He's the Hill's King for a Day, but Senate Has Other Plans (Obama)

WASHINGTON — The phones weren't working right. The fax machine wasn't hooked up. And the walls were bare, except for a giant map of Illinois propped on its end, waiting to be hung.

But even before the makeshift office was up and running in the basement of a Senate building, even before he raised his hand Tuesday to take the oath of office as the junior senator from Illinois, Barack Obama was already a political rock star and a celebrated new face in Congress.

"Congratulations, man!" a cabdriver exulted, recognizing the 43-year-old senator and joyfully leaning on his horn.

"Welcome to Washington!" a jogger bellowed as Obama, the self-described "skinny kid with a funny name," walked the streets outside the Capitol on the way to a reception where well-wishers were lined up out the door.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=2026&ncid=2026&e=2&u=/latimests/20050105/ts_latimes/hesthehillskingforadaybutsenatehasotherplans