Will Obama Announce This Week?
by MissLaura
Sun Jan 14, 2007 at 11:57:35 AM PST
Political Wire is reporting that Barack Obama may announce his candidacy for president on Wednesday's Oprah Winfrey Show, citing an inside source and the fact that:
The Oprah schedule for Wednesday, January 17 says to "check back later" for more details on the show. Since all shows are taped in advance, this suggests something is up.
More signs of the imminence of his announcement come from his appearance on Face the Nation.
"I will have something to say about that fairly soon," Obama told Bob Schieffer. "Obviously, there's been a lot of talk. It's something that I've been considering. I've said I've been considering it. And we'll be making an announcement fairly soon."
When pressed for a more specific timetable, Obama only smiled and said, "It will be pretty soon."
And the Washington Post has Sen. Harry Reid pointing to a prospective Obama visit to Nevada as a sign of the viability of the Nevada caucus.
Political Wire also points to a Chicago Tribune article on "Obama's Inner Circle." The article several times stresses Obama's willingness to be challenged by his friends and advisors.
"He really wants to know all the points of view in the room. He doesn't want to shut people down or force a consensus," said Michael Froman, an informal Obama adviser who was a Harvard Law classmate and chief of staff to former Treasury Secretary Bob Rubin.
Obama "pushes back" in those conversations, said Jarrett, a friend of both Obamas whose dining room table in Hyde Park has sometimes been the setting for consultations. He's intent on thinking through ideas thoroughly, she said.
In other words, the article, perhaps guided by his friends, works to show that he may not have the most experience of anyone in the race, but he's no George W. Bush, simply accepting what he's told by Dick Cheney and Karl Rove.
According to the article, Obama has many pieces of a presidential campaign lined up:
David Plouffe, an Axelrod partner who worked on Obama's 2004 Senate campaign, is the likely campaign manager.
Bill Burton, national press secretary for the House Democrats' midterm campaign, is likely to join up, associates said.
Direct mail consultants, a pollster, and a finance director are also named. Meanwhile, the Chicago Sun-Times has an article on someone not named in the Tribune article, reporting that Louis Susman, John Kerry's national finance director in 2004, is an Obama supporter - in fact, it is unclear whether the article should be read as a portrait of someone involved in the campaign or as a public job application. Whatever the case, things are clearly coming together and it may be an interesting week in Obama news.
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