Obama To Make It Official
Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, who will announce Saturday that he’s running for the Democratic presidential nomination, says the brevity of his political résumé is his “greatest strength.”
His work as a community organizer, civil rights attorney, constitutional law professor and state legislator “provides me with insights into solving problems at the federal level and at the local level and at the neighborhood level,” Obama said in an interview with USA TODAY. That experience “is what’s needed right now,” he said.
From the standpoint of a political junkie, the 2008 race is going to be very exciting, by all appearances. Both sides have a well-established mainstream candidate that no one is too thrilled about (I’m talking, of course, about Hillary and McCain), and a relatively fresh newcomer that gets people pumped up (Rudy and Obama). The smart money still says Hillary will face McCain in 2012 2008 (and, probably, win)…but that money is more scared than smart right now, and the fact of the matter is that any combination of the four may end up on top.
I can’t wait…
I wouldn’t be so sure about Hillary vs McCain. I may be projecting, but I do get the sense that there is a generalized fatigue with the idea of mainstream candidates like those two. Giuliani and Obama could wilt under the full-on campaign spotlight, but their appeal, as freshie outsiders, is very strong.
To the Democratic and Republican leadership Hillary and McCain are the “deserve it”, “its their time” candidates – I recall the selection of Bob Dole. This last election saw lots of change for change sake and in ’08 Hillary and McCain are the principle inside-the-beltway candidates.
Or at least one can hope for Giuliani/Obama. Well, this one, anyway.
Btw, did you really mean 2012 in this “…Hillary will face McCain in 2012…”?
Nope, thanks – I’ll correct that…
This is just my impression, but when the speculation about Obama started in earnest a month or two back, he seemed to get a sudden surge in the polls. But the polls I’ve seen lately seem to show Hillary still has a pretty commanding lead, which makes me wonder if Obama is mainly a canidate of political junkies, who get excited by the prospect of a real race.
I might be wrong, and obviously there’s still 11 months to go before Iowa, but I’m starting to wonder if he’s been overhyped before he’s even had a chance to be hyped.
In any event, I still would be glad to see him run, just because it’s nice to have someone like him, who believes in honest disagreements, and was smart enough to say, “One good test as to whether folks are doing interesting work is, Can they surprise me?” he tells me. “And increasingly, when I read Daily Kos, it doesn’t surprise me. It’s all just exactly what I would expect.” It sure makes for an interesting comparison with Edwards, who may have concluded his best shot as the anti-Hillary is to be the blogosphere candidate.
Dennis, that’s a good piece on Obama…I’m sorry I missed it the first time around…
The paralells to Hillary/ McCain and Rudy/ Giuliani are interesting, but don’t forget Edwards/ Romney. To wit:
1. Both candidates have won exactly one statewide election.
2. While both candidates won their election in enemy territory, so to speak, they both ran as very different (ie: more moderate) candidates in their statewide race than they are running now, and neither would win re-election to their old job if they wanted it.
3. Both candidates are trying to take down frontrunners for views that they themselves once held (Edwards on trade & Iraq; Romney on abortion, gun control & gay rights).
4. Great hair.
Excellent points, Sean. I’d also add that Edwards and Romney both get a lot more attention from pundits than their polling numbers would warrant, chiefly because they’re perceived as potentially attractive candidates. “Potentially” being the key word there.