Obama campaign chief ♥ John King's map

KING: Thank you. We like it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: To my campaign manager, David Plouffe. The unsung hero of this campaign, who built the best -- the best political campaign I think in the history of the United States of America.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: Now as President Obama gets to work here in Washington, David Plouffe not on the White House staff, but still a key player in selling the president's agenda, trying to turn the grassroots movement that won the election into a powerful governing tool. David, thanks for joining us on "State of the Union."

The inaugural address, obviously, I thought was terrific and sent a clear message to the country about the challenges and how we are going to tackle them. And I think much of what he has done this week, you know, is really fulfilling those promises he made to the American people about how he was going to govern.

KING: As he tackles those challenges, he begins -- look at our latest poll -- 78 percent of the American people have a favorable opinion of the new president. That's a great blessing, but does it also put you on a perch of such high expectations that you think, how can we meet these?

PLOUFFE: Well, I don't think you're going to see the administration paying too much attention to polls day-to-day at all. But I think the American people are very realistic about the challenges we face. They are sober about them. They realize it's going to take a long time to dig us out of this economic hole. In many respects, they don't want it to go too fast. They want a slow, steady recovery, and I think they're going to give the president time.

What's great the American people, I think the private sector, everyone is committed to banding together here to try and bring about the change we need to get our economy and our country back on track.

KING: You mentioned the changes and his promises, delivering in the first week on his promises. One of his central promises was to change the way this town does business, and with great fanfare on his first full day in office, President Obama pulled the senior White House staff together and announced their pay would be frozen, and he also signed some orders imposing what he said were the strictest rules in history to limit the revolving door, lobbyists coming in and out of government. Let's listen to the president.

That video froze there. But what he did is he said no lobbyists, we're closing the revolving door. He said all who serve in his administration will be bound by these new rules. And yet, within 48 hours, we learned that his choice to be the number two at the Pentagon, William Lynn, a former lobbyist for Raytheon, gets a waiver. How can you say all who serve in my administration will have to abide by these rules, and then in your first week of office, say except this guy?

PLOUFFE: Well, as we said during the campaign, no standard is perfect and you retain the right to make exceptions. He is uniquely qualified in a critical position in government.

But I'd like to focus on not that one exception, but the general rule. These are the most far-reaching ethical reforms we've ever seen in Washington. No one who works in that administration, including Mr. Lynn, can then leave and lobby the administration. It was, I think, a remarkably far-reaching set of proposals, and I think it is going to rebuild trust. Even something like the reinvestment and recovery act. On recovery.com, when this act passes, the American people are going to be able to track every dollar that's spent. And I think that's very important, rebuilding trust. There is -- people are disconnected from their government in Washington in many respects. And I think we want to rebuild that connection so they have stake in these big debates that are going to influence the future of the country, but also complete transparency and openness in terms of how the government is operating and how we're spending their tax dollars.

KING: But an example like that can help undermine it, gives your opponents, your critics to say, look, he didn't really mean it. That's the same old Washington that he promised to change. When you say that one exemption is that it, or will there be more exemptions as we go forward?

PLOUFFE: Well, I'm not in the government, as you know. But I think what the American people are going to focus on is the large standard, and I think they realize that there can be an exception from time to time.

But that has never happened before. A president has never said that no one who works in his administration can then go out and lobby it. And that's a fundamental change in the way this town works, and they desperately need it.

KING: Want to take you over -- as we continue the questions, I'm going to walk you over to the map here and bring it up. Because your new job, outside of government, is to use the grassroots network. You have at your disposal 13 million e-mail addresses, 4 million cell phones that you can text-message, 2 million active volunteers. You had them to do this, which was quite extraordinary. 53 percent of the vote turning, and I just want to show your viewers quickly, if they don't remember this from the campaign, look at these blue states out here in the West.

If you go back in time, that was how -- those were Bush states before; they are Obama states now.

The question is, from outside of government, how do you keep this stimulus debate that's going through Congress, and you had some people saying, no, Mr. President, we don't like that spending. How are you going to use that to move the map out in the states as this happens, and will you use that money -- Kent Conrad will be on this program a bit later. He is the Budget Committee chairman. He says he wants to help the new president, but he doesn't like some of the things in this bill. John Kerry, a chairman in the Congress from a blue state, Massachusetts, says he doesn't like some things in this bill. Will you use that network against Democrats during these policy debates?

