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It’s the first Tuesday of November in America, and that means one thing: Election Day. Though it does not, perhaps, hold the same gravitas as a year ago, HBO is capitalizing on the day to premiere the documentary By the People: The Election of Barack Obama. The film airs tonight at 9 p.m. EST. Look for it to be added to HBO’s on-demand lineup later this week as well.
Even though the film strikes a feel-good tone, it may very well drop on a highly inopportune time for the Obama camp. Tensions linger of his Nobel Peace Prize award, the battle for healthcare reform becomes further entrenched, and a decision on strategy in Afghanistan looms. The celebratory tone of the piece may have been appropriate one year ago. As reality sets in today, that enthusiasm is harder to muster for some critics.
HBO’s p.r. for the documentary describes it as such:
Nearly a year before Barack Obama announced his candidacy for the presidency on Feb. 10, 2007, filmmakers Amy Rice and Alicia Sams began to roll cameras on the young senator. Over the next 19 months, they found themselves traveling all across the country, chronicling the daily ups and downs of the campaign trail as experienced by Obama, his family, his staff and volunteers. While Obama’s meteoric rise to the White House has been well documented in the press, few have witnessed the behind-the- scenes story of the passionate campaigners who helped a young African-American freshman senator attain the nation’s highest office.