The political reporters have a new narrative. The broadcast and print talking heads have a new unknown (who he is and how he will fare) that is morphing into a known (why, it looks like he’ll make the leap!).
The subject: Democrat Barack Obama, who is being pitchforked into the headlines — which could be causing a few worries for Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, if she indeed is gearing up to run, as many believe.
The problem: Obama clearly has the “C Ingredient.” Charisma. And while Ms. Clinton has improved on the stump and her campaign coffers brimming with money, Hillary Clinton is not brimming with the “C Ingredient.” And the “C Ingredient” — that intangible something that sets some celebrities, politicians and business leaders apart from the others — can be of enormous help in jump-starting a campaign. But it doesn’t guarantee victory (just ask Senator John McCain about 2000).
The news stories are now accelerating, suggesting that Obama is sticking his toe into the political waters. And so is the quantity and breathlessness of some of them.
Reuters reports on Obama in New Hampshire:
Democrat Barack Obama sounded very much like a 2008 White House candidate on his first visit to the presidential proving grounds of New Hampshire on Sunday, firing up local activists and calling for a new “sense of hope” in U.S. politics.
“America is ready to turn the page … this is our time,” Obama told 1,500 excited Democrats who packed a sold-out celebration of November’s election wins in New Hampshire.
The state is home to the first presidential nominating primary in January 2008.
On a visit timed to stoke the buzz about a possible White House bid by the rising party star and only black U.S. senator, Obama said improvements in health care, energy independence, education and other areas were attainable with the right leadership.
“That’s not a Democratic agenda or a Republican agenda. That’s an American agenda. We can do those things,” Obama said. “At each and every juncture of our history, there has been somebody who said ‘We can do better’.”
Obama told reporters he was still pondering a possible White House bid and will decide early next year. His possible candidacy has intrigued Democrats looking for a fresh face or an alternative to presumed front-runner Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York.
New Hampshire’s Union Leader‘s story, also from the scene:
The spectacle that is “Obama-mania” swept New Hampshire yesterday as Sen. Barack Obama introduced himself to Democratic voters in the first-in-the-nation primary state.
The junior senator from Illinois made a whirlwind debut that included a book signing in Portsmouth and an afternoon speech before a crowd of 1,500 at the Radisson hotel in downtown Manchester. In between, he stopped for a moment of traditional Granite State retail politicking at the Breaking New Grounds coffee shop in Portsmouth’s Market Square.
His visit had most of the markings of a presidential campaign stop, though Obama assured reporters he has not yet decided whether he will enter the race. The senator has said he plans to announce his decision around the start of the new year.
“I think this is one of those offices where you can’t run just on the basis of ambition,” Obama said in a 25-minute question-and-answer session with the media. “I think you have to feel deep in your gut that you have a vision for the country.”
The New York Times, meanwhile, pens a story of Obama as a different kind of politician. You could almost say the anti-politician politician who also has the “C Ingredient”:
Senator Barack Obama came to New Hampshire for the first time in his life today, selling a message of hope but proclaiming himself wary of the wave of “hype� that surrounded his journey here. His 24-hour visit gave Democrats — who packed two sold-out halls to see him — a chance to inspect the man who has emerged as his party’s strongest alternative to Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton.
Note the emerging theme of Obama as a possible Democratic political antidote to Hillary Clinton’s looming candidacy.
“It is flattering to get a lot of attention, although I must say it is baffling,� he said here late this afternoon.
“I think to some degree I’ve become a short-hand or symbol or stand-in for a spirit that the last election in New Hampshire represented,� he said. “It’s a spirit that says we are looking for something different — we want something new.�
What New Hampshire voters here saw today was a first-term senator from Illinois who offered a strong condemnation of the way politics have been conducted in Washington, and who positioned himself as someone who would strongly appeal, should he run, to the more liberal Democrats who have tended to dominate primaries. In the course of two speeches and a news conference, Mr. Obama called for universal health care — the issue that Mrs. Clinton, the New York Democrat, was once famously identified with — a battle on global warming and a timed redeployment of troops from Iraq.
He described himself as “a black guy born in Hawaii with father from Kenya and a mother from Kansas.� But most of all, Mr. Obama — tie-less and grinning broadly as he encountered the kind of reception typically afforded a movie star — talked about what he described as a toxically partisan atmosphere in Washington, and said it was the fault of both parties, and clearly signaled a central theme of a presidential campaign by this newcomer to the national political stage.
Times Online seems wowed by what its reporter saw:
The people of New Hampshire believe that they have seen it all when it comes to presidential hopefuls. Then, yesterday, they saw Barack Obama.
If anybody doubted the talent and charisma of a man who has become an American political phenomenon in the blink of an eye, it took 20 minutes in the Granite State yesterday for Mr Obama to show why so many of his fellow Democrats believe that America might be witnessing the emergence of a very different and very special politician, and possibly, its first black president.
