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| Obama Crowd Blanches as Ex-Aide Helps British Conservatives | Obama Crowd Blanches as Ex-Aide Helps British Conservatives |
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| LONDON — David Axelrod stood on a stage in the Buckingham Room of the Labour Party headquarters this month, rallying British progressives who are hoping, and paying, for Barack Obama’s message maven to help lead them back into power. | LONDON — David Axelrod stood on a stage in the Buckingham Room of the Labour Party headquarters this month, rallying British progressives who are hoping, and paying, for Barack Obama’s message maven to help lead them back into power. |
| Cleanly shaven with a light purple shirt and dark purple tie, Mr. Axelrod held forth on the similarities between Mr. Obama’s presidential campaign and that of the Labour candidate for prime minister, Ed Miliband, who is running on a platform of narrowing economic inequality in Britain. | Cleanly shaven with a light purple shirt and dark purple tie, Mr. Axelrod held forth on the similarities between Mr. Obama’s presidential campaign and that of the Labour candidate for prime minister, Ed Miliband, who is running on a platform of narrowing economic inequality in Britain. |
| Mr. Axelrod is not the only top Obama operative at work here. A week earlier, Jim Messina, Mr. Obama’s lanky 2012 campaign manager, met at Downing Street with his client, Prime Minister David Cameron of the Conservative Party, who argues that years of austerity have corrected the profligate years of Labour rule and that tough immigration laws are protecting British values and jobs. | Mr. Axelrod is not the only top Obama operative at work here. A week earlier, Jim Messina, Mr. Obama’s lanky 2012 campaign manager, met at Downing Street with his client, Prime Minister David Cameron of the Conservative Party, who argues that years of austerity have corrected the profligate years of Labour rule and that tough immigration laws are protecting British values and jobs. |
| The British elections in 2015 will be waged over these competing economic visions, the country’s stomach for hard-right anti-immigration appeals, and the candidates’ abilities to manage coalition partners. But the contest is also shaping into a proxy competition between two titans of the “No-Drama-Obama” campaigns who are acting out their ideological and personal conflicts on a faraway stage. As more former aides turn their affiliation with the president into lucrative consulting arrangements, the Battle of Britain crystallizes a concern among some Democrats over whether those most central to Mr. Obama’s rise should be expected in their private business to stand for his public policies and values. And if they are not, some of the president’s supporters wonder what exactly it means to work for Mr. Obama in the first place. | |
| The anxiety centers on Mr. Messina, 44, who not only helped lead Mr. Obama to victory with his expertise in digital technology and data-driven organizing, but who looms in the party’s future as the head of Priorities USA, the pro-Obama turned pro-Hillary Rodham Clinton “super PAC.” That role has only intensified the sense among some Obama campaign and administration veterans that Mr. Messina’s work for the Tories has crossed an ideological threshold that his consulting for casinos and corporations only approached; some of his former associates have spurned his offers to join in the campaign effort in London. | The anxiety centers on Mr. Messina, 44, who not only helped lead Mr. Obama to victory with his expertise in digital technology and data-driven organizing, but who looms in the party’s future as the head of Priorities USA, the pro-Obama turned pro-Hillary Rodham Clinton “super PAC.” That role has only intensified the sense among some Obama campaign and administration veterans that Mr. Messina’s work for the Tories has crossed an ideological threshold that his consulting for casinos and corporations only approached; some of his former associates have spurned his offers to join in the campaign effort in London. |
| Mr. Messina rejects the premise. | Mr. Messina rejects the premise. |
