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Barack Obama
Wantsriver
Incumbent
Assumed office 
January 3, 2005–
Serving with Richard Durbin
Preceded by Peter Fitzgerald
Succeeded by Incumbent (2011)
Born August 4, 1961 (age 45)
Flag of Hawaii Honolulu, Hawaii
Political party Democratic
Spouse Michelle Obama
Religion United Church of Christ
Signature
“Obama” redirects here. For other uses, see Obama (disambiguation).

Barack Hussein Obama (born August 4, 1961; Arabic: باراك حسين اوباما ; IPA pronunciation: [bəˈɹɑk oʊˈbɑ.mə]), is the junior United States Senator from Illinois. According to the U.S. Senate Historical Office, he is the fifth African American Senator in U.S. history and the only African American currently serving in the U.S. Senate.[1] He is a candidate for the Democratic Party's 2008 presidential nomination.[2]

He was elected to the Illinois Senate in 1996. Four years later, he made an unsuccessful run for the U.S. House of Representatives. Obama won reelection to the state senate in 2002, running unopposed. As early as 2002, he was a critic of the proposed Iraq War, declaring in a television interview that he would have voted against the Iraq Resolution.[3] In 2004, he ran for an open seat in the U.S. Senate. Midway through the campaign, Obama delivered the keynote address at the 2004 Democratic National Convention and became a nationally known political figure. He was elected to the U.S. Senate in November 2004 with a landslide 70% of the vote.[4]

Obama formally announced his candidacy for the 2008 presidential election in Springfield, Illinois, on February 10, 2007.[2] Recent opinion polls rank him as the second most popular choice among Democratic voters for their party's nomination, after Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY).[5]

Contents

[edit] Early life and career

See also: Dreams from My Father

Barack Obama was born in Honolulu, Hawaii to Barack Hussein Obama, Sr. (born in Nyanza Province, Kenya) and Stanley Ann Dunham (born in Wichita, Kansas).[6] His parents met while both were attending the University of Hawaii at Manoa, where his father was enrolled as a foreign student.[7] Obama's parents separated when he was two years old and later divorced.[8][9] His father went to Harvard University to pursue Ph.D. studies, then returned to Kenya, where he died in a car accident when Obama was 21 years old.[10] His mother married Lolo Soetoro, an Indonesian foreign student, with whom she had one daughter.[11] The family moved to Jakarta in 1967, where Obama attended local schools from ages 6 to 10.[12] He then returned to Honolulu to live with his maternal grandparents. In Hawaii, Obama attended Punahou School, a private, coeducational college preparatory day school, from 5th grade until his graduation in 1979.[13] Obama's mother died of cancer a few months after the publication of his 1995 memoir, Dreams from My Father.[14]

In the memoir, Obama describes his experiences growing up in his mother's American middle class family. His knowledge about his absent Luo father came mainly through family stories and photographs.[15] Of his early childhood, Obama writes: "That my father looked nothing like the people around me—that he was black as pitch, my mother white as milk—barely registered in my mind."[16] The book describes his struggles as a young adult to reconcile social perceptions of his multiracial heritage.[17] He used alcohol, marijuana, and cocaine during his teenage years, Obama writes, to "push questions of who I was out of my mind."[18]

After graduating from Punahou, Obama studied at Occidental College for two years, then transferred to Columbia University, where he majored in political science with a specialization in international relations.[19][20] He received his B.A. degree in 1983, then worked for one year at Business International Corporation.[21][22] In 1985, Obama moved to Chicago to direct a non-profit project assisting local churches to organize job training programs for residents of poor neighborhoods.[21][23] He entered Harvard Law School in 1988.[21] In 1990, The New York Times reported his election as the Harvard Law Review's "first black president in its 104-year history."[24] He completed his J.D. degree magna cum laude in 1991.[21] On returning to Chicago, Obama directed a voter registration drive.[21] As an associate attorney with Miner, Barnhill & Galland from 1993 to 1996, he managed minority, voting rights and employment cases.[25] Obama taught constitutional law at the University of Chicago Law School from 1993 until his election to the U.S. Senate in 2004.[26]

