Crew has rowed in presidential waters before

CHICAGO --The political team behind Barack Obama's meteoric rise from rookie senator to presidential nominee was trained by three lawmakers whose own White House ambitions fell short.

Among them:

*Campaign manager David Plouffe, who once worked for Dick Gephardt, a Missouri congressman whose best presidential effort came in 1988 with a victory in the leadoff Iowa caucuses.

*David Axelrod, Obama's chief strategist. He piloted Paul Simon's U.S. Senate win in 1988. Simon, known for his bow ties and drive to overhaul government, died in 2003. Simon's presidential high point: coming in second to Gephardt in 1988.

*Fundraising director Julianna Smoot, communication specialists Dan Pfeiffer and Anita Dunn, and Senate chief of staff Pete Rouse were all groomed by Senate Democratic leader Tom Daschle, who flirted with a 2004 presidential campaign. Dunn also worked for Sen. Bill Bradley of New Jersey, a candidate for president in ...