| “Look, I feel very comfortable with my decision to go to work for David Cameron,” said Mr. Messina, who flies back to London on Thursday. He said he found Mr. Cameron’s support of same-sex marriage in the face of his party’s opposition “heroic,” and called him a “real leader” on health care and climate change. He noted that Anita Dunn, Mr. Obama’s first communication’s director — who, like him, has been criticized by liberals for her lucrative ideological elasticity — worked for Mr. Cameron in 2010. “English politics is not analogous to U.S. in their political positions,” Mr. Messina argued, adding, “The conservatives are not Republicans in the United States.” | “Look, I feel very comfortable with my decision to go to work for David Cameron,” said Mr. Messina, who flies back to London on Thursday. He said he found Mr. Cameron’s support of same-sex marriage in the face of his party’s opposition “heroic,” and called him a “real leader” on health care and climate change. He noted that Anita Dunn, Mr. Obama’s first communication’s director — who, like him, has been criticized by liberals for her lucrative ideological elasticity — worked for Mr. Cameron in 2010. “English politics is not analogous to U.S. in their political positions,” Mr. Messina argued, adding, “The conservatives are not Republicans in the United States.” |
| Mr. Messina’s defenders point out that Mr. Miliband is more liberal than his Labour predecessor Tony Blair, for whom several Clinton strategists worked. But critics counter that the David Cameron of 2014 is far more conservative than the one who campaigned in 2010. Progressives argue that Mr. Cameron has long since abandoned the moderate ground from which he once called the hard-right UKIP party, “fruitcakes and loonies and closet racists.” Now he is courting UKIP’s Euro-skeptic voters and once sent vans carrying “go home or face arrest” billboards to immigrant neighborhoods. And they believe Mr. Cameron’s support for economic austerity, as well as his tax cuts for the highest earners, putting him in diametrical opposition to Mr. Obama. | Mr. Messina’s defenders point out that Mr. Miliband is more liberal than his Labour predecessor Tony Blair, for whom several Clinton strategists worked. But critics counter that the David Cameron of 2014 is far more conservative than the one who campaigned in 2010. Progressives argue that Mr. Cameron has long since abandoned the moderate ground from which he once called the hard-right UKIP party, “fruitcakes and loonies and closet racists.” Now he is courting UKIP’s Euro-skeptic voters and once sent vans carrying “go home or face arrest” billboards to immigrant neighborhoods. And they believe Mr. Cameron’s support for economic austerity, as well as his tax cuts for the highest earners, putting him in diametrical opposition to Mr. Obama. |
| “I’m drawn to this fight because it very much reminds me of the two campaigns I was involved in here with Barack Obama,” Mr. Axelrod said in an April 17 web video that announced Labour’s hiring of his firm, AKPD. And Mr. Axelrod opened his meeting last Thursday with Mr. Miliband and his closest advisers by saying, “I’m not here on business. If I were doing this for business reasons I’d be doing something else,” according to Michael Dugher, a Labour lawmaker who sat across from him. People close to Mr. Axelrod, a 59-year-old Chicago-based strategist who is much more liberal on economic issues than Mr. Messina, say Mr. Messina’s involvement played a role in his taking the job. | “I’m drawn to this fight because it very much reminds me of the two campaigns I was involved in here with Barack Obama,” Mr. Axelrod said in an April 17 web video that announced Labour’s hiring of his firm, AKPD. And Mr. Axelrod opened his meeting last Thursday with Mr. Miliband and his closest advisers by saying, “I’m not here on business. If I were doing this for business reasons I’d be doing something else,” according to Michael Dugher, a Labour lawmaker who sat across from him. People close to Mr. Axelrod, a 59-year-old Chicago-based strategist who is much more liberal on economic issues than Mr. Messina, say Mr. Messina’s involvement played a role in his taking the job. |
| “Axelrod is trying to balance out the brand damage with what Messina is doing,” said the American pollster Stanley B. Greenberg, who has been working with Labour since the 1990s. “He seemed to enjoy that Messina would find it uncomfortable that they were doing this.” | “Axelrod is trying to balance out the brand damage with what Messina is doing,” said the American pollster Stanley B. Greenberg, who has been working with Labour since the 1990s. “He seemed to enjoy that Messina would find it uncomfortable that they were doing this.” |
| Mr. Messina protests any suggestion of tension in his relationship with Mr. Axelrod, with whom he clashed bitterly in the run-up to the 2012 presidential election. | Mr. Messina protests any suggestion of tension in his relationship with Mr. Axelrod, with whom he clashed bitterly in the run-up to the 2012 presidential election. |
