The combination of data-driven ground game, relentless messaging and sophisticated social media is Mr Messina's signature and it is what he'll be delivering to the Cameron campaign from his perch across the Atlantic. Like many former Obama senior staffers, Mr Messina has now entered the lucrative world of consulting, forming The Messina Group. But unlike the Clintonista consultants who helped get Tony Blair elected more than a decade ago with his Third Way framing, Mr Messina is showing a willingness to work outside partisan lines, signing up with the Conservatives instead of Labour. 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.