Inside Obama's War Room
(CBS)
We wanted to give viewers a look at a day in the life of each political campaign, to show you just how the sausage gets made. Don’t tell Otto von Bismarck.
Our first stop: Chicago, straight to the Obama headquarters where the action never stops.
David Axelrod, Senator Obama’s chief strategist, told us his average day is “a cascade of phone calls, emails, conference calls, and meetings.” From time to time we might all feel that way, and trust me – I get a lot of emails. He gets a deluge.
The office almost crackles with energy. We thought of David Bowie’s song “Pressure,” that rhythmic crescendo of tension and excitement. But the office is just half of it!
There’s also the “road show,” as Axelrod described it, the traveling press corps and team of staffers that often includes the candidate himself. That effort is coordinated by the Director of Scheduling and Advance, a woman named Alyssa Mastromonaco.
From the speechwriters to the finance department, we got lots of access and candor.
In our interview, I asked Axelrod about his relationship with the Clintons. He worked on Hillary Clinton’s 2000 Senate race, and I suspected the situation he’s in now must be a bit awkward.
“That’s why I hate primary elections, because they are sort of family fights," he said. “You end up having to work against people you care about.”
And that work may continue all the way to the Democratic convention in August. Unless the Democratic "family" finds a way to come together before then.
please go back on your meds.
The Early Bird Song of Pennsylvania
They been workin'' hard for Barack Obama,
all the live long day,
They been workin'' hard for Barack Obama,
But they can''t believe how the Pennsylvania Primary slipped away.
Didn''t they hear that Hillary Clinton was a comin''?
And that she likes to rise up early in the morn''?
Could it be true, like it sez, in that old sayin''
That the early bird gets the worm?
Rise and Shine Everybody,
Especially Barack and Hillary and their Campaign Staffers!
Peter
We''re looking for the person best able to stay cool and tough while negotiating with other world leaders. Bush has a strong characteristic that has been particularly dangerous to America. He believes that he knows what is good for us and he will use any trick or lie to get what he "knows" is good for us, regardless of what we think. That''s how we end up with guys like Cheney who say, "So?" in response to America doesn''t want Iraq. Hillary Clinton is another one of those leaders. She dances and spins and twists and tells us whatever she thinks will work, but she will always do exactly what she decides she wants to do without regard for what the people want. I don''t want another benevolent dictator. Do you?
p.s. Has anybody else noticed that she changes her accent in every single state? Who in the world is the real Hillary Clinton? How can we know? Does she even know any more?
Katie writes: ''The office almost crackles with energy.''
Why is it almost? Were there no signs of the office crackling completely? Or did it crackle like a crackpot? Did every wall in the office crackle just almost? The tables in the office crackled too? If the office did not crackle completely did Couric cackle?