Political campaigns can be exhausting — and the campaign season behind us was especially tough — but at the heart of politics is a mix of people, strategy, emotion and changing circumstances. Newsweek has an amazingly interesting 7-chapter behind-the-scenes look at the 2008 presidential race, including insiders’ views of the Obama and McCain campaign staffs.
Some of the insights have already become post-election arguments (the animosity within the McCain-Palin campaign, the battle over that campaign’s message, and the ever-growing clothing tab), but tells of challenges within the Obama campaign as well. How our President-Elect handled himself — with disciplined restraint and patient deliberation — makes me even more optimistic about how he’ll lead this country.
It’s worth a few hours of reading this weekend: