Ellington

I ran into Howard Dean, chairman of Democratic Party, in the Grove, being yanked around by his handlers. I pointed out that there are similarities between the way he ran his campaign and the way Obama fashioned his own campaign. I asked him where the two campaigns diverged in their tactics.

"They looked at all the stuff we did that worked, and they improved on it, and they looked at all the things that didn't work, and they got rid of it. What they've done is formidable. It's the best organization I've ever seen, and they're going to win because of it."

I asked him what stuff they threw away, and his handler snatched him by his shoulder, and said, "We really gotta go."

—Adam Lynch