You'll remember him as campaign manager for that also audacious Illinois guy who creamed the Palin-McCain Republican ticket last year, talking about change to believe in and transparency. Tempting little out-of-context pieces of the Plouffe book, 'The Audacity to Win,' are beginning to leak out (well, actually, in the book business, they're pumped out by promoters). Plouffe says he and David Axelrod, now a White House adviser for President Barack Obama, were surprised at how seriously their boss considered Hillary Rodham Clinton as his vice presidential running mate over the Senate guy from Delaware he eventually chose just before the Democratic National Convention in late August. Plouffe reportedly says Obama insisted her name be on the initial list after the Democratic primaries were settled in early June and kept it there into early August. But, Plouffe writes, Obama then said to him, 'I think Bill may be too big a complication. If I picked her, my concern is that there would be more than two of us in the relationship.' Our concern is that this sounds rather stilted for real campaign chatter. But such a thought was also a prominent theme in media speculation at the time: Could the two recent competitors operate together with the ex-prez in the background? Judging by the energy and verve the former first lady shows in the State Department job she eventually got, talking politely and firmly to folks on behalf of the United States and Obama, things worked out pretty well this way. Eleven years after two notorious hate crimes -- one against a black man in Texas, the other against a gay man in Wyoming -- Obama signed legislation that included expanded federal protections. The measure was actually part of a defense appropriations bill, but it was the hate crimes part that prompted a celebratory reception in the East Room of the White House. 'After more than a decade of opposition and delay,' Obama said, 'we've passed inclusive hate crimes legislation to help protect our citizens from violence based on what they look like, who they love, how they pray or who they are.' The opposition to the measure came from those who said new federal coverage was unnecessary, that sufficient protections at both state and federal levels already exist. They pointed out that the perpetrators in the two fatal 1998 crimes were convicted under current state laws. The man's got a following, that's for sure. Tuesday it was announced that Texas Republican Ron Paul, who wowed the Libertarian crowd during the 2008 election with his call for limited government, is set to deliver an address at the University of South Carolina on Nov. 9 about the 'future of individual liberty and the importance of the U.S. Constitution.' As if that were not enough, the following week he's scheduled to speak in Iowa, that pivotal early caucus state, with stops in Ames and Des Moines. Speculation is rife that South Carolina, which holds one of the early primaries in the presidential calendar, could be the launching pad for a new Paul bid. As CNN's Political Ticker put it, 'Will Ron Paul give it another go in 2012?' If so, the 74-year-old congressman and doctor isn't saying. Lately he's been busy waging war on the federal government's response to the H1N1 virus, decrying the vaccination program as an attempt to corral more power. Top of the Ticket, the Los Angeles Times blog on national politics (www.latimes.com/ticket), is a blend of commentary, analysis and news. 