Tratto dal Los Angeles Times un ritratto di David Plouffe campaign manager di Barack Obama.
The political operative is smart, competitive, frugal and confident. And he has no intention of straying from his unconventional plan to get Obama elected.
By Peter Nicholas
Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
July 8, 2008
WASHINGTON — Early in the presidential race, Hillary Rodham Clinton asked former New Jersey Sen. Robert Torricelli whether the little-known political operative running Barack Obama’s longshot campaign was any good.
“I warned her,” said Torricelli, who was in a position to know.
The operative, David Plouffe, had helped Torricelli win his Senate seat in 1996. It was one of the most toxic campaigns in memory — “unrestricted chemical warfare,” Rutgers political scientist Ross K. Baker called it — and Plouffe demonstrated a talent for devising a campaign strategy, staying with it under fire and doing what it took to win.
Today, still largely unknown, the fiercely competitive 41-year-old Plouffe stands at the center of one of the best-funded, best-organized Democratic presidential campaigns ever. And just as it was against Clinton, unconventional audacity is the hallmark of his plan to beat John McCain — audacity and Plouffe’s characteristic determination to keep close tabs on every phase of the campaign while maintaining one of the lowest profiles in national politics.
On the audacity front, conventional wisdom holds that Democratic presidential candidates must focus on battleground states such as Ohio and Florida because they can’t win a bundle of states across the South and the West that have gone Republican for decades.
Yet Plouffe plans to have Obama make a serious effort to carry some of those states even as he holds onto every state that Sen. John F. Kerry won in 2004 and goes all-out in the battleground states.
The same rejection of the orthodox marked Plouffe’s approach to the nomination battle. He was both architect and enforcer of a strategy that ignored others’ advice and gave primacy to the Iowa caucuses, then plowed resources into smaller states that chose delegates after the mass of contests on Super Tuesday.
As for Plouffe’s public profile, in a campaign inner circle marked by facelessness, no senior aide makes a greater point of avoiding public view than he does. David Axelrod, the mustachioed strategist who shapes Obama’s message, often acts as a campaign surrogate. Plouffe almost never does.
Yet he has a hand in virtually every aspect of Obama’s world: field organization, advertising and fundraising, including the delicate task of drawing erstwhile Clinton supporters into the fold.
Sarah Kovner, a longtime Clinton backer who was present when Plouffe met with a group of Clinton supporters in New York recently, said, “Some people still had questions and they asked questions, and he was persuasive.”
Though the Obama campaign is one of the best-funded in history, Plouffe is famously tight. Cab rides aren’t reimbursed — just subway fare. Staff members are asked to double up in hotels. And Axelrod tells a joke that underscores Plouffe’s frugality: Wave your hand under the automatic towel dispensers in the restrooms at campaign headquarters and a towel comes out. Wave your hand a second time and a message pops up: “See Plouffe.”
When Plouffe emerges in public, it is sometimes to throw an elbow. It was he who called Clinton “one of the most secretive politicians in America today” and questioned whether she would be “open and honest with the American people as president.”
Sometimes the aggressiveness has backfired.
Earlier this year, Canadian television reported that an Obama economics advisor had told Canadian officials the Illinois senator’s assault on the North American Free Trade Agreement amounted to political maneuvering. Plouffe, in a conference call with reporters, issued six denials in the space of 65 seconds. “There’s just nothing to it,” he declared.
A few days later, the Associated Press got hold of a memo from a Canadian official that showed a meeting had taken place, that NAFTA was discussed, and that the Canadians came away with the impression that Obama’s criticism of free trade was political posturing.
“He went out and carried a message that he thought was true but wasn’t,” said Axelrod, who is partners with Plouffe in a Chicago-based political consulting firm.
As Plouffe looks toward November, he sees Obama as a candidate with the money, volunteers and organizational skill to rewrite the election map.
Laying out the strategy recently, Plouffe pointed to Virginia — which hasn’t gone Democratic in a presidential election since the 1960s. “Win Virginia,” he said, “and it’s game, set, match.”
