As Obama Considers, The Left Rejoices

With Illinois Senator Barack Obama [publicly announcing] that he will seriously consider a run for the Democrats' 2008 presidential nomination, it is worth noting the infatuation much of the party's liberal base has with the charismatic Washington rookie.

The liberal superblog [DailyKos] is calling on its members to rank their [preferred](http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/1/16/105611/138) Democratic nominees for 2008 as part of a monthly straw poll feature the site has run for some time. Site founder Markos Moulitsas Zúniga, a powerhouse in Democratic circles and the leader of an extremely active, motivated blog community, [ranked Obama as the strongest potential candidate so far in December](http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2006/12/6/18541/6297).

Obama has generated a lot of goodwill from the left, though it will be interesting to see if the official announcement that John Edwards has entered the race, and his base-pleasing comments on Iraq over the weekend, will vault him to the top. This month's rankings are currently under consideration.