the president is a phone call away

Here's a cool article from last week on 25-year-old Eugene Kang, who is, in many ways, President Barack Obama's right hand man. Need some phone time with the President? First, you need to speak with Eugene Kang: Ann Arbor native is at Obama's side. He's also Obama's "special projects coodinator."

According to the article, Kang shuttles between tasks for the president in the West Wing and organizing events in the political affairs shop in the adjacent Eisenhower Executive Office Building. He sets up phone calls to everyone from a governor to a grassroots activist.

How did Kang get such a plum gig? A native of Ann Arbor, Michigan, he developed an early interest in politics. As a student at the University of Michigan, he unsuccessfully ran for Ann Arbor city council. But after college, he landed a job in Chicago working in the political affairs shop of the early Obama Campaign.

During the campaign, he drummed up support Asian American support for Obama, traveled with the candidate, and even carried Obama's cell phone -- nicknamed "the Bat phone." I guess he's still doing that phone thing... for the President of the United States. Indeed, he is the guy behind the guy.