Obama Wins Illinois US House Seat

[Vega]

In 2000, Obama primaried Bobby Rush for the 1st congressional district and lost.

But say he wins, and also wins the general election. What would happen then? Would he still run for President?

[NickCT]

His career would be vastly different.  For starters, he'd have to vote on the Iraq War, and who knows if he would still oppose it had he been in Congress and not watching from the side (my inclination is he still would have, but...)

He'd probably be an even stronger candidate for Senate in 2004, should he decide to run, and he'd most likely still give the Keynote at the DNC, so I really don't see a whole lot changing, except maybe that the experience argument is slightly less relevant b/c of his four years in the House.

[Vega]

His career would be vastly different.  For starters, he'd have to vote on the Iraq War, and who knows if he would still oppose it had he been in Congress and not watching from the side (my inclination is he still would have, but...)

He'd probably be an even stronger candidate for Senate in 2004, should he decide to run, and he'd most likely still give the Keynote at the DNC, so I really don't see a whole lot changing, except maybe that the experience argument is slightly less relevant b/c of his four years in the House.

He may have wanted to run for Illinois Governor in 2002, that would alter history a bit more.

[Wake Me Up When The Hard Border Ends]

His career would be vastly different.  For starters, he'd have to vote on the Iraq War, and who knows if he would still oppose it had he been in Congress and not watching from the side (my inclination is he still would have, but...)

He'd probably be an even stronger candidate for Senate in 2004, should he decide to run, and he'd most likely still give the Keynote at the DNC, so I really don't see a whole lot changing, except maybe that the experience argument is slightly less relevant b/c of his four years in the House.

He may have wanted to run for Illinois Governor in 2002, that would alter history a bit more.

That would alter history more significantly, as Obama would be tainted with the corrupt Illinois state political machine. As to who runs in '08, I'm thinking Clinton would get the nomination in an Obamaless field?

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

His career would be vastly different.  For starters, he'd have to vote on the Iraq War, and who knows if he would still oppose it had he been in Congress and not watching from the side (my inclination is he still would have, but...)

He'd probably be an even stronger candidate for Senate in 2004, should he decide to run, and he'd most likely still give the Keynote at the DNC, so I really don't see a whole lot changing, except maybe that the experience argument is slightly less relevant b/c of his four years in the House.

He may have wanted to run for Illinois Governor in 2002, that would alter history a bit more.

That would alter history more significantly, as Obama would be tainted with the corrupt Illinois state political machine. As to who runs in '08, I'm thinking Clinton would get the nomination in an Obamaless field?

Either Edwards or some Obama stand-in would be her main opposition.

[Wake Me Up When The Hard Border Ends]

His career would be vastly different.  For starters, he'd have to vote on the Iraq War, and who knows if he would still oppose it had he been in Congress and not watching from the side (my inclination is he still would have, but...)

He'd probably be an even stronger candidate for Senate in 2004, should he decide to run, and he'd most likely still give the Keynote at the DNC, so I really don't see a whole lot changing, except maybe that the experience argument is slightly less relevant b/c of his four years in the House.

He may have wanted to run for Illinois Governor in 2002, that would alter history a bit more.

That would alter history more significantly, as Obama would be tainted with the corrupt Illinois state political machine. As to who runs in '08, I'm thinking Clinton would get the nomination in an Obamaless field?

Either Edwards or some Obama stand-in would be her main opposition.

Obama stand-in? Who are you thinking of there?

[Mister Mets]

It's an interesting question. Obama benefited from redistricting which made him the State Senator of wealthy liberals.

Still, he is a tremendous speaker so he would likely have got attention pretty quickly.

I can't see him running for Governor with one term in the House, although it was a crowded primary with three candidates getting between 29 and 37 percent of the vote.

He might have still run for Senate, although he'd be in a weaker position to run for President with more of a record.

He could have challenged Blagojevich in the 2006 primary, which would have turned him into a strong candidate for Veep.

Maybe there's an alternate world where Governor Obama wins a primary against Hillary Clinton arguing the need for executive experience.

[MATTROSE94]

I think that Obama will still run for the Senate in 2004 if he was elected to the House in 2000. The only other difference in my opinion would be that it would be harder for his opponents on both sides of the aisle to accuse him of being too inexperienced to be President in 2008.

[Jerseyrules]

I think that Obama will still run for the Senate in 2004 if he was elected to the House in 2000. The only other difference in my opinion would be that it would be harder for his opponents on both sides of the aisle to accuse him of being too inexperienced to be President in 2008.

This is probably true - the only problem is that his time in the House will cause him to take stands on controversial issues he had the ability to avoid IOTL - namely the Iraq War.  If he votes against it as (I assume) he likely would have, then he gets lambasted for being weak on national security.  If he votes for it at the urging of his colleagues, he can't attack Clinton for voting for it in 08, and he may even face tougher opposition for the Senate nomination in 2004

[Indy Texas]

Obama benefited from redistricting which made him the State Senator of wealthy liberals.

This is arguably very critical to his success on the national state.

Had Obama served as a congressman in a VRA district, he would have had to vote a certain way and adopt a certain type of rhetoric that would have made him much less appealing to the white liberals and moderates who pushed him over Hillary in 2008.

He would have been just another "race-baiting" Democratic CBC representative.