As for new voters, he said, “We know who these unregistered people are. . . . We’re going to go where they live and we’re going to convince them to register.”
Other Democrats think Plouffe can succeed.
“Look at the history,” said Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.). “Insurgents are supposed to have one day in the sun and lose. The establishment comes back and whacks you.”
Not so with Obama’s campaign, Emanuel said. “These guys won.”
Plouffe, who has close-cropped brown hair and an aura of absolute confidence, got into politics while at the University of Delaware. Democratic strategist Joe Hansen hired him to work in a Senate race and they became close friends — conserving money by subsisting on two-for-a-dollar hot dogs.
When Hansen went to work for Sen. Tom Harkin in Iowa, he asked Plouffe to come along. Plouffe at first declined, saying he wanted to work as a tennis pro. A few days later he called to say he would be there in 24 hours.
Plouffe’s knowledge of the Iowa caucus system helped shape Obama’s early focus on that state though many backers pleaded for a broader approach.
“The Iowa strategy was right for Barack because he didn’t have the name recognition and campaign infrastructure to run a national campaign,” said Valerie Jarrett, a longtime friend of the Obamas and a senior advisor to the campaign. “David, in a very steady, steely way, said: ‘This is our strategy and we’re sticking to it.’ “
Spin doctor - Il blog di Marco Cacciotto 
non c’era dubbio che dietro al successo (per ora più d’immagine che politico) di obama ci fosse qualcuno in grado di incanalare nella giuste direzione le potenzialità del senatore.
tuttavia la fase decisiva comincia ora. adeeso, o comunque dopo le convention di fine estate, comincia la battaglia per la vera posta in gioco di questa campagna, cioè la presidenza. queste primarie sono state così serrate (specie in campo democratico) che la nomination di obama è stata accolta con un clamore non tanto inferiore a quello che di solito viene riservato al neo-eletto presidente. una sconfitta in novembre offuscherebbe quanto di buono fatto finora da barack e dal suo staff, specie se la sconfitta fosse netta (si ripeterebbe ciò che successe per kerry nel 2004). pochi mesi e vedremo se i democratici sapranno approfittare di una situazione di apparente svantaggio per i repubblicani (desiderio di cambiamento dopo la contorversa amministarzione bush, assenza di un guru come karl rove, nomination per mccain, repubblicano atipico e criticato dai rep più ortodossi).
Thanks for the post
Hi there are using WordPress for your site platform?
I’m new to the blog world but I’m trying to get started and
create my own. Do you require any html coding knowledge to make your own blog?
Any help would be greatly appreciated!
I visit daily a few websites and information sites to read content,
but this web site offers quality based writing.
I will right away snatch your rss feed as I can
not in finding your e-mail subscription link or newsletter
service. Do you have any? Please let me recognise so that I may subscribe.
Thanks.
Asking questions are really good thing if you are not understanding something
fully, however this post provides fastidious understanding yet.
If some one wants to be updated with latest technologies
therefore he must be go to see this website and be up to date daily.
hey there and thank you for your information – I have certainly picked up something new from
right here. I did however expertise some technical issues using this site, as I experienced to reload the web site
many times previous to I could get it to load properly.
I had been wondering if your web host is OK?
Not that I’m complaining, but sluggish loading instances times will sometimes affect your placement in google and could damage your quality score if advertising and marketing with Adwords. Anyway I am adding this RSS to my email and can look out for a lot more of your respective intriguing content. Make sure you update this again very soon.
I’ve been exploring for a little for any high-quality articles or weblog posts on this sort of area . Exploring in Yahoo I finally stumbled upon this site. Reading this information So i’m happy to exhibit that I have an incredibly excellent uncanny feeling
I came upon just what I needed. I most for sure will
make sure to don?t omit this web site and provides it a
glance on a constant basis.
I read this post completely concerning the resemblance of newest
and earlier technologies, it’s remarkable article.
