With the first presidential primary of 2008 still 14 months away, Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., drew quite the crowd in a weekend visit to New Hampshire. At one event, Democratic Gov. John Lynch told the crowd, “We originally scheduled the Rolling Stones for this party, but we canceled them when we realized that Senator Obama would sell more tickets.”
Obama says he’ll decide next month whether to seek the presidency, and for now he is keeping his perspective. “I am suspicious of hype,” he said.
Obama’s visit has upstaged other contenders; Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack and Indiana Sen. Evan Bayh have announced already, but received little acclaim or attention.
Sen. Hillary Clinton held meetings with leading Democrats in recent days, a move widely interpreted as setting the groundwork for an announcement.
The Obama boomlet has set in motion the general outlines of the Democrats’ 2008 cast, with Clinton and Obama occupying a top tier and Vilsack and Bayh the outriders of a second group. Residents of New Hampshire should be forewarned; they, more than anyone, should be suspicious of the hype.