| “Nooo. That’s silly. Noo. We’re brothers. Noo,” Mr. Messina said. “We’ve been through two campaigns and two years in the White House together. No, he is my brother and I love him.” He added that he had spoken with Mr. Axelrod on the phone just that morning about Senate races and Mr. Messina’s upcoming wedding, which he said he hoped Mr. Axelrod would attend. “He will be as much my friend after this as he is today.” | “Nooo. That’s silly. Noo. We’re brothers. Noo,” Mr. Messina said. “We’ve been through two campaigns and two years in the White House together. No, he is my brother and I love him.” He added that he had spoken with Mr. Axelrod on the phone just that morning about Senate races and Mr. Messina’s upcoming wedding, which he said he hoped Mr. Axelrod would attend. “He will be as much my friend after this as he is today.” |
| Mr. Axelrod declined to comment. | Mr. Axelrod declined to comment. |
| The warring Americans angle has not been lost on the British news media (“An Axel to Grind,” read a headline in The Sun) but the day before Mr. Axelrod arrived in London, those papers were also filled with bad news for Labour. For the first time in years, the conservatives had taken a lead in national polls, prompting questions about Mr. Miliband’s mettle and the strategic chops of his advisers. | The warring Americans angle has not been lost on the British news media (“An Axel to Grind,” read a headline in The Sun) but the day before Mr. Axelrod arrived in London, those papers were also filled with bad news for Labour. For the first time in years, the conservatives had taken a lead in national polls, prompting questions about Mr. Miliband’s mettle and the strategic chops of his advisers. |
| On a recent Tuesday afternoon, Labour lawmakers entered Parliament through Peer’s Gate, where Lord Michael Dobbs, a conservative member and the author of the original “House of Cards,” complained about all the speeches he had to give. They walked upstairs, under portraits of Henry VIII and his wives, and carried out pints of dark ale (and, inexplicably, Coors Light) to the House of Commons Terrace Pavilion, Parliament’s watering hole overlooking the Thames. There, several Labour leaders approached a key adviser to Mr. Miliband, Lord Stewart Wood of Anfield, asking if there remained room at the next day’s meetings with Mr. Axelrod. | On a recent Tuesday afternoon, Labour lawmakers entered Parliament through Peer’s Gate, where Lord Michael Dobbs, a conservative member and the author of the original “House of Cards,” complained about all the speeches he had to give. They walked upstairs, under portraits of Henry VIII and his wives, and carried out pints of dark ale (and, inexplicably, Coors Light) to the House of Commons Terrace Pavilion, Parliament’s watering hole overlooking the Thames. There, several Labour leaders approached a key adviser to Mr. Miliband, Lord Stewart Wood of Anfield, asking if there remained room at the next day’s meetings with Mr. Axelrod. |
| “Having winners on your side is really important. Axelrod won twice,” explained Mr. Wood. | “Having winners on your side is really important. Axelrod won twice,” explained Mr. Wood. |
| The next day, Mr. Axelrod watched watched the prime minister being question by Parliament on the television in Mr. Miliband’s offices, as Mr. Cameron, polished with perfectly parted hair, hailed “a broad based recovery” in the British economy. When the prime minister sat down, Mr. Miliband, more skittish and with his dark hair spotted with a white patch, bounced up and accused the prime minister of being beholden to “the old idea that the market always knows best and doesn’t need rules.” | The next day, Mr. Axelrod watched watched the prime minister being question by Parliament on the television in Mr. Miliband’s offices, as Mr. Cameron, polished with perfectly parted hair, hailed “a broad based recovery” in the British economy. When the prime minister sat down, Mr. Miliband, more skittish and with his dark hair spotted with a white patch, bounced up and accused the prime minister of being beholden to “the old idea that the market always knows best and doesn’t need rules.” |
| During the prior week’s match of wits in the House of Commons, Mr. Axelrod became the subject of conversation when Mr. Cameron mocked his hiring by Mr. Miliband. | During the prior week’s match of wits in the House of Commons, Mr. Axelrod became the subject of conversation when Mr. Cameron mocked his hiring by Mr. Miliband. |
| “He’s got a new adviser from America, yes, he has Mr. Axelrod,” Mr. Cameron said on April 30, adding: “I don’t know what they are paying him.” | “He’s got a new adviser from America, yes, he has Mr. Axelrod,” Mr. Cameron said on April 30, adding: “I don’t know what they are paying him.” |
| The speaker shouted “order” and cut him off. | The speaker shouted “order” and cut him off. |
| Mr. Cameron’s top political adviser, Lynton Crosby — an Australian known here as the Wizard of Oz — characterized Mr. Axelrod’s hiring as a political stunt. | Mr. Cameron’s top political adviser, Lynton Crosby — an Australian known here as the Wizard of Oz — characterized Mr. Axelrod’s hiring as a political stunt. |
