Chapter VII: The myth of Obama as state Senate reformer

Shortly after Barack Obama won the 2008 presidential election, Prairie State Blue, a liberal blog, attributed his victory to the fact that Illinois’ deeply entrenched government corruption had forced “political reformers” in the state legislature like Obama “to network outside the traditional political circles.”

The claim illustrated Obama’s success throughout his career at presenting himself as an outsider and reformer even as he became a skillful operator inside one of the nation’s most corrupt political systems.