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February 12, 2009 Thursday 10:40 PM EST
Plouffe speech in Azerbaijan draws fire
by Kenneth P. Vogel
For two years, he was the brains behind the Obama political
juggernaut, quietly engineering what he recently boasted was perhaps
the biggest political upset in history.
But in the weeks since he's come out from behind the curtain to tell
how he pulled it off, David Plouffe has found it's not always easy to
be the man in the spotlight.
Just Thursday, Plouffe drew fire from reporters over his insistence
that a speech at a Georgetown University symposium be kept
off-the-record.
The flap came on the heels of a Monday speech that caused potentially
more serious headaches for Team Obama - not because the speech was
closed to the press, which it was, but because of where it was given,
Azerbaijan.
A group with close ties to the oil-rich Caspian Sea nation, which has
been criticized for human rights abuses and authoritarian leanings,
paid Plouffe $50,000 to speak and also arranged for him to meet with
top government officials.
That rankled stateside backers of Armenia, who emerged as an
influential pro-Obama political bloc, and set off a war of words
between them and their bitter rivals in the Azerbaijani-American
community.
A White House aide stressed that Plouffe's visit had no bearing on
administration policies.
Obama's Press Secretary Robert Gibbs hammered that point Monday,
telling reporters aboard Air Force One, that Plouffe was "not there at
the behest of, and not delivering a message on behalf of, the
president of the United States. If the president had a message for
Azerbaijan, he'd pick up the phone. It's a longer flight and a shorter
call."
Nonetheless, the Plouffe flap is "a slightly awkward situation" for
Obama, said Cory Welt, a Eurasian studies professor at Georgetown
University, "because the new administration should try to maintain
good relations with the Azerbaijani government for broader
geopolitical regional issues."
But Welt said Plouffe comes out of it the worst. "He looks suckered,
first of all. And second of all, it gets a little too close to looking
like something inappropriate."
After Plouffe learned that the group paying for the speech - held at a
relatively small private university that boasted of presenting him "a
memory gift" - had close ties to the Azerbaijani government, he
decided to donate the fee to the U.S.-based nonprofit National
Democratic Institute.
Plouffe hasn't commented on either appearance. But a source close to
him said the unwelcome attention, which stems from his forays onto the
lucrative speaking circuit, has caught Plouffe off guard, since "he
considers himself a private citizen who gives speeches about a
campaign that ended at 11 o'clock on Nov. 4th."
But the attention paid to Plouffe stems not only from his past
closeness to Obama but from his continuing involvement in Obama's
outside political operation. And both his stock speech and forthcoming
book (for which he landed a seven-figure advance) deal with his
stewardship of Obama's campaign.
The White House has stressed that Plouffe is neither working in the
administration nor representing Obama in his speaking engagements. But
as a bona fide Obama insider, his actions and words have been parsed
for insight into the mostly leak-free Obama inner sanctum, and
scrutinized for consistency with Obama's.
The interest in Plouffe was apparent Thursday, when he was slated to
appear at the Georgetown symposium, being held at the National Press
Club. Plouffe asked that his remarks be kept off the record, and
reporters, including the Washington Post's Dana Milbank, protested.
Politico editor-in-chief John Harris withdrew Politico's sponsorship
of the Plouffe discussion and backed out from moderating that event,
which proceeded off-the-record.
A source close to Plouffe, who did not want to be identified speaking
for Plouffe, contended the arrangement was at the behest of Georgetown
University, the host of the event, and produced language from the
contract stating the talk was to "be closed to the media."
Georgetown spokesman Andy Pino said, however, "We did not request that
this be off the record. In fact, we would rather have it be on the
record."
Plouffe's speech in Azerbaijan - and the Armenian reaction - also drew
scrutiny.
Armenia and Azerbaijan have been locked in a tense territorial dispute
since a 1994 cease-fire ended a six-year war that killed upwards of
25,000 people. The sparring neighbors are both strategically important
U.S. allies. And both are waiting to see how the Obama administration
will approach the territorial dispute, and manage its foreign policy
in the broader South Caucasus, a volatile region important for its oil
and proximity to Iran and Russia.
