Bob Herbert on the man I've taken to uncharacteristically optimistically calling "Senate Majority Leader Obama": He told me he believes strongly that while there are powerful and persistent differences at work in society, there is also "a set of core values that bind us together as Americans." He said the basic idea of his campaign, which he described as "an experiment," was to see whether "we could recast politics" in a way that responded to his assumption "that people want to hear an expression of those common values." "I give the same speech," he said, "in the inner city, in rural, all-white farming communities, or up in the North Shore in well-to-do suburbs." ...So far, at least, the voters of Illinois seem to be responding. A Chicago Tribune poll released this week showed Mr. Obama with a huge lead, 52 percent to 30 percent, over his Republican rival, Jack Ryan. Mr. Obama has not ducked the issues. He has opposed the war in Iraq from the beginning, and he delivered a stirring antiwar speech at a rally in October 2002. He supports the war in Afghanistan. He believes the Bush tax cuts went too far, and he makes that clear even in appearances before wealthy audiences. He said: "I tell them, `Look, I think we need to roll back those tax cuts that benefited you. You don't need them. Let's talk about what we could do with that money.'" Looks like the voters of Illinois are overwhelmingly showing the good sense to make this man their senator. Whether the Democratic party will show the good sense to make him their standard-bearer remains to be seen.