| “Jim came on board and I think that rattled Labour’s cage,” he said, characterizing Mr. Miliband’s thinking as, “How come this Jim Messina guy is going to the Conservatives, why can’t we get someone?” | “Jim came on board and I think that rattled Labour’s cage,” he said, characterizing Mr. Miliband’s thinking as, “How come this Jim Messina guy is going to the Conservatives, why can’t we get someone?” |
| Mr. Messina auditioned for the job — paying in the six figures according to Tory officials — after the 2012 election by shepherding a group of Conservative officials through Washington to meet senior Obama campaign officials. “I don’t know who would have gone into that meeting not thinking that there was something going on between Messina and the Tories,” said one such official, who considered the meeting a favor to Mr. Messina. | Mr. Messina auditioned for the job — paying in the six figures according to Tory officials — after the 2012 election by shepherding a group of Conservative officials through Washington to meet senior Obama campaign officials. “I don’t know who would have gone into that meeting not thinking that there was something going on between Messina and the Tories,” said one such official, who considered the meeting a favor to Mr. Messina. |
| But while Mr. Messina found former associates generous with their time, Democratic analytics firms have been less so. Several turned down offers to work with him on Mr. Cameron’s race. Mr. Messina said the Conservatives “are doing amazing things in-house.” | But while Mr. Messina found former associates generous with their time, Democratic analytics firms have been less so. Several turned down offers to work with him on Mr. Cameron’s race. Mr. Messina said the Conservatives “are doing amazing things in-house.” |
| Several current and former administration officials said in interviews that they had no issue with Mr. Messina working for a valued ally such as Mr. Cameron. Still others, including Denis R. McDonough, the White House chief of staff, had some reservations about Mr. Messina taking on the Conservative Party as a client, according to several people with knowledge of the situation who asked to remain anonymous because they did not want to be seen betraying a confidence. | |
| Mr. McDonough declined to comment, but after the story was published online, Joshua Earnest, a White House spokesman, wrote, “The notion that Mr. McDonough has an opinion — let alone reservations —about a former colleague’s roster of political clients just isn’t true.” | |
| Mr. Greenberg argued that taking the Tories on as clients “ought to be disqualifying” for Mr. Messina working on a potential Hillary Clinton presidential campaign. “This is ‘make as much money as you can,’ not the ideological side of the Obama project,” he said. | |
| Several people close to Mrs. Clinton said the more immediate concern about Mr. Messina was that he had stretched himself too thin by taking on so many clients, but that it was better to keep him involved in the Clinton-focused super PAC than risk him working for someone else’s. | Several people close to Mrs. Clinton said the more immediate concern about Mr. Messina was that he had stretched himself too thin by taking on so many clients, but that it was better to keep him involved in the Clinton-focused super PAC than risk him working for someone else’s. |
| Mr. Messina said he had heard no such complaints. Mr. McDonough declined to comment. | Mr. Messina said he had heard no such complaints. Mr. McDonough declined to comment. |
| As much as Labour has sought to make an issue out of Mr. Messina, the struggling and bickering party, which is itself debating an outreach to UKIP voters after last week’s disappointing showing in European Parliament elections, has also sought to turn Mr. Axelrod into a positive talking point. | As much as Labour has sought to make an issue out of Mr. Messina, the struggling and bickering party, which is itself debating an outreach to UKIP voters after last week’s disappointing showing in European Parliament elections, has also sought to turn Mr. Axelrod into a positive talking point. |
| That has not always worked out so smoothly. As he prepared to leave London, Mr. Axelrod incorrectly spelled the Labour leader’s name in a Tweet, accidentally linking to a spoof account. | That has not always worked out so smoothly. As he prepared to leave London, Mr. Axelrod incorrectly spelled the Labour leader’s name in a Tweet, accidentally linking to a spoof account. |
| “Labour’s latest guru @davidaxelrod gets Ed Miliband’s name wrong in tweet,” the Conservatives responded on Twitter. “DOH! £300k a year for this?” | “Labour’s latest guru @davidaxelrod gets Ed Miliband’s name wrong in tweet,” the Conservatives responded on Twitter. “DOH! £300k a year for this?” |