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"Focusing your life solely on making a buck shows a certain poverty of ambition. It asks too little of yourself," said Stephen Brokaw, quoting President-elect Barack Obama.

Stephen Brokaw

He spoke to a near-capacity crowd at the 300-seat Caterpillar Auditorium at Illinois State University's College of Business building. Brokaw's appearance was sponsored by the ISU Honors office.

Brokaw, a 2006 graduate of Harvard University, was hired in February 2007 to work on the Illinois senator's just-launched bid for the Democratic presidential nomination. There were only 50 campaign staff members at the time.

Before that, he was an intern in Obama's Senate office.

"He's one of the most thoughtful, careful people I've ever seen," he said.

As for the campaign, Brokaw said "there was never internal strife" and the tone the candidate set earned him the nickname "No Drama Obama."

That's not to say it didn't have some memorable moments and surprises along the way.

When Gov. Sarah Palin, R-Alaska, was named Arizona Sen. John McCain's vice presidential running mate, the staff members were surprised and puzzled.

"It was Sarah who? I had no idea," he said. "I went to Wikipedia."

He said both parties then had to scramble to figure out who she was and what effect she would have on the campaign.

Another surprise came on Election Day.

"When Mom (Nancy Steele Brokaw) called the night of the election and said McLean County had gone Democratic, I couldn't believe it," he said.

Obama won the county, which usually is staunchly Republican, by less than 900 votes, he noted, crediting the local victory to the college student vote.

Brokaw plans to be in Washington, D.C., for the Jan. 20 inauguration.

"A lot of my co-workers are on the transition team," he said.

As for his own future, Brokaw said he plans to attend law school and hopes to return to Bloomington-Normal after that.

Before that, however, he plans to rest up for a bit after a grueling 22-month campaign in which he worked in 16 states and held eight job titles. In the last few months, the workday was 8:30 a.m. to midnight or 1 a.m. seven days a week.

He said he could not imagine doing anything more fun or interesting, but for now the pace at home in Bloomington is more relaxed.

"I'm at home sleeping now and eating Mom's food," he said.