Obama talks to student organisers in Storm Lake, Iowa, September 07

Now that Obama has clinched, a number of long “how he did it” pieces appear today. One of the best is Karen Tumulty’s Time mag piece, with some explanations from Obama himself - showing a pretty detailed (perhaps unsurprisingly so) grasp by him of the minutae of the campaign operation itself, especially the importance of the internet as an organising and fundraising tool. They supercharged the other strengths Obama was bringing to the table - a message superior both in meeting the moment and in its aesthetics; a disciplined “no drama” team; a superior orator and the draw of a real chance to make history.

The first test of all of it coming together was in Iowa in the weeks leading up to January 3. As Tumulty recounts it was a close-run thing, something that made the final outcome that much more dramatic and impactful:

“Mission No. 1 was finishing ahead of Hillary Clinton in Iowa,” recalls Obama campaign manager David Plouffe. “If we hadn’t done that, it would have been hard to stop her.”

But counting on new voters had proved disastrous for Dean in 2004. The Obama campaign knew that it would have to build a network of Iowans rather than supporters brought in from other parts of the country, says Plouffe, but “we didn’t have to accept the electorate as it is.” At bottom, Obama built a new party in 2008. It was difficult. Not until the morning of the caucuses did the campaign reach its goal of 97,000 Iowans pledged to support Obama that it thought it would need to win. Then came the real question: Would these people show up?

Show up they did, shattering turnout records. Obama prevailed with a surprising eight-point margin over Edwards, who came in second. Obama counts Iowa as his biggest victory, the one that foreshadowed the rest. “Voters under 30 participated at the same rates as voters over 65. That had never happened before,” the Democratic nominee says. “That continues to be something I’m very proud of — how we’ve expanded the voter rolls in every state where we’ve campaigned. I think that means we can put into play some states that might normally not be in play.”

The lessons learned pieces will be coming thick and fast. I’ve got a couple of iterations, looking at the tech side of it in this week’s issue of Business & Finance magazine, and one getting perspective from some of Ireland’s top marketers, out in the June issue of Marketing.

Later on I’ll be offering, for marketers in particular, 10 lessons from the Obama campaign that some may find useful for their own business. Feedback and suggestions particulalry welcome. And no, they won’t include Hillary nutcrackers.

Pictures from Barack Obama used under CC.