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

12. Close the Deal

209| 12. Close the Deal November 4, 2008: “[To] the best campaign team ever assembled in the history of politics—you made this happen, and I am forever grateful for what you’ve sacrificed to get it done.”—Barack Obama, from his election night speech at Grant Park in Chicago The End of the Road The night before the election I got home at midnight. Three hours later I was up again and shuffling around my apartment. By 4 a.m., I was back out the door. Before I left, I fumbled around in the kitchen for a pen and a piece of paper. Having found both, I scribbled some words for my wife and left the note on the counter for her to see when she woke up. I wrote: Dear Sine, Thank you for taking a chance on me once again. Our new life begins after today. Love, Henry (The former COO at Obama for America) Sine had left my Boiler Room credential hanging neatly on the front door of the apartment. I appreciated her for that, as I would have surely forgotten it otherwise. The Boiler Room was where the action would be at HQ on this particular day. Only a very small number of staff had been issued the laminated badge that would grant them access to the secured and guarded private space on the nineteenth floor. Over the past few weeks, the Boiler Room had been prepared to serve as our national command center for this day. It was Election Day morning, and my walk to work through the dark streets and over the bridge across the Chicago River was eerily quiet. I felt confident about our chances, but I also noticed the butterflies in my stomach. I could see the steam of my breath in the cold November 210 | chapter twelve air. I noticed that my breathing was heavy, just as it had been the very first time I walked toward that downtown high-rise after getting out of a cab on busy Michigan Avenue. This was going to be a long day, but at least I wouldn’t have to take the time to go vote. I took care of that duty several days earlier, when I managed to tear myself away from the chaos of headquarters to stand in a two-hour line at an early voting site across town. I passed the time in line answering a flurry of emails and busily fielding calls on my BlackBerry. During my walk to the office, my mind was on the events of the previous two days. Our Nevada state director, Terence Tolbert, had died from a sudden heart attack. He was only forty-four years old. I didn’t know him personally, but I was well aware of the great work he was doing. He left behind a young family, which was heartbreaking to contemplate. Then on Monday night, I learned that one of our very dedicated volunteers in Florida was accidentally struck down by a car at an intersection while participating in a campaigning activity. The details were still sketchy in HQ, but I was told that he was seventy-five years old, married, and a very enthusiastic supporter. And of course, there was the sad news that, on Sunday, Senator Obama’s beloved grandmother passed away. These events were a reminder, once again, that behind the slogans and rallies and the bustle of everyday campaign activities, this was all very human stuff. As the polls opened across the country this morning, there were families associated with our campaign that were grieving those they had lost. Later, when the will of the voters was finally revealed, the staff and volunteers of the losing campaign would confront a different type of grief. I have known that particular feeling. It’s surprisingly wrenching. Even the winners experience a form of anguish after it sinks in that the purpose and community, which was such a prominent part of the campaign life they had come to know, will suddenly vanish. The intense personal emotions that accompanied the work—sometimes threatening to distract from it—were what I dealt with every day. Campaign management , in the end, is about people. In the rancorous back and forth of politics, that somehow often gets lost. 211 close the deal | Winding Down The eleventh floor was lifeless when I arrived at the office. I strolled around headquarters that...