An Extraordinary Ride

Washington Post political correspondent Dan Balz has just published The Battle for America 2008: The Story of an Extraordinary Election.

The Post's website is running a series of excerpts, which includes links to Balz's articles from the two-year campaign. One caught ET's eye.

In "At the End of an Extraordinary Ride" from November 4, Balz writes of Obama's final day on the campaign trail and the intense interest Americans showed throughout the campaign on both sides of the aisle:

"Campaign 2008 set records for intensity and involvement. I remember traveling with John Edwards on the day he announced his candidacy in late December 2006. He began in New Orleans, in the storm-ravaged Ninth Ward and from there flew to Des Moines for an obligatory stop in the state with the first caucuses. It was during the Christmas holidays, a year from the caucuses and nearly two years from the presidential election itself.

"When Edwards arrived at the Iowa Historical Museum for his evening rally, more than a thousand people were waiting to see him. That turned out not to be an anomaly but the beginning of a pattern. Everywhere the candidates went, particularly those seeking the Democratic nomination, people turned out. They attended rallies and town hall meetings, they followed the race on the Internet and on cable television and in newspapers and on blogs. They gave money... They were engaged."

In ET's post in January, producing director Matt Di Cintio wrote about ET's motivation to produce My Name Is Rachel Corrie. Balz reiterates those observations about the country's widespread and unprecedented- at least for this generation- engagement.