David Mendell is an American journalist who wrote for the "Chicago Tribune" until the summer of 2008. Mendell was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, and lives in Oak Park, Illinois. During his time with the "Tribune", Mendell covered the Columbine High School shootings and riots in Seattle spurred by meetings of the World Trade Organization. Mendell began covering Barack Obama on a regular basis in 2003, during Obama's U.S. Senate campaign.