The political transformation of Barack Obama

By: Jim VandeHei
Politico.com
February 9, 2012 04:41 AM EST

There are two indisputable facts about politics.

The first is that every modern president in the fourth year of his presidency resorts to the cheap political stunts, broken promises and truth-fudging it takes to win reelection in what has been and will be a 50-50 nation. The reason is simple: Politics is not clean-living; it’s survival.

The second is that Barack Obama, for all his talk of moving beyond conventional political tricks, is doing just that, which wouldn’t be so glaring had it not been for his incessant call for a newer, cleaner and more transparent paradigm for American politics.

So much for the high road: Victory is more important than purity.

(More here.)