Obama Files for the Big Job

No surprise here - Sen. Barack Obama has filed preliminary papers to run for president:

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Democratic Sen. Barack Obama said Tuesday he is taking the initial step in a presidential bid that could make him the nation's first black to occupy the White House.

Obama announced on his Web site, http://www.barackobama.com , that he was filing a presidential exploratory committee. He said he would announce more about his plans in his home state of Illinois on Feb. 10.

"I certainly didn't expect to find myself in this position a year ago," Obama said in a video posting. "I've been struck by how hungry we all are for a different kind of politics. So I've spent some time thinking about how I could best advance the cause of change and progress that we so desperately need."

Obama, a 45-year-old with little more than two years into his Senate term, is the most inexperienced candidate considering a run for the Democratic nomination. He quickly rose to national prominence, beginning with his keynote speech at the 2004 Democratic National Convention and his election to the Senate that year, but still is an unknown quantity to many voters.

Frankly, I think there's much more support for Obama in the media than there is among Democrats (see here and here). A guy with only two years in the Senate, and some State jobs before that, doesn't sound ready for the White House, and I'm sure that will be pointed out time and again by his opponents.

I posted the other day about the black "leaders" who so far are not overwhelmed by Obama. James Taranto has some thoughts on why that may be:

What's going on here? It's common enough for black "leaders" to attack black Republicans like Clarence Thomas and Michael Steele--Belafonte has even made racist remarks about Colin Powell--but Obama is a Democrat, so the hostility toward him isn't partisan in origin. Nor is it ideological, really. Obama may not be as ultraleft as Belafonte, but he is a very liberal Democrat--certainly more liberal than either of the Clintons, whom the "civil rights" crowd lionize.

Our view is that Obama threatens Jackson, Sharpton and Belafonte precisely because he has an appeal that transcends race. If Obama is able to gain widespread appeal as a national political figure, it undermines the basis of white guilt, namely the assumption that America remains a deeply racist society. Men like Jackson, Sharpton and Belafonte have made their careers on the exploitation of white guilt. Obama is a threat to their power and livelihood.

That's a more sophisticated version of my "professional jealousy" reasoning, but makes sense to me.

UPDATE: Scrappleface checks in with futher information on Obama's exploratory committee:

(2007-01-16) — First-term Sen. Barack Obama, D-IL, today said he’s excited about the formation of his presidential exploratory committee, and has already learned a lot from the process.

“This morning, I got a call from the chairman of my exploratory committee,” said the 45-year-old lawmaker. “He says they’ve already discovered that the presidency is a big, important job and that the president lives in a special place called The White House.”

Mr. Obama said the exploratory process has also revealed that the president is commander-in-chief of the armed forces, and the head of the executive branch of government.

On February 10, the senator plans to make a formal declaration, in his home state of Illinois, of everything the exploratory committee discovers.

“I’ve already learned so much,” he said. “I can’t wait to share with the rest of the country what presidents do, and what they wear and other things that we haven’t even explored yet.”