The first article in this series described how some of the most astute political observers were “blindsided by Hope” and Barack Obama’s historic victory, convinced America would continue to be ruled by Freak Show politics.Eleven organizational principles guided Obama’s campaign for the nomination, which relied heavily on grass roots and community organizing tactics.The successful “early states” strategy provided enough momentum to carry Obama over the finish line, a race he won by the only measure that counted: delegates.
This article offers a candid assessment of the campaign’s challenges as Obama goes from being a candidate to the nominee.Obama will adapt his management approach to the general election campaign, internalizing electoral strategy as an important part of the corporate culture.The internal challenge is melding a grass roots movement with the Democratic Party establishment and limiting expenditures on paid political ads and services.The external challenge is to avoid inevitable distractions and stay on message. Obama can reassure voters it is "safe" to vote for him by convincing them he can best promote their enlightened self-interest and through his selection of a running mate and naming a shadow cabinet. The result could be an historic and major pendulum swing in American politics.
Part II continues below the fold.
No sign of Obama hinted some sensed in 2004 that Obama would make history. But few expected it would be so soon.
Many Americans, and not just those close to Hillary Clinton, are surprised that Barack Obama has emerged as the “presumptive” Democratic Party nominee for President in the 2008 election.But those of us who have been paying close attention to the candidate and his campaign know it is no fluke.This article explains how Obama planned and won the nomination. In subsequent articles I will try to anticipate the contest with John McCain and what the start of an Obama Administration could look like.
Largely lost in the Sturm und Drang of this historic campaign is the fact that Obama has consistently pursued a clear-cut strategy.It is a strategy unanticipated by Halperin and Harris in their 2006 epic fable of the looming contest between the politics of Clinton vs. Rove, The Way to Win: Taking the White House in 2008.And their -- for that matter, the entire mainstream media’s -- failure to anticipate Obama’s so-far successful candidacy is not just a reminder of the shortcomings of conventional wisdom and inside-the-Beltway punditry.It also a warning that we may be in a historic shift which, after the last vote is counted, will indicate that the American electorate is fed up with the heretofore successful Freak Show formula Halperin and Harris describe and thatdominated Washington politics over the past two decades.
