NY Observer > David Plouffe

Can the Obama Campaign's Fund-Raising Compete With McCain?

Jason Horowitz — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 13:03:22 -0400

The $52 million the Obama campaign raised in June is a good deal more than John McCain's $22 million, and much better than the $30 million number reported earlier in the week, which an Obama bundler had advised me was very low.

But the relevant bar is really whether it’s enough to fund the 50-state, mega-scale campaign Obama is running, and enough, compared with what McCain has, to make up for the loss of public financing.

At least in the opinion of one Democratic consultant I spoke to today, it is.

The consultant, speaking on background, said the total amount of money at Obama's disposal, when combined with the D. read more »

McCain Camp Pushing Town Halls at Reagan, Johnson Libraries

Jason Horowitz — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 11:53:41 -0400

A day after John McCain appeared at a town hall-style event that turned out to look a little like a campaign rally at New York's Federal Hall, the McCain campaign accepted another invitation for a joint debate with Barack Obama, this one extended by the Ronald Reagan and Lyndon B. Johnson Libraries.

McCain's communications director, Jill Hazelbaker, used the invite as an opportunity to try and shame the Obama campaign ("American people deserve a great debate about the future of our country, and we hope that Barack Obama will join us for these important events at these historic venues"), and McCain's campaign manager, Rick Davis, sent the following letter to his Obama counterpart, David Plouffe: read more »

Raising Money Off Gibson and Stephanopoulos

Katharine Jose — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 15:31:44 -0400

The Obama campaign just sent supporters the following email:

Did you see the debate last night?

If you did, you saw more gotcha politics and distractions than questions about the pressing issues affecting our country.

In fact, it took more than 45 minutes before Barack was asked about the economy, health care, or foreign policy. read more »

Plouffe Counters After Debate

Jason Horowitz — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 13:01:42 -0400

Obama campaign manager David Plouffe tried to land some belated counterpunches for his debate-battered candidate on a conference call just now.

He argued that "over half the country's voters" do not find Senator Clinton "trustworthy," because she has run a negative campaign. "Her campaign can really be defined as an attack strategy," he said, and called it a "Relentlessly negative campaign here at the end." read more »

Dear David Plouffe: Please Make Obama More Like Mariah

Choire Sicha — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 18:18:05 -0400

On Monday, April 14, Mariah Carey—“incredibly well-funded, corporately polished,” according to the bitter pop music critic of the Chicago Sun-Times—was on Oprah, stumping for votes.

“Now Mariah didn’t get her new body just by eating artichokes,” said Oprah.

Cut to the video, Mariah at the pool in a black bodysuit.

“I’m a female and I like the arms to be slender and toned!” said Mariah.

Mariah got the whole first 42 minutes of the show, and also, her new CD came out the next day!

Midway through her appearance, a mass e-mail was sent from David Plouffe, Barack Obama’s campaign manager: “You’ve probably heard about the latest dust-up in the Democratic race,” it opened. read more »

Obama Campaign Stands By McPeak on Bill Clinton

Jason Horowitz — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 09:52:26 -0400

Obama campaign manager David Plouffe defended General Merrill "Tony" McPeak in a conference call this morning for making controversial remarks comparing Bill Clinton to Joseph McCarthy, after the former president implied that John McCain and Hillary Clinton are "two people who love this country."

Plouffe was asked if Barack Obama agreed with McPeak's remarks, which McPeak interpreted as a deliberate exlcusion of Obama as a patriotic American. Obama would have used different words to express the sentiment, Plouffe argued, but "the point was a fair reading of that."

Plouffe drew a connection between the former president's remarks this weekend and Hillary Clinton's recent statement that she and McCain have met the commander in chief test. "There is a pattern and a history here," Plouffe said.

Plouffe again refused to walk back McPeak's comments later in the call. "Questioning patriotism is something we don't think has a place in this campaign," he said, adding, "We think it was pretty clear what the intention was there and we don't think it is right."

Clinton's communications director, Howard Wolfson, has called McPeak's interpretation a "deliberately pathetic misreading of what the president said."

Obama Camp: Clinton's 'Character Gap' Hurts Electability

Jason Horowitz — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 10:31:15 -0400

In a conference call just now, the Obama campaign tried to use a Clinton-campaign line of attack on Hillary Clinton, saying she is an untrustworthy candidate who has not been sufficiently vetted—and who suffers from a "character gap" that would hurt her electability in November.

"She would be a deeply flawed nominee," said campaign manager David Plouffe. read more »

After Mississippi, a Renewed Clinton Push for Florida and Michigan

Katharine Jose — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 10:57:19 -0400

The day after losing badly in Mississippi, Hillary Clinton's team is back to an aggressive push on seating Michigan and Florida delegates, with or without a revote.

Not only did Maggie Williams write a letter to David Plouffe this morning, but the Clinton campaign just sent out a release with remarks Clinton made at the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce in Washington, D.C. this morning. According to the release, she said both that “[t]he results of those primaries [in Michigan and Florida] were fair and they should be honored,” and that “there are two options: Honor the results or hold new primary elections.” read more »

Obama Campaign on Power Controversy, Goolsbee Controversy

Jason Horowitz — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 14:54:04 -0500

On a conference call that just ended, Obama campaign manager David Plouffe sought to raise questions about Hillary Clinton's unreleased tax returns, but instead ended up fielding questions about controversies involving advisers to his own campaign.

"This point about vetting and electablility does raise some questions about Senator Clinton," said Plouffe, responding to the Clinton campaign's assertion that Obama had not been sufficiently vetted. He added, "Hillary Clinton is one of the most secretive politicians in America today." read more »

Obama Camp to Supporters: We Have Tons of Money, Lots of Delegates

Jason Horowitz — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 16:21:44 -0500

Here are two letters the Obama campaign has sent out to supporters, one from campaign manager David Plouffe arguing that they came away with a delegate advantage after Tuesday, and another from Barack Obama trumpeting the campaign's $55 million haul in February.

Plouffe uses the word "failed" again to describe the Clinton campaign's efforts to dent their delegate lead and Obama talks about the "staggering " number that has helped them keep their commanding lead (for the record, as of this morning the Clinton campaign disagreed about the delegate count): read more »