On June 2, 2010, Romanoff issued a statement confirming that Messina had contacted him on September 11, 2009, and told him that Obama was going to support Bennet in the Democratic Party primary. Romanoff told Messina that he would run anyway; Messina "suggested three positions that might be available to me were I not pursuing the Senate race. He added that he could not guarantee my appointment to any of these positions." White House deputy press secretary Bill Burton told "The Washington Post", "Mr. Romanoff was recommended to the White House from Democrats in Colorado for a position in the administration. There were some initial conversations with him, but no job was ever offered." Messina sent Romanoff job descriptions for three positions: an administrator for the Latin America and Caribbean Bureau within USAID, the chief of the Office of Democracy and Governance within USAID, and the director of the U.S. Trade and Development Agency.