David Plouffe Pulls Back Curtain on Obama's Victory

Speaking at the 6th and I Historic Synagogue in Washington, D.C. on Monday night, Barack Obama's 2008 Presidental Campaign Manager David Plouffe discussed his new book "The Audacity to Win," which gives an inside look at how the nation's first African-American president was elected.

Perhaps more than anything, the shift of power away from traditional media to new forms of grassroots communication will be the ultimate legacy of this trailblazing campaign.

"We built our own television network, but only better because we can directly communicate with people without the snarky media filter," said Plouffe. "We reach more people when we send an email than on most nights watch NBC Nightly News and all the cable news channels combined, including Fox."

Plouffe revealed some staggering statistics from the campaign trail:  An email list that grew from 10,000 addresses to 13 million; $750 million raised with $500 million of that online; 4 million Americans contributing an average of $85, many of whom gave in $10 or $15 increments over a period of months or years. And perhaps the most revealing data: The top two categories of donors were not lobbyists, lawyers or business people, but retirees and students.

It should be noted that in a campaign of many firsts, Plouffe pointed out that this was the first volunteer-centered presidential run and also the first to not accept any contributions from lobbyists.

Combining young people with technology and Obama's likability and discipline proved to be such a powerful force that it plowed through Hillary Clinton, John McCain and now the health care reform and climate change obstructionists in Congress.

"We get information from each other these days, particularly the younger people," said Plouffe. "They see a video they like on YouTube and they email it. They see a news story they like and they send it around. They communicate but on social networking sites. We wanted to light that fuse. We wanted to empower people to be out there living parts of their lives through this campaign."

-- Josh Marks

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