Jim Messina is campaign manager for President Barack Obama's 2012 reelection campaign. He previously served as Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations under Obama from 2009 to 2011. Messina has extensive experience in politics, having worked for several high-profile Democratic politicians throughout the 1990s and 2000s, including Senators Max Baucus and Byron Dorgan. As Obama's reelection campaign manager, Messina is leading efforts to maximize Obama's chances of winning a second term in 2012.

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Jim Messina (political staffer)
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Jim Messina
Jim Messina in May 2009
Presidential Campaign Manager
of the Re-election Campaign of Barack Obama
Incumbent
Assumed office
January 26, 2011
President Barack Obama
Jennifer O'Malley Dillon,
Deputy
Julianna Smoot
Preceded by David Plouffe
White House Deputy Chief of Staff
for Operations
In office
January 20, 2009 – January 26, 2011
Served alongside Mona Sutphen
President Barack Obama
Preceded by Blake Gottesman
Succeeded by Alyssa Mastromonaco
Personal details
1969 (age 41–42)
Born
Denver, Colorado
Political party Democratic
Alma mater University of Montana (B.A.)
Occupation political staffer
Website www.barackobama.com

2. Jim Messina (born 1969)[1] is campaign manager for President Barack Obama's 2012 reelection campaign.[2] He
previously served as the Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations for President Obama from 2009 to 2011.[3][4] Prior to
taking up that post he was Director of Personnel for the transition team.
Contents
[hide]
 1 Early life, education, and early career
 2 Political career
o 2.1 1990s
o 2.2 2000s
o 2.3 Obama's 2012 re-election campaign
 3 References
 4 External links
[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

3. 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
1. ^ "Obama's People". The New York Times Magazine. Retrieved 2009-01-19.
2. ^ Zeleny, Jeff (2011-04-02). "An Obama Insider, Running the Race From Afar". The New York Times.
3. ^ "Obama makes early appointments". marcambinder.theatlantic.com. Retrieved 2008-11-18.[dead link]
4. ^ Tapper, Jake (2011-01-27). "Jay Carney Picked as New White House Press Secretary". ABC News. Retrieved
2011-01-27.
5. ^ "Obama Hires Boise High Graduate as Chief of Staff". New West Boise. Retrieved 2009-11-24.
6. ^ http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1108/15811.html
7. ^ http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1211/70276_Page4.html#ixzz1gKa91luK
8. ^ http://www.muckety.com/James-A-Messina/165642.muckety
9. ^ http://www.legistorm.com/person/James_A_Messina/2056.html
10. ^ a b Kornblut, Anne E. (2009-02-21). "Low-Profile Aide Messina Tackles Obama's Tough Political Problems". The
Washington Post. Retrieved 2010-05-06.
11. ^ http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2011/04/11/10-things-you-didnt-know-about-jim-messina
12. ^ http://www.thenation.com/article/159577/jim-messina-obamas-enforcer
13. ^ http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1211/70276.html#ixzz1gKaq0sbS
14. ^ 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)
 [http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/obama-campaign-says-gop-blocking-jobs-bill-after-reid-blocks-jobs-
bill_595022.html