[edit] State legislature

In 1996, Obama was elected to the Illinois State Senate from the state's 13th District in the south-side Chicago neighborhood of Hyde Park. In January 2003, when Democrats regained control of the chamber, he was named chairperson of the Senate Health and Human Services Committee.[27] Among his legislative initiatives, Obama helped to author an Illinois Earned Income Tax Credit that provided benefits to lower-income families, worked for legislation that would support residents who could not afford health insurance, and helped pass bills to increase funding for AIDS prevention and care programs.[28]

In 2000, Obama made an unsuccessful Democratic primary run for the U.S. House of Representatives seat held by four-term incumbent candidate Bobby Rush. Rush, a former Black Panther and community activist, said that Obama had not "been around the 1st Congressional District long enough to really see what's going on."[29] Rush received 61% of the vote to Obama's 30%.[30] After the loss, Obama focused his efforts on the state Senate, authoring a law requiring police to videotape interrogations for crimes punishable by the death penalty[31] and supporting legislation that required insurance companies to cover routine mammograms.[32][33] He ran unopposed in 2002.[34]

Reviewing Obama's career in the Illinois Senate, a February 2007 article in the Washington Post noted his ability to work effectively with both Democrats and Republicans, and to build bipartisan coalitions.[35] In his subsequent campaign for the U.S. Senate, Obama won the endorsement of the Illinois Fraternal Order of Police, whose officials cited his "longtime support of gun control measures and his willingness to negotiate compromises," despite his support for some bills that the police union had opposed.[36]

[edit] Keynote address at 2004 Democratic National Convention

See also: 2004 Democratic National Convention

Midway through his U.S. Senate campaign, Obama wrote and delivered the keynote address at the 2004 Democratic National Convention in Boston, Massachusetts.[37]

After describing his maternal grandfather's experiences as a World War II veteran and a beneficiary of the New Deal's FHA and G.I. Bill programs, Obama said:

No, people don't expect government to solve all their problems. But they sense, deep in their bones, that with just a slight change in priorities, we can make sure that every child in America has a decent shot at life, and that the doors of opportunity remain open to all. They know we can do better. And they want that choice.

Questioning the Bush administration's handling 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.

Finally, he spoke for national unity:

The pundits like to slice-and-dice our country into Red States and Blue States; Red States for Republicans, Blue States for Democrats. But I've got news for them too. We worship an awesome God in the Blue States, and we don't like federal agents poking around in our libraries in the Red States. We coach Little League in the Blue States and yes, we got some gay friends in the Red States. There are patriots who opposed the war in Iraq and patriots who supported the war in Iraq. We are one people, all of us pledging allegiance to the stars and stripes, all of us defending the United States of America.[38]

The speech was Obama's introduction to most of America. Its enthusiastic reception at the convention and widespread coverage by national media gave him instant celebrity status.[39][40]

[edit] Senate campaign

Main article: Illinois United States Senate election, 2004

In 2004, Obama ran for the U.S. Senate open seat vacated by Peter Fitzgerald. In early opinion polls leading up to the Democratic primary, Obama trailed multimillionaire businessman Blair Hull and Illinois Comptroller Dan Hynes. However, Hull's popularity declined following allegations of domestic abuse.[41] Obama's candidacy was boosted by an advertising campaign featuring images of the late Chicago Mayor Harold Washington and the late U.S. Senator Paul Simon; the support of Simon's daughter; and political endorsements by the Chicago Tribune and Chicago Sun-Times.[42][43] From a crowded field of seven candidates, Obama received over 52% of the vote in the March 16, 2004 primary, emerging well ahead of his Democratic rivals.[44]

His opponent in the general election was expected to be Republican primary winner Jack Ryan. However, Ryan withdrew from the race on June 25, 2004, following public disclosure of child custody divorce records containing sexual allegations by Ryan's ex-wife, actress Jeri Ryan.[45] In August 2004, with less than three months to go before election day, Alan Keyes accepted the Illinois Republican Party's nomination to replace Ryan.[46] A long-time resident of Maryland, Keyes established legal residency in Illinois with the nomination.[47] Through three televised debates, Obama and Keyes expressed opposing views on stem cell research, abortion, gun control, school vouchers, and tax cuts.[48] In the general election held November 2, 2004, Obama received 70% of the popular vote to Keyes's 27%.[49]