They are a hard sell in New Hampshire. Since the state gained first-in-the-nation primary status, hundreds of White House hopefuls have made the pilgrimage to this tiny, overwhelmingly white corner of New England, where presidential hopes are often dashed. Then in ambled the lanky frame of Mr Obama, 45, who has spent less than two years in the US Senate as its junior member from Illinois, for a speech and book signing in Portsmouth. He was greeted by a 1,000-strong crowd, two standing ovations, an explosion of photographers’ flashes — and that was before he reached the lectern.
Sen. Barack Obama sparked an early frenzy Sunday during his initial visit to the nation’s first presidential primary state, but said he still hasn’t decided whether to run despite large crowds that he said have shown his “15 minutes of fame has extended a little longer.”
There haven’t been too many stories written about Hillary Frenzy. And soon, we predict, you’ll see journalists drawing a comparison. Picker also has this:
History teacher and Democrat Mark Bingham of Alton, N.H., met Obama and said that despite his inexperience, he could rank among presidents named Lincoln and Kennedy. “It’s good to see politics going in another direction,” Bingham told the senator.
The Los Angeles Times‘ story is headlined “Crowds adore Obama”:
Illinois freshman Sen. Barack Obama, borne aloft by a popularity bubble that seems to float higher by the day, did nothing to deflate it Sunday on his first trip to New Hampshire.
Neither did he move any closer to a declaration of candidacy for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination, for which the New Hampshire primary will be a key early test. In appearances here and in Portsmouth, he was content to play with the notion and tease the expectations of overflow, adoring crowds….
….To some extent, political professionals say, the outline of the contest has already emerged: Clinton versus everyone else, with the rest struggling to emerge as her main opponent. If Obama enters the race, the professionals generally agree that he would immediately become the principal challenger.
David Doak, a veteran Democratic consultant, said Obama “points out the shortcomings of what is otherwise a pretty good field of candidates. He’s clearly a guy who excites people…. He soaks up a lot of the energy (other candidates) would need to harness to break out of the pack. You assume Hillary’s going to have the money, she’s got the name identification, she’s got the organization, she’s got a group of people who’ve been through this before.
The degree to which Obama outshines potential competitors was illustrated by an appearance made by Bayh two nights earlier. He drew perhaps one-tenth as many people.
So the scene is set for a description about an up-and-coming political figure with something different. ABC News is already underscoring the conflict between The New Hillary (a new, more centrist image) and The New Obama (a new politician who most feel comes across powerfully and sincerely):
People also are watching what seems to have become an intense competition between the Illinois senator and Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., in the race for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2008, even though neither candidate has officially declared his or her candidacy.
For two relatively green liberal Democratic senators with ties to Illinois (Obama represents the state; Clinton was raised there), the two are a study in contrasts….
……”It is a wonderful story line,” Cokie Roberts told “Good Morning America Weekend Edition,” “to look at a rivalry between the possible first female president and the possible first black president and the older woman, the younger man; the person with the seasoning, the person with the excitement.”
Another difference that may prove pivotal among liberal primary- and caucus-voting Democrats is that Clinton voted for the war in Iraq, and Obama opposed the war from the beginning.
“If I was part of Clinton’s inner circle right now I’d be worried about Obama because he has the ability to raise money,” said Donna Brazille, former campaign manager for Al Gore. “He also has the ability to tap into a vast network of activists who are still undecided and are interested, too, in someone who can win a general election.”
But is there another possibility as well? The prevailing wisdom is that Ms. Clinton has a huge political campaign chest, the country’s top Democratic political operatives, plus an incredible political resource at her disposal (her husband) and could wind up the nomination if she chooses to go for it, but could have real problems in a general election. Now the narrative becomes whether Obama could displace Clinton if he jumps in.
But could it be that some other candidate comes out from nowhere to piece together a winning coalition? If that happens, it might be turn out that a Obama could be a powerful Vice Presidential candidate. OR will fears about Hillary Clinton’s polarizing potential scare Democrats away and make them decide for a totally fresh face in 2008? Much will depend, too, on who the GOP frontrunner is. Will it be Senator John McCain? And, if so, how will that impact the Democrat’s criteria for selecting a nominee?
The key: watch Clinton and Obama’s movements — in policy, not in geographical travel — as the now-unleashed media Obama-Orama continues to unfold.
OTHER NEWS STORIES OF INTEREST:
Chicago Sun-Times: Tough Test Awaits Obama If He Runs
Slate: Barack Star
USA Today: Obama draws crowds as he tours New Hampshire
Newsweek: 2008: The Contenders—The Shadow-Boxing Begins
SOME RELEVANT WEBSITES:
Barack Obama website
Draft Barack in 2008
Barack Obama Wikipedia
Google Web Search Barack Obama
Hillary Clinton website
Hillary Clinton for President
Hillary Clinton Wikipedia
Google Web Search Hillary Clinton
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.