Senator Obama Stirs Excitement Among Mass. Democrats

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The New York Sun

BOSTON — Senator Obama swept into town this weekend and left local Democrats swooning.

If it wasn’t a presidential campaign in anticipation of the 2008 contest in name, Mr. Obama did almost everything that he needed to prepare for one. Hampered by weather, which delayed his plane in New York, he could not attend a scheduled fund-raiser for a Massachusetts gubernatorial candidate, Deval Patrick, Friday night. Using Mr. Obama’s name, Mr. Patrick raised $250,000. Mr. Obama engaged in the kind of high-minded dialogue that he excels in with New York Times columnist Bob Herbert at the John F. Kennedy Library. Finally, he appeared with Mr. Patrick on Saturday morning, attacked the campaign of the Republican candidate for governor, Kerry Healey, and broadened his critique to the Republican Party writ large.

The stir that Mr. Obama caused was all the more notable given Senator Clinton’s front-runner status in the 2008 presidential race and Boston’s status as the base of support for Senator Kerry. Appearances in Massachusetts are important because the state is home to prominent Democratic fundraisers and to potential operatives and field staff who can man the ranks in the New Hampshire primary; should Mr. Patrick win the governor’s race, Mr. Obama will have a powerful ally with a proven grassroots organization at the foot of the Granite State.

The cavernous Steven Smith Center at the JFK Library was packed with more than 625 persons. Event organizers had to order special chairs, three-quarters the size of the usual seats, to accommodate the large, energetic crowd. When Mr. Obama’s conversation with Mr. Herbert ended, he went into another vast room to sign copies of his new book, “The Audacity of Hope,” published by Crown. After putting his signature on books for roughly 20 minutes, Mr. Obama was led along a rope line to meet another 200 people. Mr. Obama thanked the remaining members of the crowd, who snapped his photo, cheered, and hooted “Obama 2008.”

“I think he’s one of the stars of the political universe right now,” a prominent fund-raiser for Mr. Kerry in 2004, Alan Solomont, said. Mr. Solomont served for a time as national finance chairman of the Democratic Party during the Clinton administration. “He’s an exciting guy.” Mr. Solomont added that he was focusing on the 2006 election — not 2008 — yet.

Other attendees were unafraid to rave about Mr. Obama at the expense of Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Kerry. “I just think we need a new beginning with fresh ideas. He gives us hope,” Carol Walsh said.

“I am not a Hillary supporter,” Marty Ray said, adding that he would consider volunteering for Mr. Obama in 2008. “We need someone with a bigger vision, a vision for the future with new ideas.”

The sentiment was much the same at Mr. Patrick’s fund-raiser earlier in the night where Mr. Obama was expected but did not arrive.

With Mr. Obama’s good looks, new book, and, at age 45, youth, some Democrats were likening the Illinois senator to John F. Kennedy, circa 1958. It’s unclear whether Mr. Obama’s flavor-of-the-month status will last.

“The contrast now is between a young, fresh, inexperienced face and a tested mature face,” the chairman of the Massachusetts Democratic Party, Phil Johnston, said, putting Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Kerry in the latter category. “Given the severity of the problems, I wouldn’t be surprised if we’ll flirt with the former and marry the latter.”

In 2004, Mr. Kerry’s team exhorted potential voters to date Howard Dean, who came from a position of far less national prominence than Mr. Obama, and marry John Kerry. Mr. Kerry eventually slugged it out. Democrats here are mooning over the possibility of at the least dating Mr. Obama.

Mr. Gitell (www.gitell.com) is a contributing editor of the Sun.


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