Link exchange is nothing else but it is just placing the other person’s website link on your page at appropriate place and other person will also do same in support of you.
Pretty section of content. I just stumbled upon your blog and in
accession capital to assert that I get in fact enjoyed account
your blog posts. Anyway I’ll be subscribing to your augment and even I achievement you access consistently fast.
I know this if off topic but I’m looking into starting my own weblog and was wondering what all is needed to get set up? I’m assuming having a
blog like yours would cost a pretty penny? I’m not very web smart so I’m not 100% certain.
Any suggestions or advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you
Thanks for a marvelous posting! I really enjoyed reading
it, you can be a great author.I will be sure to bookmark your blog and may come back sometime soon.
I want to encourage you to continue your great posts, have
a nice afternoon!
Thanks for a marvelous posting! I seriously enjoyed reading it, you can be a great author.
I will remember to bookmark your blog and will often come back
sometime soon. I want to encourage you to continue your great
work, have a nice afternoon!
My spouse and I absolutely love your blog and find the majority
of your post’s to be exactly I’m looking for.
Does one offer guest writers to write content
for yourself? I wouldn’t mind composing a post or elaborating on many of the subjects you write regarding here. Again, awesome website!
My partner and I stumbled over here coming from a different website and thought I may as well check things out. I like what I see so i am just following you. Look forward to looking into your web page repeatedly.
Everyone loves what you guys are up too. This sort of clever work and reporting! Keep up the great works guys I’ve incorporated you guys to my personal blogroll.
Hello I am so grateful I found your weblog, I really found you
by accident, while I was researching on Bing for
something else, Anyhow I am here now and would just like to say kudos for a remarkable post and a all round interesting blog (I also love the theme/design),
I don’t have time to browse it all at the moment but I have saved
it and also added your RSS feeds, so when I have time I will be back to read more, Please do keep up the
superb work.
Admiring the hard work you put into your blog and detailed information you
present. It’s awesome to come across a blog every once in a while that isn’t the same unwanted rehashed material.
Great read! I’ve bookmarked your site and I’m adding your RSS feeds to my Google account.
Hi! I’ve been reading your weblog for some time now and finally got the courage to go ahead and give you a shout out from Lubbock Texas! Just wanted to tell you keep up the excellent job!
I’m really enjoying the theme/design of your website.
Do you ever run into any browser compatibility issues?
A few of my blog visitors have complained about my site not operating correctly in Explorer but
looks great in Opera. Do you have any tips to help fix this issue?
I’m curious to find out what blog system you happen to be utilizing? I’m experiencing some minor security
problems with my latest blog and I’d like to find something more safe. Do you have any recommendations?
Hmm it looks like your blog ate my first comment (it was extremely long) so I guess I’ll just sum it up what I wrote and say, I’m thoroughly enjoying your blog. I as well am an aspiring blog writer but I’m still new to everything.
Do you have any helpful hints for beginner blog writers?
I’d genuinely appreciate it.
Woah! I’m really enjoying the template/theme of this website.
It’s simple, yet effective. A lot of times it’s hard to get
that “perfect balance” between user friendliness and appearance.
I must say you have done a very good job with this. Also, the blog loads
super fast for me on Safari. Outstanding Blog!
Do you mind if I quote a few of your articles as long as I provide credit and
sources back to your blog? My blog site is in the exact same area of
interest as yours and my users would truly benefit from some of the information you provide here.
Please let me know if this okay with you. Thanks!
Hello would you mind letting me know which webhost you’re working with? I’ve loaded your blog in 3 completely different internet browsers and
I must say this blog loads a lot faster then
most. Can you recommend a good internet hosting provider at a reasonable price?
Thank you, I appreciate it!
Superb website you have here but I was curious if you knew of any
community forums that cover the same topics talked about here?
I’d really like to be a part of online community where I can get responses from other experienced people that share the same interest. If you have any suggestions, please let me know. Thanks!
Howdy! This is my 1st comment here so I just wanted to give a quick shout out and say I truly enjoy reading through your blog posts. Can you suggest any other blogs/websites/forums that go over the same topics? Thanks for your time!
