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.

Tuesday, May 06, 2008

TODAY'S HIGHLIGHTS
Who's More Red, White and Blue-Collar?
LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- If he weren't so busy waiting tables at O'Charley's or scanning Wal-Mart for discount meat to feed his four kids, Scott Winschief thinks he might make a pretty good candidate for president of the United States. For the past six months, he has watched on television in his double...
(By Eli Saslow, The Washington Post)

Eight Questions About Today's Primaries
By Dan Balz
(The Washington Post)

Burma Says Storm Killed 15,000
After Cyclone, Government Makes Rare Aid Request
(By Amy Kazmin, The Washington Post)

Justice System For Detainees Is Moving At a Crawl
No Sept. 11 Trials Likely Before Bush Leaves Office, Officials Say
(By Josh White, The Washington Post)

Failed Yahoo Talks Leave Google on Top
(By Peter Whoriskey, The Washington Post)

More Today's Highlights

POLITICS
Builder Group Resumes Campaign Contributions
The National Association of Home Builders, one of the biggest corporate donors to politicians, has resumed contributing to congressional candidates, declaring that Congress has finally begun to pay attention to the weak housing market.
(By Jeffrey H. Birnbaum, The Washington Post)

Who's More Red, White and Blue-Collar?
With a Boilermaker Here and a Bowling Ball There, Obama and Clinton Try to Win Over Middle America
(By Eli Saslow, The Washington Post)

Justice System For Detainees Is Moving At a Crawl
No Sept. 11 Trials Likely Before Bush Leaves Office, Officials Say
(By Josh White, The Washington Post)

For Nevada GOP, One Spectacle Too Many
In a State Full of Distractions, Governor's Divorce Is One With Political Implications
(By Steve Friess, The Washington Post)

It's About Nothing
(By Dana Milbank, The Washington Post)

More Politics

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NATION
Democrats Warn About Hospital Capacity
Hospitals in seven major U.S. cities would be overwhelmed if any of the cities were struck by a terrorist attack on the scale of the 2004 train bombings in Madrid, and shortages of emergency room capacity and intensive care beds will grow worse if Bush administration Medicaid changes are...
(By Spencer S. Hsu and Mary Beth Sheridan, The Washington Post)

For Nevada GOP, One Spectacle Too Many
In a State Full of Distractions, Governor's Divorce Is One With Political Implications
(By Steve Friess, The Washington Post)

Justice System For Detainees Is Moving At a Crawl
No Sept. 11 Trials Likely Before Bush Leaves Office, Officials Say
(By Josh White, The Washington Post)

First Lady Condemns Junta's Response to Storm
(By Dan Eggen, The Washington Post)

More Nation

WORLD
A Lone Tibetan Voice, Intent on Speaking Out
BEIJING -- Each morning, it is the same. She rises and heads to her computer to write, to pierce the silence that otherwise shrouds events these days in Tibet, her homeland.
(By Jill Drew, The Washington Post)

A Woman, a Village and a War on Plastic Bags
(By Kevin Sullivan, The Washington Post)

Burma Says Storm Killed 15,000
After Cyclone, Government Makes Rare Aid Request
(By Amy Kazmin, The Washington Post)

Disruptions In Oil Supply May Extend Price Rise
(By Steven Mufson, The Washington Post)

Japan Steadily Becoming a Land Of Few Children
(By Blaine Harden, The Washington Post)

More World

METRO
Immigrants Feel Less Welcome in Frederick
In just over a decade, Frederick County has been transformed from a bucolic, timeless community of dairy farms and strawberry festivals to a fast-paced mosaic of high-tech firms and housing developments, Pilates classes and exotic eateries, mega-stores and McDonald's.
(By Pamela Constable, The Washington Post)

O'Malley's Office Accused Of Pressuring State Police
Pr. George's Auto Shop License at Issue
(By John Wagner, The Washington Post)

D.C. Slayings, Nerves Spike
Patterns and Suspects in Month of Violent Crimes Still Hazy
(By Robert E. Pierre and Clarence Williams, The Washington Post)

Putting Words and Music to Her Life
After Death, Array of Items Gives Voice to Woman's Dreams
(By Michael E. Ruane, The Washington Post)

