Patrick picks Obama aide for his 2010 campaign

David Plouffe, who was Obama's campaign manager and is widely credited with Obama's successful run, will work as a campaign consultant focusing on Patrick's message and strategy.

"What I'm excited about is bringing about change," Plouffe said by phone yesterday. "And doing longer-term things is hard in politics. But I think he's trying to bring about a lot of reforms and has been successful about them already."

The announcement of Plouffe's role in Patrick's campaign is a sign the governor is beginning to build his campaign network and trying to put to rest doubts political insiders have raised about whether he is committed to running again.

"David Plouffe's credentials speak for themselves," said Steve Crawford, spokesman for the Patrick campaign. "It's great to have him back as part of the campaign team."

Plouffe is credited with keeping Obama's campaign a tightly run ship, building a national grass-roots network and a fund-raising powerhouse, and running the mechanics of the race. He was the quieter, behind-the-scenes operator, while campaign strategist David Axelrod, who is now in the White House as an Obama senior adviser, was more of a public face for the campaign.

Plouffe did not take a position in the Obama administration and has maintained a low profile since the conclusion of the presidential campaign. He has been doing corporate consulting work, writing a book about the campaign called "The Audacity to Win," and spending time with his family, who now live in Washington.

Plouffe is scheduled to be in Boston tonight for a fund-raiser, and is also delivering a keynote address at the Massachusetts Democratic State Convention tomorrow in Springfield.

"I feel a lot of loyalty to him," he said of Patrick. "This will be the one race I spend a lot of time on."

Plouffe's involvement could also be an indication that Obama will campaign for Patrick and help raise funds for him, as he did in 2006, when he was a rising national political star.

"We're not at that stage yet," Plouffe said. "[Obama is] obviously focused on the problems in front of the country. But the president and governor have a deep friendship, a deep amount of respect for one another."

"Deval Patrick is family to those of us in Obama world, and we're going to do all we can to help him," Plouffe added.

Plouffe and Axelrod both worked on Patrick's 2006 campaign through their Chicago-based consulting firm AKPD Message and Media. Plouffe is now a senior adviser to the firm.

The firm's current staff, which will also work on Patrick's 2010 campaign, includes John Del Cecato, who produced many of Obama's national ads during the campaign, and Larry Grisolano, who helped provide the strategic roadmap for the campaign.

Some details of Plouffe's involvement, including the cost of the contract, have not yet been worked out, according to Plouffe.

Patrick's first term has been rocky at times, and several other potential candidates are considering jumping into the race.

Christy Mihos, the only Republican who has said he plans to run, recently hired Dick Morris, a well-known conservative political consultant and commentator who was involved in campaigns for former Massachusetts governor William F. Weld.

"Good luck. Congratulations to them," said Treasurer Timothy P. Cahill, who is weighing whether to run for governor next year, either as an independent or a challenger to Patrick in the Democratic primary. "I haven't thought about it beyond that. [Plouffe] seems to know what he's doing. But you have to take into account that he's not a Massachusetts guy. Sometimes that works, sometimes it doesn't."

"I won't be discouraged or encouraged by what the governor is doing from political point of view," Cahill added. "I won't be scared out of it. If the governor runs again, which I'm sure he will, I'm sure he's going to pull out all the stops and bring in the Washington heavy-hitters."

Plouffe said strategic planning for the campaign has not yet been worked out.

But he highlighted several themes, including positioning Patrick as a change agent and a reformer.

"He's the kind of person that I think ought to be in politics," Plouffe said. "There's too few people like him, and we're going to do everything we can to help him."

Matt Viser can be reached at maviser@globe.com.