THE ANNOUNCEMENT

On a frigid February day in front of the Old State Capitol building in Springfield, Illinois, in front of an estimated 10,000 people, Barack told the United States, and indeed the world, that he was running for president of the United States. With Michelle at his side and his two young daughters trailing right behind, a confident Barack walked to the podium and gazed out at a crowd filled with supporters and the media, all anxiously waiting. Wearing an overcoat to ward off the stiff wind and single-digit temperatures, the gloveless Barack presented himself as an agent for generational change and as someone who intended to transform

a government in shambles from cynicism, corruption, and a “smallness of our politics.” He told the crowd, “The time for that politics is over. It is through. It’s time to turn the page.” 16

Barack spoke comfortably to the crowd. It was obvious he was in his element, and what he wanted to say came easily and confidently. Portray- ing his candidacy as a movement rather than a campaign, he said, “Each and every time, a new generation has risen up and done what’s needed to

be done. Today we are called once more, and it is time for our generation to answer that call.” 17 While the speech galvanized the crowd and announced his intentions to the country, Barack’s political life up to that point was one of charm and nearly even rock-star status. What would come next, and for many months to come, wouldn’t be quite as easy and certainly less than charm- ing. Barack’s advisers and the Democratic Party, determined to run a posi- tive campaign built totally around Barack and all he had to offer, were determined to run something other than a conventional campaign with

a conventional candidate. They prepared for the many questions about his lack of experience in national politics, the level of his knowledge of foreign policy, and a past that hadn’t been scrutinized or even exam- ined. To be sure, Barack’s public persona was more about his biography and charisma than about how he would seek to use the powers of the

presidency. His entry into the race for president included whether, with all his strengths and limitations, he could win or whether he could even run an effective race against a political field dominated by Senator Hillary Clinton, a politician with experience in presidential politics, a command

94 BARACK OBAMA

of policy and political history, and an extraordinary network of fund- raisers and advisers. 18 But Barack spoke directly about his experience in his speech on that frigid day in Springfield, Illinois, stating that he would use his limited time in Washington as an asset and reiterating that he was an agent of change and not someone tainted by years of being a political insider and special interests. He assured the crowd and the country that he wasn’t interested in politics as usual, stating, “I recognize there is a certain presumptuous- ness in this—a certain audacity—to this announcement. I know that I haven’t spent a lot of time learning the ways of Washington. But I’ve been there long enough to know that the ways of Washington must change.” Barack told the crowd that he knew his appeal would take him only so far and that his campaign was built from the ground up and that it would build and grow and give his supporters a sense of ownership in seeking a change in America. As a grassroots political outsider, he said, his campaign can’t only be about him; it must be about the people and about what

he and the American people can do together, and that together, he added, they could transform a nation. 19 After announcing his candidacy in Springfield on February 10, 2007, Barack took his powerful voice and the message that he would often refer to as the politics of hope and began his campaign for the presidency of the United States.

THE ANNOUNCEMENT