Obama's star power shows on N.H. visit
Ill. senator tests possible '08 run
MANCHESTER, N.H. -- Barack Obama , a national political newcomer with an uncomplicated message of hope and promise, won standing ovations from enthusiastic crowds yesterday as he tested the New Hampshire landscape for support for a 2008 Democratic presidential run.
Speaking to a sellout audience of 1,500 at a party rally at the Center of New Hampshire, the US senator from Illinois appealed for a new spirit of community and a united approach to solving the problems of healthcare, global warming, and energy dependency.
"Why can't we have a government that reflects the values of the voters?" Obama asked in an address frequently interrupted by applause. "It's not that people don't know how to dream big dreams. It's that their leadership has forgotten how."
And while the 45-year-old freshman senator offered no detailed solutions -- "this is not a 10-point plan to solve every problem," he said of his new book, "The Audacity of Hope," at an earlier appearance in Portsmouth -- the New Hampshire crowds cheered for what many see as the freshest face in Democratic politics.
"We had scheduled the Rolling Stones to perform here today," Governor John Lynch of New Hampshire quipped at the Manchester rally, welcoming Obama in the senator's maiden visit to the Granite State as a potential candidate. "But we canceled it when we realized Barack Obama would sell more tickets."
Obama, a virtual unknown until he delivered a well-received address at the 2004 Democratic National Convention in Boston, has quickly developed a star following that has catapulted him to early and unexpected prominence in a Democratic field filled with seasoned veterans.
Crowds clamor to get close to him, reaching to touch him. People often compare him to Robert F. Kennedy, saying the charismatic Illinois lawmaker inspires hope in a party that until last month had suffered a decade of devastating losses at the ballot box.
Obama's runaway popularity is threatening the status of the early Democratic front-runner, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York. It also reflects both the party's desire for a fresh face as well as for an alternative to Clinton, a powerful figure in the party who some believe is too polarizing to win a general election.
"There's a desire for a new voice. There's always that impetus for the new. Here you have someone who is authentically new," said Mark Mellman , a Democratic consultant not associated with any potential presidential candidate.
"Democrats like me who like Hillary are afraid of Hillary [as a presidential candidate]. Hillary will have an ugly, brutal campaign because of the Hillary-haters," said L. Sandy Maisel , a Colby College professor and Democratic activist in Maine. "I don't think that's good for the Democrats. I don't think that's good for the country."
A recent poll by the Marist Institute for Public Opinion found that 47 percent of Americans polled would definitely not consider voting for Clinton. The number includes 45 percent of the survey's independent voters, who played a critical role in electing new Democratic majorities to the House and Senate last month.
"That's not a winning scenario," said Lee Miringoff, director of the institute, based in Poughkeepsie, N.Y.
Obama has none of Clinton's political baggage, but he also lacks her experience.
Clinton was overwhelmingly elected in November to a second term in the Senate, where she is recognized by both parties for her hard work, while Obama is finishing his second year in Washington. Clinton is a veteran of her husband Bill Clinton's two winning presidential campaigns, and she is a proven fund-raiser.
Obama, meanwhile, has drawn supporters not because of what he has done, but because of the promise they believe he has. Obama has a compelling personal story -- his father was born in Kenya and his mother is from Kansas. His lack of tenure in the US Senate, his supporters say, can be a plus: Republicans will simply have fewer votes to take apart and criticize, as often happens to senators who run for higher office.
"Some people say he is not experienced enough to run for president. I think that's a good thing," said Kathy Pearce, a 39-year-old librarian from Portsmouth, N.H . "He still has that connection to real people."
Barbara Regan, 42, drove up from Boston to see Obama in Portsmouth yesterday, because she did not get to see Obama at a recent campaign event for Deval Patrick during the race for governor of Massachusetts.
"He's just one of us," Regan said of Obama. "I wish I could be more supportive [of Clinton,] but I'm more concerned about the Democrats being in the White House."
Obama's showing was stunning for an early candidate in New Hampshire nearly a year before the nation's leadoff presidential primary. Most candidates are still making appearances at house parties, sharing cake and coffee with local activists.
While Obama was being surrounded by massive crowds over the weekend, Senator Evan Bayh , an Indiana Democrat, drew a crowd of about 70 on Saturday night in Manchester. Yesterday morning, Bayh was seen having breakfast with two people, unbothered by locals.
While the early Democratic primary campaign had been running on two tracks -- Clinton and those hoping to be the alternative to Clinton -- the race is now framing up as a Clinton-Obama contest, national and New Hampshire Democratic officials say. New Hampshire Democrats expect Clinton to visit the Granite State after the new year.
"If Hillary Clinton is the 800-pound gorilla, he's the 600-pound gorilla," said Peter Fenn , a Washington-based Democratic consultant. "Others don't have the kind of sparkle he does."
Obama "is a serious candidate who demands our attention. He's got mine," said Chris Redfern , chairman of the Democratic Party in Ohio. "He brings this celebrity and enthusiasm and energy you don't often see, especially this early in the process."
Obama said he is still deciding whether to run and is not distracted by the attention. "I am suspicious of hype. The fact that my 15 minutes of fame has extended longer than 15 minutes is somewhat surprising to me and completely baffling to my wife," Obama told reporters. But "this is one of those offices you can't run [for] just on the basis of ambition." 