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David Plouffe (pronounced /plʌf/, born 1967 ^[1][2]) is an American political strategist best known as the chief campaign manager for Barack Obama's 2008 presidential campaign in the United States. A long-time Democratic Party campaign consultant, he is a partner at the party-aligned campaign consulting firm AKP&D Message and Media, which he joined in 2000.^[3]

Contents 1 Early life 2 Career 3 2008 Barack Obama presidential campaign 4 2009–present 5 Personal life 6 See also 7 Notes 8 External links

[edit] Early life

Plouffe was raised in Wilmington, Delaware and attended St. Mark's High School. He was a political science major at the University of Delaware, attending from fall 1985 through fall 1988. He did not complete his education before he set out on a career in politics.^[4]

[edit] Career

Plouffe began his political career when he went to work for Senator Tom Harkin's 1990 re-election campaign.^[5] He later worked as a state field director for Harkin's unsuccessful 1992 Presidential campaign for which he was paid $30,000 per month. In the same year he successfully managed Congressman John Olver's first re-election bid in Western Massachusetts. In 1994 Plouffe managed Delaware Attorney General Charles M. Oberly's unsuccessful campaign against Senator William V. Roth. He then worked as campaign director for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee in 1995. In 1996 Plouffe managed Bob Torricelli's successful campaign to fill Bill Bradley's New Jersey seat in the United States Senate and was paid over $200,000.

From 1997 to 1998 Plouffe served as Democratic leader Dick Gephardt's Deputy Chief of Staff. In 1999-2000, as executive director of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, Plouffe led a national campaign that raised a record $95 million for House races across the country.

In the winter of 2000, Plouffe joined AKP&D Message and Media, but left briefly to serve as a strategist for Gephardt's unsuccessful Presidential bid. He returned to the firm and became a partner in February 2004. Beginning in 2003, Plouffe and fellow AKP&D partner David Axelrod worked on Barack Obama's 2004 Illinois Senate campaign, beginning his association with Obama. Plouffe worked with Axelrod on the successful 2006 campaign of Deval Patrick for Governor of Massachusetts and received almost $150,000 in compensation. His compensation for the Obama campaign is on par according to OpenSecrets.org.

[edit] 2008 Barack Obama presidential campaign

Plouffe was the campaign manager for Obama's successful 2008 presidential campaign. He is credited with the campaign's successful overall strategy in the race (primarily against Senator Hillary Clinton) for the Democratic Party presidential nomination, to focus on the first caucus in Iowa and on maximizing the number of pledged delegates, as opposed to focusing on states with primaries and the overall popular vote. He is also credited by The New Republic for Obama's success in the Iowa caucus and for crafting an overall strategy to prolong the primary past Super Tuesday. The Chicago Tribune writes, "Plouffe was the mastermind behind a winning strategy that looked well past Super Tuesday's contests on Feb. 5 and placed value on large and small states."^[6] Plouffe also maintained discipline over communications in the campaign, including controlling leaks and releasing information about the campaign on its terms. Averse to publicity himself, Plouffe's control over the internal workings of the Obama campaign successfully avoided the publicly aired squabbles that frequently trouble other campaigns.^[6]

In May, 2008, David Axelrod praised Plouffe, stating he had "done the most magnificent job of managing a campaign that I've seen in my life of watching presidential politics. To start something like this from scratch and build what we have built was a truly remarkable thing."^[7] After winning the election on November 4th, Obama credited Plouffe in his acceptance speech, calling him "the unsung hero of this campaign, who built the . . . best political campaign, I think, in the history of the United States of America." ^[8]

[edit] 2009–present

Plouffe has not been appointed to a position in the Obama administration. He intends to publish a book entitled The Audacity to Win: The Inside Story and Lessons of Barack Obama's Historic Victory,^[9] discussing management strategies that he used in the 2008 campaign. According to sources the book is set to net him a seven figure fee. He also signed with the Washington Speakers Bureau to give paid speeches, and plans to engage in non-government consulting work."^[10] In May 2009, Plouffe is scheduled to deliver the Convocation address at Cornell University.^[11]

[edit] Personal life

Plouffe is married to Olivia Morgan, a principal at the Dewey Square Group, a Washington based political and public affairs firm^[12], and formerly an advisor to California Governor Gray Davis. The couple resides in Washington, D.C. and have a son and a daughter, the daughter born two days after the 2008 Presidential election.^[13]

[edit] See also

• Organizing for America

[edit] Notes

[edit] External links

• Partner David Plouffe at AKP&D
• NYTimes.com Interview with David Plouffe
• David Plouffe Ubben Lecture at DePauw University, February 2, 2009
• Plouffe profile
• OpenSecrets.org Payroll
• Conde Nast Portfolio interview.