Barack Obama has filed the necessary papers to create a presidential exploratory committee. This is a strong sign that he is planning on making a run for the White House in 2008. Obama has as good a chance as anyone to get the Democrat's nomination and is definitely someone the Republicans should look closely at if they want to keep the White House for four more years.
Barack Obama is young, at least relative to Washington D.C. politicians. This works well for him. At 45 years old, he would be the second-youngest person ever to be elected president after John F. Kennedy. This is a strong point for him and would likely be a selling point for his campaign should he decide to run.
Numerous polls tell us Americans are losing faith in their representatives in Washington. People feel a large disconnect from their elected officials and political apathy is appallingly high. Obama could serve as a partial solution to the dilemma of bringing people back into the world of politics and getting them interested in what is happening on Capitol Hill. Obama is relatively new to the Washington game, and as such he has an air about him that shows us politicians are not all bad.
Obama's youthfulness does have drawbacks, though. Although he is very well educated, receiving his bachelors in Political Science from Columbia College and receiving a law degree from Harvard, he is new to the national political scene. He was elected to the U.S. Senate and has made his presence known. The majority of his political experience is as a state senator. This is experience, but national experience looks much stronger on a person's resume, especially when it comes to being president.
Obama is noted for working well with both Democrats and Republicans. He has worked extensively with Indiana Senator Richard Lugar in efforts to reduce the number of small missiles and other small arms that are produced. He wasted no time in the 109th Congress, sponsoring 152 bills as well as co-sponsoring an additional 427. He's not afraid of hard work and that will bode well for him if he decides to run in 2008.
I disagree with Senator Obama on a large host of issues. He supports Roe V. Wade while I do not. He voted against a Constitutional banning of flag desecration while I want to protect the flag from desecration. He voted to allow illegal immigrants to partake in Social Security while I feel it is wrong to cater to illegal immigrants. These are issues that are close to the hearts of a lot of voters and these issues will definitely come up in the election.
Although I disagree with him on a number of issues, I do recognize something very important at play here. People like Barack Obama. They like him because he seems very down-to-earth and, for many people, this is a breath of fresh air.
Democrats chose him to deliver the keynote address at the Democratic National Convention in 2004 in part because so many people look to him as the future of the Democratic Party. We'll just have to wait and see if he decides to take the leap and toss his hat into the ring to be the next President of the United States.
Write to Alex at apcarroll@bsu.edu
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