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.



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today's papers All About Hillary By Daniel Politi Posted Thursday, June 5, 2008, at 6:21 AM ET The Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, and New York Times lead, while the Wall Street Journal tops its world-wide newsbox, with word that Hillary Clinton will end her campaign on Saturday and endorse Barack Obama. Clinton made her decision after a day of talking to supporters and Democratic leaders who urged her to back down for the sake of party unity. Even some of her strongest backers expressed frustration at Clinton's stated desire to wait before making a decision on how to proceed. "We pledged to support her to the end," Rep. Charles B. Rangel of New York, who has been a staunch supporter of Clinton, said. "Our problem is not being able to determine when the hell the end is." Meanwhile, some prominent Clinton supporters, apparently with her backing, have begun a campaign to urge Obama to pick the former first lady as his running mate. USA Today goes high with the news out of the Clinton campaign but devotes its lead spot to lawmakers' concerns that a group of unknown foreign investors might be making a move to take control of one of the country's largest railroads. A bipartisan group of senators sent a letter to the treasury secretary asking for an investigation of The Children's Investment Fund, a London-based group that is trying to win five seats in the 12-member board of the CSX rail line. Very little is known about the fund because it refuses to release the name of its investors but TCI insists it's not trying to engineer a takeover of CSX and characterized the request for an investigation as a "scare-mongering tactic." To continue reading, click here. Daniel Politi writes "Today's Papers" for Slate. He can be reached at todayspapers@slate.com. Join the Fray: our reader discussion forum What did you think of this article? POST A MESSAGE \| READ MESSAGES Also In Slate Business & Tech Which Stocks Will Go Up If Obama Wins? No One Knows. Arts & Life The Sad Fate of Lindsay Lohan's Little Sister News & Politics Lift the Gag Order on Frank Rich	Advertisement
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Obama encouraged "others in public life to do the same" to show "there is no shame in going for an HIV test.

But I've got news for them too. Partnering first with Sen. Richard Lugar (R-IN), and then with Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK), Obama successfully introduced two initiatives bearing his name. S. 2611 passed the Senate in May 2006, but failed to gain majority support in the U.S. House of Representatives. In early May 2007, the U.S. Secret Service announced that Obama had been placed under their protection. In January 2006, Obama joined a Congressional delegation for meetings with U.S. military in Kuwait and Iraq. Obama has encouraged Democrats to reach out to evangelicals and other religious people, saying, "if we truly hope to speak to people where they’re at—to communicate our hopes and values in a way that’s relevant to their own—we cannot abandon the field of religious discourse. In 1985, Obama moved to Chicago to direct a non-profit project assisting local churches to organize job training programs. Obama sponsored 152 bills and resolutions brought before the 109th Congress in 2005 and 2006, and cosponsored another 427. The book's last chapters describe his first visit to Kenya, a journey to connect with his Luo family and heritage.

55 million for candidates he supports and his own 2010 re-election fund. " He joined with Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WI) in strengthening restrictions on travel in corporate jets to S.1, the Legislative Transparency and Accountability Act of 2007, which passed the Senate with a 96-2 majority. Obama joined Charles Schumer (D-NY) in sponsoring S. 453, a bill to criminalize deceptive practices in federal elections, including fraudulent flyers and automated phone calls, as witnessed in the 2006 midterm elections.