Obama Campaign Manager to Speak at MCLA
 David Plouffe
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The event is free and open to the public. Seating will be available on a first-come, first-served basis.
Funded by the Ruth Proud Charitable Trust, the public policy forum complements MCLA's new major in political science and public policy. A lecture by renowned journalist and author Bob Woodward kicked off the major during the fall 2008 semester.
John DeRosa, administrator of the Ruth Proud Charitable Trust, said the Woodward and Plouffe lectures had the shared purpose to connect students to the world and to broader thinking through the exchange and debate of ideas.
"Students will learn firsthand from David Plouffe how concepts and information discussed in their political science and public policy classes were and continue to be applied by a successful practitioner of American politics," DeRosa said.
The Obama campaign leadership built a masterful grassroots movement of 13 million people that is reshaping itself in an effort to become a key voice in future public policy initiatives. The campaign's success is a model for any organization that needs to deliver a message and mobilize its own members.
The 2008 Obama presidential campaign fundamentally changed the way political campaigns are conducted through the use of the Internet and new technologies. After winning the election, President Obama called Plouffe "the unsung hero" who built the best political campaign in the history of the United States. Plouffe is widely credited with masterminding the winning strategy and building a team that delivered unprecedented results in the historic presidential election.
Plouffe and the rest of the campaign's leadership team counted on their volunteer base to not only take ownership of the campaign, but also compel a nation to make history.
At MCLA, Plouffe will discuss his approach to overall grassroots strategy development and tactical implementation, as well as how to harness technologies to connect a dispersed group of people, engaging them to act, make phone calls, volunteer and persuade their neighbors with a sense of purpose and passion.
As executive director of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee in 1999-2000, Plouffe led a focused national campaign that moved a record $95 million to House of Representatives campaigns across the United States, and helped add to the party's membership in the House of Representatives.
Prior to joining the DCCC, Plouffe was Democratic leader Richard Gephardt's deputy chief of staff in 1997-1998. He joined Gephardt after managing the successful campaign to fill Bill Bradley's seat in the Senate for Bob Torricelli.
He served as the campaign director at the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee in 1995, joining the DSCC after managing a U.S. Senate race in Delaware in 1994 for Delaware Attorney General Charles M. Oberly against U.S. Sen. William V. Roth Jr.
Plouffe also successfully managed U.S. Rep. John W. Olver's first re-election bid in 1992 and was a state field director for Sen. Tom Harkin's presidential campaign in the 1992 cycle, after being a deputy field director in Harkin's successful 1990 U.S. Senate race.
Plouffe joined AKP Message & Media in the winter 2000, and became a named partner of the firm upon returning in February 2004 after serving as a top strategist to Gephardt in his presidential bid.
