Obama takes first big step for the White House

The man who could become America's first black president launched his drive yesterday to win the Democratic nomination in the coming battle for the White House. Barack Obama, 45, who was elected to the Senate only two years ago but is already a political phenomenon, is seen by many as the most charismatic and electable alternative to Hillary Clinton.

He said he was forming a presidential exploratory committee in a bid for the nomination and in response to a hunger "for a different kind of politics". This allows him to hire staff and raise money for the Democratic primary contest in a year's time. With President George W Bush's popularity slumping towards 30 per cent, Democrats believe 2008 will be their year.

Mr Obama, the son of a Kenyan goat herder and a white mother from Kansas who met in Hawaii, burst on to the scene late last year when he indicated that he might abandon a pledge to serve a full six-year Senate term and run for the White House.

With a friendly, moderate manner, a trim torso that was recently featured in People magazine and a life story that makes him difficult to pigeonhole, the former Harvard law student is seen by some Democratic strategists as the answer to their prayers.

His opposition to the Iraq war since 2002, when he was a state senator in Illinois, exposes a big vulnerability of Mrs Clinton, who quickly became the early Democratic front-runner but has been criticised by party activists for refusing to apologise for voting to authorise the Iraq invasion.

Mr Obama seized the initiative in a video on his website yesterday.

Advertisement"Our leaders in Washington seem incapable of working together in a practical, common sense way," he said. "Politics has become so bitter and partisan, so gummed up by money and influence, that we can't tackle the big problems that demand solutions.

"We have to change our politics, and come together around our common interests and concerns as Americans." He said that he would announce a final decision on running in Illinois on Feb 10. This puts huge pressure on Mrs Clinton, 59, to follow suit to prevent his candidacy gathering too much momentum.

Mrs Clinton has a formidable political and fund-raising machine as well as her husband Bill's electioneering expertise to draw on.

But many senior Democrats believe she is too polarising a figure and could not win a presidential election. However, she has kept a low profile in recent weeks and some of her aides argue that the Obama bubble will burst once he is held up to real scrutiny.

It is still a year before Democrats vote in the primaries and almost two before the 2008 election. In an unprecedented move, the first Democratic debates are being held early ? in April ? and it would be risky for Mrs Clinton to cede centre stage for too long to Mr Obama. Some in her camp believe his run could only shore up the former First Lady because he is too young and untested and could be tempted to withdraw if he were promised a vice-presidential slot.

NYTimes