A

galvanized and united. They were connecting voters more directly to their
democracy, whether through the field office down the street or a website through
which they could organize their own meetings and phone banks. As Barack often
said, what we were doing wasn’t just about a single election. It was about making
politics better for the future—less money-driven, more accessible, and ultimately
more hopeful. Even if we didn’t end up winning, we were making progress that
mattered. One way or another, their work would count.

s the weather began to turn cold again, Barack knew he had basically one
last chance to change up the race in Iowa, and that was by making a strong
showing at the Jefferson-Jackson dinner, an annual Democratic ritual in every
state. In Iowa, during a presidential election, it was held in early November,
about eight weeks ahead of the January caucuses, and covered by the national
media. The premise was that every candidate gave a speech—with no notes and
no teleprompter—and also tried to bring along as many supporters as possible. It
was, in essence, a giant and competitive pep rally.

For months, the cable news commentators had doubted that Iowans would
stand up for Barack at caucus time, insinuating that as dynamic and unusual a
candidate as he was, he still wouldn’t manage to convert the enthusiasm into
votes. The crowd at the Jefferson-Jackson dinner was our answer to this. About
three thousand of our supporters had driven in from all over the state, showing
that we were both organized and active—stronger than anyone thought.

Onstage that night, John Edwards took a shot at Clinton, speaking in veiled
terms about sincerity and trustworthiness being important. Grinning, Joe Biden
acknowledged the impressive and noisy turnout of Obama supporters with a
sardonic “Hello, Chicago!” Hillary, who was fighting a cold, also used the
opportunity to go after Barack. “ ‘Change’ is just a word,” she said, “if you don’t
have the strength and experience to make it happen.”

Barack was the last to speak that night, delivering a rousing defense of his
central message—that our country had arrived at a defining moment, a chance to
step beyond not just the fear and failures of the Bush administration but the
polarized way politics had been waged long before, including, of course, during
the Clinton administration. “I don’t want to spend the next year or the next four
years refighting the same fights that we had in the 1990s,” he said. “I don’t want
to pit Red America against Blue America, I want to be the president of the