GSPM Blog

Political strategist and chief campaign manager for President Barack Obama's 2008 presidential campaign David Plouffe spoke at the Elliott School Tuesday night, discussing how the Democrats could lose in Massachusetts, health care reform, and his new book, "The Audacity to Win: The Inside Story and Lessons of Barack Obama's Historic Victory."

Huffington Post White House Correspondent Sam Stein moderated the question-and-answer discussion - hosted by the Graduate School of Political Management and the Progressive Book Club - during which Plouffe, Obama's adviser, took questions from both the in-house and online audience.

Stein set the tone for the evening by asking Plouffe how a Democrat could lose a Senate seat in Massachusetts.

"Every race is different," Plouffe said. "And Scott Brown ran a good campaign."

The Washington Post reported early Wednesday that Republican Scott Brown won the late Edward Kennedy's Senate seat in Massachusetts with 51.9 percent of the vote over Democrat Martha Coakley's 47.1 percent. Coakley was favored to win the seat up until a month ago when Brown launched an aggressive campaign against her.

Despite Democrats losing their filibuster-proof majority in the Senate - which may force the Democrats to scramble to pass a health care bill before the election results are certified, or face not having a bill before Brown takes office - Plouffe said the Republicans will not win back their majority in Congress.

"Republicans won't win back the House [and] Senate," he said. "They don't deserve it."

When asked about high-profile Republican and former vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin's new role as a Fox contributor he said, "as a Democrat, let's just say I'm happy to have her out there."

While discussing controversial topics like health care reform, Plouffe told students that their votes matter.

Read Full Article