Living

<< Previous   of   Next >> Associated Press/HBO  (click to enlarge) A scene from the documentary film “By the People: The Election of Barack Obama,” premiering at 9 tonight on HBO.   ADVERTISEMENT   CONTACT THE HERALD Melanie Munk, Features Editor munk@heraldnet.com   Published: Tuesday, November 3, 2009 Behind the scenes with Obama By David Bauder Associated Press NEW YORK — Pivotal presidential campaigns are frequently defined in retrospect by documentaries. “The War Room” chronicled Bill Clinton’s political operation in 1992, adding a phrase to the political lexicon in the process. The makers of “By the People: The Election of Barack Obama,” which premieres at 9 tonight — Election Night — on HBO, wouldn’t mind the same status. “That was our hope — that we would create something for history,” said filmmaker Alicia Sams, who made the documentary with colleague Amy Rice and a key assist from actor Edward Norton. Rice was inspired by Obama’s speech to the Democratic National Convention in 2004 and wanted to do a film about him as an up-and-coming political leader. Her friend Sams signed on, but they couldn’t get their phone calls to Obama’s office returned until Norton called on their behalf. He’s still involved as a producer. They got lucky. They wound up with a far more important story than they had dreamed about. Even though they began filming nearly a year before Obama announced his candidacy in February 2007, being on the ground early didn’t guarantee them anything. They were nearly shut down when the campaign began. Obama aides like David Axelrod didn’t want Rice and Sams around. He worried about leaks and whether the presence of cameras would cause people to act like they were in a reality show — concerns that proved amusing in retrospect. Access was a constant concern. Iowa became their centerpiece. They stuck close to Obama through his early campaigning there, catching moments like a 9-year-old boy making phone calls to drum up support. After three hours of shaking hands, a weary Obama says, “It’s like I’ve been through a wrestling match.” Through the crowds and contact, the filmmakers sense Obama catching on as he moved toward an impressive victory in the Iowa caucuses. The film introduces audiences to the people around Obama, not just top aides like Axelrod and David Plouffe, but the enthusiastic Ronnie Cho, Obama’s Polk County organizer. Their discipline and meticulous planning were evident. It was the birthplace of a movement, and whether Obama eventually won or lost the presidency, Rice and Sams felt Iowa gave them a film. “It was part of the story nobody knew,” Rice said. “When he won Iowa, people started to pay attention.” Norton said the campaign’s emotional restraint impressed him. Obama is shown riding in an elevator after having just clinched the Democratic nomination and a film crew member remarks, “You must be feeling pretty good.” The basketball-loving candidate just says, “You don’t cut down the nets for the conference championship.” “He just seemed so unflappable and what you wondered was, ‘I wonder if behind the doors it’s like the war room, you know, everybody’s cussing at each other and they’re furious,” Norton said. “When you got around behind the private spaces with them, it was the same.” Obama saw a rough cut of the film and sent back word that he cried upon seeing the emotional reactions of his staff members to his election. Cried? Sams doesn’t quite believe that. That’s what makes extraordinary her footage of an Obama speech the night before the election, after he learned that the grandmother who helped raise him had died a day before seeing the ultimate dream come true. Rice was well-positioned to catch a tear trickling down Obama’s face that night, a view that news cameras penned farther back missed. On Election Night, Rice shadowed Axelrod and David Plouffe, the aides that once didn’t want her around until she wore them down. She catches the emotional scenes of a headquarters where an implausible dream had come true. She followed the men to an elevator and into Obama’s hotel suite as the campaign architects congratulated the new president-elect. “Don’t start crying,” Michelle Obama says while hugging Axelrod. While the film’s release triggers memories of a historic night, it may not be well-timed for Obama. It reaches TV screens less than a month after Obama’s selection for the Nobel Peace Prize, a prize that left many Americans and even the president puzzled about what he had achieved to earn it. Difficult decisions with the war in Afghanistan and health care loom. READER COMMENTS Be the first to comment. You must be a registered user and verify your e-mail address to post comments to blogs or articles on HeraldNet. To register, click here. To read other terms and conditions, click here. Log out

1. Arlington brothers’ fight led to death, police say 2. Detectives consider slaps to father lethal 3. Woman found dead at Bothell house fire 4. Two teens hurt in collision near Granite Falls 5. Lottery win helps Lake Stevens convenience store owner pay bonuses 6. Everett man shot in groin; two men, one woman are arrested 7. I-5 car chase was result of driver's medical condition 8. CBS cancels ‘As the World Turns’ 9. Jail inmates’ meal complaint omits a crucial fact 10. Locker dips toe in NFL pool 2 - Top 10 Stories Most Talked about 3 - Top 10 Stories Most Emailed

• Zambian woman thanks students for their help • Food banks see rise in use • ‘Making Spirits Bright’ in Edmonds • Wolfpack takes aim at state • Seahawks help students smile • 95 and still volunteering • Sno-King joined by local TV king • Veterans back for Wildcats • Lynnwood seeks to plug $2 million budget gap • Boeing will build, flight test and deliver 787s in South Carolina to spe ... • Snohomish County EDC promoting job growth in key industry clusters • $4 million grant to advance brain tumor research has Everett links • Providence medical center construction tops off its 12-story steel frame ... • Tulalip affordable housing project to be financed by KeyBank, Raymond Ja ... • Arlington's Lak of Ink has a growing following for Luke Kooyman's creati ... • Bank of the Northwest formed • Cascade Bank earns $1.6 million