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News & Photos
Peter Backof '02 Shares Obama Campaign Experience
Peter Backof ’02 admits that when he was in Upper School at McDonogh he wasn’t really motivated by math, which is why his job crunching numbers as a member of the Obama Campaign seems somewhat ironic. Backof returned to campus this week to share his experiences and explain how life after McDonogh led him to the 2012 presidential campaign.
His return to McDonogh was positioned as an “in school field trip” for Upper School math and social studies students, who listened intently as he described his path to Obama’s campaign headquarters in Chicago. Mr. Sanborn’s classroom, plastered with political campaign posters and memorabilia, was the perfect setting for Backof’s story, which began in his senior year, just after the September 11 terrorist attacks. It was that incident which made him realize there was “work to be done.” So, he applied to college, and unbeknownst to his parents he also applied to AmeriCorps, where he spent the year after graduation doing a variety of community service projects, from tutoring both children and adults to fighting forest fires. The experience made him appreciate his McDonogh education and by the end of the year, having worked 60-hour weeks, he was motivated to go to college to really learn. Backof studied political science in college, and after graduate school at the University of Chicago, he headed to Washington, DC to work in politics.
By the time he landed a job in the Obama Campaign, he had not only changed his opinion about math, he was using it strategically. He understood the importance of data in answering questions and determining how to increase votes. He explained to his McDonogh audience the unique nature of a political campaign, which has a finite length and specific goal, not unlike the competitive feel of sports, which also has a winner and loser. Backof described how the campaign focused on four things: fundraising, registering voters, persuading people to vote for Obama, and getting them to the polls.
As other members of the campaign team knocked on doors and contacted people nationwide by phone and mail, Backof’s job was to analyze the effectiveness of their efforts. His number crunching was then used to determine how resources would be allocated to make a difference for Obama.
“It was a fun and invigorating experience,” he said, noting the “cool” people and places he was exposed to.
By Election Day, there was nothing left for the campaign staff to do but to sit back and wait for the results. Most impressive, he says was the staff meeting called at the Chicago campaign headquarters the day after the Obama victory. President Obama spoke to the group and teared-up as he relayed his own experience as a community organizer. He expressed his pride in the campaign staff, thanked them, and conveyed his confidence in their future endeavors. For Backof that meant taking a well-deserved break for the rest of November and into December, before returning to data analytics, where he now works in the area of the health care reform.
Peter Backof ’02 admits that when he was in Upper School at McDonogh he wasn’t really motivated by math, which is why his job crunching numbers as a member of the Obama Campaign seems somewhat ironic. Backof returned to campus this week to share his experiences and explain how life after McDonogh led him to the 2012 presidential campaign.
His return to McDonogh was positioned as an “in school field trip” for Upper School math and social studies students, who listened intently as he described his path to Obama’s campaign headquarters in Chicago. Mr. Sanborn’s classroom, plastered with political campaign posters and memorabilia, was the perfect setting for Backof’s story, which began in his senior year, just after the September 11 terrorist attacks. It was that incident which made him realize there was “work to be done.” So, he applied to college, and unbeknownst to his parents he also applied to AmeriCorps, where he spent the year after graduation doing a variety of community service projects, from tutoring both children and adults to fighting forest fires. The experience made him appreciate his McDonogh education and by the end of the year, having worked 60-hour weeks, he was motivated to go to college to really learn. Backof studied political science in college, and after graduate school at the University of Chicago, he headed to Washington, DC to work in politics.
By the time he landed a job in the Obama Campaign, he had not only changed his opinion about math, he was using it strategically. He understood the importance of data in answering questions and determining how to increase votes. He explained to his McDonogh audience the unique nature of a political campaign, which has a finite length and specific goal, not unlike the competitive feel of sports, which also has a winner and loser. Backof described how the campaign focused on four things: fundraising, registering voters, persuading people to vote for Obama, and getting them to the polls.
As other members of the campaign team knocked on doors and contacted people nationwide by phone and mail, Backof’s job was to analyze the effectiveness of their efforts. His number crunching was then used to determine how resources would be allocated to make a difference for Obama.
“It was a fun and invigorating experience,” he said, noting the “cool” people and places he was exposed to.
By Election Day, there was nothing left for the campaign staff to do but to sit back and wait for the results. Most impressive, he says was the staff meeting called at the Chicago campaign headquarters the day after the Obama victory. President Obama spoke to the group and teared-up as he relayed his own experience as a community organizer. He expressed his pride in the campaign staff, thanked them, and conveyed his confidence in their future endeavors. For Backof that meant taking a well-deserved break for the rest of November and into December, before returning to data analytics, where he now works in the area of the health care reform.