David Plouffe, AKPD executive

The US-based public relations firm, AKPD Message and Media, which successfully managed President Barack Obama’s 2008 election campaign, is in Trinidad to meet with UNC-A’s deputy political leader, Jack Warner. Sources told the Sunday Guardian that the US team arrived in Trinidad last night for talks today with Warner at an undisclosed location. Warner, vice president of Fifa, returned home on Friday night after inspecting pitches in Nigeria for the World Under-17 tournament starting in October.

Sources close to the Warner camp revealed that the Chaguanas West MP cut short a planned visit to Rome. This is yet another example of Warner using his global resources and negotiating savvy to have a positive impact on the local political scene, sources added. The discussions between Warner and AKPD, one of the most renowned political consultancy firms in the world, is a coup of sorts, as the firm earned an enviable reputation and is in great demand everywhere, following its successful and unprecedented management of Obama’s campaign.

The Sunday Guardian understands that Warner changed his flight schedule and returned to Trinidad to facilitate the meeting with top executives from AKPD. When contacted for a comment on the secret meeting, Warner neither confirmed nor denied the report. While sources in the Warner camp are tight-lipped, speculation is rife that he is seeking professional advice and guidance in yet another attempt to unite all opposition factions. A source from Warner’s Chaguanas West constituency office did confirm that the Chaguanas West MP was pursuing aggressively unity attempts this past month.

During the last general election in T&T in 2007, Warner made several attempts to broker a unity deal. While he was able to unite several factions to create the UNC–Alliance, the Chaguanas West MP was unable to seal a deal with the breakaway Congress of the People (COP). Sources claimed that resentment towards UNC political leader, Basdeo Panday, and the party’s present structure hampered any meaningful dialogue of unity between the UNC and the COP. 

One thing is clear, however. The source said the political ante had been raised, and Warner was signalling that his change initiative would now seek out the resources of a firm whose work on the Obama campaign clearly defined what political change was all about. Cost of the visit by the high-powered team has not been revealed. There are four top executives in AKPD Message and Media—David Axelrod, John Kupper, David Plouffe and John Del Cecato.

The US National Journal, in its analysis of the 2008 US presidential campaign, stated: “Of those who deserve a place in history for helping Barack Obama win the presidency…atop the list is AKPD, which has offices in New York and Chicago.” AKPD and its principals led the creation and execution of President Obama’s campaign message and media. The firm guided the campaign from its explosive start to its upset primary wins, through the toughest presidential nomination process in modern times, to a smashing general election victory.

What Obama said

Barack Obama was sworn in as President of the United States after running a presidential campaign that changed the rules of the game; a campaign that erased perceptions of ethnicity, inequality and bias; a campaign that was based on hope, trust and the promise of a better future.

Obama’s presidential campaign was able to captivate and enchant the US population and, by extension, the world. During his acceptance speech, Obama thanked all who stood behind him. Right after thanking his wife and family members, he thanked two men—David Plouffe and David Axelrod, both from AKPD.

They had formulated the ground-breaking strategies that created magical results for the Illinois Senator and the American people. Obama, during his speech, had described Plouffe as “the unsung hero of his campaign, a man who built the best campaign, I think, in the history of the United States of America”—and Axelrod, “who’s been a partner with me every step of the way.”

The pair had put together what Obama described in his speech as “the best campaign team ever assembled in the history of politics.” Even Republican strategists described the Obama campaign as a technically perfect campaign, while political pundits said the 2008 Obama campaign would be used as a template to guide all election processes in the future.