Like most Americans, Barack Obama first entered my consciousness with his keynote speech at the 2004 DNC Convention. Maybe it was the exultation of hearing for the first time the soaring rhetoric for which he has become so famous, made all that much more amazing in contrast to the painful chewing of words and malapropisms of George W. Bush. Maybe it was that Barack Obama appealed to the intelligence and altruistism of his listeners rather than shutting it down in the monotone lecturings of then-candidate John Kerry. Maybe it was a little bit of both and more. Whatever the cause, the speech was electrifying and I’m sure that I was not the only person sitting saying “If this country ever elects an African American for president, it’s going to be Barack Obama.”

Stop me if you've heard this one… A lesser-known candidate attracts a small following of dedicated supporters by the promise of being different than your usual Washington DC elected officials. Taking advantage of these supporters' talent in getting the word out over the internet, scheduling meetups of other potential supporters, raising funds and generally building up a wave of enthusiasm that carries the candidate to national prominence, that same candidate starts taking on the trappings of traditional politicians—consultants, pollsters, campaign managers from inside the Beltway—and slowly, but heartbreakingly surely, the candidate moves away from those netroots supporters that got him where he was.