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Obama set to announce White House bid

US Senator Barack Obama was planning to formally announce his candidacy for president yesterday in the capital where he began his political career just 10 years ago.

Obama is a newcomer to the national scene, having served just two years in the Senate, but he is already considered Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton's chief rival among many vying for the Democratic nomination in the 2008 presidential election. He brings a wealth of political skills but a thin elective resume -- the very reason he chose to stage his official campaign launch from the steps of the Old State Capital.

Obama, the son of a black man from Kenya and a white American woman, would be the first black US president if elected. He was tying his bid to the legacy of Abraham Lincoln, the president who ordered an end to slavery in the 1860s, and who served eight years in the Illinois Legislature. Obama also served eight years in the state legislature.

In a video message on his Web site on Friday, Obama said he was launching "a journey to take our country back and change the fundamental nature of our politics."

"I know a lot of you are cynical about the possibilities of that change," Obama said. "Sometimes it seems as if the game is fixed and it only works for the few and the powerful, but I fundamentally believe there is another brand of politics."

"Let's go get to work," he said.

Obama was scheduled to travel throughout Iowa yesterday and today before returning to Chicago for a rally tonight. He planned to visit New Hampshire tomorrow on the heels of Clinton, whose first visit to the state as a presidential candidate over the weekend provided some early competition for attention from Obama's announcement. Both states vote early in the party primaries.

Obama, 45, gained national recognition with the publication of two best-selling books, Dreams From My Father and The Audacity of Hope, and by delivering the keynote address at the 2004 Democratic National Convention. His optimistic message and his compelling biography immediately sparked talk of his White House potential. Obama was born in Hawaii and lived part of his childhood in Indonesia.

Initially he said he would not run for president, but he revealed last fall that he was considering it after receiving so much encouragement. He formed a presidential exploratory committee last month.
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