[edit] Senate career

Obama was sworn in as a Senator on January 4, 2005.[50] He hired former Senate Democratic Leader Tom Daschle's ex-chief of staff for the same position, and Karen Kornbluh, an economist who was deputy chief of staff to former Secretary of the Treasury Robert Rubin, as his policy adviser.[51] In July 2005, Samantha Power, Pulitzer-winning author on human rights and genocide, joined Obama's team.[52] Four months into his senate career, Time magazine named Obama one of "the world's most influential people," calling him "one of the most admired politicians in America."[53] An October 2005 article in the British journal New Statesman listed Obama as one of "10 people who could change the world."[54] During his first two years in the Senate, Obama received Honorary Doctorates of Law from Knox College,[55] University of Massachusetts Boston,[56] Northwestern University,[57] and Xavier University of Louisiana.[58] He is a member of the following Senate committees: Foreign Relations; Health, Education, Labor and Pensions; Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs; and Veterans' Affairs.[59]

[edit] Legislation

U.S. Senate bill sponsors Tom Coburn (R-OK) and Barack Obama greet President Bush at the signing ceremony of the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006.
U.S. Senate bill sponsors Tom Coburn (R-OK) and Barack Obama greet President Bush at the signing ceremony of the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006.[60]

Obama sponsored 152 bills and resolutions brought before the 109th Congress in 2005 and 2006, and cosponsored another 427.[61][62] His first bill was the "Higher Education Opportunity through Pell Grant Expansion Act."[63] Entered in fulfillment of a campaign promise, the bill proposed increasing the maximum amount of Pell Grant awards to help students from lower income families pay their college tuitions.[64] The bill did not progress beyond committee and was never voted on by the Senate.

Obama took an active role in the Senate's drive for improved border security and immigration reform. Beginning in 2005, he co-sponsored the "Secure America and Orderly Immigration Act" introduced by Sen. John McCain (R-AZ).[65] Obama later added three amendments to S. 2611, the "Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act," sponsored by Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA).[66][67] S. 2611 passed the Senate in May 2006, but failed to gain majority support in the U.S. House of Representatives.[68] In September 2006, Obama supported a related bill, the Secure Fence Act, authorizing construction of fencing and other security improvements along the United States–Mexico border.[69] President Bush signed the Secure Fence Act into law in October 2006, calling it "an important step toward immigration reform."[70]

Partnering first with Sen. Richard Lugar (R-IN), and then with Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK), Obama successfully introduced two initiatives bearing his name. "Lugar–Obama" expands the Nunn–Lugar cooperative threat reduction concept to conventional weapons, including shoulder-fired missiles and anti-personnel mines.[71][72] The "Coburn-Obama Transparency Act" provides for a Web site, managed by the Office of Management and Budget, listing all organizations receiving Federal funds from 2007 onward, and providing breakdowns by the agency allocating the funds, the dollar amount given, and the purpose of the grant or contract.[73][74] On December 22, 2006, President Bush signed into law the "Democratic Republic of the Congo Relief, Security, and Democracy Promotion Act," marking the first federal legislation to be enacted with Obama as its primary sponsor.[75]

On the first day of the Democratic-controlled 110th Congress, in a column published in the Washington Post, Obama called for an end to "any and all practices that would lead a reasonable person to believe that a public servant has become indebted to a lobbyist."[76] He joined with Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WI) in pressuring the Democratic leadership for tougher restrictions in S.1, the Legislative Transparency and Accountability Act of 2007, which passed the Senate with a 96-2 majority.[77][78] 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 recent midterm elections.[79][80] Obama's energy initiatives scored pluses and minuses with environmentalists, who welcomed his sponsorship with Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) of a climate change bill to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by two-thirds by 2050, but were skeptical of Obama's support for a bill promoting liquefied coal production.[81][82] Also during the first month of the 110th Congress, Obama introduced the "Iraq War De-Escalation Act," a bill that caps troop levels in Iraq at January 10, 2007 levels, begins phased redeployment on May 1, 2007, and removes all combat brigades from Iraq by March 31, 2008.[83][84]

[edit] Official travel

Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Richard Lugar (R-IN) and Committee member Barack Obama at a Russian base, where mobile launch missiles are being destroyed by the Nunn–Lugar program.
Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Richard Lugar (R-IN) and Committee member Barack Obama at a Russian base, where mobile launch missiles are being destroyed by the Nunn–Lugar program.

