--- description: Uber has hired Barack Obama's former campaign manager to help wage an increasingly fierce turf war with taxi cab associations. title: Uber Hires Obama Campaign Manager to Battle 'Big Taxi Cartel' image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6acc8d5b013fde3c/6986a018cd68484f2f0961de/450808357.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Business](/section/business/) ## Business Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Tech](/tag/time-section-tech/) ## Tech Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Uber Just Hired Obama's Political Guru to Battle 'Big Taxi Cartel' ## Video: The Future of Mobility: Q & A with Uber CEO Travis Kalanick [Watch (HLS stream): The Future of Mobility: Q & A with Uber CEO Travis Kalanick](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/RkqMLEI5.m3u8) (3:19)  _Published 2012-09-21. At a TIME panel discussion held Wednesday, Sept. 19, at the Newseum in Washington, DC, Uber CEO Travis Kalanick spoke to TIME Executive Editor Michael Duffy about Uber's origins and what explosive Internet growth means for a real world enterprise_  by [Dan Kedmey](/author/dan-kedmey/)  ## Dan Kedmey Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Aug 19, 2014 6:43 PM CUT  David Plouffe, former senior adviser to U.S. President Barack Obama and Bloomberg News analyst, speaks at the Bloomberg Year Ahead: 2014 conference in Chicago, Illinois, U.S., on Nov. 20, 2013. David Plouffe, former senior adviser to U.S. President Barack Obama and Bloomberg News analyst, speaks at the Bloomberg Year Ahead: 2014 conference in Chicago, Illinois, U.S., on Nov. 20, 2013.Bloomberg—Bloomberg /Getty Images  by [Dan Kedmey](/author/dan-kedmey/)  ## Dan Kedmey Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Aug 19, 2014 6:43 PM CUT Uber has hired one of President Barack Obama’s top political advisers to help wage an increasingly fierce turf war with taxi cab associations. David Plouffe, the Democratic strategist who successfully [steered](http://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1883644%5F1883653%5F1883843,00.html "undefined") Obama’s 2008 bid for the White House, will join Uber as Senior Vice President of Policy and Strategy and manage the company’s global campaign to extend its ride-sharing service to new cities, the company announced Tuesday. “Our opponent – the Big Taxi cartel – has used decades of political contributions and influence to restrict competition, reduce choice for consumers, and put a stranglehold on economic opportunity for its drivers,” Uber CEO Travis Kalanick [said](http://blog.uber.com/davidplouffe "undefined") in a statement on the company’s blog. “We needed someone who understood politics but who also had the strategic horsepower to reinvent how a campaign should be run.” Plouffe [said](http://blog.uber.com/davidplouffe "undefined") in a statement that he is “thrilled to be joining Travis Kalanick and the great team at Uber.” “I’ve watched as the taxi industry cartel has tried to stand in the way of technology and big change,” Plouffe added. “Ultimately, that approach is unwinnable.” Taxi-hailing and ride-sharing services, including Uber, Lyft and others, have frequently been [threatened](http://business.time.com/2013/06/27/rideshare-battle-shifts-to-l-a-city-tells-uber-lyft-sidecar-to-stop-picking-up-riders/ "undefined") with cease and desist orders from city officials who accuse the companies of working outside of the regulatory framework set up for licensed taxi drivers. Uber hiring Plouffe should also put to bed [rumors](http://www.politico.com/story/2014/08/david-plouffe-no-white-house-return-109694.html "undefined") that the political strategist might head back to the White House to serve as Obama’s Chief of Staff. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3145178/uber-david-plouffe/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3145178/uber-david-plouffe/"},"headline":"Uber Just Hired Obama's Political Guru to Battle 'Big Taxi Cartel'","datePublished":"2014-08-19T18:43:07.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T08:02:59.721Z","description":"David Plouffe, Obama's 2008 campaign manager, calls opposition to Uber \"unwinnable\"","url":"https://time.com/3145178/uber-david-plouffe/","keywords":["Tech","Companies","Uber","sharing economy","ridesharing"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6acc8d5b013fde3c/6986a018cd68484f2f0961de/450808357.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Dan Kedmey","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/dan-kedmey/"}],"articleSection":"Business","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6acc8d5b013fde3c/6986a018cd68484f2f0961de/450808357.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Key Speakers At The Year Ahead: 2014 Conference","caption":"Key Speakers At The Year Ahead: 2014 Conference","creditText":"Bloomberg—Bloomberg /Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/business/","name":"Business"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-tech/","name":"Tech"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3145178/uber-david-plouffe/","name":"Uber Just Hired Obama's Political Guru to Battle 'Big Taxi Cartel'"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"The Future of Mobility: Q & A with Uber CEO Travis Kalanick","description":"At a TIME panel discussion held Wednesday, Sept. 19, at the Newseum in Washington, DC, Uber CEO Travis Kalanick spoke to TIME Executive Editor Michael Duffy about Uber's origins and what explosive Internet growth means for a real world enterprise","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/RkqMLEI5/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2012-09-21T10:37:14.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/RkqMLEI5.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3145178/uber-david-plouffe/","duration":"PT3M19S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3145178/uber-david-plouffe/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```