I finally got around to reading Ryan Lizza's piece on Barack Obama in the New Yorker this week. WIth the hoo-ha about the cover illustration, one might never know that there was a kick-ass article inside. 

I highly recommend this one, if you want to (a) read an account of a political predator's rise through the ranks, (b) get a taste for politics-as-bloodsport, Chicago-style, or (c) want a clearer picture of Obama than has so far been painted in the press. It's no secret that he's not the progressive that many thought he was, but I must admit I was surprised by what a Machiavellian opportunist Obama is apparently. Indeed many old allies don't want much to do with him because he's failed to "bring his constituency" with him in his meteoric rise.

As for Hillary supporters' charge that Obama's a light weight speechifier? Hardly. This guy's a shark. The story of how he won his state senate seat should put that notion to rest (I thought that was the most riveting part of Lizza's article).

From what I've seen as a detached observor of easily the most fascinating election season in my lifetime, McCain doesn't know what he's up against. And judging by this article anyway, most democrats don't know who they're nominee really is.