The Audacity to Win

David Plouffe, Barack Obama's campaign manager, tells the story of the two extraordinary years that led to the election of Obama as the 44th President of the United States. Erik Davies's punchy, somewhat gruff delivery suits Plouffe's clear-eyed personal account and numerous sports metaphors. Plouffe is a political professional, and it is the work of political professionals that concerns him. Gossip does not. He tells the essential story of an amazing campaign. Campaign funding, voter turnout, delegate counts, organization, and, eventually, electoral votes dominate his world. Plouffe's verbs are strong, and his sentences short. The material, although sometimes complex, is easy to grasp. Davies imparts slightly more drama to the campaign than Plouffe's famously cool boss, but it does not distract from the story. F.C. (c) AudioFile 2010, Portland, Maine