Blogs and Stories
Inside the Obama Documentary Premiere
“It was the first time that we were shown politics as an engineered project,” he said. “Something that’s managed as a media event.”
Victory on this national battlefield is predicated on discipline, something with which the press credited the Obama campaign in abundance. Predictably, chief strategist David Axelrod (now a senior Obama adviser), communications director Robert Gibbs (now White House press secretary), and campaign manager David Plouffe spend plenty of time on screen.
However, the film’s most moving moments come when these grown men, hardened professionals and ruthless practitioners of their craft, break down in tears at the magnitude of what they’ve achieved. These are guys who understand the role emotion plays on the national stage—and that Rice and Sams captured, when the stakes couldn’t have been higher.
Despite the obstacles along the way, including some dicey moments when Rice and Sams weren’t sure that their funding would hold up (it rose and fell with Obama’s poll numbers) or that the campaign would permit them to continue filming, the 44th president respected their efforts and remained disarming to the end.
“When we shot the final scenes in the Oval Office, he asked us, ‘What do you guys need?’” Rice said. “It was incredibly special. I got choked up.”
Matthew DeBord covers the auto industry and writes the Shifting Gears blog for Slate’s The Big Money. He has appeared on MSNBC and HDNet’s Dan Rather Reports to discuss the car business and the future of transportation. In addition to writing about cars, he has also writes frequently about Hollywood and the entertainment industry, books, and various other subjects for the Los Angeles Times. He writes about sports for the Huffington Post and has published two books on wine.
10 Power Food Combos
Divya Gugnani is the CEO and founder of BehindtheBurner.com, an emerging culinary media brand that creates expert-based content about food, wine, mixology, and nutrition.
How Obama Wins in 2012
As vice chairman of Public Strategies and president of Maverick Media, Mark McKinnon has helped meet strategic challenges for candidates, corporations and causes, including George W. Bush, John McCain, Governor Ann Richards, Charlie Wilson, Lance Armstrong, and Bono.
How Barack Beat Bibi
Peter Beinart, senior political writer for The Daily Beast, is associate professor of journalism and political science at City University of New York and a senior fellow at the New America Foundation. His new book, The Icarus Syndrome: A History of American Hubris, will be published by HarperCollins in June. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook.
Brett Ratner: The Movie
Matthew DeBord covers the auto industry and writes the Shifting Gears blog for Slate’s The Big Money. He has appeared on MSNBC and HDNet’s Dan Rather Reports to discuss the car business and the future of transportation. In addition to writing about cars, he has also written frequently about Hollywood and the entertainment industry, books, and various other subjects for the Los Angeles Times. He writes about sports for the Huffington Post and has published two books on wine.
mikefromArlington
No doubt it should be interesting for those of us that got involved.
I never had any interest in politics until Obama gave the race speech in February. From that point forward I began to get involved. By June I was walking the streets with others going door to door. At first there were a dozen of us on a good day in our district in northern Virginia. By the end the lines of volunteers at some of the offices wrapped around the block with hundreds of us, every age, color and religion, all united by a single cause, change from the disaster Republican rule had brought upon the U.S.
I can't wait till 2012 to do it all over again. It was a great experience and I met dozens of great people from all across the world.
BasPos
My wife sent several hundreds to his campaign from a retired teacher's income. It's all about hope. No reverence, just desperation borne of too many tears of GnOp stupidity and cupidity. Democrats are also capable of it, but GnOPs are so much fun.
rowland
Just in time to salvage Obama's plummeting poll numbers; more reverential pap.
BasPos
Great job, Brownie!
Snark alert
louiexiii
HBO typically shows some good documentaries, whether or not you agree with them.
I enjoyed "Right America: Feeling Wronged". It pretty much just confirmed my belief that republicans (not all, i know, im just generalizing) are racist and fear having a black man in the white house. If you havent seen it, look it up. Highly recommended.
rowland
That was a hit-piece by Nancy Pelosi's daughter masquerading as an objective documentary. Imagine someone greenlighting a documentary about Jeremiah Wright and someone remarking that it, "confirm(s) my belief that (black people) (not all, i know, i'm just generalizing) are racist and fear (white people)." You wouldn't be as charitable to that person.
HBO is Fox News for Hollywood.
ProudAtheist
Such a great documentary. Wasn't it telling when Hannity (the king of the imbeciles) made sure to tell the angry mob that the filmmaker was Pelosi's daughter? The anger and sadness these people had about the election was incredibly telling.
NotSoFreshFeelingS
I volunteered on the Obama campaign in several states incl. Iowa for the caucus and later a battleground state.
I have never seen a more dedicated, honest, and bright group of people that the Obama people...Just tremendous integrity and brilliance.
katiekee
Ronnie Cho was my student when he was in high school. I guarantee he is the real deal--honest to an amusing fault, dedicated, loyal, and energized beyond what is considered normal, Ronnie was the tailor-made Obama staffer.
Thank you.
As a first time user, your comment has been submitted for review. It can take anywhere from a few hours to a day or two for your comment to be reviewed, depending on the time of week and the volume of comments we receive.