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.

[1]Unlikely Vote Forces No Change

In support for Democrat's plan, Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.) joins bipartisan side of Iraq debate.

link: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/29/AR2007092901408.html?nav=rss_email/components

[1] <http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/29/AR2007092901408.html?nav=rss_email/components>

In her January 2007 Salon article asserting that Obama "isn't black," columnist Debra Dickerson writes: "lumping us all together Zwith ObamaZ erases the significance of slavery and continuing racism while giving the appearance of progress. "He was an early opponent of Bush administration policies on Iraq. 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. Lugar and Obama inspected a Nunn-Lugar program-supported nuclear warhead destruction facility at Saratov, in southern European Russia. I've got an ironclad demand from my wife that in the stresses of the campaign I don't succumb. Obama's candidacy was boosted by an advertising campaign featuring images of the late Chicago Mayor Harold Washington and the late U.S.

An October 2005 article in the British journal New Statesman listed Obama as one of "10 people who could change the world. In a May 2006 letter to President Bush, he joined four other Midwest farming state Senators in calling for the preservation of a US$0.54 per gallon tariff on imported ethanol. Born to a Kenyan father and an American mother, Obama grew up in culturally diverse surroundings.

The first, Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance, was published after his graduation from law school and before entering politics. While in Israel, Obama met with Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom. " In December 2006, Obama joined Sen. Sam Brownback (R-KS) at the "Global Summit on AIDS and the Church" organized by church leaders Kay and Rick Warren.

In her January 2007 Salon article asserting that Obama "isn't black," columnist Debra Dickerson writes: "lumping us all together Zwith ObamaZ erases the significance of slavery and continuing racism while giving the appearance of progress. Obama left for his third official trip in August 2006, traveling to South Africa and Kenya, and making stops in Djibouti, Ethiopia and Chad. " The audio book edition earned Obama the 2006 Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album. Its enthusiastic reception at the convention and widespread coverage by national media gave him instant celebrity status. His parents met while both were attending the University of Hawaii at Manoa, where his father was enrolled as a foreign student. "During his first year as a U.S. senator, in a move more typically taken after several years of holding high political office, Obama established a leadership political action committee, Hopefund, for channeling financial support to Democratic candidates.