Obama 2012 Campaign Manager Speaks to GW College Democrats

By Sam Michel

Jim Messina, the campaign manager for President Barack Obama’s successful 2012 re-election campaign, spoke Wednesday night to the GW College Democrats on the lessons he learned from the grueling two-year job overseeing a massive $1 billion operation and revolutionizing the modern political campaign through technological advancements. In addition, he spoke about his work in the White House during President Obama’s first term, working on domestic legislation.

Before taking the podium, Messina was introduced by GW College Democrats President Spencer Dixon, who listed Messina’s impressive résumé, which included stints as Chief of Staff to both Congresswoman Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY) and Senator Max Baucus (D-MT), who Messina called his mentor. However, his time with Baucus was cut short when he received a call from then-Senator Barack Obama in June 2008 requesting Messina to move to Chicago the following day to become Chief of Staff to the Obama 2008 campaign. In that role, Messina was responsible for overseeing a budget of $700 million. Following Obama’s win over Senator John McCain, Messina was asked to become Deputy Chief of Staff. For the next two years he oversaw the passage of President Obama’s health care bill and the repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell. However, it was in December 2010 when the President approached Messina and asked him to manage his re-election campaign; thus fulfilling Messina’s childhood dream of running a presidential campaign. 

In planning the President’s re-election effort in Chicago, Messina described his desire to create a completely different campaign from the one in 2008. 

“If we ran a campaign based on moving the country forward, we knew we would win,” Messina said. 

Whereas the 2008 campaign largely relied on television ads and didn’t incorporate social media extensively, the 2012 campaign was played out almost entirely on Twitter and Facebook. Messina also spoke of the campaign’s desire to reach voters on a more local level through over 140 million door knocks and using supporters to talk to their neighbors and friends. This localized effort helped the campaign identify millions of undecided voters and work with these voters to complete early voting ballots. 

In reflecting on the campaign, Messina spoke highly of the technology department, which developed new apps for smart phones that helped the campaign track how many voters volunteers had reached out to. Messina also stressed the importance of not overly relying on polling data, which oversampled older and typically more conservative voters, thereby showing a much closer race than what the Obama campaign was seeing in its models. 

Moving forward, Messina said he is looking forward to getting involved with Organizing for Action, a new advocacy group that will help mobilize supporters to urge Congress to pass President Obama’s second term legislative agenda.  Messina concluded with a piece of advice he learned from his mentor, Senator Baucus. 

“In your life you should have gin and have tonic. You should have fun but also be serious when it’s needed.”

Chuck Todd Interview (audio)

SMPA Director Frank Sesno's November "Conversation Series" continues at 7:30 tonight with NBC News Chief White House Correspondent and Political Director Chuck Todd. Sesno and Todd will discuss the chances of President Obama and the Republican candidates in the 2012 election, as well as the 24-hour media coverage around it. The Jack Morton Auditoriun will open its doors at 7:00 pm. The event is sold out, but all unoccupied seats will be given on a first-come, first-serve basis to early comers who join the standby line. The event is free and open to the public.

Todd gave WRGW News' Jorge Gadala-Maria a live, on-air preview of tonight's event earlier this afternoon. Listen and download below.

 Chuck Todd on the GOP Primaries and 2012 Election - Nov 28th, 2011 by WRGW News

http://www.mediafire.com/?z0f30ypj0pqmsf6

Google Donates to GOP, Enters Bipartisan Phase

Google, the perennial left-leaning search engine, has begun to recruit Republican operatives and donating funds to various GOP groups, reported the Huffington Post. 

The traditionally liberal-minded corporation is entering a bipartisan phase with the aim of supporting the causes of both the Republican and Democratic parties. 


Google's executives donated money to the D.C.-based Republican Attorneys General Association. The conglomerate also helped co-sponsor last Thursday's GOP presidential debate with Fox News. 

Among other GOP-linked organizations, Google also pledged monetary support to the Heritage Foundation, web development firm Crossroad Strategies and the Republican State Leadership Committee. Additionally, Google has hired 18 lobbying firms in the last nine months, a figure that includes consultants who are not mandated to register as lobbyists.