"Having a high-profile former campaign aide heading to an
authoritarian government doesn't seem like what the Obama
administration would want to be promoting right now," said Bryan
Ardouny, executive director of the Armenian Assembly of America, a
D.C.-based advocacy group that lobbies on Armenian issues.
The Armenians are only upset because Plouffe's visit runs counter to
their own "negative propaganda" about Azerbaijan, asserted Adil
Baguirov, managing director of the U.S. Azeris Network, a Washington
non-profit advocating Azerbaijani positions.
Armenian voters in the United States have traditionally taken a
bi-partisan approach to political involvement. But in last year's
presidential election, most Armenian-American groups threw their lot
behind Obama, who had long signaled support for Armenia's position in
the territorial dispute, as well its effort to gain U.S. recognition
of the 1915 extermination of up to 1.5 million Armenians at the hands
of the Ottoman government as a genocide.
Obama's Republican presidential rival John McCain, on the other hand,
had opposed the genocide resolution out of concern over offending
Turkey, and was endorsed by the U.S. Azeris Network.
Though Armenian-American leaders assert that Plouffe's mysterious trip
did not dampen their hopes for legislative and diplomatic victories
under Obama, they admit it prompted a flurry of nervous phone calls
with activists and congressional allies.
These leaders question Plouffe's judgment, but they reserved most of
their scorn for Azerbaijan, which they charged was trying to skirt
lobbying laws by buttering up Plouffe to gain a toehold in the White
House.
"It seems to me a pretty sad effort on the part of Azerbaijan to try
to curry favor and by using clever D.C. back-channel tactics to
accomplish what they couldn't accomplish during the election," said
Aram Hamparian, executive director of the Armenian National Committee
of America, which endorsed Obama.
Baguirov, the Azeris Network official, acknowledged the
Azerbaijani-American lobby has concerns about Obama's stance on the
territorial dispute and other issues. But he said his group has - and
will continue to - appeal directly to the Obama administration through
traditional channels "expressing the readiness to be consulted on any
subject relevant to the community and the region of Caucasus."
As for potential dealings between Plouffe and the Azeri government,
Baguirov said "with all due respect, (he) doesn't seem to be an
appropriate choice to negotiate anything with the government."
February 12, 2009 Thursday 10:40 PM EST
Plouffe speech in Azerbaijan draws fire
by Kenneth P. Vogel
For two years, he was the brains behind the Obama political
juggernaut, quietly engineering what he recently boasted was perhaps
the biggest political upset in history.
But in the weeks since he's come out from behind the curtain to tell
how he pulled it off, David Plouffe has found it's not always easy to
be the man in the spotlight.
Just Thursday, Plouffe drew fire from reporters over his insistence
that a speech at a Georgetown University symposium be kept
off-the-record.
The flap came on the heels of a Monday speech that caused potentially
more serious headaches for Team Obama - not because the speech was
closed to the press, which it was, but because of where it was given,
Azerbaijan.
A group with close ties to the oil-rich Caspian Sea nation, which has
been criticized for human rights abuses and authoritarian leanings,
paid Plouffe $50,000 to speak and also arranged for him to meet with
top government officials.
That rankled stateside backers of Armenia, who emerged as an
influential pro-Obama political bloc, and set off a war of words
between them and their bitter rivals in the Azerbaijani-American
community.
A White House aide stressed that Plouffe's visit had no bearing on
administration policies.
Obama's Press Secretary Robert Gibbs hammered that point Monday,
telling reporters aboard Air Force One, that Plouffe was "not there at
the behest of, and not delivering a message on behalf of, the
president of the United States. If the president had a message for
Azerbaijan, he'd pick up the phone. It's a longer flight and a shorter
call."
Nonetheless, the Plouffe flap is "a slightly awkward situation" for
Obama, said Cory Welt, a Eurasian studies professor at Georgetown
University, "because the new administration should try to maintain
good relations with the Azerbaijani government for broader
geopolitical regional issues."
But Welt said Plouffe comes out of it the worst. "He looks suckered,
first of all. And second of all, it gets a little too close to looking
like something inappropriate."
After Plouffe learned that the group paying for the speech - held at a
relatively small private university that boasted of presenting him "a
memory gift" - had close ties to the Azerbaijani government, he
decided to donate the fee to the U.S.-based nonprofit National
Democratic Institute.
