Obama becomes rising star among Democrats

The conjecture builds as the national media continues to debate, "Will he or won't he?"

CHRIS MATTHEWS, HOST, HARDBALL: Is he going to run?

JONATHAN ALTER, NEWSWEEK: I think Obama definitely has the edge.

DAVID GERGEN, PRESIDENTIAL HISTORIAN: The time has come. He's got to go now.

On a frigid February morning in 2007, Barack Obama ends the speculation and embarks on a an historic journey.

OBAMA: Let me begin by saying thanks to all of you. I know it's a little chilly, but I'm fired up.

Feb. 10, 2007, Springfield Illinois. On a bitter windswept day more than 15,000 people turn out for the announcement they've been waiting months to hear.

OBAMA: In the shadow of the old state Capitol where Lincoln once called on a house divided to stand together, where common hopes and common dreams still live, I stand before you today to announce my candidacy for President of the United States of America.

VALERIE JARRETT, SENIOR ADVISOR TO OBAMA CAMPAIGN: It was really one of the most exciting days of my life. And the busloads of us who went down to Springfield to cheer him on in a sub-zero day. You could just feel the chemistry and the energy in the crowd that day.

The Obama campaign gets off to a fast start. Obama raises $58 million during the first half of 2007, topping all other candidates. More than 16 million of his record-breaking total comes from small donors, those contributing increments of less than $200.

OBAMA: If everybody here decides they wanna get involved in the campaign and they wanna contribute $5, $10, get on the Internet, I don’t want to have to raise money in Hollywood all the time, I'd rather raise it right here in Austin." 

DONZIGER: To me it reflects the mindset of a community organizer. And when you apply that organizing strategy on a national scale, I think you see fantastic results that in many respects are unprecedented.

The race for cash quickly becomes the media's measure of success.

ANDREA MITCHELL, NBC CORRESPONDENT: It is a stunning turnaround in the Democratic race. Barack Obama now raising so much money that Sen. Hillary Clinton is no longer the clear frontrunner and presumptive nominee.

OBAMA: All of us have to say "Yes, we can."

Perhaps more than any time in a generation, a presidential candidate is stirring real excitement among young people, minorities and disaffected voters.

Video   'Obama Girl' has new video Jan. 4: Internet video star "Obama Girl" returns to the Web to support the Democratic presidential candidate during the primaries. MSNBC's Tamron Hall reports. MSNBC

CRAWFORD: Everything about Obama says, "This is different. This is new. This is the future." 

OBAMA: "I am confident that we are going to have an entirely new and better America. Thank you, Los Angeles. I love you."

Obama is candidate as rock star. One of YouTube most popular hits of 2007 is an independently made music video called "Obama Girl."

"OBAMA GIRL" VIDEO:"...cause I got a crush on Obama. I can't wait until 2008, baby, you're the best candidate."

But Obama fever doesn't catch on with everyone. And the conversation can get ugly.

BO DIETL, CHAIRMAN OF NEW YORK STATE SECURITY ADVISORY COUNCIL: What's his middle name, though? What's his middle name? What's his middle name?

DICK MORRIS, BILL CLINTON'S CAMPAIGN MANAGER: And Hussein, which is…

JOHN GIBSON, HOST, FOX NEWS: Bo, come on, look.

DIETL: Well, why don't we just say it as it is.

MORRIS: You're attempting the same racist garbage that you do all over the place.

GIBSON: Dick is making a point, Bo.

DIETL: No, that's not racist. Hey, let me explain something. That's not racist.

CRAWFORD: I've not ever seen a presidential candidate in a circumstance where saying his full name is a dirty trick. 

Hate mail directed at Obama prompts the Secret Service to take the unusual step of protecting the candidates earlier than ever before. 

MENDELL: There are times where I fear for his safety. We have a tendency in this country to extinguish someone who brings a feeling of great hope to the masses. There are times when we were on the campaign trail where I have to concede that I was walking next to a black politician who reminds people of Bobby Kennedy.

Hope and change is the Obama message, and people flock to it. But his rivals and skeptical voters demand more substance, and Obama faces a barrage of attacks on his readiness for office.

SEN. CHRIS DODD, D-CONN.: When he raised issues that are being raised about Pakistan, I think it's highly irresponsible for people who are running for the presidency, and seek that office to suggest that we may be able to unilaterally to invade a nation here that we're trying to get to be more co-operative with us in Afghanistan and elsewhere...

He gets criticized for being too inexperienced, too black, too white, too heavy on rhetoric and too light on policy.

OBAMA: I find it amusing that those who helped authorize and engineer the biggest foreign policy disaster in our generation, uh, are now criticizing for making sure that we are on the right battlefield and not the wrong battlefield in the war against terrorism....

He rolls on, block by block, state by state, inspiring more and more voters.

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