Plouffe the Magic Dragon

You’ve got to hand it to David Plouffe (pronounced Pluff), even though he rarely makes headlines, hates to have his photo taken, and prefers to attend to the mechanics of the Obama campaign out of sight. As its manager, Plouffe planned a ground game like no other before him. How else could an unknown, inexperienced candidate, even one who could deliver a good speech (albeit with the aid of a teleprompter), zoom right to the top and overwhelm the well-known and experienced frontrunner? And, Plouffe has the kind of resume his candidate does not, among them the Director of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

It was Plouffe who hit on the plan to go after states in the primary that Democrats will not win in November. But, they had delegates that could be racked up, and caucus states could be invaded by armies of Obama activists who persuaded enough locals to get on the bandwagon. Everyone knows the results, even though many of us are left scratching their heads. Plouff is a genius. He pulled off an act that seems stranger than any fiction I have read.

BUT, will the same plan work for the general election in November? Many don’t think so. Republicans usually circle their wagons and vote for their man no matter what. Democrats are a less dependable lot, and this race is especially hampered by large numbers voters who do not trust Obama or are upset with the DNC for perceived biases and undemocratic tactics that are pushing Hillary Clinton out. Had Obama himself spoken out about media partiality and sexism, his prospects might look better now.

So, what does Karl Rove, the Republican counterpart of David Plouff, think? Writing in the Wall Street Journal, Rove suggests that the same tactics implemented by the Obama team in the primary will fail come November. “Democrats don’t have the same large volunteer pool the GOP does with its Federated GOP Women, College and Young Republicans, and local party committees,” Rove writes. “In the primaries, Mr. Obama instead moved hordes of volunteers from state to state…The volunteers adequate for primaries held over five months will simply not be enough to compete in 51 separate elections (all 50 states plus the District of Columbia) all on one day.” (Many of the younger ones will be studying for exams around that time.)

However, Rove believes that the biggest problem has to do with Obama’s inconsistencies. “In 2000, Mr. Bush won the general election on the same themes and positions as in the primaries… There was no repudiation of past positions, no chameleon-like shifts in positions.” Obama is following the Nixon program where one caters to the party base and then moves towards the center. Obama’s base at the left is already beginning to wonder who he is as he flops around like a freshly caught bass on the pier. Few appear to be satisfied in the process. His changes in positions, coupled with inexperience and a raft of poor judgments, are cause for pause for all but his most staunch followers.

Rove adds that the campaign seems to simply assume that voters will not notice the many reversals in Obama’s positions. Aside from the implication that voters are stupid, counting on them to be uninformed and unaware is likely wishful thinking this time around.

Can David Plouffe still pull Obama out? Rove isn’t so sure. “Mr. Obama may be risking his reputation for truthfulness. A candidate’s credibility, once lost, is very hard to restore, regardless of how fine an organization he has built.” Read more here.