How Obama Got the Nomination

Obama's win is not the result of luck.

He did it on purpose. And no one with any sense will claim he did it alone. He did it by selecting a winning team, inspiring a boatload of new people and never taking his eye off the ball. Any mistakes he makes will not be the result of hubris or lack of vision. This guy has no problems with the "vision thing."

Shortly before ten o'clock on the evening February 1, 2008, Barack Obama's chartered 737 took off from Albuquerque International Airport bound for Boise, Idaho, where the Illinois senator was scheduled to hold a rally the next day.

In just four days voters in twenty-two states would award 1,681 Democratic National Convention delegates, of which Idaho's caucuses would pick eighteen.

During the two-hour flight to Boise, Obama's press handlers tried to assure traveling reporters that the candidate had not taken leave of his senses. "It may not be California," an aide commented, "but smaller states like Idaho and Delaware add up."

Barack Obama will become the Democratic Party's presidential standard bearer in 2008 precisely because small states - particularly small caucus states - add up.

Details are at the link. I'm just happy to know that someone with this level of organizational focus has a chance at the White House. Until now I have considered Bill Clinton to be the most skillful politician of our day. Barack Obama is still on a learning curve, but if he keeps going he will pass Clinton.