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.

Small Shoes at Justice

On Saturday, one day after Alberto Gonzales submitted his resignation as attorney general and two days before it was made public, White House Chief of Staff Josh Bolten was on the phone feeling out who might be available as a replacement. That Bolten had a short list in hand indicates that even if George W. Bush was ready to ride out his presidency with his dear friend at the Justice Department, senior aides were eager to stanch the political bleeding.

Robert D. Novak Thu, 30 Aug 2007 00:00:00 EDT

Source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/29/AR2007082901927.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns
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While in Israel, Obama met with Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom. In the November 2004 general election, Obama received 70% of the vote to Keyes's 27%. " The audio book edition earned Obama the 2006 Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album. The family moved from their Hyde Park, Chicago condominium to a nearby US$1.6-million home in 2005. He served in the Illinois Senate from 1997 to 2004, launching his campaign for U.S. Senate in 2003. In the same week, Zogby International reported that Obama leads all prospective Republican opponents in polling for the 2008 general election. Obama, who defines himself in The Audacity of Hope as "a Democrat, after all," has been criticized for his political actions by self-described progressive commentator David Sirota, and complimented for his "Can't we all just get along?" manner by conservative columnist George Will. Obama's energy initiatives scored pluses and minuses with environmentalists, who welcomed his sponsorship with Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) of a climate change bill to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by two-thirds by 2050, but were skeptical of Obama's support for a bill promoting liquefied coal production. " At the Save Darfur rally in April 2006, he called for more assertive action to oppose genocide in the Darfur region of Sudan.

He served in the Illinois Senate from 1997 to 2004, launching his campaign for U.S. Senate in 2003. In July 2005, Samantha Power, Pulitzer-winning author on human rights and genocide, joined Obama's team. In Chapter 6 of the book, titled "Faith," Obama writes that he "was not raised in a religious household. "I've got relatives who look like Bernie Mac, and I've got relatives who look like Margaret Thatcher.