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

by David Plouffe

Book Overview

David Plouffe not only led the effort that put Barack Obama in the White House, but he also changed the face of politics forever and re-energised the idea of democracy itself. The Audacity to Win is his story of that groundbreaking achievement, taking readers inside the remarkable campaign that led to the election of the first African-American president.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0670021334
• ISBN13: 9780670021338
• Release Date: November 2009
• Publisher: Viking Books
• Length: 390 Pages
• Weight: 1.47 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.3" x 5.7" x 10.0"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

As a former Wingnut...

I know I'm not the only person that drank up every episode of The West Wing, loving the whole premise of a behind-the-scenes look at the White House -- fictional, of course. It was also a fictional behind-the-scenes look at campaigning, and made for some terrific television. It's not fiction, and it's therefore a little drier, but David Plouffe has here given us our very own behind-the-scenes look at the Obama campaign. Now, I should point out that if you're looking for salacious gossip, for some sort of juicy tidbit, for drama, in other words, you're not going to find it here. Plouffe was Obama's campaign manager, after all, and he's not going to give away the farm, or tell us any bad stuff we don't already know. Be realistic. Plouffe owns up to mistakes made along the way, so it's not all sunshine and roses, but they did win, so it does read like a bit of campaign literature, sure. Are there stories he's not telling us? I'm sure there are. I'd love to hear those someday, too, way in the future. For now, it was intellectually interesting to see the arc of the campaign strategy from an insider's point of view, if nothing else.

Candor and Vision for Public Life

Plouffe's story shines with the candor and goodwill that infused the Obama campaign. I wanted the story, having volunteered briefly in a local campaign office. In that time I wondered who and how had made this all look so easy. I walked into a phone bank that had a row of phones and seats, but not nearly enough for all the volunteers who wanted to help. No problem, around the room in wicker baskets on the floor were piles of cell phones. If the desks were all taken, just grab a chair and a cell phone and here's a call list and thank you very much and would you like refreshments? By the time I dropped in, the campaign workers had weary, red-rimmed eyes and tottered with fatigue but each one gave whole, full attention and help to the tourist volunteers. I wound up working near a family whose 14-year-old daughter was making calls. Me on Medicare. The young volunteer told me this was the way politics should me. Boy Howdy!! Plouffe's story is well-written and readable. I read it thinking that it's textbook now for underdog campaigns. I thought about who else will be reading this account and what will they be thinking. The candidate's character and values governed his choices of associates and many campaign decisions. So, it's a textbook for others only if they can find such a candidate or such values for public life. I can see the organizational details can be useful to other parties and candidates yet I do not see that they can account for the response of voters to the candidate. Beginning with the convention speech in 2004, so many people already knew that this country needed this voice and this vision, this person. Still, however easy the campaign may have looked to those of us observing from the outside, it apparently was a white-knuckle adventure all the way from within. Who knew that the candidate would command such a response? The nation is blessed with this in our history and the reader with Plouffe's candor and confidence.

No one else could have given us this insight except Plouffe

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!

Trailblazing

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.

An internal perspective of the largest grassroots campaign ever

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