Messina became President Obama's
White House deputy chief of staff and earned the nickname "the fixer."[7]Dan Pfeiffer called Messina "the most powerful person in Washington that you haven't heard of."[8] Messina was integral to the passage on the Affordable Care Act and was widely credited with the effort to repeal Don't Ask Don't Tell.[9][10]
In January 2013, the Obama administration announced the launch of
Organizing for Action, an advocacy organization that would promote President Obama's policies, with Jim Messina as national chair.[11] That same year, Messina became co-chair of
Priorities USA Action.[12]
In 1995, Messina was hired by Democratic U.S. Senator
Max Baucus of Montana. They describe their relationship as father-son-like.[citation needed] 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",[18] which was a distraction to help take attention away from the more credible Republican candidate. Messina was purportedly responsible for creating an ad for Baucus that observers considered homophobic.[19]
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.[20] Messina was credited by The New York Times Magazine as the brains behind the defeat of President Bush's plan.[21]
Messina has also been involved with other political campaigns from
Alaska to New York, including serving as an advisor to Montana State Senator
Jon Tester's successful election in
2006.[20] In 1999, he became Chief of Staff to Democratic U.S. Congresswoman
Carolyn McCarthy of New York. 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.[22][23]
Barack Obama presidential campaign, 2008
Messina was hired as National Chief of Staff for the Obama campaign in the 2008 general election.[24] He was credited with leading the efforts to staff up for the general election and controlled a $750 million budget.[25]
After Obama won, Messina was named Director of Personnel for the Obama-Biden Transition team, helping Obama pick his cabinet.[26]
Barack Obama presidential campaign, 2012
Messina was Obama's campaign manager during the 2012 presidential election. In January 2011, Messina left his job at the White House and began "a rolling series of personal seminars with the CEOs and senior executives of companies that included
Apple,
Facebook,
Zynga,
Google,
Microsoft,
Salesforce, and
DreamWorks".[27] His goal, he said, was to learn everything he could about "organizational growth, emerging technologies, marketing",[27] to better serve the President in his role as campaign manager during the
2012 re-election campaign.
For his work, the American Political Consultant's association named him the International Strategist of the Year.[28]
After second Obama campaign
In January 2013, Messina became head of
Organizing for Action (OFA), using the Obama For America database and other resources to support President Obama's legislative agenda in his second term. While OFA was formed in 2009 by the President-elect, it was reformed as a political-action non-profit group in January, 2013.
He founded The Messina Group,[when?][29] a full-service consulting firm with offices in Washington, New York, San Francisco, and London.[30]
In August 2013, Messina signed on as a consultant to the
British Conservative Party, helping them successfully fend off a challenge from the Labour Party in 2015.[31] "Whereas British pollsters consistently missed that the Tories were moving into pole position, Messina's internal numbers showed for weeks they were on course to be the largest party."[32]
While some were surprised by Messina's move to work with the Tories, The Daily Telegraph pointed out that "this makes more sense when you consider that Mr Cameron's policies – such as support for
gay marriage and confronting
climate change – would probably make him a centrist Democrat in the United States."[32] The combination of "data-driven ground game, relentless messaging and sophisticated social media is Mr Messina's signature",[33] and as stated in The Daily Telegraph, is what Mr. Messina brought to the Cameron campaign, ultimately aiding in a stunning victory for the Conservatives.[34] In a statement, Messina also added his personal admiration for
Prime MinisterDavid Cameron.[35]
In January 2016, Messina was hired by
Prime Minister of ItalyMatteo Renzi as campaign's advisor for the
constitutional referendum in December.[36] The campaign was unsuccessful and Renzi was forced to resign as Prime Minister in its wake.[37] Messina received 400,000 euros for his advice.[38]
In June 2016, Messina began working with Spanish Prime Minister
Mariano Rajoy,[14] using data and targeted social media that ultimately helped Rajoy win a bigger than expected victory in
that year's elections and take charge of a minority government in October of that year.[39]
Messina worked with Prime Minister
Theresa May as a campaign strategist for the
2017 United Kingdom general election.[40] Theresa May and the Conservatives suffered a very underwhelming performance, in which she successfully remained Prime Minister, however, did not manage to keep Conservatives in the majority.[41] For May, the election has been called a "disastrous gamble".[42]
Personal life
Messina has
Italian ancestry; in 2013 he received the
Machiavelli Award as the Italian American Democrat of the Year.[43]