Did David Plouffe Wear A Wire?

Thursday...no feeding...

Michael some people have photographic memory's.

This is stupid.

“…I am consistently humbled by just how hard it is to get right.”
Michael, thanks for your humility and your first paragraph, but did you also misplace your “it” / “quotes” / etc. in the first sentence (“…how hard it is to get IT right”)? Don't kick yourself for lacking a photographic memory. Mozart could transcribe an entire musical piece after hearing it once or twice; we can't. But do fix your sentence, please.

"This guy doesn't just claim to remember short quotes verbatim; he remembers whole paragraphs spoken in late night phone calls in the heat of a sleepless campaign."

Coming from a guy who heard a commercial "several times" and STILL got it wrong I'm not sure MS is the guy to snark about anyone's recall.

Michael,

Maybe the guy is just much better at what is supposed to be your job than you are.

This is about his memories of the campaign. He may or may not be paraphrasing but this isn't out of bounds IMO. It's a memoir of the campaign from his perspective and using dialogue is accepted in a memoir.

He's not a journalist and he's not claiming to be a journalist.

So I agree w/the above: this was a stupid post.

I don't intend to be mean, but Michael I think it may do you a whole lot of good to intern for some time with some seasoned person like my fellow Longhorn Karen T. for a while. I mean, how do you come up with postings like this one? Doesn't anyone check what you post on this blog? What is this one supposed to be about? You find it strange that a conference call with a presidential candidate during a campaign could be taped? Or that the first interview with the potential VP candidate would include someone or perhaps several people taking detailed notes? What exactly is the important point you are making here?

Either Plouffe was taping the call, keeping meticulous notes, or he has a seriously cracker-jack memory--or he just filled in some of the holes months later with what he thinks was said.

So? Did you read the book? Does it feel made up? Is the book worth reading? Why? By 'amazing', are you referring to Plouffe's recall or his book?

Aside from answering those questions, this post of half-baked insinuation and magazine plugging is pretty stupid.

So...if we can't feed the trolls today, are we going to pile it up on Mike? It seems cruel to me.

" ... just how hard it is to get right. I can be sure I heard something correctly .."

I know the feeling.

Even when it is written down, I wonder if I read it right or if that reporter really got it right.
Take for instance the following headline:
"Clinton puzzled at USA failure to find al Qaeda leaders "

Did I read that right?

Michael are you jonesing for Obama. Actually both Alexrod and Plouffe have told this story multiple time in interviews. Check out CSPAN video library. Plus, I think I would remember something as important as this conversation especially when Plouffe and others thought the Rev. Wright issue could derail all they have worked for over a year.

Shorter Scherer:

Not only am I just a stenographer, but I suck at it.

Give me a break Mickey! What political professional worth their salt wouldn't keep a detailed daily journal of their activities, thoughts, and conversations etc, especially when they are involved with a candidate or project that might have historical significance? What is this some sort of ridiculous equivalent to penis envy -- potus envy maybe?
.
Journalists are always going around citing polls they are ill equipped to understand let alone interpret and giving political advice as if they are political consultants -- now you want to get pissed because someone writes a book you feel is a signal that they have entered into your territory? Well I guess turn around is fair play huh?.

Of course he could have recorded it very easily by activating their cellphones or other nearby devices. I know you are kidding Scherer, right?
______

On a general note:

Hmmmm...with current technology, recording Obama and anyone else--yes, even those insurgents hidden in caves ensconced in the hills of Afghanistan is a relatively easy-- so long as they (the “recordeees”) have a cellphone, computer or other equipment which can be turned into a listening device.

Read my blog for more information or do a detailed search on 21st century, eavesdropping, roving technology, GPS, tracking and tapping of electronic devices. It is cheap and easy for crooks to obtain this technology to listen, track, follow and break into your site, server, blog or device at anytime. Infact such technology can also be is easily obtained by most people because it is sold on so many sites online and off line.

Thanks to advanced technology and laws which were meant to be used for National Security, criminals can listen to anyone even your old grandma who resides in Greece can be recorded without her knowledge. She can even have her picture taken by a webcam which can be remotely activated.

Aaaah, technology, so good and helpful for many of us-- yet it can be complete bedlam when uncontrolled-- and leaves common crooks with an imagined power and invisibility complex because of their ability to use technical criminal adroitness to cloak their criminal acts with a disgusting cover, fueled by craven mendacity.

LM

http://theblindspotsofgod.wordpress.com/2009/10/22/criminals-use-technology-to-trackrape-and-kill-innocent-people/

Michael - I'm really surprised by the angry responses to your comment. What you say here seems entirely reasonable to me. Have any of these people ever done professional writing? I'm not a journalist, but as a lawyer I find it necessary - always - to double check recordings and transcripts before sending out a document. The mind plays tricks. And when David Plouffe was advising Barack Obama on the most important decisions of the campaign, I hope and expect he was thinking about what to do, not trying to commit everyone's remarks to memory.

I do wonder, though, whether the book contains an explanatory note at the front to say what sources were used and what the quotes reflect. Does Plouffe say they are reconstructed from memory and reflect what the author and others remember, to the best of their ability, as the substance of what was said? That would be an odd convention, but also reasonable and above board.