Obama’s Ego and The Story of America He Told

On November 28, 2006, David Axelrod wrote Barack Obama a memo in which he offered advice on whether or not the rising star in the Senate should run for President. He wrote, “You are uniquely suited for these times. No one among the potential candidates within our party is as well positioned to rekindle our lost idealism as Americans and pick up the mantle of change. No one better represents a new generation of leadership, more focused on practical solutions to today’s challenges than old dogmas of the left and right. That is why your Convention speech resonated so beautifully.” Few politicians in American history have risen to prominence and fame faster than Obama did following his 2004 Democratic National Convention speech. But for a junior Senator to consider a run for the country’s highest office required a rare confidence. During Obama’s campaign I remember one of my cousins told me, “There are very few people in the world that think they should be the most powerful person on the planet, that they are deserving of that responsibility.” Obama was one such person.

And why not believe it was possible? For more than a decade he heard friends tell him he should run for President. The first time Axelrod heard Obama’s name came when he received a call from his friend Bettylu Saltzman. She told him, “I want you to meet this young guy who’s running Project Vote…I know…