Do you have a spam issue on this blog; I also am a blogger, and I was curious about your situation; many of us have created some nice practices and we are looking to swap techniques with other folks, please shoot me an e-mail if interested.
Please let me know if you’re looking for a article author
for your weblog. You have some really great posts and I believe I would be a good asset.
If you ever want to take some of the load off, I’d absolutely love to write some content for your blog in exchange for a link back to mine. Please send me an e-mail if interested. Kudos!
Have you ever considered about adding a little bit more than just your articles? I mean, what you say is important and everything. However just imagine if you added some great visuals or video clips to give your posts more, “pop”! Your content is excellent but with pics and video clips, this site could definitely be one of the very best in its niche. Terrific blog!
Cool blog! Is your theme custom made or did you download it from somewhere? A theme like yours with a few simple adjustements would really make my blog stand out. Please let me know where you got your theme. Kudos
Hey would you mind stating which blog platform you’re using?
I’m planning to start my own blog soon but I’m
having a tough time deciding between BlogEngine/Wordpress/B2evolution and Drupal.
The reason I ask is because your design seems different then most blogs and I’m looking for something completely unique. P.S Apologies for getting off-topic but I had to ask!
Hey just wanted to give you a quick heads up. The words in your article seem to be running off the screen in Chrome. I’m not sure if this is a format issue or something to do with internet browser compatibility but I figured
I’d post to let you know. The design look great though! Hope you get the issue fixed soon. Thanks
With havin so much written content do you ever run into any problems of plagorism or copyright violation? My website has a lot of exclusive content I’ve either
created myself or outsourced but it appears a lot of it is popping it up all over the internet
without my authorization. Do you know any techniques to help stop content from being ripped off?
I’d genuinely appreciate it.
Have you ever thought about publishing an e-book or guest authoring on other blogs? I have a blog based upon on the same information you discuss and would love to have you share some stories/information. I know my audience would value your work. If you are even remotely interested, feel free to shoot me an e-mail.
Hi! Someone in my Facebook group shared this website with us so I came to give it a look. I’m definitely loving the information.
I’m bookmarking and will be tweeting this to my followers! Outstanding blog and excellent design.
Very good blog! Do you have any helpful hints for aspiring writers? I’m hoping to start my own website soon but I’m a little lost on everything. Would you propose starting with a free platform like WordPress or go for a paid option? There are so many choices out there that I’m totally
overwhelmed .. Any suggestions? Many thanks!
My coder is trying to persuade me to move to .net from PHP.
I have always disliked the idea because of the costs.
But he’s tryiong none the less. I’ve been using
Movable-type on a variety of websites for about a
year and am nervous about switching to another platform.
I have heard very good things about blogengine.net. Is there
a way I can transfer all my wordpress content into it?
Any kind of help would be greatly appreciated!
Does your site have a contact page? I’m having a tough time locating it but, I’d like to shoot
you an email. I’ve got some suggestions for your blog you might be interested in hearing. Either way, great blog and I look forward to seeing it improve over time.
It’s a pity you don’t have a donate button! I’d definitely donate to this brilliant blog!
I guess for now i’ll settle for book-marking and adding your RSS feed to my Google account. I look forward to new updates and will share this site with my Facebook group. Chat soon!
Greetings from Florida! I’m bored to tears at
work so I decided to browse your website on my iphone
during lunch break. I love the info you provide here
and can’t wait to take a look when I get home. I’m amazed at how quick your blog loaded on my mobile .
. I’m not even using WIFI, just 3G .. Anyways, fantastic blog!
Hi there! I know this is kinda off topic but I’d figured I’d ask. Would you be interested in exchanging links or maybe guest authoring a blog article or vice-versa? My blog covers a lot of the same topics as yours and I believe we could greatly benefit from each other. If you happen to be interested feel free to send me an email. I look forward to hearing from you! Wonderful blog by the way!
