Obama campaign official to visit Pitt

By Drew Singer

‘ ‘ ‘ Obamarama hasn’t left Pitt quite yet. ‘ ‘ ‘ David Plouffe, Barack Obama’s presidential… ‘ ‘ ‘ Obamarama hasn’t left Pitt quite yet. ‘ ‘ ‘ David Plouffe, Barack Obama’s presidential campaign manager, will come to Pitt Monday, Feb. 23, for an lecture sponsored by the Pitt Program Council, PPC Executive Board Director JJ Abbott said yesterday. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘We really wanted to bring someone to Pitt from the Obama campaign because of the impact it had on young people,’ said Abbott. ‘[The Obama campaign] sort of revolutionized campaigning.’ ‘ ‘ ‘ Abbott said he could not go into details regarding the price PPC’s paying Plouffe, because the contract has not yet been signed. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘We got him at a good price,’ said Abbott. ‘It’s about on par with what we usually pay for a lecturer.’ ‘ ‘ ‘ During his day at Pitt, Plouffe will speak at various political science, communication and business classes about how their coursework is applicable in the real world. ‘ ‘ ‘ Plouffe will then speak in the William Pitt Union at 8:30 p.m. about his role in the 2008 presidential election. The event will be free for all undergraduate Pitt students, although an advance ticket will be required. Tickets will be available in the Union’s ticket office beginning Monday, Jan. 5. ‘ ‘ ‘ If Plouffe wasn’t available, Abbott said that PPC’s next choice would have been Chris Hughes, the co-founder of Facebook who helped the Obama campaign develop My.BarackObama.com, the campaign’s social networking Web site.