PR.com (Allison Kugel): What is the greatest lesson that the average American can take away from the success of President Obama’s campaign?

David Plouffe: In a way that would apply broadly, it would be that you don’t have to be constrained by the past or by what others think is possible for you. You really can charter a new and different course, and if you have a combination of luck and skill and commitment you can be successful.

PR.com: Had there not been the climate that was created by George W. Bush could there have ever been a President Barack Obama at this time in our history?

David Plouffe: I think so, because I think that what people saw over two years was someone of enormous character, and tremendous leadership skills. I think that obviously timing is important in politics. I do think that people were looking to course correct in fairly major ways. But Barack Obama proved himself through a pretty grueling obstacle course over two years.

PR.com: When it came to the Iowa caucuses and the work you put in with staff and volunteers on the ground, was that a big gamble for you, or was that a no-brainer as far as you, David Axelrod and Barack Obama were concerned?

David Plouffe: We thought the only way to win was to win Iowa. In that way it wasn’t a gamble. It was a necessity. The gamble was betting that a number of people who have never attended caucuses before would turn out. And that played well. I write in the book that, that was what our strategy was predicated on. I think a lot of commentators in politics didn’t think it was possible, certainly to the degree we were able to do it. We were counting on people who had never been at a caucus before. We put our fate in their hands. That was a gamble and that certainly was something that defied convention.

PR.com: What were the other campaigns’ reasons for not putting as much work into Iowa, specifically Hillary Clinton?

David Plouffe: Well I think she ended up spending as much, or more than we did and she appeared a lot, but we started organizing earlier because nobody knew who Barack Obama was, really, so we had to. We thought that Iowa was our make or break state. John Edwards spent even more time there than we did. I think Hillary Clinton perhaps got started there a little bit late. We organized every community in Iowa because we thought that to win we really were going to have to gain and build support in every corner of the state, and from unlikely sources. For instance, we organized every high school in Iowa. That had never been done before with the caucuses.

click to read interview with David Plouffe