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Look, Barack Obama knows that people are clamoring for him to run for president in 2008. We're sure that was evident the second he stepped off the podium after his goosebump-inducing 2004 Democratic Convention speech. But just in case the Big O (is it too early to make a nickname for him?) doesn't get it, one of his former Illinois senatorial opponents, Dan Hynes, held a press conference yesterday to beat the drum again. "We are a nation divided like at almost no other time in our history," Hynes said. "I believe Barack Obama can change this, that he, and he alone can restore the hope and optimism that has made this country great."
Hynes, who is kicking off his re-election campaign for State Comptroller, hosted his news conference just days before Obama heads to Iowa to give a keynote speech at Iowa Senator Tom Harkin's annual steak fry. Hynes' Republican opponent in the comptroller's race, state Sen. Carole Pankau, says he's just touting Obama because he wants to run for his vacated Senate seat again. Of course, any time a politician with even a whiff of presidential pedigree sets foot in Iowa, it sets off speculation about when he or she will run. Not doing anything to quell speculation, apparently Obama's new book, The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream, basically reads like a potential campaign platform. But Obama has denied from day one that he wants to run for president in '08. If you're that anxious though, you can already buy some T-shirts and bumper stickers to get the campaign rolling. But patience we must have. If Chicagoist were a betting man, we'd say Obama will make his run in 2012, when a certain former First Lady wasn't hell-bent on getting out from her husband's shadow.
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The more I learn about Obama, the more I'm impressed- still, am I the only one who thinks he needs to do at least 2 terms in the Senate before he goes for the brass ring? It just seems disingenuous to jump at the presidency without even putting in 1 full term.
Still, I'd back him before any of the other folks supposedly running.
Sten: I agree. I like most of what I've seen so far, but I am still not sure exactly what he stands for, and I've yet to see him put his neck on the line for anything. I realize he's a freshman, and that takes time, and prior political experience isn't everything--Lincoln, for instance, had relatively little. Additionally, he's yet to weather bad press or controversy, or deal with a big mistake--so far, he's existed in a glow. I'd like to see how he handles himself under more pressure.
God help the Dems if they nominate Hillary. They may as well hand over the WH to the GOP and get it over with.
Hils will totally be denied in the primary, because 2008 is Al Gore's year.
Shit, he already won once, he can do it again I'm sure.
Wait, didn't Hynes run against Obama in the primary? Maybe he's trying to get Obama a promotion not just out of the kindness of his heart and concern for the American people.