And Reggie Love, who played football and basketball at Duke, has learned a thing or two about Barack Obama.

Love now knows that when it comes to food, Obama "eats pretty much anything, from chicken wings and barbecue and ribs to grilled fish and steamed broccoli."

But when he is campaigning in a small town with limited options, a cheeseburger is always a good bet. "Cheddar is the cheese of choice," Love added.

He knows that "the boss," as he calls Obama, likes MET-Rx chocolate roasted-peanut protein bars and bottles of a hard-to-find organic brew -- Black Forest Berry Honest Tea. He keeps a supply of both on hand.

And he has learned that all campaigns have their superstitions -- Sen. John McCain has a penchant for heads-up coins -- and that Obama is no exception. That means that Love and Obama, for luck, play basketball every primary day.

Love, 26, is Obama's body man, the personal aide who shadows the senator and anticipates everything he needs -- and everything he does not need.

He is not a bodyguard (security is provided by the Secret Service), but rather the ultimate assistant, rarely more than a body length away from the candidate.

Young, eager campaign aides are stock characters in movies and on television, but few have quite the elan of Love, who, at 6 feet 5, is about 3 inches taller than the tall candidate, fitter than the fit candidate (he can bench press more than 350 pounds) and cooler than the cool candidate.

"There's no doubt that Reggie is cooler than I am," Obama said, laughing, in a phone interview. "I am living vicariously through Reggie."

Love usually starts the day with Obama with a dawn workout in the hotel gym. They end the day more than 15 hours later, often unwinding before bed by watching ESPN's "SportsCenter" or that night's big game. (Obama sometimes flosses his teeth to ESPN while lying down.)

What a body man does depends on the politician. Sen. John Kerry's aide for his presidential race in 2004 was dubbed "part butler, part buddy."

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton has a body woman, the efficient and glamorous Huma Abedin.

Obama said he regarded "my guy, Reggie," as the kid brother he never had. "But maybe I'm saying that just because he technically could be my son," the Illinois senator said. "I don't want to admit my age."

Taking care -- of stuff

Love said he had been hired with "no job description whatsoever." "It was just like, 'You just go out there and -- Take. Care. Of. Stuff,' " Love said, taking his time with each word.

Some of the "stuff" Love takes care of: When Obama makes calls to woo superdelegates, Love is at his side with a briefing book, dialing the numbers. When an outdoor speech ended on a windy day in Noblesville, Ind., he appeared behind Obama as he shook hands on the rope line. "Jacket?" he asked, a coat draped at the ready over his arm. When Obama dropped food on his tie while eating in the car between stops, Love was ready with a Tide pen. He always carries one, along with ballpoint pens, and has turned himself into a walking dispensary of Sharpies, stationery, protein bars, throat lozenges, water, tea, Advil, Tylenol, Purell and emergency Nicorette, not to mention his ever-present iPhone, BlackBerry and Canon Rebel XT digital camera. (Love keeps a photo journal of the campaign, and has more than 10,000 pictures so far.)

Compared with the even-tempered and self-controlled Obama, Love is raffish, always joking with the Secret Service and offering closed-fist high-fives to members of the news media. At a VFW hall in Indiana, he helped out when the senator did not want a second Budweiser, taking it off Obama's hands. Obama often mentions that Love was a wide receiver on a football scholarship at Duke who also walked onto the basketball team.

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