US: Barack Obama will provide an alternative to Hillary Clinton for Democrats, writes Denis Staunton in Washington
Announcing his decision yesterday to take the first step towards a presidential bid in 2008, Barack Obama acknowledged that his rise to national political prominence has been astonishingly fast.
"I certainly didn't expect to find myself in this position a year ago. But as I've spoken to many of you in my travels across the states these past months; as I've read your e-mails and read your letters; I've been struck by how hungry we all are for a different kind of politics," he said.
Mr Obama's candidacy is also a response to a hunger among Democrats for an alternative to the party's current frontrunner for 2008 - Hillary Clinton.
The 45-year-old senator from Illinois is not only a credible alternative to Mrs Clinton; he embodies many of the qualities the former first lady often appears to lack - including freshness, passion and a sense of ease in his own skin.
Where Mrs Clinton's speeches can seem cautious and worthy, Mr Obama's rhetoric soars, capturing his audience in a warm embrace of hope, acceptance and common purpose. Unlike Mrs Clinton, Mr Obama opposed the Iraq war from the start, although he was not in the senate in 2002 when the vote was taken to authorise the use of force.
His political positions on most issues - from abortion to gay rights and the war in Iraq - are to the left of hers, yet Mr Obama is for many Americans a less threatening and polarising figure. Among African-American politicians, he is almost unique in conveying to white Americans a sense of forgiveness for the racial crimes of their forebears, while fighting hard against today's racial inequality.
Mr Obama presents himself as the voice of a new generation yearning to move beyond the divisions of the Vietnam era that shaped both the Clintons and President George Bush. And he appeals to many Americans who are eager to break the cycle of Bushes and Clintons that has dominated American politics for almost 20 years.
In his fight for the Democratic nomination, however, Mr Obama faces a number of hurdles, the most formidable of which is persuading voters that, after just two years in the senate, he has the experience to be president. He has already formulated a clever rebuttal to the charge of inexperience, pointing out that the unrivalled administrative experience of Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld did not prevent them from mishandling the invasion of Iraq.
The problem for Mr Obama is that his lack of experience in foreign affairs mirrors that of Mr Bush himself and compares badly with Mrs Clinton's six years on the senate armed services committee and eight years at her husband's side in the White House.
Mr Obama's political rise has been so swift and painless that he acknowledged recently that he has never been the subject of a negative television ad. Mrs Clinton, on the other hand, has endured years of the most vicious personal criticism, including lurid accusations that she has committed every crime conceivable - up to and including murder.
Some of Mrs Clinton's advisers privately welcome Mr Obama's entry into the presidential race in the hope that he will weaken other Democratic rivals, notably former vice-presidential candidate John Edwards.
Mr Edwards, who launched his campaign just after Christmas, has spent the past two years positioning himself as a scourge of inequality and a radical alternative to Mrs Clinton's centrist economic policies.
Mr Edwards has been unable to conceal his annoyance at the hype surrounding Mr Obama, remarking petulantly that he was talking about hope and self-reliance long before the Illinois senator. Mr Obama's decision to run could doom Mr Edwards's hopes of detaching black voters from Mrs Clinton's camp, where many have headed out of loyalty to her husband.
The candidates with most to fear from Mr Obama may be the handful of white Democratic politicians clustered towards the bottom of the field. They include senators Joseph Biden and Christopher Dodd, former Ohio governor Tom Vilsack and congressman Dennis Kucinich.
One experienced Democratic strategist estimates that, to remain a serious contender in next year's primaries, a candidate must raise at least $35 million by the end of 2007.
This will present little difficulty for Mrs Clinton, who raised $36 million for her senate race last year. Mr Obama's star power and Mr Edwards's network of support among trial lawyers should ensure that they, too raise the price of admission into the race.
Other candidates could find that, with two major stars and the determined Mr Edwards dominating the race, lesser-known contenders will be fighting for scraps - both in fundraising and media terms.
Mr Obama has already shown he has the intelligence, political gifts and personal charm to win a place in the hearts of the American people.
He must now prove that he has the stomach for the tough and probably nasty fight that lies between him and the White House.