was very good for Barack Obama, no so much for the down and out people of South Chicago says the New York Times:
It is clear that the benefit of those years to Mr. Obama dwarfs what he accomplished. [According to the man who hired Obama], "we made very little progress, nothing that would change poverty on the South Side of Chicago."There isn't actually much new in this NY Times piece that other papers haven't reported on previously. It is well known that Obama made great efforts to turn community meetings into something like agitprop set pieces, with the words said by residents scripted by Obama in advance, and even the order of those speaking decided in advance by Obama. The one significant factual error in the article is the idea that Obama didn't use Saul Alinsky style confrontation tactics. In fact, Obama coordinated his efforts with groups like ACORN, which provided the muscle and intimidation in Obama's Kabuki-like political events.