I followed the 2008 election closely. Some might say obsessively. I'm fascinated by behind the scenes politics talk; I've watched The War Room at least three times. So I was pretty excited to read campaign manager David Plouffe's account of what went on in the Obama campaign. Here are some things the book is not: it's not full of scandalous, juicy, shocking details. As Plouffe is writing, Obama has just started his presidency. Plouffe will go back to work for him just a couple of months after the book is published. Obviously, he's not interested in embarrassing the President or anyone close to him, and he isn't going to burn any bridges. The revelations are minor, and there was nothing that genuinely surprised me. It's also not especially...beautifully written. Plouffe is not half the writer his boss is; his prose is sometimes clunky, overstuffed with sports metaphors, and he has no ear for dialogue. The writing is competent, but nothing more.
This is a wonkish book. What it does well is explain the strategy behind the campaign and take the reader through why it did what it did, how the people involved came to make their decisions, and what everyone was thinking at the time. The sports metaphors are perhaps not so out of place, because Plouffe's topic here is, as the title suggests, how to win. The book is much less concerned with anything grander than that; mentions of policy or the historical importance Obama's candidacy are incidental here. I was surprised at times by how little attention some topics that seem hugely important are given. But it makes sense, really. Plouffe is a campaign manager; strategy is what he knows, and it's what he can talk about well. So. I enjoyed the book; I'm glad I read it. But I can't think of many people I'd recommend it to; I think it's best for a pretty specific audience of politics geeks.
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