Back in the olden days, when all news orga nizations had access to Barack Obama (before certain ones got into a spitting match and were basically banned), I was sent to cover his campaign, happily freezing my tail off in Iowa and sweating like a pig in South Carolina, to name two key, early states.

That’s why I was especially anxious to see “By The People: The Election of Barack Obama,” a film produced by Edward Norton (the actor, not the sewer-worker pal of Ralph Kramden).

After the filmmakers, Amy Rice and Alicia Sams, got Norton on board, the actor went with Rice (whose brother died on 9/11) to meet Obama’s people and discuss the possibility of a special-access documentary.

Starting two years before the thought of running for president supposedly entered Obama’s mind, the filmmakers began documenting behind-the-scenes Barack, his family and staffers. They started at the get-go and stayed until the “go straight to the White House.”

Aside from the fact that Obama is the first African-American President — which makes recording his run for the big one, in and of itself, historic — most of what’s here is stuff we’ve seen before in other campaign docs — most recently in Alexandra Pelosi’s “Journeys with George.”

That documentary was cobbled from quite funny “home movies” that Pelosi took while assigned to the campaign beat for NBC News — and this one is made by a filmmaker who was admittedly inspired by Obama.

Her family connections aside, Pelosi was on the Bush beat as a professional reporter. Rice, who worked previously on shows like “Little Beauties: Ultimate Kiddie Queen Showdown,” was there because she believed in her heart that Obama could make a difference.

Keeping that in mind, the film — two years in the making — turns out to be, at times, as exhilarating as the campaign trail itself — and as tense and crazy. You will get to see the harrowingly long hours and the defeats, and cry with the young volunteers who believe so deeply.

What you won’t see — and it’s a huge, glaring gap — is Oprah Winfrey’s campaign appearances on behalf of Obama in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina that brought out literally hundreds of thousands of people. They came for her and stayed for him.

Oprah played a big, big part in getting Obama the nomination — but you’d never know it from watching here.

So, “By The People” may not be fair and balanced — but it’s fun to remember how things used to be before they started banning people.