Jim Messina (political staffer)
| Jim Messina | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Jim Messina in May 2009 | |
| White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations |
|
| In office January 20, 2009 – January 26, 2011 |
|
| President | Barack Obama |
| Preceded by | Blake Gottesman |
| Succeeded by | Alyssa Mastromonaco |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1969 (age 42–43)[1] Denver, Colorado |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Alma mater | University of Montana (B.A.) |
| Occupation | Political staffer |
| Website | www.barackobama.com |
Jim Messina (born 1969) is a political adviser who was the White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations under President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2011 and is the campaign manager for Obama's 2012 re-election campaign.[2][3][4]
Contents |
[edit] Early life, education, and early career
Messina was born in Denver, Colorado, and raised in Boise, Idaho. In 1980, as a fourth grader, he volunteered to represent Jimmy Carter in a class mock election. He graduated from Boise High School in Boise, Idaho in 1988 and earned his B.A. in political science from the University of Montana in 1993.[5] In 1993, as a college senior, Messina managed Democrat Mayor Dan Kemmis's successful re-election bid for Mayor of Missoula, Montana.[6]
[edit] Political career
[edit] 1990s
In 1995, Messina was hired by Democrat U.S. Senator Max Baucus of Montana. They describe their relationship as father-son-like. In 1999, he became Chief of Staff to Democratic U.S. Congressman Carolyn McCarthy of New York.
[edit] 2000s
In 2002, he ran Baucus's 2002 re-election campaign. Messina refused to let Baucus attend any debate that didn’t include a third-party candidate whose skin had turned blue from drinking an anti-infection solution, a distraction to help take attention away from the credible Republican candidate.[7]
He then became Chief of Staff to U.S. Senator Byron Dorgan of North Dakota, from 2002 to 2004. In 2004, he made $80,510 and in 2005 made $128,936[8][9]
In 2005, he re-united with Baucus and became his Chief of Staff. Messina was integral in devising the Democratic strategy that prevented the allowance of private accounts within Social Security.[10]
Messina has also managed and consulted on many other political campaigns from Alaska to New York, including Montana State Senator Jon Tester's successful election in 2006.[10]
Messina became President Obama's White House Deputy Chief of Staff and earned the nickname "the fixer."[11] Dan Pfeiffer calls Messina “the most powerful person in Washington that you haven’t heard of.”[12] He also said that Messina and Rahm Emanuel had a "crazy relationship" and explained that “You’d be in a meeting, and Rahm would bark out that something needed to be done;. Jim would disappear from Rahm’s office, pop through the door a few minutes later and say, ‘Got it!’ or ‘Got him!’”[13]
[edit] Obama's 2012 re-election campaign
He said that Obama may compete in states he lost in 2008 such as Georgia and Arizona.[14]
[edit] References
- ^ "Obama's People". The New York Times Magazine. http://www.nytimes.com/packages/html/magazine/2009-inauguration-gallery/index.html?WT.mc_id=PO-D-I-NYT-MOD-MOD-MII-ROS-0109-NA&WT.mc_ev=click. Retrieved 2009-01-19.
- ^ "Obama makes early appointments". marcambinder.theatlantic.com. http://marcambinder.theatlantic.com/archives/2008/11/obamas_filling_the_white_house.php. Retrieved 2008-11-18.[dead link]
- ^ Tapper, Jake (2011-01-27). "Jay Carney Picked as New White House Press Secretary". ABC News. http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/president-obama-taps-jay-carney-press-secretary-deparle/story?id=12780593. Retrieved 2011-01-27.
- ^ Zeleny, Jeff (2011-04-02). "An Obama Insider, Running the Race From Afar". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/03/us/politics/03messina.html.
- ^ "Obama Hires Boise High Graduate as Chief of Staff". New West Boise. http://www.newwest.net/city/article/obama_hires_boise_high_graduate_as_chief_of_staff/C108/L108/. Retrieved 2009-11-24.
- ^ http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1108/15811.html
- ^ http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1211/70276_Page4.html#ixzz1gKa91luK
- ^ http://www.muckety.com/James-A-Messina/165642.muckety
- ^ http://www.legistorm.com/person/James_A_Messina/2056.html
- ^ a b Kornblut, Anne E. (2009-02-21). "Low-Profile Aide Messina Tackles Obama's Tough Political Problems". The Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/02/20/AR2009022003853.html?sub=new. Retrieved 2010-05-06.
- ^ http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2011/04/11/10-things-you-didnt-know-about-jim-messina
- ^ http://www.thenation.com/article/159577/jim-messina-obamas-enforcer
- ^ http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1211/70276.html#ixzz1gKaq0sbS
- ^ USA Today. 2011-11-07. http://content.usatoday.com/communities/theoval/post/2011/11/jim-messina-obama-is-he-toast/1.
[edit] External links
- 2012 BarackObama.com official campaign site
- Jim Messina at WhoRunsGov at The Washington Post
- Appearances on C-SPAN
- Jim Messina collected news and commentary at Bloomberg News
- Jim Messina collected news and commentary at The New York Times
- Deputy Chief of Staff Jim Messina official White House site (archived)
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