A huge machine run efficiently...

There has never, in the history of US politics, been a campaign so big or so well organized, as Barack Obama's.

Add to that, so efficiently run.

Recent campaign disclosures highlight the disciplined budgeting -- and bargain hunting -- that allowed the Obama campaign to deliver maximum political payload for every dollar. While other campaigns, notably those of chief rivals Hillary Clinton in the primary and John McCain in the general elections, threatened to run off the rails from injudicious spending that, at times, brought their campaigns to the verge of bankruptcy as they spent -- and misspent -- big.

While candidate Obama put together the most successful campaign financing team in US history -- amassing a total that dwarfed all previous campaigns, much of that from small donors, while eschewing donations from professional lobbyists and PACs -- his team also made sure that it got the most political bang for its bucks, underspending his less-well-funded rivals for key expenses through shrewd -- and tightly disciplined -- penny pinching.

According to the New York Times:

Senator Barack Obama’s presidential campaign has collected a record-shattering $640 million, but only two of his staff members are among the 15 highest-paid workers in the general election, according to campaign finance records. The rest, including the three highest paid, are employed by Senator John McCain.

The Obama campaign, despite having more than 700 field offices across the country, compared with fewer than 400 for Mr. McCain, has spent slightly less on rent than its counterpart.

And even though Mr. Obama has raised $400 million more than Mr. McCain, he has spent less on fund-raising consultants.

According to the Times, one of the single biggest campaign expenses for traditional campaigns has been the use of media consultants. Such consultants all but broke the McCain bank last year, nearly bankrupting the campaign.

In a typical campaign, the Times says media consultants suck down from 6 to 7 % of the advertising budget.

But the media consulting budget of the Obama campaign looks to come in at around only one percent of the huge amounts the campaign has spent on ad buys.

The Times writes about the disciplined penny pincher at the top of the Obama team, chief of staff, David Plouffle:

[Chief strategist David] Axelrod likes to joke that at the Obama headquarters, if someone waves a hand in front of the automated paper towel dispenser in the men’s room, a section of paper towel is dispensed; wave at it again and a note spits out, “See Plouffe.”