He ran a smart race, snarled, boasted, was entertaining, campaigned in a sweatshirt ("Retaliate in '98"), sat in on the televised debates with his two opponents (who didn't bother to mess with him), kept saying he was no politician and expressed himself more bluntly than had been customary in Minnesota politics.
David Warren, president of the Arab-American Anti-Discrimination Committee, said he told Mr. Obama last week that many Arab-Americans are disappointed that he hasn't taken a more active role in the long-snarled peace process.