David Plouffe to Democrats: "Fight like hell... and do what the American people sent us to Washington to do"

By Christopher Hass - Jan 24th, 2010 at 1:03 pm EST
http://my.barackobama.com/page/community/post/obamaforamerica/gGGxgQ
In today's Washington Post, Obama for America campaign manager David Plouffe penned an op-ed in which he admits that the Democratic Party received a resounding "wake-up call" from the Massachusetts special election on Tuesday, but he argues that the way forward is to continue to fight, and to show American people that they are capable of doing the hard things that voters sent them to Washington to do.
"[The 2010 midterms] will be a tough election for our party and for many Republican incumbents as well. Instead of fearing what may happen, let's prove that we have more than just the brains to govern -- that we have the guts to govern. Let's fight like hell, not because we want to preserve our status, but because we sincerely believe too many everyday Americans will continue to lose if Republicans and special interests win."
Plouffe also outlines a few key principles the Democrats can use to be successful in this November, the first of which is passing a meaningful health insurance reform package without delay. He also urges Democrats to focus on job creation, and to do a better job articulating the positive impact American Recovery and Reinvestment Act on the economy.
Finally, Plouffe urges Democratic candidates to "run great campaigns," citing many of the same core organizing principles that proved to be so effective during the Obama campaign:
"Our campaigns can leave no stone unturned, from believing in the power of grass-roots volunteers and voter registration, to using technology and data innovatively, to raising money -- especially with big corporate interests now freed up to dump hundreds of millions of dollars to elect those who will do their bidding. Democratic candidates must do everything well. Each one must make sure that the first-time voters from 2008 living in your state or district -- more than 15 million nationwide -- are in their sights. Build a relationship with those voters, organize them and educate them. On Nov. 3, many races are sure to be decided by just a few thousand if not a few hundred votes. These voters can make the difference. We have to show them that their 2008 votes mattered, and passing health insurance reform is one way to start.
...If Democrats will show the country we can lead when it's hard, we may not have perfect election results, but November will be nothing like the nightmare that talking heads have forecast."
Read the full op-ed...
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/22/AR2010012204216.html?hpid=opinionsbox1

Obama campaign spending $39 million in Florida

It seems like an incredible amount of money, but in fact as I figured out a year ago when we had a municipal election here on Miami Beach, the candidates for city commission spent $130.55 for each vote cast. (Link to that post.)

Now, if all 10.6 million registered Floridians actually vote on Nov. 4, that would be only $3.68 per vote spent by the Obama campaign. Compared with all the robo-calling and glossy mailers we residents of Miami Beach suffer from our aspirants to the city commission, it's a pittance.

Before I report on what David Plouffe says in the video below, let me just post the detail of who's leading among registered voters in Florida with about three weeks until the close of registrations:

• 4.4 million Democrats
• 3.9 million Republicans
• 2.3 million minor and non-party

Please don't let anyone think that this is a Republican state, despite what we have in Tallahassee. Democrats are in a temporary trough; we will be out of it soon to show there's better ways of doing state business. And we won't be mean about it the way the pit-bull Republicans are.

For instance (and again, pardons, I'm delaying a report on the Obama campaign), the Republicans are clearly to blame for two crooked instances of voter manipulation uncovered in the media.

• The St. Petersburg Times reports on our neighbors the Florida Republicans sending mail to seniors who are Democrats, telling them that they're shown as registered Republicans. Whose "honorable" name is on the mail? John McCain. What's the effect? Attempt to confuse Democratic voters, attempt to "cage" them out of their vote on election day.
• Next report is from Politico, about a national "push poll" targeting Jewish voters and asking them leading and nasty questions about Obama. Be aware of this and don't hesitate to report suspicious calls and mailings. By the way, the name on this was John McCain.

Official Democratic reaction:

"It is disgusting that John McCain and his Republican cronies would prey on Florida's seniors. John McCain's dishonorable and dishonest campaign prove he and his Republican Party are so desperate for four more years of Bush politics that they will do anything to win - except talk honestly with voters about the issues that matter," Florida Democratic Party Chairwoman Karen Thurman said. "Frankly, John McCain should be ashamed of himself for preying on seniors like a bogus reverse-mortgage peddler."

Now, finally, the video in which David Plouffe, manager of the Obama campaign, lays out the situation for the last seven weeks.



The key point in this, to me, is that Florida is the biggest battleground state that he mentions -- requiring $39 million to fund the TV and radio ads, the staff and grassroots to win our 27 electoral votes.

Beyond that, we have huge jobs to do in the grassroots. Looking back to 2004 when George W. Bush won Florida by 380,000 votes, Plouffe pointed to the half-million African-Americans who didn't vote, and the 900,000 registered young citizens who didn't vote.

"We can win if we just turn them out," he said.

Exactly.