Riding High, Obama Ponders His Future
Saturday, November 18, 2006; 4:08 PM
WASHINGTON -- When Sen. Barack Obama slipped into Sen. Robert Byrd's Capitol office one day last year, he was seeking counsel from an elder who had been in the Senate since before Obama was born.
Senators these days, Byrd cautioned the young Illinois Democrat, become fixated on the White House.
  Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., sits in his office on Capitol Hill in Washington during an interview with the Associated Press, Thursday, Nov. 16, 2006. Obama's swift ascent to political stardom defies conventional wisdom. Now he is thinking of running for president. "In a country of 300 million people," the Illinois Democrat says with a laugh, "there is a certain degree of audacity required for anybody to say I'm the best person to lead this country." (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais) (Pablo Martinez Monsivais - AP) 
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"I remember the advice," Obama said matter-of-factly in an interview with The Associated Press last week. "The importance of senators staying in the Senate."
Obama has been in the Senate less than two years. Now he is thinking of running for president. Presumptuous?
"In a country of 300 million people," he said with a laugh, "there is a certain degree of audacity required for anybody to say, `I'm the best person to lead this country.'"
He is not saying that yet. But plenty of people want him to, and he probably will make up his mind in the next few weeks.
It is hard to fathom Obama's meteoric rise in politics.
Three years ago he was little-known, a black state senator with an interesting family history and impressive academic credentials. Now polls show him as the top alternative to New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton in the early chase for the Democratic presidential nomination. No matter that neither senator has announced an intention to run.
Two years ago, Obama gave the keynote address at the Democratic National Convention. Since then, he has:
_taken a high-profile trip to Africa.
_campaigned vigorously for congressional candidates.
_published a second, best-selling book.
