Yesterday, in front of 15,00o supporters, Sen. Barack Obama (D-Illinois) officially announced his bid for the White House. From the base of the old state Capitol, where Abe Lincoln once stood and orated, Obama pledged his commitment to the country and its people, but not to its politics."What's stopped us is the failure of leadership, the smallness of our politics, the ease with which we're distracted by the petty and trivial, our chronic avoidance of tough decisions, our preference for scoring cheap political points," Obama said. "The time for that kind of politics is over," he added. "It's time to turn the page."
Calling for a change in the way things are handled isn't a new strategy for those facing the party of an incumbent, but with opposition to the Iraq at an all-time high and with a new proposed budget of 300 trillion dollars (I feel 5 years old when I say that number aloud), Obama and his fellow Democrats may need little other reason to gain votes.
Obama has been in the news a lot recently, which many offer as a reason for his popularity. Several weeks ago, Obama had been noted as having started a presidential exploratory committee, and just last week several news outlets ran stories chronicling his fight to quit cigarettes.
According to the L.A. Times, Obama is generally regarded as one of the top three Democratic White House hopefuls — behind Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York, ahead of former Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina. This is good, but if he wants to gain any serious momentum against Ol' Lady Clinton, we need to hear more about his goals and less about his personal life.
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