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 The Last Days By David Sessions Posted Sunday, Oct. 26, 2008, at 6:16 AM ET The Los Angeles Times fills its lead slot with a look at the presidential candidates' strategies for the last nine days on the campaign trail. McCain plans to spend most of his time attacking Obama's economic plan and warning of a Democratic supermajority, while the Obama campaign is concerned primarily with staving off overconfidence. The Washington Post leads with increased scrutiny of credit card donations given to the candidates through their websites. Barack Obama's record-shattering $150 million campaign haul has raised questions in both parties about the laxly overseen, anonymous world of internet campaign donations. The New York Times leads with the slowing demand for American products, which means thousands of Americans are losing their jobs. Many of the United States' highest-profile corporations have announced layoffs, and economists expect unemployment numbers to exceed 200,000 when they are announced Nov. 7. Barack Obama's "message of hope" will remain the same through Nov. 4, the LAT reports, while John McCain is sharpening the points of a "three-pronged" final attack that will focus on Obama's tax plan, his limited experience, and the excessive power the Democratic Party could wield if he is elected. Both sides admit the outlook is bleak for McCain, and the LAT reports that McCain's aides privately discuss his return to the senate. Even though Obama leads comfortably in several states that McCain cannot afford to lose, his campaign is concerned about "overconfidence." Obama campaign officials cite the razor-thin margins by which many battleground states were won in recent elections as caution that the race is still anyone's game. A framed front-pager in the WP focuses on the Republican Party's well-oiled get-out-the-vote machine in Colorado (a must-win for McCain), which may be threatened for the first time by Obama's impressively organized volunteers. Colorado Republicans say their grassroots experience in the state should give them an edge. To continue reading, click here. David Sessions is a former Slate* intern. He is currently the editor of* Patrol. Join the Fray: our reader discussion forum What did you think of this article? POST A MESSAGE \| READ MESSAGES Also In Slate So McCain Almost Flew a Sortie During the Cuban Missile Crisis. Big Deal. Why Oral Cancer Drugs Don't Work Charlie Kaufman's Synecdoche: Perhaps the Most Depressing Movie You'll Ever See	Advertisement
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In a June 2006 podcast, Obama expressed support for telecommunications legislation to protect network neutrality on the Internet, saying: "It is because the Internet is a neutral platform that I can put out this podcast and transmit it over the Internet without having to go through any corporate media middleman. Obama spoke out in June 2006 against making recent, temporary estate tax cuts permanent, calling the cuts a "Paris Hilton" tax break for "billionaire heirs and heiresses. 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 served in the Illinois Senate from 1997 to 2004, launching his campaign for U.S. Senate in 2003. The Rasmussen polling organization reported in May 2007 that 49% of Americans consider it "somewhat likely" or "very likely" that Obama will be elected. He received his B.A. degree in 1983, then worked for one year at Business International Corporation. A long-time resident of Maryland, Keyes established legal residency in Illinois with the nomination. Addressing the Chicago Council on Global Affairs in November 2006, Obama called for a phased withdrawal of troops and an opening of diplomatic dialogue with Iraq's neighbors, Syria and Iran.

In a June 2006 podcast, Obama expressed support for telecommunications legislation to protect network neutrality on the Internet, saying: "It is because the Internet is a neutral platform that I can put out this podcast and transmit it over the Internet without having to go through any corporate media middleman. ABC News 7 (Chicago) reported Obama telling the students that "the U.S. will never recognize winning Hamas candidates unless the group renounces its fundamental mission to eliminate Israel," and that he had conveyed the same message in his meeting with Palestinian authority President Mahmoud Abbas. The first, Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance, was published after his graduation from law school and before entering politics. 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.

" Speaking before the National Press Club in April 2005, Obama defended the New Deal social welfare policies of Franklin D. Roosevelt, associating Republican proposals to establish private accounts for Social Security with Social Darwinism. His knowledge about his absent Luo father came mainly through family stories and photographs. " He describes his Kenyan father as "raised a Muslim," but a "confirmed atheist" by the time his parents met, and his Indonesian step-father as "a man who saw religion as not particularly useful. His second book, The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream, was published in October 2006, three weeks before the 2006 midterm election. Enthusiastic crowds greeted Obama's public appearances.

He flew his wife and two daughters from Chicago to join him in a visit to his father's birthplace, a village near Kisumu in rural western Kenya. Partnering first with Sen. Richard Lugar (R-IN), and then with Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK), Obama successfully introduced two initiatives bearing his name.