barack Obama kicked off presidential campaign 15 years ago in Springfield: A

WASHINGTON — Thursday marks 15 years since Barack Obama officially kicked off his first presidential campaign on the steps of the Old State Capitol in Springfield.

Feb. 10, 2007.

It was a long day. Started in Springfield. Ended after rallies in Cedar Rapids and Waterloo, Iowa, the state with the 2008 kickoff presidential caucus.

The night before, Sen. Barack Obama, wife Michelle and others in their entourage arrived at the hotel around 10 p.m. A smiling Emil Jones — the state Senate president who had mentored Obama when he was a state senator — was wearing a black T-shirt with a picture of Obama superimposed on the Old State Capitol.

The city was chosen because of its symbolism. Springfield was where Obama — and Abraham Lincoln — started their political careers.

The Old State House was the obvious site for the man on a quest to be the nation’s first Black president. It was the location of Lincoln’s famous “a house divided against itself cannot stand” speech in 1858 denouncing slavery.

It was frigid cold that morning. Before Obama spoke I was on the MSNBC set outside the Old State House, offering analysis along with Chris Matthews and Howard Fineman.

Frozen to the bone, I took refuge in the inside press file center overseen by a new young Obama staffer, Samantha Tubman, the deputy to the press lead, who joined the campaign a few weeks earlier and was detailed to Springfield for the announcement.

Obama made his entrance to “City of Blinding Lights,” the U2 hit that would be — and is to this day — his signature walk-out song.

Obama in his speech talked about how there was “a certain audacity” to the freshman senator making a bid for the White House.

“I know that I haven’t spent a lot of time learning the ways of Washington. But I’ve been there long enough to know the ways of Washington must change,” he said.

“And that is why, in the shadow of the Old State Capitol, where Lincoln once called on a house divided to stand together, where common hopes and common dreams still live, I stand before you this day to announce my candidacy for president of the United States of America.”

Obama’s “hope” and “change” campaign slogans suggested that, as president, he could create some permanent transformation.

That was not to be.

President Donald Trump followed Obama’s two terms, with his political rise fueled by his Obama birther lies.

Trump’s divisiveness, lies and norm-breaking self-dealing led to two impeachments and the current threat to our democracy stemming from his attempts to overturn the 2020 election.

At the time, however, the goal of the speech was to get Obama elected, and those words struck political gold, setting the stage for his victory.

Shortly after the speech, the 57 journalists in the Obama traveling press corps were hustled to a waiting jet to fly to Iowa. His Waterloo rally lasted till around 10 p.m.

After clinching the nomination, Obama returned to the Old State Capitol on Aug. 23, 2008, with Joe and Jill…