Obama: a fresh face or an old-school tactician?

[L. Coyote]

Obama: a fresh face or an old-school tactician?
The presidential contender may be sold as something new, but in Illinois' hardball politics, he fit right in.
By Dan Morain, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
September 8, 2007
http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-na-obamaprofile8sep08,1,6196379.story?coll=la-politics-campaign&ctrack=5&cset=true


CHICAGO -- He managed to burnish a reformer's reputation while swimming in the muddy waters of special-interest- infested state politics.

He worked on a nice-guy image while practicing the hardball and brawling tactics of Chicago-style politics.

Now, promoting himself as a fresh face on the national political stage, proclaiming his distance from lobbyists and the Washington culture of special interests, Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) has to contend with his own history.

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[jobycom]

1. Being a fresh face is a classic old-school tactic.

Worked for Carter, Reagan, Clinton, and W (sort of).