David Plouffe joins Uber as ‘campaign manager’

David Plouffe, the former campaign manager and White House adviser to President Barack Obama, is taking his political secret sauce to Uber in late September as senior vice president of policy and strategy.

Uber CEO Travis Kalanick said Uber “is trying to win hearts and minds,” adding: “There’s an incumbent … the big-taxi cartel … and we’re the challenger.” Plouffe, 47, will be one of the top few executives at the booming transportation disruptor, in charge of global branding, communications and policy -- as Kalanick put it, Uber’s “campaign manager.”