In the News The Chicago School

November 5, 2008

“Here's this Harvard guy with well modulated eloquence. What does he know about the black struggle?”
Salim Muwakkil, Columnist, Chicago Tribune

Since he first ran for public office in 1996, Barack Obama has lost only one election -- to former Black Panther Bobby Rush, a popular incumbent who beat the pants off him in a Chicago congressional race. Ever the quick study, Obama learned valuable lessons about coalition-building, picked himself up, and never looked back. The rest is, well, you know what the rest is.

This excerpt from Dreams of Obama, which airs next Tuesday on PBS, is the story of the President-elect's lone electoral stumble. If you prefer not to wait until then, you can see the entire program now, by clicking here.