Obama rides personal, national political wave

updated 4:02 p.m. ET Nov. 18, 2006

WASHINGTON - When Sen. Barack Obama slipped into Sen. Robert Byrd’s Capitol office one day last year, he was seeking counsel from an elder who had been in the Senate since before Obama was born.

Senators these days, Byrd cautioned the young Illinois Democrat, become fixated on the White House.

“I remember the advice,” Obama said matter-of-factly in an interview with The Associated Press last week. “The importance of senators staying in the Senate.”

Obama has been in the Senate less than two years. Now he is thinking of running for president. Presumptuous?

“In a country of 300 million people,” he said with a laugh, “there is a certain degree of audacity required for anybody to say, ‘I’m the best person to lead this country.”’

He is not saying that yet. But plenty of people want him to, and he probably will make up his mind in the next few weeks.

It is hard to fathom Obama’s meteoric rise in politics.

Meteoric rise
Three years ago he was little-known, a black state senator with an interesting family history and impressive academic credentials. Now polls show him as the top alternative to New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton in the early chase for the Democratic presidential nomination. No matter that neither senator has announced an intention to run.

Two years ago, Obama gave the keynote address at the Democratic National Convention. Since then, he has:

• taken a high-profile trip to Africa.
• campaigned vigorously for congressional candidates.
• published a second, best-selling book.
• acknowledged that he is considering running for the White House.

On Monday, Obama plans a speech on Iraq at the Council of Foreign Relations, a requisite stop for prominent politicians seeking to showcase their foreign policy chops. Clinton spoke to the group last month.

Both she and Obama have embraced a phased withdrawal of U.S. troops that is tied to specific benchmarks rather than a time.

“I don’t know how you change the course without sending a strong signal to the Iraqi government that we are not going to maintain a permanent presence in the midst of civil war,” he said in the interview.

Obama, 45, clearly benefits from his rapid rise. He is not burdened by a lengthy Senate voting record. This year’s election made him a prize campaign draw, exposing him to crowds across the country and earning useful chits from candidates in states key to the presidential hunt.

‘Interested in his thought process’
Sen. Richard Durbin, the senior senator from Illinois and the No. 2 Senate Democrat, urged Obama to hit the hustings in Iowa, home to the first presidential caucuses. As a result of those visits, Durbin said, “I think more people in Iowa are interested in his thought process about the future.”

Obama is consulting with some experienced political strategists. Among them are Chicago-based David Axelrod, a senior adviser to John Edwards’ 2004 presidential campaign; David Plouffe, a former aide to House Democratic leader Richard Gephardt, and Steve Hildebrand, who ran Vice President Al Gore’s campaign in Iowa in 2000.

Other potential Democratic candidates, however, are further along.

Clinton has millions left from her easy re-election campaign this year. Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts also has millions in hand from his 2004 presidential race. Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack already has set up his campaign committee.

‘He can attract the talent’
Political operatives and fundraisers predict that a candidate who wants to be credible as a presidential hopeful must have at least $20 million in the bank by June. Obama is a proven fundraiser, amassing nearly $15 million in his 2004 Senate race and more than $4 million for his political action committee.

“If he decides to run ... he can put the money together and he can attract the talent,” Axelrod said.

MORE FROM POLITICS

Politics Section Front

Senate Dems near health care agreement   Obama set to extend bank bailout fund General: Bin Laden capture key to U.S. efforts Congress readies huge year-end spending bill Gate-crashers to take the Fifth if subpoenaed Mass. voters pick nominees in Senate primaries Obama outlines bailout for Main Street Lieberman appears open to health bill deal Report: States cut tobacco prevention funds Mayor sorry for Obama 'Peanuts' accusation Politics Section Front   Add Politics headlines to your news reader: