Barack Obama makes it official

End the speculation. Barack Obama has officially thrown his hat into the 2008 Presidential ring. And that sound you heard was Hilary Clinton cracking three molars.

The linked article suggests that having less experience in Washington means "fewer ties to the political polarization of the past two decades there," and that is to his credit. But his inexperience is a double-edged sword. On one hand, I agree that a newbie outsider might be a better choice for the Democrats than a career politician like the dismal John Kerry. On the other hand, Washington chews up and spits out newbies like a threshing machine. Unless he has the sort of fortitude to withstand it, Washington is more likely to change Obama than the other way around.

Barack Obama has had only two years in the Senate. If I had voted for him, I'm not sure how I'd feel about the guy spending two-thirds of his Senate term running for president. That wasn't the job the voters hired him for.

I like what I've seen and heard from Barack Obama. He's a Democrat I might actually be able to vote for. But would it have hurt him to wait until 2012 or 2016? Apparently it would. Obama is hot right now. His star is on the rise. If he's ever going to run for president, now is the time, inexperience or not. Such is the state of American politics.