Google leadership also provided support to conservative think thanks like the American Enterprise Institute and the Competitive Enterprise Institute, both based in the nation's capital.

Naturally, the megacorporation's fiscal support of GOP organizations has found approval among Republican members of Congress. 

"Bipartisanship is a positive thing," said Senator John Cornyn of Texas, head of the Senate's Republican fundraising committee.  "I understand why people feel like they need to have people they can talk to on both sides." 

Google's fiscal support of the GOP is coming at a time when the company's executives are facing a major antitrust lawsuit on Capitol Hill. Eric Schmidt, Google's former chief executive, stood before the Senate Judiciary antitrust subcommittee last Wednesday. 

Schmidt defended Google against allegations that the company is violating American antitrust legislation, which prohibits the formation of monopolies. The investigation into Google's breach of antitrust laws is ongoing.

Ever since Microsoft began funneling donations to both major parties, Google has sought to gain political interest in the same manner. As of mid-2011, Google and Microsoft are at a dead tie in terms of political donations, both corporations citing $3.5-million in lobbying expenditures.

Some GW students believe the megacorporation's donations to the GOP reflect a strategic move with regards to the policy of Net neutrality. Net neutrality, also known as Internet neutrality, is a principle that calls for all Internet content to be treated equally. 

Net neutrality proponents also advocate for no restriction by Internet Service Providers or the government on what type of sites consumers view, what kind of content they see or what modes of communication they employ.


"It seems to me that [Google] is just doing this because the GOP is against Net neutrality," noted freshman Eric Breese. "This kind of stance is better for Google."


Currently, Google handles nine out of ten global searches. 

Gibbs Recounts Hard Times in White House, Emphasizes Youth Vote in 2012

Former White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs
Photo: James Reed

Robert Gibbs, former White House Press Secretary and outside adviser to President Obama’s reelection campaign, energized a room full of College Democrats for the upcoming 2012 elections Tuesday evening. Gibbs briefly reminisced on his tenure as press secretary, during which he held more than 250 press briefings, before talking about the state of the economy.

“Our fiscal house is a mess... This is not your normal recession,” Gibbs told students at Dorothy Betts Theatre. Gibbs pointed to the falling strength of the dollar, noting that the income average in 2011 is about the same as 1996. “Your parents are paying your 2010-2011 GW tuition on a 1996 income,” said Gibbs.

Shiah Shahmohammadi, the GW College Democrats Communications Director, decided to host Gibbs as a speaker in order to rally their members toward the reelection of President Obama.

“Mr. Gibbs is an important figure in politics today. Not only was he the spokesperson for the nation's highest office for two years, but he is also an integral part of the reelection campaign of Barack Obama,” Shahmohammadi said. “The GW College Democrats chose Mr. Gibbs to be our kick-off speaker because he has the ability to excite our membership and encourage them to get involved with our organization as well as the 2012 campaign.”

During his speech, Gibbs pointed to the events of the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010 as a challenge for himself and the press, calling it “three of the most hardest months in the White House.” During the spill, Gibbs said he learned much about the oil industry and claimed to know more that than anyone who works for such a company.

Looking to 2012, Gibbs asked students a series of questions pertaining to their voting and social habits.

“This election is as much important as the last election,” Gibbs said emphatically. Gibbs, devoted some time to voting trends over the last decade, and particularly noted the shortfall in youth voting in 2010. In 2008, the youth votes comprised eighteen percent of the electorate, while in 2010 it was only eleven percent.

During the question and answer period, Gibbs noted a briefing featuring both President Obama and former President Clinton regarding the tax deal. Gibbs said his first thought when he first saw the two presidents walking past his office was “Holy Christ.” The presidents wanted access to the briefing room on a Friday evening.

“It was really cool getting the insight of someone who not only was a top White House insider for two years but the President’s main gatekeeper to the press,” said sophomore College Democrat member Scott Challeen. “My favorite part about hearing from former White House insiders like that is not so much the descriptions and specifics of their jobs, but the funny personal stories from the job.”