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 Full Court Press By Jesse Stanchak Posted Saturday, Nov. 1, 2008, at 6:45 AM ET Going into the final weekend before the election, the Los Angeles Times leads with the presidential candidates (and their surrogates) making their last dashes across battleground states. The Wall Street Journal tops its world-wide newsbox with Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., targeting areas that typically favor Republicans, including Republican Sen. John McCain's home state of Arizona, a notion the LAT shares. The New York Times goes lower with campaign news and instead leads with worries that faltering consumer spending may give rise to deflation. The Washington Post leads with a look at how an expanded interpretation of the Constitution's "speech or debate" clause is hampering congressional corruption investigations. To continue reading, click here. Jesse Stanchak is a writer living in Washington, D.C. Join the Fray: our reader discussion forum What did you think of this article? POST A MESSAGE \| READ MESSAGES Also In Slate AIG Spent $2.85 Billion on What? Sunday Night Football Extra Is the Future of Television The Peanuts Holiday Specials Make Feeling Bad Feel So Good	Advertisement
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Questioning the Bush administration's management of the Iraq War, Obama spoke of an enlisted Marine, Corporal Seamus Ahern from East Moline, Illinois, asking, "Are we serving Seamus as well as he is serving us?" He continued: When we send our young men and women into harm's way, we have a solemn obligation not to fudge the numbers or shade the truth about why they're going, to care for their families while they're gone, to tend to the soldiers upon their return, and to never, ever go to war without enough troops to win the war, secure the peace, and earn the respect of the world. We are one people, all of us pledging allegiance to the stars and stripes, all of us defending the United States of America. Obama began podcasting from his U.S. Senate web site in late 2005. A long-time resident of Maryland, Keyes established legal residency in Illinois with the nomination. " Obama writes: "It was because of these newfound understandings—that religious commitment did not require me to suspend critical thinking, disengage from the battle for economic and social justice, or otherwise retreat from the world that I knew and loved—that I was finally able to walk down the aisle of Trinity United Church of Christ one day and be baptized. " 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. The first such poll, taken in November 2006, ranked Obama in second place with 17% support among Democrats after Sen. Obama sponsored 152 bills and resolutions brought before the 109th Congress in 2005 and 2006, and cosponsored another 427. " The audio book edition earned Obama the 2006 Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album.

In July 2005, Samantha Power, Pulitzer-winning author on human rights and genocide, joined Obama's team. President Bush signed the Secure Fence Act into law in October 2006, calling it "an important step toward immigration reform.

The protection was not in response to any specific threat, but the campaign had received "hate mail, calls and other 'threatening materials'" in the past, and officials felt that the large crowds and increased campaign activity warranted the order. If elected, Obama would become the first non-white U.S. president.