Obama will be Harkin's featured speaker at annual steak fry

Speculation is rife that Senator Barack Obama's (D-Ill) decision to accept his Senator's Tom Harkin's (D-Iowa) invitation to be the headline speaker at his annual steak fry in September is the first step in an Obama run for the presidency in 2008.

From AP:

"I think his standing has risen rapidly," Harkin said Thursday in an interview with The Associated Press.

The Illinois senator dismissed suggestions that the Iowa speech was tied to presidential ambitions.

"This is simply me accepting an invitation from Senator Harkin and hopefully an opportunity to assist other congressional candidates," Obama told reporters.

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Previous speakers include President Bill Clinton, Vice President Al Gore and Democratic strategist James Carville.

Although Obama is viewed as the Democrat's man of the future, I'm unaware of any major bills--or minor--that he's sponsored which have become law in the 18 months he's been the junior senator from Illinois. True, life is tougher when your party is out of power, but Obama needs to work at being a senator.

Technorati tags: Obama Harkin Iowa illinois politics 2008 Democrats