'Tribune' Writer Discusses Covering Obama's Political Career

David Mendell is the author of "Obama: From Promise to Power," published August 2007 by Amistad/HarperCollins. Over his tenure at The Chicago Tribune, Mendell has also covered breaking national news including the Columbine High School shootings and the Seattle riots spurred by meetings of the World Trade Organization. From October 2003 to November 2004, Mendell covered Barack Obama's U.S. Senate campaign for the Tribune. Having gained intimate access to Obama and his top aides, the journalist spent nearly three years thereafter researching and writing a biography of the Senator.

Alexander Heffner: What has been your reaction to Barack Obama's "bitter" comments to a group of Democratic fund-raisers in California?

David Mendell: I kind of buy the explanation I've seen him give. He was trying to say something he's said many times, and he kind of blew. You find yourself trying to say the same thing every [time]. He hasn't divorced himself from the word "bitter." The "clinging" was not the phrase he was looking for. I think he misspoke in what he was trying to say.

AH: What about the charges that he is out of touch with the meat-and-potatoes middle-class American voter?

DM: He certainly is someone who is intellectually elite in many ways, magna cud laude, Harvard University Law. If he's not being fed intellectually by somebody, there can be a disconnect there. There is a bit of an intellectual elitism about him, but he has compassion and empathy for people.

AH: After the revelations of Obama's associations with Rev. Wright, what is next that we don't know about this political newcomer?

DM: If there was something in his political closet, I would let people know. In the context of his quotes, the perceptions in certain White communities are politically damaging. I didn't feel he was full of rage and anger at White society. The mainstream White culture has done some things that are wrong in their history. Did I think that someday Rev. Wright's sermons [might] damage Obama? Yes. In terms of stories that could hurt Obama, votes he took in the Illinois state legislature—he was a proponent of helping ex-felony offenders—could be problematic. There were some bills in which he voted against higher penalties for gang members.

AH: What is the crux of what voters should know about Obama's ties to indicted slum landlord Tony Rezco?

DM: What has not come forward is that Obama benefited from [the] Rezko connection. He's damaged Obama's record. Without Tony Rezco, it's questionable if Obama would be where he is today. Without that initial money, he may not have been able to launch a credible [campaign].

AH: Take us through the evolution of your access to Barack Obama as his closest journalistic observer?

DM: I was the guy who had the most access. The Chicago Tribune, when it covers a major race, it traditionally has dedicated a reporter to each side (for each party's candidate). I was in that campaign vehicle for weeks, without aides between us. It first occurred to me that once he got the nomination, that access would be diminished a little bit. He would then be a front-runner in the race, and you want to diminish your time with reporters when you're ahead. Then he brought in Robert Gibbs.

AH: And once he secured his Senate seat?

DM: Once he was elected, access to him was severely curtailed as he tried to take a much lower decibel level. Now the guy whom I use to run around with and bullshit … about kids, sports, and music, is all gone. It's almost out of his life. Even aides: Are they writing a book about this?

AH: Have you remained objective covering a candidate who is clearly an attractive political phenomenon to many Americans?

DM: I've tried to be very fair and balanced in what I have to say. You have so many people who think he's a four-headed monster, and then you've got his supporters who think he can walk on water. He's somewhere between those two images.

AH: Obama has prided himself on being an "above-the-fray" politician who represents, as he calls it, "a new kind of politics." But yet—to a surprisingly large degree—his spokespeople have engaged in the same kind of negative campaigning we've seen in the past.

DM: Well, that's true. He has surrogates who do the dirty work for him … who level accusations and fight. The candidate tries to stay above the fray, and the spokesman usually does that stuff. You don't want it to come down to him. Some of it can be very vicious, mean. But I didn't find him to be that kind of individual who has much respect or tolerance for that type of campaigning.

AH: In terms of general election strategy, what are your expectations for Obama's presidential prospects?

DM: Right now, I think he relishes foreign policy debate because of the Iraq war. It's been very helpful to him. He would love to have a debate with John McCain going forward in Iraq. I think he's willing to put his lack of experience up against McCain's experience, in terms of where they stand on this issue.

AH: At this point in Obama's political life, how often do you still see inaccuracies in who Americans believe he is?

DM: I often serve as their corrective. I don't know that the Muslim stuff has any legs to it. He is a brand new figure, and that's something that draws a lot of people to him, because he still has a different sounding name and his father is black. Black culture is a little alien to them—that happens all the time in Black churches. There are these things that are different from mainstream culture that are part of him that could make some people wary of him. If that is exploited well enough politically, it could be done. I think the Muslim story has run its course.

AH: What parallels, if any, do you view between Obama and JFK?

DM: I did read Robert Dallek's biography of JFK researching my book about Obama. There were some similarities. Obama was far ahead of Kennedy with respect to campaigning from the very beginning. He's got a God-given gift of oratory. Each campaign has tried to convey an aura of a fresh, young, vibrant face, and has tried to market this new image of a person who can change things in Washington is parallel. Both JFK and Obama look good on TV, when how you look means a lot. There's a lot of the Camelot thing going on.