Obama May Announce Run ‘Soon’
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
WASHINGTON — Senator Obama said he will announce “soon” whether he will seek the Democratic presidential nomination in 2008.
The Illinois Democrat refused to confirm a report that he will announce the formation of a presidential exploratory committee as early as this week. That step would allow him to begin fundraising and setting up a campaign organization.
“Obviously, there’s been a lot of talk,” Mr. Obama, 45, said on CBS’s “Face the Nation” program. “I’ve said I’ve been considering it. And we’ll be making an announcement fairly soon.”
The first test in the presidential race, the Iowa Caucuses, is a little more than a year away. Five other Democrats already have announced plans to run for the nomination. Mr. Obama and Senator Clinton of New York, who also hasn’t announced her intentions, are the top favored candidates in polls of Democratic voters.
Syndicated columnist Robert Novak reported yesterday that Mr. Obama will set up an exploratory committee this week. He cited an unnamed Democratic financial contributor with whom Mr. Obama discussed the matter. Another unnamed person said Mr. Obama’s announcement may come within three weeks, according to Mr. Novak’s column in the Chicago Sun-Times.
Democrats who have declared their candidacies are Senator Dodd of Connecticut; Senator Biden of Delaware; a former senator of North Carolina, John Edwards, who was the Democratic vice-presidential nominee in 2004; a former governor of Iowa, Tom Vilsack, and Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio.
Among Republicans, a former Massachusetts governor, Mitt Romney, Senator McCain of Arizona, and Mayor Giuliani have formed exploratory committees, a step that doesn’t necessarily mean a candidate will run.