Currently it sounds like WordPress is the best blogging platform available right now. (from what I’ve
read) Is that what you’re using on your blog?
Outstanding post however I was wanting to know if you could write a litte more on this topic? I’d be very grateful if you could elaborate a little bit further.
Bless you!
Hello! I know this is somewhat off topic but I was wondering if you
knew where I could get a captcha plugin
for my comment form? I’m using the same blog platform as yours and I’m having problems finding one?
Thanks a lot!
When I initially commented I clicked the “Notify me when new comments are added” checkbox
and now each time a comment is added I get four e-mails with the same comment.
Is there any way you can remove people from that service?
Bless you!
Hello! This is my first visit to your blog! We are a
collection of volunteers and starting a new
initiative in a community in the same niche.
Your blog provided us beneficial information
to work on. You have done a wonderful job!
Greetings! I know this is kinda off topic but I was wondering which blog platform are you using for this site?
I’m getting fed up of WordPress because I’ve had problems with hackers and I’m looking at options for another platform. I would be fantastic if you could point me in the direction of a good platform.
Good day! This post could not be written any better! Reading through this post reminds me of my good old room mate! He always kept chatting about this. I will forward this page to him. Fairly certain he will have a good read. Many thanks for sharing!
Write more, thats all I have to say. Literally, it seems as though you relied on the video to make your point. You definitely know what youre talking about, why throw away your intelligence on just posting videos to your blog when you could be giving us something enlightening to read?
Today, I went to the beach front with my children. I found a sea shell and gave it to my 4 year old daughter and said “You can hear the ocean if you put this to your ear.” She put the shell to her ear and screamed. There was a hermit crab inside and it pinched her ear. She never wants to go back! LoL I know this is entirely off topic but I had to tell someone!
The other day, while I was at work, my sister stole my apple ipad and tested to see if it can survive a thirty foot drop, just so she can be a youtube sensation. My apple ipad is now broken and she has 83 views. I know this is entirely off topic but I had to share it with someone!
I was wondering if you ever thought of changing the page layout of your blog? Its very well written; I love what youve got to say. But maybe you could a little more in the way of content so people could connect with it better. Youve got an awful lot of text for only having 1 or 2 images. Maybe you could space it out better?
Hi, i read your blog occasionally and i own a similar one and i was just curious if you get a lot of spam feedback? If so how do you stop it, any plugin or anything you can suggest? I get so much lately it’s driving me insane so any support is very much appreciated.
This design is wicked! You most certainly know how to keep a reader entertained.
Between your wit and your videos, I was almost moved to start my own blog (well, almost.
..HaHa!) Excellent job. I really enjoyed what you had to say, and more than that,
how you presented it. Too cool!
I’m truly enjoying the design and layout of your website. It’s a very easy on the eyes which makes it much more pleasant for me to come here and visit more often.
Did you hire out a designer to create your theme?
Fantastic work!
Hi there! I could have sworn I’ve been to this site before but after reading through some of the post I realized it’s new to me.
Anyhow, I’m definitely glad I found it and I’ll be book-marking and
checking back frequently!
Hello there! Would you mind if I share your blog with my myspace group?
There’s a lot of people that I think would really appreciate your content. Please let me know. Many thanks
Hi, I think your blog might be having browser compatibility issues. When I look at your blog site in Chrome, it looks fine but when opening in Internet Explorer, it has some overlapping. I just wanted to give you a quick heads up! Other then that, great blog!
Wonderful blog! I found it while surfing around on Yahoo News. Do you have any suggestions on how to get listed in Yahoo News? I’ve been trying for a while
but I never seem to get there! Cheers
Hi! This is kind of off topic but I need some advice from an established blog.
Is it difficult to set up your own blog? I’m not very techincal but I can figure things out pretty fast. I’m thinking about creating my own but I’m not sure where to start. Do you have any ideas or suggestions? Thanks
Greetings! Quick question that’s entirely off topic. Do you know how to make your site mobile friendly?
My web site looks weird when browsing from my apple iphone.
