我們贏了！

人們都說奧巴馬的勝利是一個奇跡，可在你聽過奇跡背后的故事后，你會發現，他們并沒有使用什么奇招；團結互信、動用一切資源、認認真真地把握每一個機會，這不都是大家從小受的教育嗎？原來，奇跡來自于平凡。

背景小知識

Iowa and New Hampshire：衣阿華州和新罕布什爾州，分別是美國大選年舉行首個政黨基層會議和首次初選的州，對整個預選階段具有“風向標”和“晴雨表”的作用，受到兩黨競選人和各路媒體的高度關注。

blue， red and purple states: 在美國大選中，紅、藍、紫州是指在過去大選中選民的投票傾向。投票給共和黨的選民占多數的為紅州，投票給民主黨的選民占多數的是藍州，支持共和黨和民主黨的選民各占一半的州為紫州。

Indiana and North Carolina： 印第安納州和北卡羅來納州，這兩個州是傳統上的紅州，但奧巴馬在2008的總統選舉中，都贏得了這兩個州。他也是44年來第一個贏得印第安納州的民主黨候選人。

When President-elect Obama gave his victory speech Tuesday night in Chicago’s Grant Park， he was quick to give credit.

Obama: To the best campaign team ever assembled in the history of politics， you made this happen and I am...

Who was Obama talking about， and how did they do it?

David Plouffe (Campaign Manager): The great thing about our campaign was， we didn’t have a lot of discussion about what our message was or what he wanted to do. From the beginning he knew exactly what he wanted to say. And it was one of the reasons we were successful. And he was pretty clear about what he wanted to say， where he wanted to take the country. And either people would accept or they wouldn’t.

When it began 22 months ago on a 1)frigid day in 2)Springfield， Illinois， almost， it seemed， on an 3)impulse. There was no money and no real organization.

Obama: This campaign can’t only be about me. It must be about us. It must be about what we can do together.

Plouffe: And he got into this very， in a very unusual way. Most people plan this for years. They spend a lot of time in Iowa and New Hampshire planning for it. We got into this very unconventionally…

David Axelrod (Chief Strategist): We planned for days…

Plouffe: …for days. And in many respect it made it challenging， but I think we were better for it because we were more 4)agile. We were not afraid to take risks. And we didn’t have the 5)stifling pressure of expectations.

It raised more than $600 million， much of it from small contributors over the Internet and it recruited an army of volunteers from all walks of life， young and old， Democrats， Independents and Republicans. And the campaign ventured beyond traditional Democratic 6)strongholds into Republican territory.

Robert Gibbs (Press Secretary): We compete everywhere. There wasn’t a state we didn’t go to regardless of its size that we didn’t think we could compete in. And I think you look at that map tonight and there are states that are blue， because of the efforts we put in a long， long time ago and built a 7)grass root effort up， starting on day one. And we were 8)ridiculed at times for people coming out and having crowds were excited to see our candidate. I’m pretty sure they’re not ridiculing us tonight.

Anita Dunn (Senior Advisor): We went around in June and July and people said， “Well， what’s your general election strategy?” And we laid it out. We said， here are 18 states we think we are going to be battlegrounds and Indiana and North Carolina were on there， and absolutely no one took us seriously， especially…

Gibbs: …especially the McCain Campaign.

Dunn: …particularly the McCain Campaign. David’s 9)mantra for the general election was that we were going to enlarge the playing field and that we weren’t going to run the same campaign that had been run in the past where it all came down with just one state， you know， at three or four in the morning.

They use Internet sites like 10)Facebook and Twitter to engage young voters and they 11)canvassed neighborhoods street by street， identifying supporters and entering the information into a central database. It helped them to determine who would vote early and who might need a ride to the polls on Election Day.

Reporter: You ran an incredibly effective and disciplined campaign， certainly one of the most effective president campaigns that’s ever been run. There’s no in-fighting， no real leaks and almost no 12)turnover. How did you manage that? Even the Republicans were in 13)awe.

Plouffe: Well， it starts with the candidate. His motto was “no drama.” That doesn’t mean that we don’t express opinions strongly， but that we’re all a unit， and once we made a decision we stick with it. We don’t revisit it. He stays very calm—doesn’t get too high， doesn’t get too low—treats people well. So when the leader is setting the example， everyone follows.

Axelrod: We believed in him and we believe in the cause， and we believed in each other. And by the end of this thing over two years， you 14)forge relationships and we’re like a family. And I mean the hardest thing about this， is that it’s ended now. And we want to go home， but on the other hand， it’s sort of bit of 15)melancholy because we’ve come to love each other and believe in each other and we know that this will never be the same. That we went through the experience and it was a singular experience and it’ll never be the same.

美國當選總統奧巴馬星期二（2008年11月4日）晚在芝加哥格蘭特公園發表競選勝利演說時，他迫不及待地稱贊道：

奧巴馬：作為政治史上最優秀的競選團隊，你們讓這一切成為現實，我……

奧巴馬指的是誰？他們究竟是如何獲勝的？

大衛·普勞夫（競選經理）：我們在競選中做得最出色的事是：我們沒有為競選要傳達的訊息、或他的目標而進行太多的討論。從一開始他就明確地知道他要傳達的訊息，這是我們取得成功的原因之一。他非常清楚他自己想說什么，以及他想把國家引領向何方。這樣，選民就可以選擇是否接受他。