Obama’s time to shine...

On a cloudy morning in mid-June, with polls showing Barack Obama competitive with Hillary Clinton in key states and the question hanging over him of whether he can parlay his status as the potential savior of the Democratic Party—and depending on whom you talk to, perhaps even America—into actual votes, Obama is on his way to clinch the endorsement of a South Carolina mortician. Later today, the senator will deliver a widely covered speech in Spartanburg and wow a rally in Greenville, but right now he and his nine-car motorcade are quietly slipping into the rural heart of the state for a private meeting, one not listed on his official schedule, with Anne Parks, a funeral director who also happens to be a state representative—and thus a local power broker worthy of a presidential candidate’s attention—who demanded the senator come pay his respects in return for her support.

GQ.com