By any measure, Barack Obama and his team ran one of the best political campaigns in modern history in 2008. The historic election was so overwhelming — Obama won 28 states and the District, received almost 53 percent of the popular vote, had a margin of 9.5 million votes over Republican Sen. John McCain, and earned 365 electoral college votes — that even those who supported McCain would have trouble denying the election’s significance and decisiveness.
David Plouffe, the campaign’s manager in both the primary and the general elections, whom Obama has largely credited for the win, has already written the detailed story of that campaign. “The Audacity to Win: The Inside Story and Lessons of Barack Obama’s Historic Victory,” published in 2009, revealed campaign anecdotes and tactics and provided behind-the-scenes color.
“A Citizen’s Guide to Beating Donald Trump” is a very different book. The title pretty much says it all. This is a guidebook with step-by-step instructions for people who want to get involved in the Democratic campaign. To defeat Trump, Plouffe has devised a strategy hugely reliant on many thousands of volunteers. He exhorts anyone who wants to see the Democrats prevail to get off the couch and put in some sweat equity to make it happen, and he explains that Obama considered his volunteers and grass-roots organization to be the heart of his campaign and the key to his victories.
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