Newsweek Has the Inside Scoop

Here's a funny thing Mr. President said before he became King.

The debates unnerved both candidates. When he was preparing for them during the Democratic primaries, Obama was recorded saying, "I don't consider this to be a good format for me, which makes me more cautious. I often find myself trapped by the questions and thinking to myself, 'You know, this is a stupid question, but let me … answer it.' So when Brian Williams is asking me about what's a personal thing that you've done [that's green], and I say, you know, 'Well, I planted a bunch of trees.' And he says, 'I'm talking about personal.' What I'm thinking in my head is, 'Well, the truth is, Brian, we can't solve global warming because I f---ing changed light bulbs in my house. It's because of something collective'."

Obama apparently hates vapid sound bites as much as we do. Also, via Alex Balk, here's two funny insidery stories from the campaign.

Staffers were trying to work, sort of, and ignore the sounds coming from the office of communications director Howard Wolfson. “He’s going to ruin this f–––ing campaign!” shouted Phil Singer, Wolfson’s deputy. No one was quite sure who “he” was, but most assumed it was Penn, the chief strategist who was in more or less constant conflict with Hillary’s other top advisers. Wolfson said something indistinct in response, and Singer cut loose, “F––– you, Howard,” and stormed out of his office. Policy director Neera Tanden had the misfortune of standing in his path. “F––– you, too!” screamed Singer. “F––– you,” Tanden started. “And the whole f–––ing cabal,” Singer, now standing on a chair, shouted loudly enough to be heard by the entire war room. “I’m done.” Within a week or two Singer was back, still steaming and swearing. “If the house is on fire, would you rather have a psychotic fireman or no fireman at all?” Wolfson explained to Williams.

Obama was not one to cast blame, at least not too obviously or too loudly. After his campaign spent $20 million to win Texas and still lost, he ran through a list of mistakes with his staff, not laying any blame on anyone in particular. He stood up to leave, and as he walked out of the conference room of campaign headquarters on Michigan Avenue, he turned around and said, “I’m not yelling at you guys.” He took another few steps and turned around again and said, “Of course, after blowing through $20 million in a couple of weeks, I could yell at you. But …” He paused. “I’m not yelling at you.” He laughed and walked out the door.