Republicans are signaling their Obama bombs: the most liberal Senator, an elitist and an extremist. Also, follower of the Rev. Jeremiah Wright and friend of Weathermen.

Also, under the table, an anti-American Muslim.

But the excellent, exhaustive profile of Obama the politician in The New York Times Sunday painted a far different picture. Obama is cautious, calculating and a damned good politician.

From day one in politics, he has constantly broadened his base and shifted his profile to become more centrist and more electable.

For all the “Obambi” criticism, he has proven to be a skilled operator. He is beating the toughest, smartest campaigners the Democratic Party produced in the last four decades: the Clintons.

Obama has a tough job ahead making himself acceptable to white Americans, as Hillary Clinton would say.

But the Clintons knew they had to redefine Bill in 1992 – from a draft-dodging, Yale-educated elitist to the Man From Hope. And they did it.

Real elitist politicians – like Michael Dukakis, Al Gore and John Kerry – didn’t know how.

My bet is that Obama knows how.

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