Woodhouse went to the University of South Carolina and majored in political sciehttp://twitter.com/woodhousebnce but after graduating in 1991, he didn't immediately enter politics. Instead, Woodhouse enrolled in the management training program with the Marhttp://twitter.com/woodhousebriot Corporation. Living in Birmingham, Ala., he was homesick and "not enjoying the private sector" when he heard Bill Clinton deliver his acceptance speech at the 1992 Democratic National Convention. He quit the management training program and moved back to Raleigh.

Political Beginnings

Woodhouse worked on his first political campaign that year, volunteering for Rep. David Price's (D-N.C.) re-election race. After Price won, Woodhouse worked in personnel in Gov. James Hunt's (D-N.C.) office. Hunt won re-election in 1992 after serving as governor from 1977 to 1985. Woodhouse worked in a handful of different jobs during his time in the governor's office. He was legislative liaison to the Employment Security Commission and legislative liaison to the North Carolina Chamber of Commerce.

In 1997, Woodhouse moved to Capitol Hill, getting a job with Rep. Bob Etheridge (D-N.C.). He worked as a legislative assistant for agriculture, small business and environmental issues before eventually becoming Etheridge's press secretary before Etheridge's 2000 re-election campaign. In 1992, Woodhouse left Etheridge to manage former Clinton White House Chief of Staff Erskine Bowles' (D) nationally-watched Senate campaign against Elizabeth Dole (R) for the seat of retiring Sen. Jesse Helms (R-N.C.). Though the Bowles campaign was unsuccessful, Woodhouse caught the attention of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, which hired him to be communications director for the 2004 election cycle.

After that, Woodhouse worked briefly in then-Sen. Jon Corzine's (D-N.J.) Senate office before Corzine announced his candidacy for New Jersey governor in early 2005. At that point, Woodhouse became communications director for Americans United to Protect Social Security, a group fighting President George W. Bush's proposal to allow people to put some of their Social Security funds into private accounts.

Americans United for Change

That group was active from February 2005 to October 2005, when the president's proposal died. At that time, Americans United to Protect Social Security became Americans United for Change (AUC), and Woodhouse became a political consultant for Hildebrand-Tewes Consulting, run by Democratic operatives Steve Hildebrand and Paul Tewes. Woodhouse worked as a consultant for the next two years, but he worked almost exclusively with AUC on a variety of other issue-oriented campaigns. So when President Karen Olick stepped down early in 2007, Woodhouse was a natural successor.

In June 2008, Woodhouse took leave from AUC to work in the DNC's communications shop. His job was "basically to prop up and run a war room," which he did from June through the November presidential election. Chris Cillizza of The Washington Post said: "Woodhouse's hiring is the latest sign that Obama's campaign is working to install operatives of their own choosing in key roles across the party to ensure that the brand the Illinois Senator has built during the primary season is preserved in the general election."

After the presidential campaign, Woodhouse returned to Americans United and began to run issue campaigns to help the president pass his $800 billion stimulus package. "I came back, and I thought that's where I was going to be," Woodhouse said. "I didn't apply for any jobs in the administration."

But some people had other ideas. Jen O'Malley Dillon, who became the DNC's executive director in January, asked Woodhouse to come aboard as communications director.

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