (R-Kan.), as the one-time Olympic champion runner seeks to upend Rep. Nancy Boyda (D-Kan.) and get his old job back.

Robertson, who is now on the ground in the eastern Kansas 2nd district, worked in the previous cycle as the Midwest field representative for the National Republican Congressional Committee, covering Illinois, Iowa, Ohio, Wisconsin, Indiana, Michigan and Kentucky.

In 2004, Robertson served as political director for Rep. Geoff Davis’ (R-Ky.) first victory, and in that capacity built a turnout operation consisting of approximately 650 volunteers.

Although Kansas’ 2nd district leans Republican, Ryun was ousted in the previous cycle after running what many considered to be a lackluster campaign. State Treasurer Lynn Jenkins is angling to challenge Ryun in the GOP primary, meaning Robertson will have to steer Ryun through two campaigns to get the former Congressman back to Washington.

Weir Glad You’re Here. Tricia Weir has been hired as the Republican National Committee’s new director of member relations.

Weir is an RNC veteran, having previously served the committee as director of external affairs for the finance division and executive assistant to the deputy chairman. In each of those positions, Weir was liaison to the White House as well as to House and Senate Members.

The Pollsters of Madison, Wis. A bevy of well-known pollsters and political consultants are set to appear May 16-17 in Madison, Wis., at an event sponsored by the Online News Association to help train Internet journalists and discuss online media coverage of campaigns.

Among those slated to speak at the regional conference are Democratic pollster Paul Maslin and Republican pollster Gene Ulm as well as Democratic consultant Joe Trippi and conservative blogger Ed Morrissey.