Ok, maybe I should title this "what I learned from reading Plouffe's book and why I enjoyed it".
Yes, I've read many books on the 2008 election but I liked this one as it talked about the nuts and bolts of the campaign.
True, it isn't everyone who even wants to know that David Axelrod constantly lost his electronic gadgets or screwed up others by gumming them up with doughnut frosting. :-) But you'll find that out there.
The review is below the fold; note that Plouffe did not use a ghost writer.
Short version If you are not a die hard political junkie, don't bother. This is a detailed, "behind the scenes" look at then Senator Barack Obama's campaign for president, starting with the decision to run and ending with victory in the general election.
If you LOVE politics and are interested in the nuts and bolts of a campaign, by all means read it. Of course, Obama supporters will like it the most, though Clinton and McCain supporters might also enjoy the political aspects and seeing what was done and why.
Longer version
Much of the story of the campaign has been covered; I've written about a couple of them (Renegade and Game Change )
But Plouffe takes you back stage. Here are some interesting things that I've learned:
- I suppose I didn't know just how brutal of a schedule that everyone kept. You got to see Obama negotiating with his staff for off time, time to think about issues, etc.
- The "one route forward" strategy was discussed for the primary campaign. Because I attended an event for Obama volunteers in July, 2007, I knew something about it. The idea was to set up early in caucus states that the Clinton campaign was neglecting. Also, I didn't realize how important Iowa was to the campaign.
- I heard that the "expectations from those who had volunteered for the campaign" was everywhere, not just where I was. When you signed up to do things, there was follow up to make sure that you did it. Obama staff called me several times to ensure that I would be where I said I was going to be, write the letters that I said that I would, etc. This was a HUGE difference from the Kerry campaign in 2004.
- Some of the Clinton campaign claims were shot to pieces. One was that Clinton was at a disadvantage in the caucus states because only the "activists" went to caucuses. In fact, among the traditional caucus goers, Clinton held the advantage. Obama got the advantage by getting new people to the caucuses and Clinton hurt herself by not setting up shop in those states.
- There was indeed angst among the big donors when it appeared that Obama wasn't making progress in the polls in the days prior to the Iowa campaign.
- The Obama campaign was as surprised as anyone over the New Hampshire win. Our Obama contacts told us (Illinois volunteers) that they didn't believe the large poll swings.
- I didn't know that David Axelrod routinely lost his electronic gadgets or got them gummed up with doughnut frosting. :) Axelrod came across as my kind of guy!
- Plouffe believed, as I did, that Hillary Clinton was a better candidate than her campaign deserved. She was really let down by her staff (I said so at the time). Then again, she was responsible for it.
- During the general, Obama's decision to change his mind about public financing really helped him.
- Sarah Palin was a fund raising boon to the campaign; in fact, with in 3 HOURS of Palin's Republican convention speech, Obama's campaign had taken in millions of dollars!
- Plouffe said that they got greedy in targeting North Dakota, Georgia and Montana. The Obama campaign really did target certain states and these were NOT "head fakes".
- Plouffe agreed with Sarah Palin in that the McCain campaign pulled out of Michigan way too early. He also found it hard to believe that McCain didn't contest Indiana, North Carolina and Virginia until late; they had assumed that these were locked up.
- He also talked about those youtube updates that they sent to their supporters; you also got figures on small donors, numbers of volunteers, etc.
- In the South Carolina primary, Plouffe talked about relying on their own volunteers and field offices rather than depending on local party officials and interest groups to get the vote out.