During the August recess of 2005, Obama traveled with Sen. Richard Lugar (R-IN), Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, to Russia, Ukraine and Azerbaijan. The trip focused on strategies to control the world's supply of conventional weapons, biological weapons, and weapons of mass destruction, as a strategic first defense against the threat of future terrorist attacks.[85] Lugar and Obama inspected a Nunn-Lugar program-supported nuclear warhead destruction facility at Saratov, in southern European Russia.[86] In Ukraine, they toured a disease control and prevention facility and witnessed the signing of a bilateral pact to secure biological pathogens and combat risks of infectious disease outbreaks from natural causes or bioterrorism.[87]

In January 2006, Obama joined a Congressional delegation for meetings with U.S. military in Kuwait and Iraq. After the visits, Obama traveled to Jordan, Israel, and the Palestinian territories. While in Israel, Obama met with Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom.[88] Obama also met with a group of Palestinian students two weeks before Hamas won the January 2006 Palestinian legislative election. 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.[89]

Obama left for his third official trip in August 2006, traveling to South Africa and Kenya, and making stops in Djibouti, Ethiopia and Chad. Obama 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.[90] Obama was greeted by enthusiastic crowds at his public appearances.[91] In a public gesture aimed to encourage more Kenyans to undergo voluntary HIV testing, Obama and his wife took HIV tests at a Kenyan clinic.[92] In a nationally televised speech at the University of Nairobi, Obama spoke forcefully on the influence of ethnic rivalries in Kenyan politics.[93] The speech touched off a public debate among rival leaders, some formally challenging Obama's remarks as unfair and improper, others defending his positions.[94][95]

[edit] Presidential campaign

Main article: Barack Obama presidential campaign, 2008
Obama supporters at campaign rally in Austin, Texas, on February 23, 2007. Obama drew a crowd of over 20,000 attendees at this Austin appearance.
Obama supporters at campaign rally in Austin, Texas, on February 23, 2007. Obama drew a crowd of over 20,000 attendees at this Austin appearance.[96]

On February 10, 2007, in Springfield, Illinois, Obama announced his candidacy for the 2008 U.S. presidential election.[2] He said:

It was here, in Springfield, where North, South, East and West come together that I was reminded of the essential decency of the American people–where I came to believe that through this decency, we can build a more hopeful America. And that is why, in the shadow of the Old State Capitol, where Lincoln once called on a house divided to stand together, where common hopes and common dreams still live, I stand before you today to announce my candidacy for President of the United States of America.[97]

The announcement followed months of speculation on whether Obama would run in 2008. Speculation intensified in October 2006 when Obama first said he had "thought about the possibility" of running for president, departing from earlier statements that he intended to serve out his six-year Senate term through 2010.[98] Following Obama's statement, opinion polling organizations added his name to surveyed lists of Democratic candidates. The first such poll, taken in November 2006, ranked Obama in second place with 17% support among Democrats after Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) who placed first with 28% of the responses.[99]

Through the fall of 2006, Obama spoke at political events across the country in support of Democratic candidates for the midterm elections. In September 2006, he was the featured speaker at Iowa Senator Tom Harkin's annual steak fry, an event traditionally attended by presidential hopefuls in the lead-up to the Iowa caucus.[100] In December 2006, Obama spoke at a New Hampshire event celebrating Democratic Party midterm election victories in the first-in-the-nation U.S. presidential primary state.[101][102] Addressing a meeting of the Democratic National Committee one week before announcing his candidacy, Obama called on Democrats to steer clear of negative campaigning:

This is not a game. This can't be about who digs up more skeletons on who, who makes the fewest slip-ups on the campaign trail. We owe it to the American people to do more than that. We owe them an election where voters are inspired–where they believe that we might be able to do things that we haven't done before. We don't want another election where voters are simply holding their noses and feel like they're choosing the lesser of two evils. So we've got to rise up out of the cynicism that's become so pervasive and ask the people all across America to start believing again.[103]