PLOUFFE: It's a nice-looking map, first of all.

KING: Thank you. We like it.

PLOUFFE: Having looked at it, the blue.

But I think that, first of all, I think it's a little bit misunderstood. What we're trying to do is to -- we have found that millions of Americans were part of the campaign, and our hopes is millions that weren't who may agree with the president on an issue like energy or health care want to get involved in building support, educating and having conversations. It's going to be great for democracy if these debates aren't just Washington senators. If in states and communities all across the country, people are talking to their neighbors and their colleagues and their family members about energy and health care and economy.

And so we look at this as a way to connect people to democracy, a way to build public support. But it's I think -- the notion that somehow this is going to be a weapon aimed at individual members of Congress misses the purpose. And our hope -- this is trial and error, obviously. It's never been done before. But we know the interest is there. We know people know these are unique times. They want to be out there participating in their democracy and helping to build support for things like the reinvestment recovery package. His ideas on energy and health care that are not only going to create jobs here and now, but these are the jobs and the innovation that are going to keep us strong as a country for decades.

KING: You ordered a postmortem on the campaign, and from that comes Organizing for America, this new project of yours. Five hundred pages, is that about right, in this postmortem?

PLOUFFE: Well, a lot of data to look at.

KING: So my understanding of it -- my copy must have been lost in the mail; I haven't received it yet. My understanding from talking to some people is that you've identified pretty distinct groups from the election, and there are Democrats and then there are Obama Democrats, new voters who came to play and participate because of their affinity for Barack Obama, not necessarily the Democratic Party.

As you go forward, how do you bring them into the Democratic fold? Or do you worry -- you leave that to the next guy to worry about and you worry about Barack Obama?

PLOUFFE: Well, it's a good question. If you look at our support, we had a lot of people who hadn't volunteered before. Half of the people who contributed and volunteered to our campaign had never done so before. A remarkable statistic. A lot of independents and Republicans.

So Organizing for America, the work they are going to be doing does not have an electoral aim in mind. It is to build support out there for these issues, and, again, connect America to these debates in Washington. So my great hope is that someone who didn't even help us in

'08 and who may not vote for us in 2012 says you know what, but on energy, I agree with where President Obama is trying to lead the country, I am going to pitch in, in my community. We want this to be a very open entity.

KING: And to what degree, and tell me where the line is between using this money you raise independently outside from your supporters, and you've been sending e-mails since -- through the transition and even since the election -- how do you intersect that with federal tax dollars? Where is the line where you say we can promote the president here, he can do things with WhiteHouse.gov, resources here, but we can't cross this line?

PLOUFFE: Well, obviously, lawyers, as they always are in Washington, have been involved in all of this. And so we have clear bright lines, and obviously, the organizing of people out there, a lot of the communication is going to be done for Organizing for America. But, obviously, we want a message that is consistent, and to make sure that when we are out there talking about the economy or energy or health care, we are doing it in a way that's consistent with what President Obama is articulating to the American people.

KING: I assume you're one of the outside guys who has his e-mail address for the new BlackBerry?

PLOUFFE: I think the e-mail list needs to remain a Washington mystery.

KING: I want to bring you in, David Plouffe, before we say good-bye, this is the magical moment. We put this together from thousands of submissions of individual photographs. This is our photosynth, as we call it, of the inauguration, and it's a collage, essentially. It's multi-dimensional. You can go around, you can come closer, you can go farther away from the inauguration. I want you to show me where David Plouffe was on inauguration day. If I can get this to come back out a little bit. Sometimes it's a little fussy. There we go.

Show me where David Plouffe, the perch you had. You managed the campaign. You're the architect of the successful victory. Where do you get to sit on inauguration day?

PLOUFFE: Well, we were fortunate enough, my wife and I, to sit just a couple of rows behind the Gores and the Clintons, right in this area.

KING: Right up here.

PLOUFFE: Right in this area. And it was a remarkable sight, not to just be on the podium, obviously, but to be able to also have that vantage point of the wonderful mall and the millions of Americans who were gathering in a real spirit of unity and a belief that they have a stake in the future of their country. So it was -- it was a magical moment.

KING: We thank you for joining us on "State of the Union." We hope we'll come back as we watch the next four years unfold.

PLOUFFE: Thanks, John.