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Politics

Obama opens the door to a presidential run

The Democratic senator reverses course and says he will soon consider candidacy.

By Washington Post
Published October 23, 2006

WASHINGTON - Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., opened the door to a 2008 presidential campaign Sunday, saying he has begun to weigh a possible candidacy and will make a decision after the November elections.

"Given the responses that I've been getting over the last several months, I have thought about the possibility, but I have not thought about it with the seriousness and depth that I think is required," Obama said on NBC's Meet the Press. "After Nov. 7, I'll sit down and consider it, and if at some point I change my mind, I will make a public announcement and everybody will be able to go at me."

Until Sunday, Obama, one of the brightest stars in the party since electrifying the 2004 Democratic National Convention with his keynote address, had said he planned to serve out the full six years of his Senate term, which would have ruled out a presidential or vice presidential campaign in 2008. He stated that position twice before on Meet the Press - soon after winning his Senate seat in 2004 and again in January 2006.

But Democrats around the country have encouraged him to consider a campaign and there has been fevered speculation inside the party about the possibility that he will do so. His advisers have been forced to adjust timetables for a possible run in later elections and have begun to do the research that will help Obama make his decision.

New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton is considered the early front-runner for the Democratic nomination. Obama opposes the war in Iraq and thus could provide an alternative for Democrats who have expressed strong concern about Clinton's support of the war effort.

In addition, Obama, who is black, would almost surely cut deeply into Clinton's own political base, black voters.

Party strategists said that, if voters are looking for change in 2008, Obama would symbolize that better than many of the other possible candidates. But having served just two years in the Senate and seven in the Illinois state Senate, Obama has a thin resume upon which to build a presidential candidacy. He was asked Sunday whether he was ready to be president.

"I'm not sure anybody is ready to be president before they're president," he told moderator Tim Russert. "You know, ultimately, I trust the judgment of the American people that in any election they sort it through. We have a long and a rigorous process and, you know, should I decide to run, if I ever did decide to run, I'm confident that I'd be run through the paces pretty good."

Obama, 45, was elected to the Senate in 2004 with 70 percent of the vote. Even before winning that election he became a nationally recognized politician with his keynote address in Boston. He is one of the party's most sought-after speakers and draws sizable crowds.

He is currently on a nationwide tour promoting his new book, The Audacity of Hope. An earlier book became a national bestseller after his convention keynote address in 2004. He also has appeared on the covers of Time magazine and Gentleman's Quarterly.

In his appearance Sunday, Obama said pursuit of the presidency cannot be based on celebrity and conceit. "It can't be something that you pursue on the basis of vanity and ambition," he said. "I think there's a certain soberness and seriousness required when you think about that office that is unique."

Obama advisers said Sunday there has been little formal analysis done in preparation for a possible campaign and agreed they will now accelerate that work.

But they said they are confident Obama could raise the money to run and noted that he already has many offers from people to work in a campaign.

"He understands it's a lot easier when you're the subject of speculation than when you're in the arena battling it out," said David Axelrod, one of Obama's advisers. "I think that there's evaluative work to be done, but there are a lot of encouraging signs."

A large field of prospective candidates awaits Obama, if he decides to run. They include Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry, former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards, Delaware Sen. Joseph Biden, Connecticut Sen. Christopher Dodd, Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson and Wisconsin Sen. Russ Feingold. Some Democrats hope former Vice President Al Gore will jump in. Former Virginia Gov. Mark Warner announced this month that he will not run.

Barack Obama

Age: 45

Job: Elected as U.S. senator from Illinois in 2004.

Experience: Seven years in the Illinois state Senate; civil rights lawyer.

Education: Graduated from Columbia University in 1983; Harvard Law School in 1991.

Family: Wife, Michelle, and daughters, Malia, 8, and Sasha, 4.

www.obama.senate.gov/about

[Last modified October 23, 2006, 01:56:39]