Barack Obama

Obama was born in Honolulu, Hawaii to Barack Obama, Sr. (born in Nyanza Province, Kenya) and Ann Dunham (born in Wichita, Kansas). Barack Hussein Obama (born August 4, 1961) is the junior United States Senator from Illinois and a member of the Democratic Party.

Obama grew up in culturally diverse surroundings. He spent most of his childhood in the majority-minority U.S. state of Hawaii and lived for four years in Indonesia. Obama delivered the keynote address at the 2004 Democratic National Convention while still an Illinois state legislator. Since announcing his candidacy in February 2007, Obama has emphasized ending the Iraq War and implementing universal health care as campaign themes.

As a member of the Democratic minority in the 109th Congress, Obama co-sponsored the enactment of conventional weapons control and transparency legislation, and made official trips to Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. Obama's parents separated when he was two years old and later divorced. His father went to Harvard University to pursue Ph.D. studies, then returned to Kenya, where he died in an auto accident when the younger Obama was twenty-one years old.

Google News Alert for: barack obama

Obama says despite shortcomings of Bush administration ...
International Herald Tribune - France
AP WASHINGTON: Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama laid out list of political shortcomings he sees in the Bush administration but said he opposes ...
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Barack Obama's wife says she doesn't want daughters to be partiers
WAND - Decatur,IL,USA
AP - June 28, 2007 6:54 PM ET WASHINGTON (AP) - The wife of Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama (ber-AHK' oh-BAH'-muh) says she's scaled back her ...
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Nearly 250000 Open Wallets for Obama
Forbes - NY,USA
By NEDRA PICKLER 06.28.07, 7:29 PM ET Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama has improved on his stunning support in the race for campaign cash, ...
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Obama Swipes at Clinton's Experience
FOX News - USA
By NEDRA PICKLER, AP Writer WASHINGTON -- Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama contends that former President Clinton can lead the nation on the ...
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Clinton and Obama Expect Near Record Fund-Raising
New York Times - United States
... which ends Saturday night, and also warned supporters to prepare for a similarly dazzling result by a leading Democratic rival, Senator Barack Obama. ...
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"I've got relatives who look like Bernie Mac, and I've got relatives who look like Margaret Thatcher. " He describes his Kenyan father as "raised a Muslim," but a "confirmed atheist" by the time his parents met, and his Indonesian step-father as "a man who saw religion as not particularly useful. The Rasmussen polling organization reported in May 2007 that 49% of Americans consider it "somewhat likely" or "very likely" that Obama will be elected. The bill did not progress beyond committee and was never voted on by the Senate. In March 2007, speaking before AIPAC, a pro-Israel lobby, he said that while the U.S. "should take no option, including military action, off the table, sustained and aggressive diplomacy combined with tough sanctions should be our primary means to prevent Iran from building nuclear weapons. Through the first two quarters of fundraising, Obama's campaign has received donations from a grand total of about 258,000 contributors, the most of any 2008 candidate. " Entered in fulfillment of a campaign promise, the bill proposed increasing the maximum amount of Pell Grant awards to help students from lower income families pay their college tuitions. He is among the Democratic Party's leading candidates for nomination in the 2008 U.S. presidential election. His second book, The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream, was published in October 2006, three weeks before the 2006 midterm election. " Reviewer Michael Tomasky writes that it does not contain "boldly innovative policy prescriptions that will lead the Democrats out of their wilderness," but does show Obama's potential to "construct a new politics that is progressive but grounded in civic traditions that speak to a wider range of Americans. Ehrenstein says these films are popular because they offer U.S. audiences a comfort for "white guilt.