People are getting way to ahead of themselves. I'm as big a fun of Barak Obama as the next person, but people, let's get a hold of ourselves!!!!
In 2008, Obama would have only been in the senate for 4 years!!!! and he would have been the junior seantor of the minority party!!! can someone say John Kerry!?!??!
It's not his time yet. I think Obama will and should run on a national tix, but not so soon. He's in his early 40s right now. By my estimate, he has until his mid-60s to run for pres or vp. That means, he has until 2020 or so.
Still not convinced? Then let's just use John Edwards as an example. John Edwards was elected to the senate in 1998. People saw him as the future of the Democratic party - he looked young, he was handsome and telegenic and he was eloquent as hell. People just knew he was going to run for higher office eventually. Hell, he even made the final list of 3 finalists for Al Gore's VP slot. But Gore knew it just wasn't his time yet - it was too early. After less than one term in the US Senate, Edwards had no gravitas.
So fast forward to 2004. Instead of running for his reelection to his senate seat, Edwards decides to run for the top prize right off the bat. He still hasn't built a very impressive record as of yet. In fact, he's spent most of the time as a memeber of the minority party where he wasn't able to get much of anything done. And when he's faced with tough questions about foreign policy, he was not that impressive.
When Kerry picked him for his running mate, he still didn't look like he belonged in the major league just yet. Whenever he did appear to attack Bush or Cheney, he just seemed like some yelping little puppy on the sideline. That left BC to tag team on Kerry which I think really hurt Kerry among the voters.
Now, Edwards plans to run for Pres in '08 . . . after being out of any elected office for 4 years, and with a weak resume to begin with. It's just not going to happen. The bright future that John Edwards had as the future of the party is over. His best hope is to run for governor of NC in '08, or be AG in the next democratic adm. and then plan a run from there.
John Edwards should be a cautionary tale for Barak Obama and all those who are pushing him to run for President or VP in '08. We don't want to ruin the Democratic farm system by pushing any of our bright future stars (Obama, Herseth, Spitzer, O'Malley, Ford, Booker, etc.) too soon. They all need some seasoning before they should make the jump, or else they'll not only hurt their future, but the Democratic party's future as well.