Campaign Inc.

The author is someone who helped spearhead the 2008 (U.S.) Presidential campaign for Barack Obama and this is his belated behind-the-scenes look at the whirlwind campaign.

The publicity material notes that this book “…allows readers to peek behind the curtain at the underdog organisation that brought down the Clinton campaign and later went on to defeat the Republican machine, while offering lessons in leadership and organisation to innovators, executives, and entrepreneurs.” To be strictly fair it does achieve what it sets out to do, but whether it does it optimally is another thing.

Political geeks will enthuse over this book, even if it has came out years after Obama first swept to power. The author has his reasons for this piece of “strategic timing” (aka delay). This book created a division in feelings, a division much greater than any political leanings. As an outsider and non-American this reviewer wasn’t suffering from Obama Overload and doesn’t have any political views to get in the way. A blank sheet of paper was thus afforded to the author to impress, amaze and inform.

Yet in some ways it fell on its face. The book felt rather onerous to read, rather hard-going and at times quite disjointed. Clearly it was a difficult book to write. It was not just a diary converted to an autobiography. It doesn’t start nearly every sentence with “I” either. There were many pearls of wisdom to pull out of the book too but as the book wore on one’s interest started to wane. Of course, the “end result” was known from the start but the method of the journey and the highs and lows would be the “main course”.

The execution could have been better. It is all rather frustrating. There are many examples that could have a direct relevance to business life that were left buried within the book. For a business audience maybe a few sidebars and emphasis wouldn’t have been out of place. There is a real risk that they will be overlooked in this otherwise political nerd-fest and that is a shame.

The business examples might not on their own set the world alight but as a combined takeaway they do remain quite powerful, actionable and worthy of review. So why bury them away? Maybe the author (or his editors) should have adopted a little more of the “organisation” trumpeted about in the book’s title within the book itself.

This isn’t a bad book. Far from it. It has the potential to be a great book. It is just that, in its current form and packaging, it feels like an also-ran. If it had been rushed out straight after the successful first election you could have possibly understood this and accepted it. Coming several years after the event, with the benefit of hindsight and an extended period of reflection, there is just no real excuse….

Campaign Inc.:How Leadership and Organization Propelled Barack Obama to the White House, by Henry F. De Sio., Jr. and published by University Of Iowa Press. ISBN 9781609382698, 224 pages. YYYY.