The smartest person at the Democratic get-out-the-vote rally on Thursday wasn't Sen. Barack Obama (Harvard Law School), or Sen. Maria Cantwell (Miami University in Ohio), or congressional candidate Darcy Burner (Harvard University).

It was the guy selling "Obama for President" campaign buttons and T-shirts outside the gymnasium at Bellevue Community College, literally making money hand over fist. "Get in line, please don't grab," he shouted. "Folks, you're going to have to be patient."

Asked where the proceeds went, the entrepreneur responded: "Private fundraiser."

Talk about grasping an economic opportunity.

These are heady times for Obama, stumping for Democratic candidates, hawking his latest book and offering himself as a presidential candidate in 2008.

Maybe.

The 45-year-old junior senator from Illinois is a little coy about that.

Despite the fact that Obama isn't on any ballot this November, the buzz surrounding him seems only to grow. As he spoke to the roughly 2,000 people at BCC, audience members held up the current issue of Time magazine with his face on the cover, next to the caption: "Why Barack Obama Could Be The Next President."

"He was inspiring and electrifying. It's time someone listened to the people," said Kim Pollock, an instructor at BCC who read Obama's first book, "Dreams From My Father," 10 years ago.

After the BCC rally late Thursday morning, Obama appeared in the evening at Benaroya Hall in Seattle for a speech and book signing. He signed copies of his latest work, "The Audacity to Hope," a phrase borrowed from his pastor, Obama said. All 2,500 tickets sold out in less than two hours, and the event became the largest of his national book tour.

Obama is not the first politician to make optimism a personal theme. In his 1992 campaign, former President Clinton was often introduced as "the man from Hope," a reference to his hometown in Arkansas as well as a call for better times.

In contrast to the parade of Democrats who spoke before him at the rally and offered sharp criticisms of Republican policies, Obama, who noted that his mother attended Mercer Island High School, did not pillage President Bush or the GOP. In fact, he rarely used the word "Republican" during either speech.

Instead, he portrayed the American people as practical and generous-spirited, and wondered why common-sense solutions aren't being touted in Washington, D.C., solutions that just happen to line up with policies Obama espouses.

Characterizing himself as a "church-going man," Obama said people were concerned about rising health-care costs. "They say, we can do better than that. We can design a health-care system that is both affordable and provides access to all people."

On education, he said the world was growing increasingly competitive, and criticized Congress for raising the cost of student loans.

"People are saying, why aren't we taking basic steps that should be nonideological and nonpartisan?"

On Iraq, Obama said: "Now people say, after years of staying on a course to nowhere, after staying on a course to disaster, after staying on a course that's cost us half a trillion dollars almost, and most importantly, shattered the lives of young men and women not much older than people in this auditorium, and people say, surely we can create a foreign policy and a national-security strategy that combines the might of our military with diplomacy. We've done it before. Why can't we do it again?"

At Benaroya Hall, the crowd erupted into cheers when someone asked when he could volunteer for Obama's presidential campaign. Obama didn't answer.

Blake Morrison, owner of the Sunflower Bakery Cafe, said the low-key tone of the speech was surprising, considering Election Day is less then two weeks away.

"I think a lot of people expected a little more partisan stuff out of him, but it's a book tour and he's talking about communication and trying to get things done, not necessarily going after the partisan stuff," said Morrison.

Beth Bollinger, who said she was the first person in line, at 6:45 a.m., to buy tickets at Elliott Bay Book Co. last week, was delighted with Obama's performance.

"He's says what he thinks and he's articulate, so you know what he believes," Bollinger said. "I want him to run for president."

Alex Fryer: 206-464-8124 or afryer@seattletimes.com