Hillarysworld

Remember the mess that was Florida, Michigan and the earliest Iowa caucus in history?

Turns out some of the complications were orchestrated by the Obama campaign.

In his new book "The Audacity to Win" Obama campaign manager David Plouffe confesses they tried to "box in" Clinton after the Democratic National Committee's Rules and Bylaws Committee decided to strip Florida and Michigan of their delegates as punishment for holding primaries earlier than allowed. (In the end, it all worked out, but it caused complete chaos for months as the primary dragged on.)

Plouffe writes:

"Emboldened by the drift of the rules committee, we took it to the next level. I asked Steve Hildebrand to go on a secret diplomatic mission to speak with the four early-state party chairs, encouraging them to ask all the candidates to sign a pledge stating they would not campaign in any states (Florida and Michigan) that had violated the rules and were threatening the approved early states' primacy.

Yes, this was in our self-interest. But it was also in theirs. If these two big states were penalized as severely as possible, and we all committed not to campaign in them, then the role of the early states was protected with no ambiguity."

The revelation isn't earth-shattering, and some suspected the campaign was behind it at the time. But Plouffe also says the campaign colluded with John Edwards' camp to make sure Clinton signed it, by agreeing to hold out for a day after the states requested the pledge.

The pledge was important because Obama trailed then-believed-to-be juggernaut Hillary Clinton, who had a huge national advantage. Plouffe devotes much of the book's first 100 pages to the Iowa-or-nothing strategy, saying they knew that if Obama couldn't win there and throw Clinton off her stride, it was over.

Plouffe writes that he and his counterpart in the Edwards camp "had common ground."

"We were by no means in league with the Edwards campaign. But on this issue, we had common ground. Edwards would have even more trouble competing than we would if additional large and expensive states were suddenly relevant early. I suggested to the Edwards rep that it would box in the Clinton campaign more effectively if we waited a day to announce our intentions. If we all said we would sign the early-state pledge on the same day, she could say no, and though she would undoubtedly get grief in these states, it would be easier for her to wriggle off the hook.

...

So our campaigns signing on together would create a huge amount of interest and coverage, and raise the stakes for Clinton. They agreed, and on Friday we each told inquiring press that we needed time to mull it over. We held our first until Saturday morning and then sent our statement that we would sign the pledge. The ball was in Clinton's court. Within hours she had no choice but to say she would sign as well."

By doing this they forced the former first lady to remain in the early states - Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina - and out of Florida, an expensive battleground where she had inherent advantage.

The book came out last week and as people are reading through it (and as Plouffe does the interview circuit) little bits are coming out.

Among the juiciest is another Plouffe confession that Obama researchers planted the Edwards $400 haircut story with Politico. (Also read Time's Michael Scherer, who notes the silliness of the game.)

Plouffe also writes that Obama told his staffers he was "not sold" on the "Change We Can Believe In" slogan that ended up being the centerpiece of the campaign.

"Do you really think it says enough? Nothing about issues at all," Obama told Plouffe, according to the book.

Plouffe says he also found it "a bit awkward and perhaps ephemeral. But it also had potential because it was a bit unusual and could reinforce our message."

I haven't finished the book yet, but will keep updating readers.

Late update: I checked in with Howard Wolfson, Clinton's top press hand during the campaign who gets plenty of ink in "The Audacity to Win."

Wolfson responds: "Smart politics."