Choosing Sides - Obama; Buffett

Not Jimmy. Warren.

U.S. Senator Barack Obama is a ``leader'' who can ease economic disparity while increasing prosperity, billionaire Warren Buffett said at a fund-raiser he held for the presidential hopeful last night.

``We have abundance but we don't have as much fairness as we might have in the system,'' Buffett, 76, told attendees at the Omaha, Nebraska event.

Buffett, who has not endorsed Obama, 46, or rival New York Senator Hillary Clinton, 59, said earlier this year that he would help either of them with their presidential campaigns if asked. He has often criticized the government for favoring the rich, repeating a charge tonight that Congress is the ``tax planner'' for the rich.

``Apparently the government in its wisdom thinks that some guy like me is like the condor or the spotted owl or something to be protected,'' he said last night. ``We really need to figure out some way not to fill the golden goose but actually to have abundance grow.''

Obama can ``lead us to the right place,'' Buffett said, spreading prosperity so that it is more inclusive.

Not an "endorsement," so to speak, but a clear statement of support.