[edit] Political advocacy

See also: Political views of Barack Obama

On the role of government in economic affairs, Obama has written: "we should be asking ourselves what mix of policies will lead to a dynamic free market and widespread economic security, entrepreneurial innovation and upward mobility [...] we should be guided by what works."[104] 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.[105] 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.[106] 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."[107]

Speaking in November 2006 to members of Wake Up Wal-Mart, a union-backed campaign group, Obama said: "You gotta pay your workers enough that they can actually not only shop at Wal-Mart, but ultimately send their kids to college and save for retirement."[108] In January 2007, Obama spoke at an event organized by Families USA, a health care advocacy group. Obama said, "The time has come for universal health care in America [...] I am absolutely determined that by the end of the first term of the next president, we should have universal health care in this country." Obama went on to say that he believed that it was wrong that forty-six million Americans are uninsured, noting that taxpayers already pay over 15 billion dollars annually to care for the uninsured.[109]

He was an early opponent of Bush administration policies on Iraq. In the fall of 2002, during an anti-war rally at Chicago's Federal Plaza, Obama said:

I know that an invasion of Iraq without a clear rationale and without strong international support will only fan the flames of the Middle East, and encourage the worst, rather than best, impulses of the Arab world, and strengthen the recruitment arm of al-Qaeda. I am not opposed to all wars. I'm opposed to dumb wars. You want a fight, President Bush? Let's finish the fight with Bin Laden and al-Qaeda, through effective, coordinated intelligence, and a shutting down of the financial networks that support terrorism, and a homeland security program that involves more than color-coded warnings.[110]

Speaking before the Chicago Council on Global Affairs in November 2006, he said: "The days of using the war on terror as a political football are over. [...] It is time to give Iraqis their country back, and it is time to refocus America's efforts on the wider struggle yet to be won." In his speech Obama also called for a phased withdrawal of American troops starting in 2007, and an opening of diplomatic dialogue with Iraq's neighbors, Syria and Iran.[111]

Obama spoke about Iran's "uranium enrichment program" on March 2, 2007, stating that Iran's government is "a threat to all of us," and that the US "should take no option, including military action, off the table." However, he stated that the US's "primary means" of relating to Iran should entail "sustained and aggressive diplomacy combined with tough sanctions."[112]

Obama began podcasting from his U.S. Senate web site in late 2005. He has responded to and personally participated in online discussions hosted on politically-oriented blog sites.[113] 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. I can say what I want without censorship or without having to pay a special charge. But the big telephone and cable companies want to change the Internet as we know it."[114]

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. Obama participated in 38 fundraising events in 2005, helping to pull in US$6.55 million for candidates he supports and his own 2010 re-election fund.[115] The New York Times described Obama as "the prize catch of the midterm campaign" because of his campaigning for fellow Democratic Party members running for election in the 2006 midterm elections.[116] Hopefund gave US$374,000 to federal candidates in the 2006 election cycle, making it one of the top donors to federal candidates for the year.[116]

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."[117][118] 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.[119] Together with Warren and Brownback, Obama took an HIV test, as he had done in Kenya less than four months earlier. Obama encouraged "others in public life to do the same" to show "there is no shame in going for an HIV test."[120] Before the conference, 18 anti-abortion groups sent an open letter stating, in reference to Obama's support for legal abortion: "In the strongest possible terms, we oppose Rick Warren's decision to ignore Senator Obama's clear pro-death stance and invite him to Saddleback Church anyway."[121]

[edit] Family and religious life

Obama is joined on stage by his wife and two daughters before announcing his presidential campaign in Springfield, Illinois, on February 10, 2007.
Obama is joined on stage by his wife and two daughters before announcing his presidential campaign in Springfield, Illinois, on February 10, 2007.[122]

