Monday, December 25, 2006

Slow news day: Obama may put '08 HQ in Chicago

Likely Democratic candidate for president, Sen. Barack Obama, may place his presidential campaign headquarters in his hometown of Chicago, according to Lynn Sweet's Christmas Day column.

Sweet's reasoning is that this will place at Obama's disposal plenty of locals that can be quickly dispatched to Iowa for the first-in-the-nation caucuses.

Listen to me: Barring an implosion of his campaign, Obama's people will able to marshall up plenty of Obama mania-struck Illinoisans to hop on Interstate 80 for a quick trip to the Hawkeye State to drum up support for St. Barack.

Perhaps Obama is looking to separate himself from Washington by placing his campaign headquarters in Chicago, making one of those symbolic moves so popular with liberals. I can't remember if it was in 1999 or early 2000, but the Gore campaign made a big deal when they moved their 2000 headquarters from DC to Nashville--in his home state of Tennessee. But not only did Gore lose the election, he lost the Volunteer State too.

If he makes it that far, Obama is in no danger of losing Illinois in the 2008 general election. But a couple of Novembers from now, few voters will care where his campaign headquarters is.

The best choice for Obama's presidential campaign headquarters in my opinion? Washington. Then he'll be on Capitol Hill more often, so he can work on adding to his lean legislative record--which currently consists of one co-sponsored bill that's been enacted into law. But he's got another bill that may soon become law, co-sponsored by Indiana Republican Richard Lugar--this one seeks to prevent weapons from getting into the hands of terrorists.

Still, Obama works much faster than John Kerry.

Oh, yes I know Obama has been a low-seniority member in the minority party in the senate and is not expected to have a plethora of bills attached to his name. But since he's almost certainly running for president, the bar has to be set high.

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