COLUMBIA, S.C. – Air Force One was a wistful place Friday.
“You may be able to feel the nostalgia pulsing through Air Force One this morning,” Press Secretary Josh Earnest told reporters on the plane.
Why? The aircraft was cruising toward South Carolina, a state Obama hadn’t yet visited as president – but provided him a major boost in January 2008, when he won the state’s presidential primary. That was the last time he was in the state.
[After 7-year dry spell, South Carolina gets Obama back]
“If it was not for this great state, the Palmetto State, if it was not for all the people at the grassroots level, going door to door and talking to folks,” Obama said at a rally at Benedict College here. “If it hadn’t been for all of you I might not be president.”
There was another reason why Earnest was so reflective: it was the last trip aboard Air Force One for Dan Pfeiffer, one of Obama’s closest and most trusted advisers. Pfeiffer, one of the president’s longest-serving aides, joined the Obama campaign in 2007 and his last day is Friday.
Pfeiffer is “somebody who has inspired deep respect and loyalty among his colleagues at the White House, obviously the president shares that respect as well,” Earnest said.
Pfeiffer was also instrumental in pushing the White House’s social media strategy, becoming one of the first officials to blog and pushing the administration to use platforms including Instagram and Twitter. He unveiled his own non-White House account Thursday night, promising it was going to be "more unfiltered."
Katie Zezima covers the White House for Post Politics and The Fix.
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