Obama met Michelle Robinson in 1988 while employed as a summer associate at Sidley & Austin, the law firm where she also worked.[123] They were married in 1992 at Chicago's Trinity United Church of Christ.[124] They have two daughters, Malia, born in 1999, and Natasha, born in 2001.[125] A theme of Obama's keynote address at the 2004 Democratic National Convention, and the title of his 2006 book, The Audacity of Hope, was inspired by a sermon by Rev. Jeremiah Wright, the pastor of Trinity.[126] In the book, Obama describes his non-religious upbringing:

I was not raised in a religious household. My maternal grandparents, who hailed from Kansas, had been steeped in Baptist and Methodist teachings as children, but religious faith never really took root in their hearts. My mother's own experiences as a bookish, sensitive child growing up in small towns in Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas only reinforced this inherited skepticism. [...] My father was almost entirely absent from my childhood, having been divorced from my mother when I was 2 years old; in any event, although my father had been raised a Muslim, by the time he met my mother he was a confirmed atheist, thinking religion to be so much superstition.

Obama writes that his religious convictions formed during his twenties, when, as a community organizer working with local churches, he came to understand "the power of the African American religious tradition to spur social change":

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. It came about as a choice and not an epiphany; the questions I had did not magically disappear. But kneeling beneath that cross on the South Side of Chicago, I felt God's spirit beckoning me. I submitted myself to His will, and dedicated myself to discovering His truth.[127]

[edit] Books authored

Obama's 1995 book, Dreams from My Father, is a memoir of his youth and early career. The book was reprinted in 2004 with a new preface and an annex containing the text of his 2004 Democratic Convention keynote speech.[128] The audio book edition earned Obama the 2006 Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album.[129]

In December 2004, Obama signed a US$1.9 million contract for three books.[130] The first, The Audacity of Hope, was published in October 2006.[131] The book has remained at or near the top of the New York Times Best Seller list since its publication.[132] The Spanish translation will be published in June 2007.[133]

The second book covered under the publishing contract is a children's book to be co-written with his wife Michelle and their two young daughters, with profits going to charity. The content of the third book has yet to be announced.[130]

[edit] Cultural and political image

Supporters and critics have likened Obama's popular image to a cultural Rorschach test, a neutral persona on which people can project their personal histories and aspirations.[134][135] Obama's own self-narrative reinforces what a May 2004 New Yorker magazine article described as his "everyman" image.[136] In Dreams from My Father, he ties his maternal family history to possible Native American ancestors and distant relatives of Jefferson Davis, president of the southern Confederacy during the American Civil War.[137] Speaking to an elderly Jewish audience during his 2004 campaign for U.S. Senate, Obama linked the linguistic roots of his East African first name Barack to the Hebrew word baruch, meaning "blessed."[138] In an October 2006 interview on The Oprah Winfrey Show, Obama highlighted the diversity of his extended family: "Michelle will tell you that when we get together for Christmas or Thanksgiving, it's like a little mini-United Nations," he said. "I've got relatives who look like Bernie Mac, and I've got relatives who look like Margaret Thatcher. We've got it all."[139]

Obama's rapid rise from Illinois state legislator to U.S. presidential candidate has attracted conflicting analyses among commentators challenged to align him with traditional social categories. In her January 2007 Salon article asserting that Obama "isn't black," columnist Debra Dickerson writes: "lumping us all together [with Obama] erases the significance of slavery and continuing racism while giving the appearance of progress."[140] Expressing a similar view, New York Daily News columnist Stanley Crouch wrote: "When black Americans refer to Obama as 'one of us,' I do not know what they are talking about."[141] But in an October 2006 article titled "Obama: Black Like Me," British columnist Gary Younge describes Obama as "a black man who does not scare white people."[142] Film critic David Ehrenstein, writing in a March 2007 Los Angeles Times article, compares the cultural sources of candidate Obama's favorable polling among whites to those of "magical negro" roles played by black actors in Hollywood movies. Ehrenstein says these films are popular because they offer U.S. audiences a comfort for "white guilt."[143]

