Writer challenges critics of Obama's style

WASHINGTON, Nov. 4 (UPI) -- One of the architects of President Obama's historic 2008 campaign win said saying Obama governs as an incrementalist instead of a visionary is preposterous.

Former campaign manager David Plouffe told USA Today if Congress passes healthcare and energy reforms, "that story line will go away,"

"There's nothing incremental" about either initiative, he said in an interview with the newspaper published Wednesday.

Plouffe's new book, "The Audacity to Win," was released Tuesday, nearly a year after Obama was elected on a pledge to bring sweeping change to government.

Plouffe's 387-page book tracks the campaign that began on a shoestring budget and a candidate with little national experience and bloomed into a high-tech, grassroots venture that raised $750 million and recruited millions of volunteers.

In the book, Plouffe recounted how the campaign handled sticky situations from the controversy over

sermons by Obama's pastor, Jeremiah Wright, to Republican John McCain's choice of then-Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin to be his running mate. It also describes how Obama chose Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware as his vice president and how Obama got back into the race after a crushing loss in the New Hampshire primary.