I’m trying to find a theme or plugin that might be able to correct this issue. If you have any suggestions, please share. Cheers!
I’m not that much of a internet reader to be honest but your sites really nice, keep it up! I’ll go ahead and bookmark your site to come
back later on. Many thanks
I really like your blog.. very nice colors & theme. Did you create this website yourself or did you hire someone to do it for you?
Plz answer back as I’m looking to construct my own blog and would like to find out where u got this from. thanks
Wow! This blog looks exactly like my old one! It’s on a entirely different
subject but it has pretty much the same page layout and design.
Superb choice of colors!
Hi there just wanted to give you a brief heads up and let you know a few of the pictures aren’t loading correctly. I’m not sure why but I think its a linking
issue. I’ve tried it in two different internet browsers and both show the same results.
Whats up are using WordPress for your site platform? I’m new to the blog world but I’m trying to get started and set up my own. Do you require any coding expertise to make your own blog? Any help would be really appreciated!
Whats up this is kinda of off topic but I was wondering if blogs use WYSIWYG editors or if you have to manually code with HTML. I’m starting a
blog soon but have no coding expertise so I wanted to get guidance from someone with experience.
Any help would be enormously appreciated!
Hey there! I just wanted to ask if you ever have any trouble with hackers?
My last blog (wordpress) was hacked and I ended up losing months of hard work due
to no back up. Do you have any methods to stop hackers?
Howdy! Do you use Twitter? I’d like to follow you if that would be okay. I’m definitely enjoying your blog and look forward to new posts.
Hey there! Do you know if they make any plugins to protect against hackers?
I’m kinda paranoid about losing everything I’ve worked hard
on. Any suggestions?
Good day! Do you know if they make any plugins to help with SEO?
I’m trying to get my blog to rank for some targeted keywords but I’m not seeing very good
success. If you know of any please share. Appreciate it!
I know this if off topic but I’m looking into starting my own weblog and was curious what all is needed to get set up? I’m assuming having a
blog like yours would cost a pretty penny?
I’m not very web smart so I’m not 100% sure.
Any recommendations or advice would be greatly appreciated.
Appreciate it
Hmm is anyone else experiencing problems with the pictures on this blog loading?
I’m trying to determine if its a problem on my end or if it’s the blog.
Any feed-back would be greatly appreciated.
I’m not sure why but this site is loading very slow for me. Is anyone else having this problem or is it a issue on my end? I’ll check back later on and see if
the problem still exists.
Hey there! I’m at work browsing your blog from my new apple iphone! Just wanted to say I love reading through your blog and look forward to all your posts! Keep up the excellent work!
Wow that was odd. I just wrote an incredibly long comment but after I clicked submit my comment didn’t appear.
Grrrr… well I’m not writing all that over again. Anyhow, just wanted to say fantastic blog!
Hi to all, how is all, I think every one is getting more from this site, and your views are good in support of
new viewers.
Comprehend that there’s little or no you can do to help influence or even foresee the outcome at. You can find legitimate considerations as well as problems regarding even though online games based on which country they are used and also enjoyed within.
What’s up it’s me, I am also visiting this site
daily, this web site is really fastidious and the visitors are actually sharing good thoughts.
Great information. Lucky me I discovered your website by chance (stumbleupon).
I have saved as a favorite for later!
I appreciate, result in I discovered exactly what I
used to be having a look for. You have ended my four day long hunt!
God Bless you man. Have a nice day. Bye
How do i make money online you have to watch this!!
Do your homework and put money into affiliate marketing training material which
you have read reviews on. Many people who want to have started with the online business
with in the Internet marketing industry sometimes worry that they may have to spend a lot of cash to get started.
Follow these three simple measures to ask for and encourage referrals from your current clients
and contacts:.
Could the michael kors bags Pursue Jarvis Jones in NFL Draft?
It has been a part of it all.
I needed to thank you for this good read!! I absolutely enjoyed every bit of it.
I’ve got you book marked to check out new things you post…