Obama's political image is also not easily pegged to typical U.S. categories of the left or right. Eugene Robinson, in a March 2007 Washington Post opinion column, characterized Obama as "the personification of both-and," a messenger who rejects "either-or" political choices, and could "move the nation beyond the culture wars" of the 1960s.[144] Obama, who defines himself in The Audacity of Hope as "a Democrat, after all,"[145] has been criticized for his political actions by self-described progressive commentator David Sirota,[146] and complimented for his "Can't we all just get along?" manner by conservative columnist George Will.[147] But in a December 2006 Wall Street Journal editorial headlined "The Man from Nowhere," former Ronald Reagan speech writer Peggy Noonan advised Will and other "establishment" commentators to get "down from your tippy toes" and avoid becoming too quickly excited about Obama's still early political career. Agreeing with Obama's own assessment that "people project their hopes on him," Noonan attributed some of Obama's popularity to "a certain unknowability."[148]

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Breaking New Ground: African American Senators. U.S. Senate Historical Office. Retrieved on February 10, 2007.
  2. ^ a b c Chambers, Aaron. "Obama Today Promises New Future for Nation in Announcing Presidential Bid", Rockford Register Star, February 10, 2007. Retrieved on February 10, 2007. Video at Brightcove.com.
  3. ^ "2002 Interview with Barack Obama; Host Jeff Berkowitz", TipVision, Brightcove.com, November 25, 2002. Retrieved on February 10, 2007.
  4. ^ "U.S. Senate and House - Illinois", USA Today, Last updated: 2004-11-11. Retrieved on February 10, 2007.
  5. ^ White House 2008: Democratic Nomination. Polling Report. Retrieved on February 10, 2007.
  6. ^ Obama (1995), Chapter 1.
  7. ^ Obama (1995), pp. 9-10. For book excerpts, see "Barack Obama: Creation of Tales", East African, November 1, 2004. Retrieved on March 27, 2007.
  8. ^ Warah, Rasna. "Authenticity More Important Than Ambition in US Election", The Nation (Nairobi), allAfrica.com, February 26, 2007. Retrieved on March 27, 2007.
  9. ^ Obama (1995), pp. 125-126. See also: Jones, Tim. "Family Portraits", Chicago Tribune, March 27, 2007. Retrieved on March 27, 2007.
  10. ^ Obama (1995), pp. 3–5, 9–10. See also: Ochieng, Philip. "From Home Squared to the US Senate: How Barack Obama Was Lost and Found", East African, November 1, 2004. Retrieved on March 27, 2007.
  11. ^ Obama (1995), Chapter 2, and p. 53. See also: Sheridan, Michael, Sarah Baxter. "Secrets of Obama Family Unlocked", Sunday Times (UK), January 28, 2007. Retrieved on March 27, 2007.
  12. ^ For details of Obama's early primary schooling in Indonesia, see Obama (1995), p. 154, and Obama (2006), p. 274. See also: Barker, Kim. "Obama Madrassa Myth Debunked", Chicago Tribune, March 25, 2007. Retrieved on March 27, 2007.
    Note: In January 2007, the online magazine Insight published an article claiming that "political opponents within the Democratic Party" had discovered Obama "spent at least four years in a so-called Madrassa, or Muslim seminary". The article's anonymously authored and unsourced claims were subsequently repeated on television programs broadcast by the Fox News Channel. According to the New York Times: "In an interview, John Moody, a senior vice president at Fox News, said its commentators had erred by citing the Clinton-Obama report. 'The hosts violated one of our general rules, which is know what you are talking about,' Moody said. 'They reported information from a publication whose accuracy we didn't know.'" Kirkpatrick, David D. "Feeding Frenzy for a Big Story, Even If It’s False", New York Times, January 29, 2007. Retrieved on March 27, 2007. See also: "Debunked Insight Magazine and Fox News Smear Campaign", Barack Obama U.S. Senate Office, January 23, 2007. Retrieved on March 27, 2007. Video: "Obama, School Deny Radical Islam Claim", Associated Press, WPVI-TV Philadelphia (ABC), January 25, 2007. Retrieved on March 27, 2007.