Plouffe hasn't commented on either appearance. But a source close to
him said the unwelcome attention, which stems from his forays onto the
lucrative speaking circuit, has caught Plouffe off guard, since "he
considers himself a private citizen who gives speeches about a
campaign that ended at 11 o'clock on Nov. 4th."
But the attention paid to Plouffe stems not only from his past
closeness to Obama but from his continuing involvement in Obama's
outside political operation. And both his stock speech and forthcoming
book (for which he landed a seven-figure advance) deal with his
stewardship of Obama's campaign.
The White House has stressed that Plouffe is neither working in the
administration nor representing Obama in his speaking engagements. But
as a bona fide Obama insider, his actions and words have been parsed
for insight into the mostly leak-free Obama inner sanctum, and
scrutinized for consistency with Obama's.
The interest in Plouffe was apparent Thursday, when he was slated to
appear at the Georgetown symposium, being held at the National Press
Club. Plouffe asked that his remarks be kept off the record, and
reporters, including the Washington Post's Dana Milbank, protested.
Politico editor-in-chief John Harris withdrew Politico's sponsorship
of the Plouffe discussion and backed out from moderating that event,
which proceeded off-the-record.
A source close to Plouffe, who did not want to be identified speaking
for Plouffe, contended the arrangement was at the behest of Georgetown
University, the host of the event, and produced language from the
contract stating the talk was to "be closed to the media."
Georgetown spokesman Andy Pino said, however, "We did not request that
this be off the record. In fact, we would rather have it be on the
record."
Plouffe's speech in Azerbaijan - and the Armenian reaction - also drew
scrutiny.
Armenia and Azerbaijan have been locked in a tense territorial dispute
since a 1994 cease-fire ended a six-year war that killed upwards of
25,000 people. The sparring neighbors are both strategically important
U.S. allies. And both are waiting to see how the Obama administration
will approach the territorial dispute, and manage its foreign policy
in the broader South Caucasus, a volatile region important for its oil
and proximity to Iran and Russia.
"Having a high-profile former campaign aide heading to an
authoritarian government doesn't seem like what the Obama
administration would want to be promoting right now," said Bryan
Ardouny, executive director of the Armenian Assembly of America, a
D.C.-based advocacy group that lobbies on Armenian issues.
The Armenians are only upset because Plouffe's visit runs counter to
their own "negative propaganda" about Azerbaijan, asserted Adil
Baguirov, managing director of the U.S. Azeris Network, a Washington
non-profit advocating Azerbaijani positions.
Armenian voters in the United States have traditionally taken a
bi-partisan approach to political involvement. But in last year's
presidential election, most Armenian-American groups threw their lot
behind Obama, who had long signaled support for Armenia's position in
the territorial dispute, as well its effort to gain U.S. recognition
of the 1915 extermination of up to 1.5 million Armenians at the hands
of the Ottoman government as a genocide.
Obama's Republican presidential rival John McCain, on the other hand,
had opposed the genocide resolution out of concern over offending
Turkey, and was endorsed by the U.S. Azeris Network.
Though Armenian-American leaders assert that Plouffe's mysterious trip
did not dampen their hopes for legislative and diplomatic victories
under Obama, they admit it prompted a flurry of nervous phone calls
with activists and congressional allies.
These leaders question Plouffe's judgment, but they reserved most of
their scorn for Azerbaijan, which they charged was trying to skirt
lobbying laws by buttering up Plouffe to gain a toehold in the White
House.
"It seems to me a pretty sad effort on the part of Azerbaijan to try
to curry favor and by using clever D.C. back-channel tactics to
accomplish what they couldn't accomplish during the election," said
Aram Hamparian, executive director of the Armenian National Committee
of America, which endorsed Obama.
Baguirov, the Azeris Network official, acknowledged the
Azerbaijani-American lobby has concerns about Obama's stance on the
territorial dispute and other issues. But he said his group has - and
will continue to - appeal directly to the Obama administration through
traditional channels "expressing the readiness to be consulted on any
subject relevant to the community and the region of Caucasus."
As for potential dealings between Plouffe and the Azeri government,
Baguirov said "with all due respect, (he) doesn't seem to be an
appropriate choice to negotiate anything with the government."