Who is the Puppet Master?

After reading my post below about Obama's "cunning", Patrick of Right and Reason (you should go there now, his post on oil exploration is a must-read) expressed to me the commonly held belief that Obama is nothing more then a charismatic empty suit and pondered who was holding the strings. Wonder no more! If Obama is not in control of his own destiny, one of these men is

David Plouffe- The churlish Obama campaign manager, David Plouffe is a top candidate for the puppet master to Obama's Grover on Sesame Street. He's smart and sneaky, and has the top position in the campaign (at least from an outsider perspective). He was a Deputy CoS to former Democratic Minority Leader Gephardt, and helped run his wildly unsuccessful 2004 campaign for president

The Far Left Netroots- A good suspect back in the day, but Comrade Markos and his ilk have learned that no promise from B-Rock is worth the paper it's printed on. The Far left has standards (AKA a manifesto that if you deviate from you're EEEEEVIL), and Obama can't let a little thing like his principals get in the way of winning now can he?

Tom Daschle- Former Senate Majority Leader, T-Dash has been out of the loop for a while but he was the man who convinced Obama to run for Preisdent in the first place (breaking his pledge not to run) and has provided the intellectual heft along with the establishment connections Obama needed to get the campaign off the ground. As a Co-Chair of Obama's campaign he wields no real power, but has the subtle influence to move Obama in any direction he wants.

Austan Goolsbee- Ok, theres no reason to think Obama's Econ Guru is pulling his Muppet-like strings. Sure he's got some behind the scenes heft (remember the infamous Canada/NAFTA meeting?). I just have him on the list because of how much fun it is to say is name. Say it with me now- AUUUUUUSTANN GOOOOOOOOOLSBEEEEEEEEE!!!!

David Axelrod- Look no further for the mastermind behind Barry O's current life. He was a consultant for the show "The West Wing" and created the character Matthew Santos based on Barry (Who ironically ran against a character based on McCain). He's the media master, and crafts the Obama message to somehow turn the heads of young, old, black, white, middle aged and everyone else you can think of. He ran the Obamessiah's 04 senate campaign and has been the dark man with the mustache in the background ever since. If Obama is a manufactured man, Axelrod is the person who owns his patent (he even has a second model of Obama out there in Deval Patrick, governor of Mass, a man who's campagin was run by Plouffe and Axelrod).