The Education of an Idealist: A Memoir

by Samantha Power

SOMETHING SHIFTED IN OBAMA during the final days before the Iowa Democratic Caucus: for the first time, he seemed to be having fun. Having survived what he called the “public colonoscopy” of almost a year of campaigning, he could finally focus on the two dimensions of the contest that he had a real knack for: grassroots organizing—and winning. The campaign’s ground game in Iowa was breathtakingly comprehensive. Seeing the young campaign staff’s relentless efforts during a trip to Iowa, I commented in my journal, “something is building, something unstoppable, something deeply affirming.” Plouffe and Iowa state director Paul Tewes had deployed 159 field organizers to all of Iowa’s 99 counties, a strategy that was then unheard of. These paid staff were supported by 10,000 volunteers—all for a state where only 124,000 caucus-goers had participated in the previous Democratic primary. Tewes and his team were so thorough that the campaign contacted one undecided voter—in person, on the phone, and through mailings—a whopping 103 times.