heh.

In my opinion this man is more a statesman than a politician.  Yes, he will run.  Will he announce this on Oprah?  Maybe, maybe not.  But this wouldn't surprise me.  Obama is one to watch, for sure.

He'll run, I think.  He won't have my support unless Edwards drops out.  Or Gore enters.

On Rasmussen's favorables, Obama is second among the Democrats, only behind John Edwards (but with lower unfavs, too).  Obama does about as well in their match-ups as Hillary and Gore (Edwards did the best), and he still has a pretty strong rating as a liberal, considering how little people know about him.

I'd be absolutely shocked if he doesn't. He's made every move you make if you're running for President short of actually declaring.

I guess I have to ask: what makes you think he won't?

He's in. I think he should totally go for the Oprah announcement. It's a virtually unmatchable platform.

Political Wire says to watch for possible announcement on Oprah Wednesday.

Obama said he would make up his mind while on vacation. The vacation is over and he has not said he won't run. Instead, he is hiring.

Trust your brain, no matter how many nerve endings may be in your gut.

The Strategy Group, his DM firm, is awful.

They lost a whole lot of winnable races in Virginia and Maryland a few years back and I was very unimpressed with their product.  Lots of cookie cutter stuff.

My predictions are always wrong:
Obama won't run.
Hillary won't run.
No one will be front runner going into the convention. Al Gore will get in the race for California, like RFK, and will take the nomination at the convention on the second vote, will win the election in every state except AZ, AK, and GA.

Al Gore, next president.

He's in.  I'm not 100% sure, but i'd bet money on it.  Since he's been back from his "vacation" every indication has been that he will run.  Had he decided not to run I don't see why he would be planning his announcement time so carefully.  At first the argument was that he was letting the rumor mill spin so he could sell books, but that logic doesn't make sense anymore.  I will be completely shocked if he announces he's not running at this point.

This is a totally ridiculous comment with no sign of worthwhile political analysis.  An example of why blogosphere pundits are not given more credibility.

Has Clinton announced?  Has McCain? Will "America wait forever" for them?

The weaker the candidate, the earlier they announce.

Obama's a serious man contemplating the most serious decision a person can make.

Many criticize Obama for the media hype around him (something he didn't generate except by being the most charismatic, articulate and progressive Democrat present) and then criticize him for being very cautious about giving in to the hype and seeing how broad and how deep his support really is before making a huge decision.

They obviously don't like Obama - please read their comments and pieces on Obama to get a fuller picture of their views on Obama. So what do they do? Concot a "America won't wait forever" childish post, and in the comments Nancy does a surreptitious "I don't think he has the experience" canard all in an attempt to pound Obama though in a manner not obvious to those who haven't been paying attention.

Gawd, I miss Jerome's level-headed posts on this blog, and I wish he'd post more often. He genuinely put some of these front-pagers to shame.

PS. Hey Nancy, has Richardon, Biden, Hillary Clinton formed exploratory committees yet? Please cut the hypocritical posts. You should know better.

As I understand it, Senator Clinton is just now preparing to form an exploratory committee, although I believe there has been a great deal of behind the scenes exploring going on for quite some time.  Hillary has a huge organization with outreach in every state in the country so a lot of their work is not necessarily on the radar or being reported in the news. As for Obama, he's a great guy - I really like him - but I don't think he should run for President just yet, even though I have a strong feeling he intends to do so.  I have also heard that Senator Clinton will be a guest on Oprah, following her trip to Iraq and Afghanistan.

I believe obama will run and if he wins I think he will be an exelent president.I would like to see gore run,he's my pick,but if not gore than my next choice is obama.

I am delighted that Obama has quit saying that we must work with the President because Bush is our commander in chief, which Obana was still saying early this week..  Continuing to say this would have doomed any chance he had for the Democratic nomination.

It is fine for him to say we must work in a bipartisan way, because since Wednesday this means working with Republicans to oppose escalation, but the insistence on working with the President was suicide-city for his chances.

I think he will run.

I hear ya', Nancy, re: being a bit apprehensive following your experience with Gov. Warner.

My take: Sen. Obama's running.

Sure, there's the momentum, the book sales, the Oprah appearance (the last one, not the rumored one this week), the Bears "endorsement" (smartly done and not too cute), but, more than anything, I get a sense that the guy understands this could be a pivotal time in history. His time, in many ways. That draw has to be powerful.

Just my take.

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