Obama inches closer to announcing
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By David Mendell
Chicago Tribune staff reporter
Published January 15, 2007, 2:33 PM CST
U.S. Sen. Barack Obama took a tiny step closer to revealing his intentions about running for president today, adding a "very" to the "soon" in his assessment about when an announcement would come.
"We will have an announcement very soon," Obama (D-Ill.) told reporters outside St. Mark Cathedral in Harvey after delivering an emotional keynote speech to celebrate Martin Luther King's birth.
Prefacing his address in the church, Obama turned to an array of media crews and declared that he was "not making news today" about a potential run for the Oval Office.
In recent weeks, Obama has been seeking advice from a widening circle of political advisers and hiring new staff in key primary states, leading political analysts to surmise that he is about to formally launch a presidential bid.
Even if many blacks view Obama as the premier political leader of a new generation of African-Americans, Obama said that the day of celebration for King would have been the wrong moment to declare whether he will seek the presidency in 2008.
"I didn't want to use this day to indicate my plans because I am humbled by what Dr. King accomplished," Obama said. "I don't think that whatever my political plans are, (they) are comparable to the heroic struggles that he went through, and I don't want to draw false parallels."
Obama said that he is weighing issues such as his personal safety and loss of privacy, but then hinted that those matters would not affect his final decision.
"Everybody in public life, at this point, has some concerns (about personal safety). The fact that my profile is higher at this point than certainly it was a couple of years ago raises those concerns," he said.
"Finding out that there was a photographer lurking in the bushes when I was playing on the beach with my kids is a source of concern. But that's not going to stop me from doing what I think is best for the country and how I can best serve."
Obama electrified the largely African-American audience with an address that focused on King's quest for racial and social justice.
King looked beyond his own personal needs and safety, Obama said, for a larger meaning and a larger purpose. He then challenged the congregation to do the same.
"We can be all be Kings in this country if we are willing to serve, if we are willing to believe that we have a stake in one another, if we believe that your pain is my pain, and your hopes are my hopes, and your children's future is my children's future, too," Obama declared, his voice soaring.
Earlier in the morning, Obama's star power overshadowed Rev. Jesse Jackson, Gov. Rod Blagojevich and an assortment of other political leaders and civil rights activists at the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition's annual King scholarship breakfast at McCormick Place.
"A new president… He's in the house," Jackson said to thunderous applause from the crowd of an estimated crowd of 1,600.
Jackson introduced Obama as the junior senator from Illinois "who is on the verge of making a decision to further the dream."
Obama received a standing ovation when Jackson introduced him and drew that parallel from King's civil rights crusade to Obama's political ascent.
-Tribune staff reporter Crystal Yednak contributed to this story. |
