Q: Did you feel the way your mom did, that you were a bit crazy for leaving the law firm to campaign? Did it feel like that big of a risk?

A: I always thought that Barack Obama would win. But more important, I felt he should win. I have a tremendous amount of respect for him and really believed that he had special talents that could unite this country and help us move forward on a range of issues I care passionately about. It didn't feel "risky" at all to me. It felt like the right thing to do.

Q: Where have you been living the past few years?

A: After law school, I lived in Washington, D.C., for a few years while I clerked, and then in New York City, where I practiced law following my clerkships. I lived in Chicago during the general election of Obama's 2004 Senate campaign and again for this campaign.

Q: When and how did you meet Barack Obama? When and under what circumstances did he call you to work with him?

A: I first heard of Barack Obama when I was in law school, and he was part of an alumni celebration on campus. After I graduated in 2003, I was following his Senate race, and I signed up to work for him shortly after he won his Senate primary in the spring of 2004. I worked for him during the general election of that campaign in his policy and research departments.

Shortly after he announced he was running for president, my father became ill, and I was home in Riverhead spending some time with him before his surgery. I received a call one night from then-Senator Obama, who wanted to check on my dad. I was really touched and amazed frankly that he would call me up to see how we were doing. I started rushing through my responses, thinking he had better things to do than talk to me, and I remember him telling me at one point to "slow down and tell me what's going on."

The only thing extraordinary about this story is that hundreds of other people have very similar stories to tell like this about Obama picking up the phone to check in on someone. It really says a lot about his decency and the kind of person he is. Later in the conversation, he told me he wanted me to work on his campaign. It was simply one of those things you don't pass up.

Q: What was your official title on his campaign team, and what did you advise him on?

A: I was the deputy policy director on the campaign. I helped develop various domestic policies, assisted with debate preparation, and worked closely with the press and speech writing teams to help communicate those policies to voters.

Q: What was the most eye-opening thing for you on the campaign trail?

A: For me, the most incredible part of this campaign was watching so many people get involved for the first time. I saw this in my own family and among many of my friends. My parents followed the cable news coverage closer than I did at times. I had friends from law school who came to Iowa to knock on doors during their Christmas and New Year's holidays. Countless other friends and family members made phone calls, knocked on doors, and served as election protection lawyers at the polls, and none had never been involved in a political campaign before.

I spent a few weeks during the primary in a community in Estill, S.C., a place that presidential candidates usually skip over. It's a wonderful community, predominantly African-American and struggling economically like so many other places. Our campaign opened a field office there, which was a first. Every day for the two weeks leading up to the primary, I'd watch local residents of all ages come in and make phone calls after a long day of work. Host families like the one I stayed with opened up their homes to campaign workers and volunteers. College students from Savannah would drive up on the weekend to help the largely local volunteer force. And that story was happening all over America during the primary and general election -- people signing up to help, because they believed that they had the power to better their communities and really make a difference.

That level of engagement and excitement sustained me through even the tough times. Because no matter what the talking heads were saying, I knew something special was happening out there, the kind of thing that wasn't always being captured by cable news shows based in Washington, D.C. And thinking of the work those people were putting into this effort and all of their hopes made me want to work that much harder.

Q: I know you've been in D.C. only a few days, but how is day-to-day life treating you?

A: After nearly two years of working seven-day weeks on the campaign, my focus has been trying to rest and relax a little. I'm very happy to have the opportunity to help President-elect Obama and his administration in this transition period. But like so many of my colleagues, I'm also making sure that I find some time to relax and reflect a bit on this amazing ride.

eschultz@timesreview.com

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