Looks like he's Running

WOW. Barack Obama really is running for president. It hit home last night when he took to the airwaves to comment on President Bush's speech, letting it slip that he had a meeting with Secretary of State Rice in her office before the speech where they explored these subjects. How much time does Rice spend with junior senators, JUST before the most important speech of Bush's presidency?

On MSNBC he told Keith Olbermann he would be willing to craft a solution — work with President Bush — but that it would require some openness. Obama said he didn't doubt Bush's sincerity, that he believes the president thinks his approach will work best, even though Obama disagrees. He said he didn't think that "relitigating the decision to go in is particularly fruitful," despite his objections to the war from the outset. "My point is that that shouldn't be a Republican or Democrat issue; that should be a realist versus ideological perspective. And I think the realists are winning out," he said.

Obama's comments weren't bipartisan; they were non-partisan. And he was so completely in command of the subject, and so confident in his conclusions it was as if he was describing his lifelong love of skateboarding while hunched over a beer with childhood friends.

Obama was back again on NBC this morning, this time interviewing with Meredith Vieira on the "Today" show. A formal announcement may not be imminent but he is no longer trying to keep us guessing. He knows Democrats are drooling over the prospects of the presidency and are watching the Obama phenomenon unfold, some with feverish excitement. Even before an announcement, enough excitement could get them to open their checkbooks.

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