4 Fatally Shot in Trailer Park
Motive Is Unknown; Deaths Are Under Investigation
(By Martin Weil and Elissa Silverman, The Washington Post)

More Metro

BUSINESS
'Say-on-Pay' Movement Loses Steam
NEW YORK, May 5 -- The movement to give shareholders greater say on executive compensation marked a watershed Monday. At its annual shareholder meeting, Aflac, the large insurer, became the first major American company to give investors a vote on how senior managers are paid. Pay packages for the...
(By Tomoeh Murakami Tse, The Washington Post)

Financial Futures
(Martha M. Hamilton, washingtonpost.com)

Disruptions In Oil Supply May Extend Price Rise
(By Steven Mufson, The Washington Post)

Failed Yahoo Talks Leave Google on Top
(By Peter Whoriskey, The Washington Post)

Swell in Contracting Officers May Not Keep Pace With Retirements
(By Stephen Barr, The Washington Post)

More Business

TECHNOLOGY
Bethesda Board-Game Maker Enters Cyberspace
Like most board games, the trivia title Wits & Wagers was designed to be played by a group of friends sitting around a coffee table. This week, a new version of the game will let Xbox-owning players challenge one another around the world.
(By Mike Musgrove, The Washington Post)

Failed Yahoo Talks Leave Google on Top
(By Peter Whoriskey, The Washington Post)

Sprint Nextel Stock Rises 10.5% On Talk of Shake-Up, Takeover
(By Cecilia Kang, The Washington Post)

More Technology

SPORTS
Academic Reform to Be Closely Examined
The NCAA's vow that significantly more teams could face sanctions this year hangs over Tuesday's unveiling of the Academic Progress Rate scores.
(By Eric Prisbell, The Washington Post)

Redskins' Davis Gets Message
Rookie Understands His Gaffe, Moves On
(By Jason Reid, The Washington Post)

Nationals Park Opens for Community Use, in Different Ways
(By Alan Goldenbach, The Washington Post)

Strong-Arm Tactics
Nats Farmhands Flush With Talent
(By Barry Svrluga, The Washington Post)

Bryant Will Receive First MVP Award
(The Washington Post)

More Sports

STYLE
Middletown, Teetering On the Divide
MUNCIE, Ind. In the 1920s, two amateur sociologists went searching for a city that was singularly unexceptional. They wound up here. They made a study of Muncie, asking its children how often they read, and its women how often they ironed. Then more sociologists came, and market researchers and d...
(By Libby Copeland, The Washington Post)

The Actor Musters His Forces at Shakespeare
Andrew Long Makes Quick Study of Roles As Mark Antony
(By Peter Marks, The Washington Post)

Mildred Loving Followed Her Heart and Made History
(By Neely Tucker, The Washington Post)

Smithsonian Opts to Retain Control of Arts & Industries
(By Jacqueline Trescott, The Washington Post)

Poulenc Trio Does Its Namesake Proud
(The Washington Post)

More Style

LIVE DISCUSSIONS
Live Analysis: Indiana, North Carolina Primary Returns
Washington Post associate editor Robert G. Kaiser breaks down the returns from Indiana and North Carolina as they're announced, and examines what they mean for the candidates in the 2008 presidential primaries.
(Robert G. Kaiser, washingtonpost.com)

Book World: 'Pure Goldwater'
The Life and Legacy of Sen. Barry Goldwater
(John W. Dean, washingtonpost.com)

Opinion Focus
(Eugene Robinson, washingtonpost.com)

Lean Plate Club
Talk About Nutrition and Health
(Sally Squires, washingtonpost.com)

Financial Futures
(Martha M. Hamilton, washingtonpost.com)

More Live Discussions

Sweetheart Deal
THE DEADLINE for completion of a new farm bill has been pushed back to May 16. But the endless wrangling over a piece of legislation that Congress once hoped to finish in 2007 has not induced a significant change in the thinking of those who regard it as an opportunity to lock in lush new benefit...
(The Washington Post)

The Peace Corps Wants You
But not if you contract HIV.
(The Washington Post)

Correction
(The Washington Post)

Bolivia's Rift
President Evo Morales's attempt to impose Venezuelan-style socialism is literally splitting the country.
(The Washington Post)

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