Last night, Barack Obama's campaign manager David Plouffe came to the First Parish Church to preach to the Cambridge choir about the great 2008 presidential campaign (and to promote his new book, The Audacity to Win, which covers the campaign process). While the evening progressed mostly as expected (Gobama!, softball questions at the end), Plouffe did toss out some decent soundbites throughout, and perhaps said a word or two that could benefit our state's own up-and-coming senate candidates. We'll certainly be watching the WGBH democratic senatorial forum (moderated by Emily Rooney) Monday at 7pm; leading up to the election, we'll see if any of the candidates take Plouffe's campaign advice to heart (or head?).

Plouffe emphasized that Obama's campaign was based on "changing the electorate" and attracting new voters, rather than pandering to the existing infrastructure: "we defied convention by believing in people" rather than politics. He also detailed the campaign's obsessive focus on demographics, from where voters shopped to what degrees they held. To the campaign, it was "not how many people came, but who they were," and how they could help Obama by bringing in more of their friends from the demographic. Retirees and students were the largest donor groups for the Obama campaign, and as such played a crucial role in its success. This nontraditional combination of demographics demonstrated that political success can stem from outside of the lobbyists and PACs, subverting the need to focus on these powerful but often overly biased groups.

Saying that the electoral college makes a presidential election "The furthest thing from a national election you can imagine," Plouffe discussed how this structure necessitated a focus on battleground states, some of which Obama had visited once or never prior to beginning his campaign. Plouffe also noted how "our presidential [election] process is deeply flawed... but very transparent" in the sense that a great deal of attention is paid to all aspects of the presidential election. He expressed a belief that Obama's campaign would become an important part of political history, and seemed proud to have played a part in it.

In response to questions about some of Obama's current initiatives, Plouffe asserted that "If we do not get this [health care reform] done now... we deserve what comes to us." He made it clear that Democrats should be safe in 2010 if they can point to accomplishments with regard to the economy, health care, and education; if progress is not made on these fronts, the Republicans may have a stronger chance to overthrow the Democrats' hold. Plouffe also outlined a crucial distinction between leadership and legislation, recognizing the importance of both actions in politics but putting particular importance on the inspirational quality of the former.

Plouffe stressed that politics is a process and can't be judged "like a baseball game" that takes place under particular conditions and within a specific timeframe. Despite the inherently uncertain and drawn-out nature of process, though, Plouffe advised, "If you can know something, know it. Eliminate opinions." With America-haters spouting often-unfounded opinions on the airwaves left and right, the ability to know remains central to making informed decisions: never trust what one source has to say.

Overall, Plouffe came off as a politically savvy figure, successfully dodging some tough audience questions about "Don't Ask, Don't Give" and foreign policy, and even employing that trademark (Bill) Clinton gesture. Despite his status as someone who knows (and plays) the "game," Plouffe still visibly believes in the power of people to create change in spite of politics. We can all work together to help make him right.

Filed in Arts & Events and tagged barack obama, book it, david plouffe, harvard book store, the audacity to win

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