The early start to the 2008 White House race, with a plethora of Senate candidates, will pose a management issue for Senate Democratic leaders. Having even one member absent for an important close vote could become a problem. With Democrats in control, the workweek is longer. That makes it logistically harder for candidates to skip out to campaign.  

The senators putting together White House campaigns, on the Democratic side, include Sens. Barack Obama (D-Ill.), who filed his exploratory papers on Tuesday, and Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.), who is expected to make a move by the end of the month. They join Sens. Joseph Biden Jr. (D-Del.), Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) and John Kerry (D-Mass.).

On the GOP side, the list of hopefuls covers Sens. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.), Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.) and John McCain (R-Ariz.).

Each of the eight senators faces enormous fundraising pressures because of the front-loading of the primary season. Fundraising takes time and travel. Even with a healthy Internet revenue flow, contenders have to show up at dinners and events to maximize campaign cash opportunities. Clinton has the best surrogate of the bunch: her husband.

The very first debates for the 2008 presidential cycle are already scheduled for April in New Hampshire. It’s doubtful the senatorial rivals will bond to the point of having an unspoken non-aggression pact when it comes to highlighting missing votes or important committee hearings. But even if the official oppo research staffs stood down, the 2008 cycle will spawn a new Internet-fueled generation of citizen researchers who will have access to blog outlets.

Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) credits Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) for this quip about their ambitious colleagues: Wyden and Durbin were forming the designated-drivers caucus so they could drive the business of the Senate while their colleagues who are intoxicated with the prospect of running can sit in the backseat.
 
OBAMA’S LAND OF LINCOLN

With only two years in the Senate, Obama will seek to dilute the germane question of his experience level by running against Washington.

Obama’s official entrance on the presidential stage will be in Springfield, Ill., on Feb. 10, Abraham Lincoln’s birthday weekend.

Obama was a state senator when he started running for the Senate in 2004.

Rather than be associated with Chicago — and have reporters do stand-ups in front of his South Side mansion to talk about his White House run — Obama may want to focus attention to the heartland side of his biography.

The Springfield kickoff will marry the Obama political narrative with Lincoln’s own quick rise. Like Lincoln, Obama served in the Illinois General Assembly before being elected to Congress and the White House. Obama, the son of a Kenyan, will speak in the city once called home by Lincoln, the president who freed the African slaves.

A Lincoln theme also serves to underscore the Obamaian centerpiece theme of bipartisanship or nonpartisanship. Lincoln, the Republican, delivered his famous “house divided” speech at the old State House in Springfield on June 16, 1858.

Sweet is the Washington bureau chief for the Chicago Sun-Times. E-mail: This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it