Obama’s Letters from Home

Having been raised in New York I’m familiar with the way politicians coming out of some big city environments can have a few skeletons in their closet, either large or small. But when you run for President, it seems that every last bone will eventually come sliding out onto the dinner table. (Which can really ruin the appeal of your centerpiece, according to Martha.) It seems the same holds true for Chicago, so Senator Obama is probably getting tired of seeing things like this getting dug up by Jim Geraghty at The Campaign Spot. It seems that a number of Barack Obama’s records as an Illinois State Senator from 1997 to 2000 are “not available.”

There’s a shock.

His state legislative office records may have been thrown out, he told us.

He’s never released a specific list of law clients, instead giving a list of all of his firm’s clients, numbering several hundred each year. His campaign will only confirm representation when the media comes to them with a specific case.

He won’t release his application to the state bar.

Once again, there could be perfectly innocent explanations for all of these things, though one wonders if public officials generally don’t keep more specific records. But I will agree with Geraghty on at least one question:

Does it bother anyone that a guy with political ambitions for his entire adult life has not left a paper trail?

I understand that supporters of his opponent will look for any scrap which can be brought to bear. Seriously… I get it. And I disagree with the perception that Obama has left no paper trail. But the amount of time that Senator Obama has had to invest scrambling for old records, delaying the release of others which turn out to be perfectly mundane in appearance, or simply losing things certainly isn’t helping the general impression. He also apparently doesn’t have any of his correspondence with his constituents from that period according to the link above. Obama has been an up and coming politician for quite a while. For this new era, as we leave behind the “politics as usual,” accountability would seem like a no-brainer. Was this sloppy record keeping, or is there really an October surprise waiting in the wings? Stay tuned.