Tuesday's elections are local races -- not measures of President Obama's ability to deliver or a referendum on the president's popularity, according to David Plouffe, the former chief campaign manager for Barack Obama's presidency.
Plouffe appeared on the Today Show Tuesday morning to talk about today's off-year elections, what they mean for the political landscape and his new book The Audacity To Win.
Plouffe defended President Obama's job performance and rejected claims that the president is not delivering on his promise of change. According to Plouffe, the most important story of the day isn't about election results, it's about the dynamics in New York's 23rd District race, where a moderate GOP candidate bowed out of the House race under pressure from more conservative Republicans like Sarah Palin and Tim Pawlenty.
When asked by Meredith Vieira whether he was downplaying the importance of today's elections because it appears that the GOP might win, Plouffe said that this is one instance where he agrees with the Bush administration -- off-year elections don't mean that much. Plouffe continued, "There's 18,000 lifetimes between now and next November."
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