I know I briefly mentioned this the other day, but I just watched the HBO documentary By The People: The Election of Barack Obama and had to share a little more. The films follows Barack Obama on the campaign trail, with the cameras rolling on the Senator for nearly two years from when he first announced his candidacy to his meteoric rise to the White House.
For those who followed Obama's historic journey to the Oval Office, it's a really interesting behind-the-scenes look at the players and issues that defined and shaped his campaign. Not just the high-profile personalities like chief campaign manager David Plouffe or strategist David Axelrod, but also the passionate young campaigners on the ground.
Like Polk County, Iowa organizer Ronnie Cho, who really represents the heart and soul of the Obama campaign's yes-we-can sentiment. We see him regularly calling his mother from the campaign trail, sometimes completely overcome with emotion. And heck, while we know exactly how this story ends, I couldn't help but feel a little moved by his tearful reaction when Obama ultimately wins.
I should also mention that we get to see a little bit of Obama's sister, Maya Soetoro-Ng, and her husband Konrad Ng when they were back in Hawaii. And on a fitting note, one of the documentary's parting shots on election night 2008 is of special assistant Eugene Kang fielding a phone call, referring to Obama as "President" for probably the first time.
Anyway, if you've got HBO, and want to see an exclusive, up-close-and-personal view of the Obama campaign, it's worth taking a look. By The People: The Election of Barack Obama premieres tonight on at 9:00pm. For more information, visit the HBO website here.
