Obama, the Movie: "One of the most media savvy bunch of campaigners in history."

By GottaLaff

(click on image to enlarge)

On November 3, HBO will air "By the People: The Election of Barack Obama":

The project, which had its debut screening in Los Angeles on Wednesday, is among the most anticipated of all documentaries from last year because of the access they obtained by directors Amy Rice and Alicia Sams and producer Edward Norton.

You see it in the backstage moments, before Obama takes the stage to massive crowd, or in the victory trek that David Axelrod and David Plouffe take from the Chicago headquarters to the candidate's election night hotel suite, where there is a brief glimpse inside.

This documentary isn't "The War Room," D.A. Pennebaker's 1993 documentary about the Clinton campaign that focused almost exclusively on George Stephanopoulos and James Carville. "By the People" is less expose and more historical record, capturing the campaign from start to finish and most often in a positive light. [...]

The project is the brainchild of Rice, who started shooting Obama on May 11, 2006, and stopped on June 28, 2009. She described a process of constantly pressing for access, with the threshold higher as Obama headed toward Election Day.

There are candid moments in "By the People": access to Michelle Obama at home with Malia and Sasha, interviews with Obama's sister and brother in law in Hawaii, an audio interview with his grandmother, Madelyn Dunham, who describes the child Obama as a "normal boy" who "wanted to be a big-time basketball player." But there is nothing that could possibly be embarrassing about it. Obama and, by and large his staffers, are largely calm, cool and collected in their private moments. [...]

In another instance during the general election, Axelrod grouses, "It is getting very ugly out there. What McCain and Palin did was really irresponsible. They are inciting people." [...] There is some angst over Reverend Wright, as Obama's speech on race is cast as a kind of gutsy move to salvage the campaign, but it's hardly the level of the drama that played on on cable news.

"These are people who have a kind of instinctive restraint," Norton said. "It is one of the things you see about Obama, both publicly and in his private moments. You see how carefully he controls his emotional reactions. Even with the trust we established with them, Axelrod in particular is too savvy a person not to know the presence of a camera affects the way people talk and behave."

"At every generation in politics, people are more savvy at what it means to expose yourself, and I think this is one of the most media savvy bunch of campaigners in history." [...]

Blake, who now works as deputy associate director for intergovernmental affairs at the White House, trekked to Los Angeles for the screening. He said the movie will "remind us of why we all worked so hard."

"Change takes time," he said, "and I think the campaign is a testament to that."

I'll be DVRing.

Obama campaign plane emergency could have led to disaster

Just an interesting follow up to an incident that most of us remember.

Reporting from Washington -- Airplane control problems last summer could have led to disaster for then-Sen. Barack Obama and his presidential campaign, according to a report released Friday by the National Transportation Safety Board.

On July 7, 2008, a McDonnell Douglas MD-81 en route to Charlotte, N.C., and carrying Obama and 50 other passengers and crew made an emergency landing in St. Louis. An evacuation slide within the tail cone had inflated shortly after takeoff from Chicago.

Although the NTSB's final report -- and determination of probable cause -- is not expected until later this summer, Friday’s report suggested that the inflated slide and a nearby fractured walkway railing may have "impinged" on a set of elevator cables, interfering with the cockpit's ability to control the plane's angle, or pitch.

Plouffe Scores Big Book Deal

Another damn book? Guess it's stimulating the publishing industry...

Obama campaign manager David Plouffe "has agreed to a seven-figure deal to write a book about last year's presidential election," the AP reports.

The title: The Audacity to Win: The Inside Story and Lessons of Barack Obama's Historic Victory.

According to a statement issued by Viking, the book will offer a unique, high-level account, including "the deliberations about whether to run against long odds, the epic primary battle with Hillary Clinton, the drama of the general election campaign against John McCain and the strategic roads taken -- and not taken... The book will also detail the business lessons to be learned from the formation and the functioning of an unprecedented $1 billion start-up -- use of technology, crisis management, grass roots, and personnel management."

Howard Dean To Step Down At DNC

Job well done, Dr Dean. I like the idea of Claire McCaskill to take his place, she really was quite good as a surrogate for the Obama campaign.

After four years at the helm of the Democratic National Committee, Howard Dean is preparing to relinquish his chairmanship.

Dean, who has been serving in the post since 2005, has said in the past that he would serve only one term, though his successful work with the Obama campaign had led some Democrats to wonder whether he would stay on into the next administration. This won't be the case, officials at the DNC confirm. He will serve as chair until his term ends in January. The party will settle on a new head when it hosts a meeting during the week of Obama's inauguration.

Obama Recruits Team To Fight Web Smears

by Cliff Schecter

They are leaving no stone unturned it would seem. Sadly, this is some of the blowback of our brave new world. But it is smart for the Obama team to not take this stuff sitting down:

Barack Obama is recruiting senior staff to a new unit which will combat virulent rumour campaigns on the internet that threaten to cost him votes in the presidential election against John McCain.

The unit is part of a huge expansion of Obama's campaign team as he shifts from the Democratic nomination race to the campaign for November's election.

These kinds of rumors helped play a role both in the demise of John McCain's Campaign in 2000 and John Kerry's campaign in 2004--so this is a very wise strategic decision, in my ever so humble opinion.