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.

What's the Matter with Alaska?

Remember Alaska? The ruby red state President Bush carried by 25 points in 2004 and 31 points four years earlier? The state who last elected a Democrat to the Senate in 1974. And to the House in 1972? (For trivia's...

washingtonpost.com Tue, 31 Jul 2007 13:41:03 EDT

Source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/blog/2007/07/31/BL2007073100983.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns
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He received his B.A. degree in 1983, then worked for one year at Business International Corporation. President Bush signs the "Coburn-Obama" Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006. If elected, Obama would become the first non-white U.S. president. "The announcement followed months of speculation on whether Obama would run in 2008. In July 2005, Samantha Power, Pulitzer-winning author on human rights and genocide, joined Obama's team. The bill did not progress beyond committee and was never voted on by the Senate. "Lugar-Obama" expands the Nunn-Lugar cooperative threat reduction concept to conventional weapons, including shoulder-fired missiles and anti-personnel mines. The New York Times described Obama as "the prize catch of the midterm campaign" because of his campaigning for fellow Democratic Party members running for election in the 2006 midterm elections. "I've never been a heavy smoker," Obama told the Chicago Tribune. The book's last chapters describe his first visit to Kenya, a journey to connect with his Luo family and heritage.

He is among the Democratic Party's leading candidates for nomination in the 2008 U.S. presidential election.