The Race is On!

THE RACE IS ON! Well, it's finally official: Barack Obama is running for president. Obama made his intentions known in front of the historic Springfield, Illinois, Old State Capitol Building on Saturday, February 10. Despite well-below freezing temperatures, 15,000 supporters turned out to hear the official announcement first-hand.

"People who love their country can change it," he declared. I agree, and I think he's the man who has the ability to bring our red-state and blue-state divided nation together for the good of change. Let's hope he's given the opportunity.

I believe he'll face tough scruntity in the deep-south where, to be honest, a civil war is still waging and blacks still aren't equals. People like my 86-year-old Grandmother, who lives in Ohio, also pose a challenge, as he'll have to work to change their preconceived notions. She doesn't believe Obama should even be allowed to run because 1) he's black and 2) he's Muslim. Give me a break. For starters, he's NOT Muslim and secondly, everyone should be able to run for government if they feel so strongly about it. It's nice to see someone take a stand rather than just complain and not do anything about it, like my Grandma. This year we had the first black coaches in the Superbowl, and it's time for the first black president.

I am glad to see this is not the focus of Obama's campaign. The question is how much the media will play up this angle, which should really be a non-issue. The true "issues" should be the focus of the election.

I think Obama's greatest challenger is Hillary Clinton, who is so far leading him in the polls. But it's still early. Remember last time around, when Howard Dean was the front-runner early on? Look what happened to him.

Obama needs to play up the fact that he voted against the war in Iraq, which sets him apart from his opponents. The war is so greatly hated among voters right now, that this is a strength. And he's the first to have an announced exit-strategy for withdrawing troops in Iraq. Many of his opponents want to withdrawl, but have no plan to date.

I plan to follow Barack Obama in the coming weeks and look at his stance on key issues on this blog.