by Christi Parsons and John McCormick
Joe Rospars, a young Internet-savvy operative, sat on an unpacked box in his new apartment on the morning of Feb. 10, 2007, excitedly watching two screens.
On television, his new boss, Sen. Barack Obama, was announcing that he wanted to be the next president of the United States. On Rospars' laptop, a dashboard of statistics was constantly updating, measuring visitors to the Web site he'd just helped launch. Click after click, a trickle became a flood.
Not only would thousands visit that day, but within 24 hours a staggering 1,000 of them would register the formation of an Obama group in their town.
"You see `Idaho for Obama' pop up and you start thinking, `We might be on to something,' " Rospars recalled. "You could just see it in the first few hours that something was happening."
That moment marked an important convergence, a politician with transformational potential meeting a technology with its own unprecedented possibilities. The Obama campaign would cross many such markers in the months to come: record fundraising of nearly $200 million, colossal crowds of up to 75,000, 1.5 million donors, 4.45 million views of its most viral video.
Since that first day, though, architects of the Obama campaign have avoided comparing their milestones to what came before. "We threw out the precedents," Rospars said.
These days, having won a majority of the Democratic Party's elected convention delegates, the Obama team is turning to Part 2 of its quest for the White House. Behind the scenes, the vetting process for potential vice presidential candidates has begun, while staff members make room for a continued stream of new hires. Already, the Michigan Avenue headquarters is getting crowded. Obama's strategic focus is clearly on the fall general election as the story moves beyond a historic primary season.
The rest of the story from the Tribune's weekend editions is linked here.
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Comments
The network?
Whaaaatttt???
It's the MEDIA MANAGEMENT---the worse he treats the 'little reporters' the better corporate media works FOR HIM!
Must be the first campaign for a lot of folks here--so let's review things and offer some reality.
Barry Obama has run a poor campaign and has very little real experience to let us know what he’ll DO when elected.
The CAMPAIGN HILLARY ran was above board.
Not so the O's-.
When you have to start out by bashing Hillary and TRIGGERING ALL THE misogyny AND CLASSISM that this campaign's seen:
1. (Michelle's House/White House comment about Bill's zipper (what's been goin' on with Obama's Zipper, by the way?)
2. Calling Hillary, Geraldine Ferraro and then BILL CLINTON racist for stating FACTS:
(a. LBJ DID sign the civil rights bill;
b. Obama AND FERRARO are and were where they are because of
identity politics (more on this later*)
c. Jesse Jackson's campaign DID have a similar feel to the
neophyte Obama's campaign
3. LOSING a debate to Hillary when the news media FINALLY confronts him on questions he dodged before by
a. ducking into a speeding SUV and avoiding Carol Marin's
questions about the REZKO MANSION
b. "Hey guys I just answered 8 questions!" when the Chicago
media met him in Texas and questioned him about Rezko.
AND WHY WERE THESE QUESTIONS NOT ASKED BEFORE HE ATTAINED
HIS SENATE SEAT?
AND THEN FLIPPING OFF Hillary (and then GE's MSNBC re-edited it (potting down audio alluding to Hillary and reverting video order) to make it look like he didn't--was this because of the 29 new nukes the DICK Cheney 2005 energy bill contains for GE?)
4. MICHELLE WITH TRUST FUND PRINCESS CAROLINE (TFPC) AND THEN DADDY OBAMA WITH LITTLE GIRL MICHELLE
a. Michelle refused to answer questions about HER relationship with Rev. Wright, finally after Susan Malveaux changed the subject, the snickered after TFPC BASHED THIS WORKING WOMAN. AND THEN
b. Michelle (still in tight pink top spilling cleavage) did the same thing to Meredith Viera! MEREDITH used to WORK for 60 minutes. Michelle was RUDE to her--so Barry intervened, got her to talk in cooing tones curled up like the letter C on barry's shoulder about how she protected her man. YUCK!
Now kat1park---SELLING OUT is the ONLY experience he's got cuz he supported
1. 2005 cheney energy bill already discussed but
2. ADM's FARM BILL
3. Bio fuels--net LOSS of energy similar to nukes--also causes food shortages (SO HE'S NOT SUCH A WIZ ON INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS, AFTERALL , RIGHT?)
4. 'clean' coal--dug out without unions of any strength
and he does NOT support
1. handgun control0-voted' present' in state legislasture---how's that working out right now south side
2. public housing--that 140 million dolalrs worth or decrepit housing on the south side courtesy of his friend REZKO is a WAAAAAAYYYYYYY bigger deal than any of the
CRAP the Republicans TRIED flinging at the Clintons.
The Clintons rose to the oligarchy without getting in trouble.
WE DON'T YET KNOW IF THE OBAMAS HAVE RISEN TO THE OLIGARCHY WITHOUT TEARING DOWN THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY'S CHANCES.
What I dislike is how DIRTY they're willing to fight to beat out the person who SHOULD NOW BE THE TOP OF THE TICKET.
And the Obamas do NOT know how to handle the news media. They don't know how to answer questions under fire. The 'sweetie' comment was so galling not because of the sexism, but because of the arrogance to the news media.
Posted by: The OBAMAS had the KITCHEN SINK POLICY--DON"T INVERT STUFF OBAMA HQ! (Let MSNBC do it for you) | May 24, 2008 11:03 AM
No other campaign has been able to fuse online and offline efforts together like Barack Obama's team.
Posted by: Paul, Obama Blog | May 24, 2008 11:13 AM
"Obama formula: It's the network"
Too true.
The Network CBS.
The Network NBC.
The Network ABC.
Posted by: Bruce | May 24, 2008 4:58 PM
Substantive (and prolific) legislative experience; Excellence in Constitutional Law; A skilled community organizer; a campaign that came from modest origins to overcome the biggest political machine, campaign warchest, and political network to become a trued contender.
The best is; this is not about race or gender; It is about transparency, and people getting the lobbyists off the campaign bus and out of our courts , oversight positions, and restoring the Constitution and the checks and balances that keep our nation healthy and functioning.
It is a pleasure to participate with so many others in Senator Obama's campaign, and there is a lot of good fellowship among campaign members.
Go Obama!
Posted by: Jennie | May 24, 2008 11:56 PM
Obama is the latest flavor of "CHANGE"
The anti-war crowd made him there champion, and has used them to victory. But if you look behind the "CURTAIN" you will find the "ELITE" who see him as their return to power.
They were never really happy with Hillary Soprano she was to "POLITICAL" they wanted a "FRESH FACE" so "OBAMA" was IT.
You see in it is all about power, and the "ELITES" want it back.
VJ Machiavelli
Posted by: VJ Machiavelli | May 25, 2008 2:04 AM