updated
George Stephanopoulos has a “read it here first” post up on David Plouffe’s new book before David Gregory has him first on “Meet the Press.” Plouffe is still the most popular guy at the political party.
But get this, I called it right about Wright, according to Plouffe:
2) The campaign was in denial about Rev. Wright:
By March 12, 2008, when ABC News began to air explosive excerpts from Rev. Wrights sermons, the campaign was in denial about the significance of the Rev. Wright problem. Plouffe writes:
“We had…failed to discuss the various options we might explore vis-à-vis Wright. We never raised with Obama the idea of leaving the church, or discussed with him any detail of how we would respond if inflammatory statements were to emerge. We were in denial. In any competitive enterprise, you need to know everything your opponent knows about you and limit the number of surprises by getting out damaging information about yourself before it can be used to sucker punch you.”
Denial. It’s just stunning, because it was so predictable what would happen. I laid that one out early. To add, all they had to do was listen to Sean Hannity, who had the Wright stuff from the start. Stephanopoulos also reports on Obama’s reaction in the heat of the scandal. Interesting stuff.
Next up, John Edwards…
Remembering back during the primaries and how visceral it got between Edwards and Clinton, I also remember how down and dirty Edwards got using Mudcat Saunders’ strategy coupled with invoking Jesse Helms. Right then and there I knew what Edwards was willing to do to win or keep himself inside the presidential ring.
5) Edwards is as craven as you think:
Sometime after the South Carolina debate Plouffe got a call from a senior Edwards Advisor who said Edwards was willing to announce the end of his campaign and join forces with Obama to defeat Clinton. When Plouffe asked if he could raise this with Obama the Edwards advisor said, “Yes.…Just to be clear we’re going to talk to the Clinton people too. That’s not where John’s heart is, but he is at the point of maximum leverage now.”
“Obama’s answer,” Plouffe writes, “was quick and firm: he would cut no deals.”
Considering what we learned later about John Edwards, about what he did, lying to his staff and everyone else about his affair, with Elizabeth helping, his despicable lack of character has now long been established. But the hits keep on coming.
Oh, and about Clinton and the veep job? That comes from an interview with Sect. Clinton by ABC’s Jim Sciutto:
Meanwhile, in the United States, talk about the other administration job she might have had is making waves. Obama campaign manager David Plouffe writes in a new book that the president seriously considered Clinton as his running mate but said Bill Clinton would mean that there were “more than two of us in the relationship.”
Asked whether her husband had cost her an opportunity to be vice president, Clinton said, laughing, “I’m happy with the job I have. … I’m not the kind of person who looks backward, I look forward.”
David Plouffe is hitting the circuit, including Costco. He’s likely to sell a boatload of books. After the presidential campaign he helped run he earned it.
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