Obama Forms Presidential Exploratory Committee

In a video message on his newly-formed website, Sen. Barack Obama (D-Illinois) announced he will be filing paperwork today to form a presidential exploratory committee and will make a decision in the next few weeks about his role in the 2008 presidential race.

"Running for the presidency is a profound decision — a decision no one should make on the basis of media hype or personal ambition alone," Obama says in the statement.

Obama’s announcement references health care, oil dependence, the rising cost of education, the war in Iraq and a national hunger "for a different kind of politics".

Obama says he plans to announce an update on his intentions about 2008 on February 10 in Illinois.