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Jim Messina

Manager, 2012 Obama Presidential Campaign

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Why He Matters

A Western Democrat and expert campaigner, Messina left his job as chief of staff to Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) in June 2008 to work on Barack Obama's presidential campaign. After Obama's victory, Messina was rewarded with a position in the White House. He served as the quieter foil to voluble and colorful White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel until Emanuel left in fall 2010.

Messina left soon afterwards, in January 2011, to assume the post of campaign manager of Obama's 2012 reelection effort. The 2012 campaign will be managed from Chicago, the first such modern reelection effort to be housed outside of Washington, D.C. The White House political operation, which Messina supervised, closed with his Washington departure and was moved to the Democratic National Committee to avoid communications and personnel problems.

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At a Glance

  • Career History: Deputy White House Chief of Staff to President Barack Obama (January 2009-January 2011); Chief of Staff for Sen. Max Baucus (2005 to 2008); Chief of Staff for Sen. Byron L. Dorgan (2002 to 2005); Campaign Manager for Sen. Max Baucus (2001 to 2002)
  • Hometown: Born in Denver, Colo. and raised in Boise, Idaho
  • Alma Mater: University of Montana, B.A. (political science),
 

Path to Power

Born in Denver, Colo., but raised in Boise, Idaho, Messina earned a B.A. in political science from the University of Montana. While in college, he worked for the Montana Democratic Party and as press secretary for Democrat Frank Morrison in his unsuccessful run for governor.

Messina managed his first campaign in 1993 when Dan Kemmis (D) ran for mayor of Missoula, Mont. He also worked as a chief of staff in the Montana state Senate before heading East to Washington.

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The Issues

Messina is primarily a campaign guru, but he served as Senate Finance Chairman Baucus' top aide during a number of key fights over health-care reform, Social Security and Bush's controversial 2001 and 2003 tax cuts. Baucus defected from his party to support those tax cuts in 2001, but later pulled back on that position.

During Obama's 2008 campaign, Messina oversaw every detail. He ran staff and daily meetings with Obama, administered the budget and monitored all day-to-day activities. "I spend a lot of time making sure the trains run on time - making sure that Barack and the staff get to where they need to go and the message is right and basically making the departments talk to each other," he said. "We've grown from a small business to a Fortune 500 company, and coordinating all that is probably the biggest piece of what I do."

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The Network

Messina has worked as chief of staff for Sens. Max Baucus and Byron Dorgan, as well as Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-N.Y.). He came to Washington as a legislative aide for Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.) in 1995.

As a top player in the 2008 Obama campaign, he reported directly to campaign manager Plouffe and chief strategist David Axelrod. As deputy chief of staff, he reported directly to White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel.

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Additional Resources

  1. Zeleny, Jeff, The New York Times, Obama Will Move Political Operations to Chicago, Jan. 21, 2011
  2. Zeleny, Jeff, The New York Times, An Obama Insider, Running the Race From Afar, April 2, 2011
  3. Ezra Klein, "The Sleeper of the Senate," The American Prospect, Nov. 2008
  4. Nicole Duran, "Knowles taps Dorgan chief for his race," Roll Call, June 8, 2004
  5. Ryan Lizza, "Battle plans; how he won," The New Yorker, Nov. 17, 2008
  6. Ray Ring, "Obama's Western ace in the hole," High Country News, Aug. 11, 2008
  7. Almanac of the Unelected, 2008 edition
  8. Brown, Carrie Budoff, Politico,com, "White House to Democrats: 'Punch Back Twice as Hard," August 6, 2009
  9. Lauren Whittington, "Rep. McCarthy welcomes five new faces," Roll Call, June 28, 1999
  10. Ysabel Bilbao, "Boise native Jim Messina will lead Obama's campaign," KTVB Idaho, June 17, 2008;
  11. Smith, Ben, Politico, Obama '12: Same cast, different story, April 5, 2012
  12. Chris Cillizza, "Messina to become Obama campaign chief of staff," The Washington Post Online, The Fix, June 16, 2008