The Rise and Fall of Barack Obama

The skinny kid with the funny name from Hawaii had a great run.  By forcing all four other candidates off the ballot, including the woman who had reached out to help him, he maneuvered his way into the Illinois State Legislature.  There, he found an extortionist and money launderer  who channeled hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions his way, while helping land a plum real estate deal. Then, in spite of an undistinguished career in the state legislature where he repeatedly pushed the wrong button on votes, he found another backer in the Illinois Senate who funneled dozens of bills his way to sponsor  -- even though others had done the groundwork for years and were thus robbed of the recognition they deserved -- thus padding Obama's credentials for a national Senate run, in exchange for Obama later pushing through $300 million of earmarks in return.