The Audacity to Win: The Inside Story and Lessons of Barack Obama's Historic Victory

David Plouffe was the man behind the machine that was the extraordinary Obama Campaign for President in 2008. This book goes deeper than any of the other books written so far (and there have been many) on this incredible campaign story. I couldn't put the book down last night after seeing it on my doorstep. Plouffe has anecdotes that no other author on the 2008 election has had yet and his access and inside story are not only exciting but incredibly interesting. If you are a democrat who supported Obama this is a must read to see how Plouffe and company energized a nation and spread the message of change. If you are a republican this is a must read to see how it was the Obama campaign was so easily able to convince indie voters and some republicans to support Barack Obama. This book is history, fresh history, and is a must read for anyone interested in politics.

I confess, I was looking for something more colorful, something about the back stage frustrations and conflict and silliness and fun that must happen between the rallies. I wanted more perspective on how the insiders were dealing with the campaign on an emotional level. And though Plouffe touches on a few moments, that's not his focus. This book is about the marketing and selling of a candidate to the electorate and the number-crunching that goes along with that. Plouffe admits that he's not a great writer -- maybe when Axelrod gets back into private life he'll have time to write from his perspective and maybe he'll be more comfortable with the medium. But Plouffe is not. There is a repetition of points, the dialog is awkward and stilted, there are typos, there is at times too much emphasis on the strategy and tactics. And I agree with others, it suffers for not having an index. Even though Plouffe addresses the omission, I still found myself turning to the back of the book several times.

This is not a tell all, this is not a "what the butler saw". He's careful because some of the players in the election are now players in the WH and really, for the purposes of this book, there's no need to stir up a hornet's nest by slinging old grievances. But if you followed the campaign and were impressed by it, the historic nature, the ups and downs, the high drama, I can't think why you wouldn't at least peruse this book. It's not the last word on the story, but it's certainly an important one.

Barack Obama's historic 2007-2008 campaign was the result of an amazing confluence of innovations rarely seen in American (or world's) politics. Much has been said and written about Obama, starting with his own two autobiographical books (Dreams of My Father, The Audacity of Hope), but the insiders radiography of the nuts and bolts that made his triumph possible is just starting with this book.

Obama's campaign was a dead serious, highly disciplined, relentless and, yes, innovative effort that took into account simple but oftenly ignored details on the mechanics of the Democratic primary and the general election, and David Plouffe's book can be read not only as a thrilling memoir of those two years. This is also a candid account of a trailblazing effort, a sort of 'how to' manual for conducting a succesful campaign in the new context of American politics. I'm sure that Republican political operatives, in stark contrast to some of the previsible one star reviewers here, are reading this book with careful attention. If not, they should.

Obama's triumph was not only the result of a charismatic and articulate candidate with a passion for words and the empathy to understand the needs and desires of the people. Behind the stage, far from the podium, a political operation was patiently constructing a web of volunteers who, knocking doors and using Internet and new media at its fullest, outmaneuvered Senator Clinton first, and after her, Senator McCain.

While Obama was inspiring people all across America with his "Yes we can" calling, David Plouffe (and David Axelrod) were conducting the down-to-earth side of this "unique mixture of idealism and pragmatism" (author's words in the Epilogue) and translating it into an organizational structure based in simple but essential electoral and mathematical considerations that guaranteed Obama's capacity to triumph in different scenarios. Make no mistakes about it: the pen is mightier than the sword, indeed, but behind Obama's powerful (s)words there was always a connection with the hard realities of a succesful presidential campaign. And that, in my opinion, is what David Plouffe's book is about.

The person who posted the first review of this book must not even know who David Plouffe is. He thinks he is just some author who wrote a book, hilarious. Perhaps this is what is wrong with the Republican party today. They just run their mouths with negative things to say with absolutely no facts or basis backing what they say. This could explain why people who identify themselves as Republicans are now into the teens.

About the book, if you followed the 2008 elections like I did this book will bring back memories with every turn of the page. Not only that but you get the perspective of David Plouffe who is a member of Obama's elite circle of trust. This is an excellent book and I have not been able to put it down since I started reading it this afternoon.

If you were constantly refreshing your web browser in 2008 waiting for the polls to be updated then you will be happy to know David Plouffe was doing the same exact thing. What took me by greatest surprise was all of my thoughts I had during the election were reiterated by David in this book. It truely brings back the day by day rollercoaster emotion that some of us went through. It is great to know that they were thinking and going through the same thing. For instance what was John McCain thinking when he conceded Michigan? Could they possibly not have the intelligence to realize they couldn't win without this state? Another example was his utter surprise when Hillary Clinton came on stage introduced as the next president of the United States. This after facing a loss that put her out of commission and there was no way possible for her to come back. Last thing I can think of is when the Clinton campaign wanted Obama to foot the bill for the attacks they had just thrown at them for the last two years. Could she be serious? I'm glad Plouffe had the insight to put this to rest before it became an issue.

The most down to earth part of this book was when Plouffe was talking about how he used to play an electoral college game as a kid and now he was playing it for real. Or when he stepped back to realize that he had just elected Barack Obama and how surreal this was. He describes looking over a lake and at that point you truely felt like you were standing right beside him.

I think my greatest surprise in this book was David's insight of the McCain and Clinton campaign. They both made mistakes that obviously cost them the election on many fronts. What surprises me the most is how these campaigns were ran so ineffective and to some level with sheer stupidity. One part particularly "Sarah ________ Palin", this had me laughing out of control. It is clear now had it not been for the other campaigns being so grossly mismanaged this fight probably would have been a lot more difficult. No offense David, all of us Obama supporters love you but you definitely got handed some lucky breaks.

Regardless of your political party this book offers perspective of Barack Obama's campaign manager. Whether or not you like it this campaign is the largest grassroots campaign ever, period. Only someone as ignorant as the person who published the first comment would not want access to information on how this was built from the ground up. Do yourself a favor and purchase the book today.

I must make one last defensive note, if you look at the numbers nobody can blame Obama for the problems Bush has created, So lets stop pretending any of our economic problems have anything to do with Obama.

Unemployment 2001-4.2% Jan'09-7.6% Now-9.8%
Budget 2001-$281Billion Surplus Jan'09-$1.2Trillion Deficit Now-1.4Trillion Deficit
Debt 2001-$5.7Trillion Jan'09-$10.6Trillion Now-$11.9Trillion

This is an outstanding read - very powerful - and who better to write it than Plouffe, a true insider? I, myself, am the author of "71 DAYS: THE MEDIA ASSAULT ON OBAMA," which critiques the news coverage of Obama from Inauguration Day to Election Day... totaling 71 days. But Plouffe's, "THE AUDACITY TO WIN," looks at the election from a completely different perspective. Plouffe truly takes us inside and allows us to see what he witnessed and experienced. He deserves high marks for this historic treasure of a book. I can't wait for his next one!