MITCHELL, S.D. (AP) -- Tom Daschle, who endorsed Barack Obama for the Democratic nomination for president, said he would consider being Obama's running mate if asked.The Democrat and former South Dakota senator said he had not been contacted by any of the Democrats seeking their party's presidential nomination, and that his endorsement of the Illinois senator doesn't mean he's looking for a spot on the Democratic ticket."Theres not been any talk about it at all," he said Friday. "I have to say thats not something you can campaign for and its not something that you can plan or expect."Daschle, who explored his own presidential run in 2008, said he would never rule out a return to politics.He said the chances of considering a future run for presidency are slim, although he would not rule it out completely.Daschle said Iowa Gov.

Barack Obama Draws Large Crowds In Urban Areas

(AP) WASHINGTON Leah Hanes had never been much into politics until she ended up at a Barack Obama rally this week in Los Angeles, wearing a campaign T-shirt that she bought onsite like a concertgoer who found a new favorite band.Hanes, a Canadian who lives in Los Angeles, said she is going to push to get her U.S. citizenship in time for the 2008 election so she can vote for the Democratic presidential candidate. The 52-year-old producer said Obama's challenges growing up of mixed race had given him a depth of understanding she didn't see in other candidates and she thinks he can make a difference."He is a combination of both sides of the country," said Hanes, one of thousands who turned up to hear the Illinois senator at a Los Angeles park, sprawling 360 degrees around the stage. "He's been through his own struggle.

Obama doesn't get the Anna Nicole Smith treatment

Have you noticed how the vulnerable, exploited, dysfunctional Anna Nicole Smith, has been elevated in death to a blond American goddess worthy of 24-hour cable worship. In life, she pursued wealth and fame at all costs and became a media darling through her promiscuous, hip shaking, bosom busting antics and accusations of being a gold-digger, yet I doubt anyone asked if she were "White enough," or "lewd enough" or even screamed "enough already, sit down."

In the current political soap opera, we have U.S. Senator Barack Obama, a presidential candidate, whose father is a Black African. In 1991, Obama graduated from Harvard Law School where he was the first African-American president of the Harvard Law Review. With that on his resume he could have commanded big bucks from the prestigious corporate law firms.

Thomas L. Steiger: Obama encounters a strange double standard

Barack Obama is running for president of the United States. His is a remarkable story. He is hard working, idealistic and intelligent. Many pundits say he represents a different kind of Democrat. Obama is also "lucky" in that Peter Fitzgerald's Republican candidacy for senator from Illinois fell apart because of his wife's accusations about their marriage. If only Obama's father didn't have black skin. Because of that, we get questions about whether Obama "is black enough."The ongoing discussion of Obama's "blackness" is insulting. The premise of this discussion is that a black (enough) candidate is going to automatically receive all the black votes. In other words, he could stand for anything, and black voters will dutifully line up and vote for him. To suggest that Obama would not have to earn the black vote just as a white candidate would is to suggest that African-Americans can't discern how their interests are furthered by the positions and values of different candidates.