The battle is on: Obama unveils bid for White House

On a day steeped in symbolism, Senator Barack Obama yesterday launched his bid to become America's first black President with an emotional vow to fundamentally change American politics.

His audacious attempt to win the Democratic nomination for the 2008 presidential election has been effectively under way for several months, but Obama, 45, finally declared what everyone already knew: he's running for the White House.

'I stand before you today to announce my candidacy for President of the United States of America,' he told a cheering crowd in Springfield, Illinois. His audience responded by shouting his name loudly, waving banners declaring 'Obama 08' emblazoned with a symbol resembling a rising sun.

He could not have chosen a more revealing location. It was from this midwestern city that another politician, also dubbed too inexperienced for a time of war, headed to Washington with a promise of change: Abraham Lincoln.

Obama's links to Lincoln were carefully chosen. There was the site of his speech on the steps of Springfield's State Capitol. But nothing spoke more powerfully than the colour of Obama's skin. Lincoln fought the US Civil War and freed the slaves. More than 140 years after that bloody conflict, Obama wants to crown that achievement by convincing America to elect a black man to the most powerful post in the world.

Outside the building where Lincoln once decried slavery by declaring, 'A house divided against itself cannot stand', Obama praised a long list of American heroes who had brought the country through crises from the Revolutionary War to the Great Depression to civil rights. He said it was time for the current generation to meet the challenge of ending the Iraq war, high poverty rates and a dependence on foreign oil.

Obama cut a dashing figure in blinding sunshine on a freezing midwinter day. He stood on stage at the start of his speech with his wife and two daughters acknowledging the crowd. They cheered for several minutes before he had even spoken. Some had come from as far as Missouri, Kansas and Arkansas.

But he served up tough words. He condemned the war in Iraq and said he had a plan that would end US military involvement in the conflict by March, 2008. 'It is time to start bringing our troops home,' he said. He also slammed lobbyists and corporate influence on politicians: 'They think they own our government, but we are here to take it back.'

Obama emerged as a possible contender with a barnstorming speech at the 2004 Democratic convention. Three years later his presidential campaign has stunned supporters of Senator Hillary Clinton. Many observers had assumed that Clinton would be the focus of attention. Instead she has been left gasping for the oxygen of publicity as Obama has become a darling of the media and many party activists. More importantly he is also starting to suck up vital campaign funds, including from heavyweight celebrities such as Steven Spielberg.

They have been attracted for several reasons. First is Obama's personal story. His background of a white mother from Kansas and a black father from Kenya is the stuff of political fairytale. Then there is his own powerful charisma and stirring message of promising change while not seeming like an angry radical.

Now the game is on. Many candidates are camped in the early battleground states of Iowa and New Hampshire. Obama has joined them for three days on the stump. In New Hampshire, Clinton waits for him. She spent yesterday there, pushed out of the headlines by a rival few of her advisers saw coming.

Lincoln v Obama

Abraham Lincoln

· Born: 1809 in a one-room log cabin in the southern state of Kentucky.

· First political job: seat in the Illinois general assembly, aged 23.

· Training outside politics: the law.

· National breakthrough : anti-slavery speech in Peoria, Illinois, in October 1854, aged 45.

· Rallying cry: need for national unity, commitment to personal freedom, racial equality.

· Famous phrase: 'A house divided against itself cannot stand.'

Barack Obama

· Born: 1961 in Honolulu, Hawaii.

· First political job: Illinois state senate seat, 1996, aged 35.

· Training outside politics: the law.

· National breakthrough: keynote address to the Democratic National Convention in 2004.

· Rallying cry: unity, equality.

· Famous phrase: 'We are one people, all of us pledging allegiance to the Stars and Stripes, all of us defending the United States of America.'