fact check, that cobbler does look good. obama spent those years doing normal reach out politics and made a generational challenge to congressman rush, but it didn t move the democrats in illinois, rush beat obama in a landslide. people concluded obama was quote too minor league, overeducated, arrogant, stiff, and obama didn t take that loss by just running for the same seat again or some other comparable office. he took that loss as a sign to think bigger and run for a more expensive and higher office, the u.s. senate. everybody right now feels cynical about the political process. i think that their leadership seems long on rhetoric but short on substance, politics seems to be more of a business than a mission. there s a sense that power always trumps principal, but i truly believe there s another tradition in this country that says that we re all connected somehow. i m barack obama, i m running for the united states senate and