Obama's Campaign Manager Set to Speak at Convocation

David Plouffe, campaign manager for President Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign, will be this year’s convocation speaker, the Convocation Committee an­nounced at yesterday’s Student Assembly meeting.
Plouffe, whom Obama has referred to as “the unsung hero” of “the best political campaign in the history of the United States of America,” will address this year’s graduating class.
“Our committee sought an individual who has had a profound impact on the society that our class has been prepared to enter,” C.J. Slicklen ’09 stated in an e-mail yesterday. Slicklen is chair of the Convocation Committee and a Sun columnist.
“Mr. Plouffe was the mastermind behind one of the most significant and groundbreaking elections in our nation’s history,” he said. “His insights and leadership helped transform a little known state senator from Illinois to the leader of the free world.”
Plouffe did not transition into the White House after the campaign ended in November. Since then, he has been working on various grassroots political organizations affiliated with the Democratic National Committee, according to The New York Times.
Plouffe is currently writing a book entitled, The Audacity to Win: The Inside Story and Lessons of Barack Obama’s Historic Victory, according to the Associated Press.
Convocation is scheduled for Saturday, May 23 at Shoellkopf Field. Past speakers have included former poet laureate Maya Angelou, CNN anchor Soledad O’Brien, Martin Luther King III, Gen. Wesley Clark and former President Bill Clinton.