WASHINGTON – Sen. Barack Obama may not have officially said he is running for president, but already his constituents want to know: Does he have enough experience to occupy the White House?

“My expectation would be if I ran, I will run through the gauntlet, and people will ask me tough questions just like you just did,” Obama replied. “And hopefully, the American people will decide whether or not I’ve got the experience.”

Obama, D-Ill., took questions from a group of about 100 visiting constituents who were eager to hear how he might perform if he were to win.

“There are reporters everywhere here,” Obama joked. “I appreciate you doing their dirty work.”

During the session, there was so much interest in Obama’s presidential ambitions that it was difficult for Illinois’ senior senator, Democrat Dick Durbin, to draw much attention.

Obama, 45, formed a presidential exploratory committee on Tuesday and plans to make an official announcement Feb. 10. He assured the audience that any presidential campaign would not detract from his Senate voting record or his work.

“I think what you try to do is to manage to make those votes that are going to make a difference and you are going to miss votes eventually that where your vote is not decisive,” he said. “It is probably one of the reasons why U.S. senators who run for president have been less successful than governors who run for the presidency, because they have less flexibility on their schedule.”

The Illinois Democrat also gave his quick view of Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.

“The crisis in Social Security, I believe, is overstated in the sense that, if we make some adjustments to the system, as we did in 1983, we can assure the solvency of the system,” Obama said.

“Medicaid and Medicare are genuinely in crisis, because health care inflation is so outstripping the expansion of the economy that it is gobbling up more and more taxpayer dollars and it’s going to get worse because of demographics,” he said. “Folks get older and they require more medical care.”

As a state senator, Obama often was praised for his bipartisan nature and has said it has been his goal as a U.S. senator to work with all sides for solutions. He was pressed Thursday by another visiting Illinoisan on how he would work with Republicans and independents.

Obama said there needs to be an emphasis on listening.

“I think it is important for us to stay focused on the problem and then welcome any good ideas that help solve the problem,” he said. “I think that attitude of pragmatism and experimentation can help foster the kind of bipartisanship you are talking about.”