Once again we are presented with evidence that Barack Obama is not the special and transformational figure he is advertised to be. Christi Parsons tells the tale:

Joining Chelsea Clinton and other women leaders to campaign for Hillary Clinton today is Alice Palmer, the former state senator who picked Obama to be her successor back in the mid-90s. When she tried to reclaim her spot, though, Obama got her booted from the ballot.

For those of you who aren’t familar with Ms. Palmer’s story, it is detailed in the Chicago Tribune:  Read more 

Alice Palmer and Obama’s first campaign, when he knocked out the politician who recruited and introduced him to fundraisers and others who could help him (like Ayers, etc) —

“… “She went out and recruited Barack.”

So everything seemed set. Palmer would move to Congress and Obama would take her place in the Illinois Senate.

But then Palmer lost the special congressional election. Suddenly, this well-liked community leader faced being out of office after four years in the state Legislature.

…

Palmer finally asked Obama to halt his legislative campaign so she could run for re-election.

He refused. …”  Read more 

So there was some hoo-ha over the NV caucus process and the Hillbama people were calling each other nasty names and making all sorts of accusations. I came across this, somewhere in the middle of the pie-throwing:

The day after New Year’s 1996, operatives for Barack Obama filed into a barren hearing room of the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners.

There they began the tedious process of challenging hundreds of signatures on the nominating petitions of state Sen. Alice Palmer, the longtime progressive activist from the city’s South Side. And they kept challenging petitions until every one of Obama’s four Democratic primary rivals was forced off the ballot.

Petition challenging progressives and South Siders: a Republican tactic.

I know the Chicago Way is rough, but that crosses a line. This made my blood boil:  Read more