Barack Obama Has Friends in Illinois

Barack Obama hasn't announced whether he's running for president or not, but his book is still on the bestseller list and the buzz continues. It also looks like Senator Obama has powerful friends in Illinois who would like to give his potential bid for president a helping hand; here's the story from Christopher Wills of the AP in The Guardian:

The powerful speaker of the Illinois House said Wednesday he wants to help Sen. Barack Obama's possible presidential bid by moving up the state's primary, figuring it will give the Democrat an early win.

Democratic Speaker Michael Madigan proposed moving the March 18 Illinois primary to Feb. 5. A long list of states have primaries scheduled that day, but only four states - Iowa, Nevada, New Hampshire and South Carolina - would be earlier than Illinois.

``These states are not representative of mainstream America. They're clearly not as representative of America as Illinois would be,'' Madigan said. ``But if Barack is a candidate, recent history tells us the selection process may be finished before it reaches the Illinois primary.''

Barack Obama has been busy now that the Democrats have some clout and now that the first two years of his freshman term are over. The senator is also finding friends in new places as reported by ABC News:

Potential presidential rivals John McCain and Barack Obama are joining with newly independent Sen. Joe Lieberman on a plan they say would reduce annual global-warming gases by two-thirds by mid-century.

Their bill, being announced Friday, is intended to cut the heat-trapping emissions by 2 percent a year. It is sure to produce a contentious debate on climate control in the new Democratic-run Congress and draw strong opposition from the White House and industry.

Now if Senator Obama can talk Lieberman and McCain out of supporting Bushism and World War Three, he'll be the next president for sure. Kidding aside, it still takes skill to work with others and to build a consensus and Barack Obama has that skill. That's something George W. Bush never learned.