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Obama's Inner Circle

November 9, 2008 4:00 PM

Steve Kroft goes behind the scenes on election night to speak to the brains whose strategy propelled Barack Obama into the White House.

Obama's Inner Circle Shares Inside Story
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by milzi43 November 13, 2008 2:57 AM EST
I worked on the campaign in Nevada and in Ohio. I have never seen a group of people so committed and hard working. I have never experienced such an organized, well trained group of people. People of all ages gave up their lives for the campaign with no pay. These folks went to new locations and stayed with strangers who took them in. At campaign headquarters and staging locations people who could not do the work themselves brought in food, supplies and good wishes. We did not go hungry. These volunteers worked tirelessly, sometimes 20 hours a day from the start of the campaign until the last day. In Ohio I was told that there were over 600 locations staffed with thousands of volunteers from all over the country.

The message of "Hope" is a much better message than the message of fear, hate and negativity that is the GOP and their mean spirited followers.

Obama will be a great President. He has quite a job to do cleaning up the mess of the bush regime with all of it''s corruption, greed and blame on everyone but themselves. There is a God after all.
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by sstg_goose November 13, 2008 1:35 AM EST
I don''t care that Obama won, being a Republican myself, but I still think that whoever should ever take the Oval Office should have the whole nation''s support, regardless of the margin of victory. The most important question is can this man do a good job? It no longer matters what his prior promises were, or where he went to church, or how he grew up, but if he can navigate our country through a time of crisis. And if he can, he will be one of the most celebrated presidents in the history of this nation.
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by sstg_goose November 13, 2008 1:15 AM EST
I don''t care that Obama won, being a Republican myself, but I still think that whoever should ever take the Oval Office should have the whole nation''s support, regardless of the margin of victory. The most important question is can this man do a good job? It no longer matters what his prior promises were, or where he went to church, or how he grew up, but if he can navigate our country through a time of crisis. And if he can, he will be one of the most celebrated presidents in the history of this nation.
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by sstg_goose November 13, 2008 12:52 AM EST
I don''t care that Obama won, being a Republican myself, but I still think that whoever should ever take the Oval Office should have the whole nation''s support, regardless of the margin of victory. The most important question is can this man do a good job? It no longer matters what his prior promises were, or where he went to church, or how he grew up, but if he can navigate our country through a time of crisis. And if he can, he will be one of the most celebrated presidents in the history of this nation.
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by sstg_goose November 13, 2008 12:41 AM EST
I don''t care that Obama won, being a Republican myself, but I still think that whoever should ever take the Oval Office should have the whole nation''s support, regardless of the margin of victory. The most important question is can this man do a good job? It no longer matters what his prior promises were, or where he went to church, or how he grew up, but if he can navigate our country through a time of crisis. And if he can, he will be one of the most celebrated presidents in the history of this nation.
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by cbs_bull November 12, 2008 6:49 AM EST
SiliconDoc, why do you worry so much about your new president''s childhood past, middle name, etc? I think we should focus on his ability to do a good job for the next 4 years. Oh, I see, that''s why we stuck with Bush/Chenney for 8 years...
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by SiliconDoc1 November 11, 2008 3:56 PM EST
I enjoyed the four campaign workers as people, and was surprised at Axelrod''s appearance, whom I''ve heard about. Beyond that I found the piece to be imaginary propaganda. Hitting on every percieved criticism with the opposite denial and effusive praise doesn''t make me a believer at all. I''ve checked the vote, including the primary, and found racism and race to be one key factor even against Hillary, and the youth vote duped up by the imaginary and empty "change" rhetoric to be the other. When in the interview the worker said Obama knew specifically what he wanted to say, I gagged, recalling the Grey Lady piece on the very young speechwriters, all three of them, not to mention the absolutely empty cleche''s of the campaign, a repeat of Kerry''s methods. Lies are the core of these interviews nowadays, pretty, dressed up lies. It is very sad to know this. This candidate won on whipped up hatred of the current President, along with a gigantic race card, there is absolutely no denying it. The press also hid his childhood past, his middle name, his destitute family members, and his associations.
It is sad to see a con job from start to finish, especially with what appears to be nice, and nicely dressed people in the midst and movement of all this dishonesty.
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by susaninga November 10, 2008 9:29 PM EST
As if I needed more evidence to be impressed!

In a word: Character.

The speech Obama gave on race where he explained that while he could not condone his statements he simultaneoudly could not reject his pastor resonated as truth for me. We''ve all encountered older people who are stuck in the past and every once in a while, when something monumental happens, for example O.J.''s acquittal for whites and Rodney King for blacks, their opinions, while seeming archaic today, are realized to be what they are: a result of their past experiences and the time they are from. Although it is rare (at least for me) to ever hear racism and hatred from other white people, there of course have been instances where I''ve heard them, particularly from older people at certain times of anger.

So....what he said about his pastor made sense to me. I just wish more politicians would just be as honest as President-elect Obama and speak from the heart. Most people know the truth and understand it when they hear it. And that helped him win.

Signed,
The politically Independent, middle-aged, white woman that McCain wanted and could not get ;)
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by sbl211 November 10, 2008 8:17 PM EST
I began supporting Obama in the very early stages of his exploration of his potential canidacy. My friends were, for the mostt part, for Hillary Clinton. This excitement was capped off by me attending a rally in St. Louis under the arch where 100,000 people were present. I can safely say I have not had this level of hope and excitement since the 1960''s. In fact, I find myself feeling a sense of activism in terms of the opportunity for change in terms of social justice and enviromental opportunities. The "abortion" of our people (I call the war,poverty,healthcare.etc neglect) an outrageous abortion of the peoeple ,where loss of lives due to poor policy and low priority attitudes have casued inumerable loss of lives. Surely the abortion of our peopele is about to change.

Respectfully Submitted,
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by woaf32x November 10, 2008 5:07 PM EST
When Ed Bradley passed, it was Steve Croft who seemed to me to be the most devestated. I watched the discussion with Team Obama just now and I kept seeing Croft''s tribute to his colleague... and Bradley giving Croft and "attaboy" with this "get." Well done, Mr. Croft... Ed is doubly proud, today.
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