He was a state senator for a full term, and a US Senator for a partial term (and very active as a political, if not elected, figure before that, which is what being a “community organizer” is.)

> considering the others who make it their entire careers and never reach the pinnacle.

Sure, by that standard anyone who succeeds does so meteorically, since only a handful do per generation, while many spend whole careers in politics. But that just means the standard is nonsense.