And the Real Winner Is . . .

Here's who really won Tuesday night's debate: Barack Obama's schedulers and advance teams.

Silently and seamlessly, those anonymous campaign staffers created the half-hour of compelling television that followed the debate itself.

Most memorable, of course, was the vision of Barack and Michelle shaking countless hands and posing for dozens of photos with (previously) undecided voters who clearly wanted a lasting memento of their encounter with the future President and First Lady.

That moment was partly created by the Obama's genuine graciousness. But I'm guessing it also was created by a campaign scheduler who pressed the candidate to stay and work the crowd -- and more importantly, work the cameras.

It's unlikely that Senator Obama was thrilled about the prospect of working a crowd of 100 for half an hour at the end of a grueling debate. In fact, I'd be willing to bet that it took several high-level and vociferous staffers to talk him into it. And I'd be equally willing to bet that some of McCain's staff tried to convince their guy to stick around, too.

But when McCain blew off his advisors and ducked out to enjoy a few moments of relative privacy, he left the field wide open for Barack. The result was an unobstructed national vision of a vigorous, accessible candidate with an apparently endless willingness to engage with the electorate.

As the post-debate coverage continued, the cameras moved to Spin Alley -- where masses of tirelessly enthusiastic supporters stood in the rain, shouting "O-ba-ma! O-ba-ma!" as long as there was a microphone, and a national audience, left to hear.

Again, rapturous rallies in the rain don't just happen. Obama's advance team clearly did exceptional work on the ground to gather -- and then wrangle -- the rain-resistant crowds. Those shouting supporters represented thousands of phone calls and tens of thousands of e-mails, combined with a couple hundred political and personal favors called in when they were needed most.

And here's the best part of it all -- thanks to the well-orchestrated, perfectly timed efforts of dozens, maybe hundreds of campaign staffers and volunteers in the Chicago headquarters and on the ground in Nashville, it all looked natural and effortless.

Nice work, guys. Really nice.

Comments

[DeloresT]

Let's not forget the loving "shout out" that Barack gave to Michelle and the loving look that she gave right back towards the end of the debate. Little touches like this are noted by female voters. Not only did McCain leave early, but he seems to only use his wife for a prop. ( I heard that he once publicly referred to her as a "c#nt"..........I guess he was having a bad day).

[zbig]

You can see the video here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m9hA94obw0A

[AquiAlliAlla]

Exactly. I'll cliche it up ala Sarah Palin: Every moment counts and a little bit goes a long way. Clearly, that's something Obama and his advisors understand. Not only were the undecided voters at that Town Hall debate undeniably influenced by Obama taking the extra time to shake hands--but so were the millions of viewers who watched at at home.

[usetheforceluke08]

Great post. I was wondering when someone was going to point this out. For that 1/2 hour or so after that debate, what Obama did was quite subtle, but strategically smart in terms of a visual message. As my teenage son stated, "McCain, you just got p'wned again."

[jhNY]

Agreed. Watching the Obamas moving among the people in the room was a fabulous visual, and showed without telling how comfortable he and his wife are among the people. And how genuinely moved by their presence the people in the room were. And those folks were picked to participate because they were undecideds! Didn't look very undecided by the end of the evening, did they?

[AntiSocialite]

I think you've hit the nail on the head here. I live in Nashville and yesterday on the local NBC news there was an interview with one of the town hall audience members who could not stop talking about how Obama worked the room afterwards, and how odd it was that McCain wasn't out there doing the same thing. I guess McCain thinks that since Tennessee isn't a swing state the gesture wouldn't matter, but I think it certainly showed the viewing audience who was more presidential.

[TheTruthHurtsDonut]

Who really won this debate?
The media. This was NOT a Town Hall meeting, where people randomly get to stand up and ask non-disclosed questions. Brokaw stated at the beginning that all the questions were submitted to HIM and he decided which ones would be asked. Any and all tough questions for Borack were certainly filtered out, and unless some of those people come forward we will never know how many asked such questions. But of course, they would have had to sign some privacy document in order to be in the group.
Furthermore, Brokaw inserted his own follow-up questions after each candidate debated one from the "Town Hall". So it ends up that half the questions asked that night were BROKAW'S!
The entire premise that this was a Town Hall meeting is a fraud, with the media in total control of the questions that Homeboy would have to answer. Total song and dance by the MSM to dupe the American people.
Let's see if the Huff let's this into the blog...

[Bendra]

Where can one see this video?