Obamania continues with Senator Barack Obama announcing on Saturday, February 10th that he will enter the 2008 presidential race, something everyone already knew he intended to do. This speech served as merely a formality to cement his candidacy. Truthfully, it would have been bigger news if Obama said he wasn’t going to run.
There is the danger of Obama’s popularity peaking too early and, much like Howard Dean in 2004, he will not have the support to get the nomination. I stand by my earlier statement regarding Obama, but he will certainly have my support.
After his official declaration Australian Prime Minister John Howard (a staunch supporter of President Bush and the war in Iraq) fired the first anti-Obama missile:
“If I were running al-Qa’ida in Iraq, I would put a circle around March 2008 and be praying as many times as possible for a victory not only for Obama but also for the Democrats.”…
Mr Howard said Senator Obama’s election as US president would be disastrous for the war on terrorism.
“He’s wrong,” he told the Nine Network’s Sunday program. “I think (the March 2008 deadline) will just encourage those who want to completely destabilise and destroy Iraq, and create chaos and a victory for the terrorists to hang on and hope for an Obama victory.”
Mr Howard said a US withdrawal from Iraq by March next year would only occur in “circumstances of defeat”.
This “terrorists want Obama to win” rhetoric will be a card that Republicans (and possibly even his Democratic opponents) will be playing up on the road to 2008. It has been said that this will be the most expensive campaign cycle ever, and it will no doubt be the most intensely fought.