Obama the delegator picks when to take reins

Central command
Mr. Obama was not thrilled with a campaign slogan, “Change We Can Believe In,” that was unveiled last September. And he did not initially like the campaign’s blue and white logo — intended to appear like a horizon, symbolizing hope and opportunity — saying he found it too polished and corporate.

“He made his concern clear, but said, ‘We have bigger fish to fry here,’” recalled David Axelrod, the campaign’s chief strategist who was behind the logo’s design. “That’s one of his talents, his ability to distinguish between things that are absolutely essential and things that aren’t. He’ll give you some latitude based on your expertise.”

But Mr. Obama’s ease belies a more controlling management style. For all the success his campaign has enjoyed with grass-roots organizing, the operation is highly centralized around Mr. Axelrod; David Plouffe, the campaign manager; Robert Gibbs, the communications director; Pete Rouse, his Senate chief of staff; Valerie Jarrett, a longtime friend from Chicago; and a handful of senior advisers that has barely changed since he opened his campaign in January 2007.

Nearly all information is funneled to him, but he also makes his own inquiries.

Last month, only hours before he was scheduled to make his first campaign appearance before skeptical Jewish voters at a Florida synagogue, Mr. Obama received word that an important vote had been scheduled in Washington. He was needed in the Senate.

Mr. Obama was annoyed, but senior advisers traveling with him were livid at the prospect of the senator canceling a meeting with this critical constituency. Mr. Obama let them huff and puff, and began making calls himself.

‘No drama’
Soon, he was on the line with Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the majority leader, who said he was trying to be accommodating, but his fellow senators needed to vote on a spending bill and military legislation before leaving for a long weekend. It sounded reasonable, Mr. Obama told his aides, and plans were made for him to fly to Washington and delay — not postpone — the meeting in Boca Raton, Fla.

Mr. Obama’s circle of advisers takes seriously his “no drama” mandate. It is a point of pride in his campaign that there have been virtually no serious leaks to the news media — small leaks are immediately investigated — about internal division or infighting. He is a careful reader of daily newspapers and magazines (titles from Foreign Affairs to Maxim are stocked on his campaign plane). He takes his briefing books — three-ring binders filled with political memorandums and policy discussions — to his hotel room or home every night, but aides say how well he reads the materials may depend on what is on ESPN.

Mr. Obama has tried to learn from the mistakes of others. During the course of two long dinners at the Four Seasons Hotel in Washington this year and last, Mr. Obama sought the advice of Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts. “We covered a lot of territory,” Mr. Kerry said, adding that he had advised Mr. Obama to concentrate on his rapid-response operation. “I was as clear as I could be: you don’t let a moment go by unchallenged.”

Mr. Kerry said Mr. Obama was a “quick study” who is as sure-footed on the national stage as he was new to it when he ran for president four years ago. Mr. Kerry, whose campaign was at times riven by division, said Mr. Obama’s operation seemed free of any such issues. “His staff is exceedingly loyal,” Mr. Kerry said.

Careful control of the message
These days, Mr. Obama pays little attention to his fund-raising, a stark change from a year ago. “Barack was interested daily in knowing how we were doing, were we on track or were we not,” said Penny Pritzker, the campaign’s national finance chairwoman. After a record-setting first quarter tally of $25 million, he stopped asking as often.

One area where he does not easily acquiesce is on speeches and television commercials, where he often rewrites words that shape the core message of his candidacy. Mr. Obama generally gives his ad-makers room to produce his spots, but he reviews scripts and often reworks them if he believes they do not capture his natural speaking style.

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“He’ll say, ‘that is not my voice,’ ” said Jim Margolis, a senior media consultant to Mr. Obama who oversees television advertising. “Definitely this isn’t somebody you just throw the script to and he’ll say anything that comes up on the screen. He tries to make sure that he’s got his imprint on it.”

Three days after claiming the nomination, Mr. Obama, who makes infrequent visits to the campaign’s Chicago headquarters, offered his gratitude by way of a motivational pep talk.

“I want everybody to catch your breath. Do what you do to get your ya-ya’s out — that’s an old ’60s expression — and then understand that coming back we’re going to have to work twice as hard as we’ve been working,” Mr. Obama said. “We’re going to have to be smarter, we’re going to have to be tougher, our game is going to have to be tighter.”

Before finishing, he included a self-assessment, adding, “I am going to have to be a better candidate.”

This story, Obama the Delegator Picks When to Take Reins, originally appeared in The New York Times.

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