Democratic and Liberal political analysis and commentary

Well, I'll be. Trixie and I drove to Caribou this morning to get our morning coffee and a copy of the Des Moines Register. There is an article about the presidential campaign on the first page, not at all unusual this time of the presidential season. Then I notice a familiar face. It's my friend Paul Tewes, who managed Barack Obama's successful caucus campaign in Iowa this past January. Here's a photo I took of him at the Harkin Steak Fry in September 2007.

Paul is taking his successful Iowa formula and replicating it in Ohio, albeit in a modified and truncated way. After all, Obama's people were on the ground in Iowa nearly a full year in before the January Iowa caucuses, but they've had less than a month to focus on Ohio.

Obama is using his superior fundraising advantage to flood Ohio with field staff, paid media and events.

I'll give you an idea of how intense Paul Tewes is about winning. He gets so into it, that his brain starts to hurt. During the run-up to the Iowa caucuses, one day Paul walked into my office and announced that he wanted a ride to the emergency room, convinced that he had a brain tumor. Seems that his brain had been hurting almost non-stop for weeks.

So, went to the emergency room at Iowa Methodist Hospital and waited. And waited. The doctor finally saw Paul and asked him a simple question. Was there any particular stress in your life right now that could be causing your headaches? Well, yes, there was, replied Paul. The doctor prescribed a day off (which he never took), deep breathing exercises (which I never saw him do) and Advil. Paul emerged from the hospital with a smile and a proclamation: "No Tumor!" Around the office for the next six months, he was known simply as "No Tumor Tewes."

Paul is an organizing machine. He also has a motto, which he truly lives up to. That is, "Respect. Empower. Include." And he lives by it.