CBS’s crack reporting

JULIE CHEN: Between now and election day, we're going to hear a lot about Barack Obama and John McCain. But are we going to learn anything about them personally? Today, 'The Five Things You Should Know,' and we begin with Barack. "Early Show" national correspondent Jeff Glor is here. Good morning, Jeff. JEFF GLOR: Good morning Julie. And with all due respect to David Letterman here as well. After a grueling primary campaign that lasted 16 months, you'd think everything has been revealed. But here are the top five things you likely don't know about Barack Obama. BARACK OBAMA: I'm the son of a black man from Kenya and a white woman from Kansas.

GLOR: Okay. So that one you've probably heard by now. But among the top five things we learned about Barack Obama that you might not know, number five — no shrinking violet. When he was still a Harvard law student, Obama was dating the boss. LYNN SWEET: Obama was a summer associate of a Chicago law firm and Michelle Obama, then Michelle Robinson, was a supervisor. That's how they met. ROBERT GIBBS: She said she couldn't date one of the summer interns, and he said that was fine, he would leave the law firm. She finally agreed to go out with him.

GLOR: It was an early example of brash determination paying off. SWEET: It has been said that he knows how to use his elbows. GLOR: Number four — in addition to enjoying basketball and cycling during down time, Obama loves to play Scrabble. GIBBS: It's his favorite game to play. He'll play with his family and particularly his sister. And the winner gets bragging rights for a long, long time. SWEET: You go for a word that is just interesting or exotic or do you go for the points?

GLOR: Number three — many people know Obama made history at Harvard by becoming the first African-American president of the Law Review. But did you know it was the conservative students who gave him the victory? GIBBS: I think it would be a surprise for some people today that the conservative faction, along with another group, threw its support to Barack Obama because he believed they'd give him — he'd give everyone a fair shake. GLOR: Number two — if you're wondering about that GQ look, don't expect stories about fancy custom tailoring. OBAMA: I basically buy five of the same suit and then I patch them up and wear them repeatedly. SWEET: I interviewed him. I said where do you get your suits? And he says he bought them off the rack at Nordstrom's and Bloomingdale's.

GLOR: And the number one thing you may not have known about Barack Obama — for the man who wants to usher in a new era of politics, he first won office as a state senator by using some old-school Chicago tactics. SWEET: He simply knocked his main competitor off the ballot. He challenged her nominating petitions. Her 'I's weren't dotted, her 'T's weren't crossed. He challenged her signatures. She was knocked off and bingo, that's how he first got into office.

GLOR: Yep, it was a technicality. Now one more thing we learned that didn't quite make our list, Julie. Obama's job as a teenager was at a Baskin Robins and to this day he does not like ice cream. CHEN: Really? GLOR: I mean, I think one thing that really emerges, this is a man who plays to win. No matter what it is, whether it's the woman wants to date or elected office or board games, there is an ambition there. There is a determination. CHEN: Sounds like presidential qualities.

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