'By the People: The Election of Barack Obama'
Staffers share tales from Obama campaign trail

Mike Hughes | TV America

Even in a film about victory, tears play a crucial role.

HBO's "By the People: The Election of Barack Obama" includes many tears from young staffers Ronnie Cho and Michael Blake. "It was an emotional ride for 21 months," Cho said. "So that was real emotion and exhaustion."

And the film shows a single tear, down the candidate's cheek as he spoke on the night after his grandmother's death. A lot of cameras were there; only co- director Amy Rice had the angle to catch it.

"It was a very emotional moment," Rice said. "(But) nobody was talking about it. .... I showed this journalist next to me (on the press bus). I was like, 'Did you see this?' And she said, 'No.' "

Making a documentary can involve a mixture of luck and diligence. Cho offered a prime example.

"We met Ronnie probably six or seven months into our shooting," Rice said. "We (already) had many characters that we were following, but Ronnie really emerged. He had a great story."

It's a classic American story, starting with the immigration experience.

"My parents both emigrated from South Korea ... and we just traveled the country," Cho said. "We lived in a car for about a year. I have no recollection of this, but that experience shaped (me)."

Cho's first on-camera emotions came after Obama's surprise Iowa showing. "In Iowa and every contest after that, you couldn't really rest," he said. "You had to just get ready for the next state, pack up your car. ... No relishing in victory or wallowing in defeat."

These were young campaigners. At 25, Blake had already graduated from Northwestern University, worked for Michigan Speaker of the House Andy Dillon and co-organized three successful 2006 campaigns for the Michigan House; now he was campaigning for a presidential long-shot.

Few people thought it would happen so quickly. Edward Norton, the movie actor who produced this film, recalls assuming Obama wouldn't run for president until 2012 or later. "We were proposing to (financial backers) the likelihood of a six-year timeline."

Only Rice thought Obama might run and win so soon. She attributes that to being naive. "I just didn't know enough to know why" he wouldn't, she said.

A lot of people didn't, so the campaign pulled ahead. Rice and co-director Alicia Sams spent most of the time with the staff, less time with the candidate.

"He was always so calm," Rice said of Obama. "Even calmer than I thing we see on TV. And that's actually great for a president, but it's really hard when you're making a documentary. You want a little bit of drama."

That came from the young staffers, who now have positions in the administration. Rice said she talked to Obama after he'd seen a cut of the film.

"He said, 'You know, when Ronnie Cho and Mike Blake cried, I cried. And I really thing you should have put in more of them and less of me.' "