Campaign Inc.: How Leadership and Organization Propelled Barack Obama to the White House

5. Yes We Can!

83| 5. Yes We Can! February 7, 2008: It was a roller coaster after Iowa. Everything after that contest was abruptly different from what we’d known that first year leading up to it—the pace, the sudden loss of control, the uncertainty of what lay ahead. It was a total shock to the system . . . and easily the most exhilarating thrill of my career. Chasing the Crown Barack Obama’s unlikely victory in a rural white state over his powerhouse rival set the political world on its head. It afforded his candidacy a fresh burst of credibility, even as America was suddenly scrambling to learn more about the Democratic Party’s new prince. At headquarters , there was renewed urgency in everyone’s step and, frankly, a little extra air beneath our feet. Just days away from the nation’s first primary in New Hampshire, we had a clear sense that we were on the verge of something really big. A win could very well be enough to tip Hillary from her throne and topple the House of Clinton. Senator Obama rolled into the Granite State with all of the energy and fanfare that Plouffe had long envisioned. The greeting awaiting us was dramatic. The reports coming from the ground describing the admiring crowds, eager volunteers, and enthusiastic press, all combined to feed our optimism in Chicago. Then, on the Saturday prior to Election Day Tuesday, a new WMUR-TV/CNN state poll showed that our two campaigns were tied at 33 percent, with Edwards trailing a distant thirteen points behind. This was truly remarkable given that the former first lady was long thought to have an unshakable grip here. The thirty-point advantage she brought into New Hampshire in the earliest days of the competition seemed alarmingly durable even as recently as September, when a CNN poll had her lead still holding strong by a twenty-three-point margin. Additionally, the Clintons had earned a fabled place in New Hampshire 84 | chapter five political lore back in 1992. That’s when breakout candidate Bill Clinton proclaimed himself the “Comeback Kid” after surging to a dramatic second place finish following his own Iowa drubbing. With Hillary’s fortunes suddenly in doubt, pulling out a win here would similarly reverse the momentum in her direction and throw the race back open. An upset victory for us, however, might just mean an early end to Hillary’s hopes. The Bully Pulpit Excitement was building at HQ as the two sides prepared for the nationally televised debate on Saturday night. Our confidence going in was brimming, to be sure. One of my colleagues crowed that so long as our guy didn’t show up drunk and endorse Republican hopeful Rudy Giuliani, the charismatic former New York City mayor, then we’d come out of it all just fine. It was the most assured we were or would be during the whole of the 2008 election cycle. The debate had an 8:45 p.m. (EST) start in New Hampshire on Saturday night, which gave me plenty of time to get home to watch it live. The candidates took their chairs in front of the moderator, ABC News anchor Charles Gibson. Seated behind their desks from left to right were Senator John Edwards, Senator Obama, Governor Bill Richardson, and Senator Clinton. Noticeably absent were Senators Dodd and Biden, both having dropped out of the race after poor showings in Iowa. While our candidate did indeed register a strong performance, something seemed off at the end of the night. The debate had two memorable moments, and neither of them was favorable to us. The first occurred when Senator Edwards unexpectedly stood up to Mrs. Clinton . . . on Barack’s behalf. She leveled a charge from Barack’s left that he had evolving positions on a range of issues, even as he’d been attacking Senator Edwards on the campaign trail for his flip-flops. This accusation directed at Barack was quickly rejected by Edwards, sitting directly to the right of our candidate. The visual of the two men sitting alongside each other and taking turns to rebut Hillary struck an odd note. This caught the attention of co-moderator Scott Spradling, who described it as “a little bit of a double-team that’s probably going to have a lot of people talking tomorrow morning.” 85 yes we can! | The second setback came after that...