Plouffe: This Was About Obama

Stepping out from behind the curtain where he directed Barack Obama's earth-shaking campaign, David Plouffe quietly professes pride in the historic achievement to Lloyd Grove in Portfolio, and talks about a race where stability and consistency won the day and "Clinton might have won the nomination if she had just competed in the far-flung caucus states." Plouffe, who jumped into Obama's corner in January 2007, points to the benefit of an impromptu run: having to make it up as you go along.

"We didn't have some stale playbook we were following," Plouffe says. He also credits the team's collegial, mission-focused environment where the highest salary on the campaign was $12,000 a month. "I learned a long time ago that we're all replaceable, the only person that's not replaceable in the campaign is the candidate. I'm proud of the job I did, I'm very proud of the job the entire campaign did. But this was all about Barack Obama," Plouffe says.