Obama - Will He or Won't He?

Today's Washington Post carries an editorial about Obama's possible presidential run that mentions his work with Oklahoma Senator Tom Coburn. Read it below:

The Audacity of Nope

By Ruth Marcus
Wednesday, January 3, 2007; A19

The setting: Late January, outside a Chicago housing project where Sen. Barack Obama once worked as an organizer. The will-he, won't-he debate about the Illinois Democrat has reached a fever pitch.

In the grip of Obama-mania, the networks are poised to break into live programming to cover the announcement. Flanked by his wife and two young daughters, the 45-year-old Obama steps to the microphone.

"My fellow Americans. There's been a lot of talk about whether I'll be a presidential candidate in 2008 -- some of it encouraged by me. I've made my decision, and I won't be running."

Boos and yells of "No!" from the crowd. Obama raises his hands to quiet them.

"Please. I understand your disappointment. To tell you the truth, a part of me is disappointed, too.

"Now that I've gotten the headline out of the way, and let these folks file their leads" -- here Obama gestures to a throng of reporters --"let me tell you a little bit about my thinking.

"First, I have to say how overwhelmed I have been by the reaction of people like you, who had faith enough in me to urge me to run, and faith enough in the American people to believe that I could win. You made it awfully tempting."

Obama flashes a wide smile, pauses. Shouts of "Give in!" and "You can still change your mind!" from the crowd.

"I could tell you the usual: that I decided not to run because I wanted to spend more time with my wonderful wife and children -- that I wanted to be there for my daughters in a way that my father never was for me.

"That would be true, but it wouldn't be the whole story.

"The truth is I don't feel ready" -- another smile and pause-- "right now."

Shouts of "2012! 2012!"

"Of course, no one, deep inside his or -- another smile-- her soul, truly feels ready to be president, and no one truly can be completely prepared for the job. I've spent my life -- as a community organizer, as a civil rights lawyer, as a state senator, in the United States Senate -- working for the same goals that would motivate me as president.

"But the question I kept coming back to was this: Would I be the best president I could be if I were elected in 2008? Or would I be a better president if I waited and learned and served and ran at some point down the road?"

Shouts of "2012! 2012!"

"Maybe that point will come; maybe it won't. In the meantime, I can promise you this: I will work my heart out for you, for the Democratic Party and for whoever is the Democratic nominee in 2008."

Shouts of "Obama! Obama!"

·

Let me acknowledge: This isn't the speech I expect Obama to give. Every indication is that he's planning to run. But this, or something like it, is the speech that I'd love to hear.

This is against professional interest: A Democratic race with Obama would be a lot more interesting. And Obama isn't any less experienced than, say, John Edwards was four years ago, after a career as a trial lawyer and just a few more years of experience in the Senate than the Illinois Democrat has now.

But I do think that Obama would be a better candidate, and ultimately a better president, in 2012 or 2016 than in 2008. He will have learned more -- about the world, about domestic policy, about how to maneuver successfully in Washington.

Yes, more years in the Senate offer more chances for individual votes to be deployed against him in 30-second TV ads, but they also offer the opportunity that Obama hasn't yet had: to set out and achieve legislative goals. Teaming up with Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) to bring transparency to government spending through a searchable database is nice, but it's no platform for a presidential campaign.

The main argument for Obama to run in 2008 involves the shelf-life theory of politics: that the Obama magic might fade, that an opportunity this good might never present itself again. Maybe, but I think that Obama has more promise than that, more staying power and more self-knowledge.

"My attitude about something like the presidency is that you don't want to just be the president," he told Men's Vogue. "You want to be a great president."

If so, Obama should ask himself: Wouldn't he be more likely to achieve that goal if he had the self-confidence -- the audacity, really -- to choose to sit it out in 2008?

marcusr@washpost.com