Washington, D.C.
Ending weeks of speculation, Sen. Barack Obama this week officially entered the 2008 Democratic presidential race. Declaring in a video address posted on his Web site, “People want something new,” the first-term senator from Illinois said he had formed an exploratory committee and would make a formal announcement Feb. 10 in Springfield, Ill., the home of Abraham Lincoln. Obama’s move brings to six the number of declared Democrats. The others are Sens. Joseph Biden of Delaware and Christopher Dodd of Connecticut, former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards, Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio, and former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack. Hillary Clinton is expected to announce her candidacy within weeks.
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