Obama Virginia Director Heads to National Stage

Mitch Stewart, who implemented President Barack Obama's winning strategy in Virginia last year, is taking over the remnants of Obama's national presidential campaign.

Stewart, who helped Obama win 53 percent of the vote in Virginia, will be the director of "Organizing for America." The group, which will oversee the Obama campaign's massive database, will partner with the Democratic National Committee to advance Obama's agenda and help Democrats win local, state and federal offices.

"Working in partnership we will seek to engage people in new ways and to broaden what President Obama calls the 'Coalition for Change in America," said Gov. Timothy M. Kaine, the chairman of the Democratic National Committee. "I know how important it is to reach out and engage the grassroots all across a state and all across our country."

Stewart's appointment could be bad news for Virginia Republicans this year. With Kaine at the DNC and Stewart in charge of Obama's database, the GOP will have to fend off two national party figures who are well versed in what it takes to carry the state.