Former White House spokesman joins Obama campaign

Robert Gibbs, who served as White House press secretary for the first two years of the Obama administration, has formally joined his re-election campaign as a roving surrogate and strategic consultant.

Gibbs, who left the White House about a year ago, had been informally consulting the Chicago-based Obama campaign, but they have now entered into a formal contract in this regard, the Politico reported.

Jay Carney replaced Gibbs as the White House press secretary.

According to Politico, Gibbs has been brought back to the campaign because of his willingness to deliver tough messages to the US president, in this crucial election year, a role he played for five years both in the administration and also in Obama's first presidential election campaign.