Obama’s missing friends and neighbors

It’s been months since the election, but something still bugs me.  I live in, and have lived in, multiple communities:  Elementary school, junior high school, high school, college, law school, year in England, my legal career (and friendships), my neighborhood, and my community from a parenting perspective.  I’m a gregarious type, so lots of people know me from each era but, even if I weren’t so outgoing, a few people would know me from each of those times in my life.

What I’m still struggling with is the fact that, despite a similar path to mine (schools, professional affiliations, neighborhood and parenting community), no one has ever come forward to tells stories, good or bad, about Obama. It’s as if, in each environment, he didn’t exist.  He made no friends, he made no enemies, he left no memories.

How can someone be such a nonentity, and then suddenly burst on the political scene as the essence of charisma?  People are what they are.  They’re shy or outgoing or down to earth or fun-loving.  But this is a man who switched from cipher to cynosure in a matter of months.  I cannot figure this out, and would be delighted if someone could explain to me the missing people from Obama’s past, as well as his apparent transformation from putz to prince.