Barack Obama

The hot candidate on the scene today seems to be Barack Obama, the freshman senator from Illinois, and I've kind of gotten excited about his prospects. He's young (he will be 47 in 2008) and extremely articulate. He doesn't have a ton of political experience, but I don't see that as a detriment. He hasn't been around long enough to inspire hatred from the red-state contingent (as a certain former First Lady has). I was recently at the Kennedy library, and he was there signing books the night before. Watching the old films of Kennedy and seeing Obama on TV I'm struck by certain similarities--they both have incredible poise and charisma, which in this day and age seems to more than half the battle.

Obama is of mixed race--an African father and a white mother. I think the country is more than ready for a president with such heritage. I'm sure there are many people still who would refuse to vote for a black man as president, but I don't think those people would vote for Hillary Clinton, either.

If Al Gore decides not to run and Obama does, I think Obama will be my guy. In my daydreams, though, it would be a Gore-Obama ticket, which I think would be very attractive.

Incidentally, Obama is, by about three months, younger than I am. The day that a person is older than the President of the United States must be a brutal one.