  13. ^ Obama (1995), Chapters 3 and 4. See also: B.J., Reyes. "Punahou Left Lasting Impression on Obama", Honolulu Star-Bulletin, February 8, 2007. Retrieved on March 27, 2007.
  14. ^ Obama (1995), Preface to the 2004 Edition, p. xi. See also: Suryakusuma, Julia. "Obama for President ... of Indonesia", Jakarta Post, November 29, 2006. Retrieved on March 27, 2007.
  15. ^ Obama writes: "He was an African, I would learn, a Kenyan of the Luo tribe, born on the shores of Lake Victoria in a place called Alego." Obama (1995), p. 9. See also Gnecchi, Nico. "Obama Receives Hero's Welcome at His Family's Ancestral Village in Kenya", Voice of America, August 27, 2006. Retrieved on March 27, 2007.
  16. ^ Obama (1995), pp. 9–10.
  17. ^ Obama (1995), Chapters 4 and 5. See also: Serrano, Richard A. "Obama Classmates Saw a Smile, But No Racial Turmoil", Los Angeles Times, March 11, 2007. Retrieved on March 27, 2007.
  18. ^ Quote: "Pot had helped, and booze; maybe a little blow when you could afford it." Obama (1995), pp. 93–94. See also: Romano, Lois. "Effect of Obama's Candor Remains to Be Seen", Washington Post, January 3, 2007. Retrieved on March 27, 2007.
    Note: Asked to comment on the political impact of his 1995 admission, Obama stated in an October 2006 interview: "Oh, look, you know, when I was a kid, I inhaled. Frequently. That was the point. You know, it’s, it’s not something I make light of. It's something that I wrote actually about in my first book, and it was reflective of the struggles and confusion of a teen-age boy. And in that sense, I think, the vast majority of Americans understand that teenage boys are frequently confused." For comparison with Bill Clinton's 1992 "didn't inhale" quote, see: Seelye, Katharine Q. "Obama Offers More Variations From the Norm", New York Times, October 24, 2006. Retrieved on March 27, 2007. For full interview transcript, see: Remnick, David. "Testing the Waters", New Yorker Online Only, October 10, 2006 (text and audio). Retrieved on March 27, 2007.
  19. ^ Gordon, Larry. "Occidental Recalls 'Barry' Obama", Los Angeles Times, January 29, 2007. Retrieved on March 27, 2007.
  20. ^ Boss-Bicak, Shira. "Barack Obama ’83: Is He the New Face of The Democratic Party?", Columbia College Today, January 2005. Retrieved on March 27, 2007.
  21. ^ a b c d e Curriculum Vitae. University of Chicago Law School. Retrieved on March 27, 2007.
  22. ^ See also: Obama (1995), pp. 135–136.
  23. ^ Obama (1995), Part 2. See also: Wallsten, Peter. "Obama Memoir Left Out Credits for Activism, Critics Say", Los Angeles Times, February 19, 2007. Retrieved on March 27, 2007. Response: "Just Because Someone Writes It Does Not Make It True", BarackObama.com, February 19, 2007. Retrieved on March 27, 2007.
  24. ^ Butterfield, Fox. "First Black Elected to Head Harvard's Law Review", New York Times, February 6, 1990. Retrieved on March 27, 2007. See also: Levenson, Michael, Jonathan Saltzman. "At Harvard Law, a Unifying Voice", Boston Globe, January 28, 2007. Retrieved on March 27, 2007.
  25. ^ "Law Graduate Obama Got His Start in Civil Rights Practice", Associated Press, International Herald Tribune, February 19, 2007. Retrieved on March 27, 2007.
  26. ^ Pallasch, Abdon M. "Professor Obama was a Listener, Students Say", Chicago Sun-Times, February 12, 2007. Retrieved on March 27, 2007.
  27. ^ White, Jesse, ed. "Illinois Blue Book: 2003–2004", Cyberdriveillinois.com, p. 81. Retrieved on March 18, 2007.
  28. ^ State of Illinois, 90th General Assembly. "Bills and Resolutions Sponsored or Cosponsored by Barack Obama". State of Illinois, 91st General Assembly. "Bills and Resolutions Sponsored or Cosponsored by Barack Obama". Retrieved on March 18, 2007.
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  31. ^ Finnegan, William. "The Candidate: How the Son of a Kenyan Economist Became an Illinois Everyman", New Yorker, May 31, 2004. Retrieved on March 18, 2007.
  32. ^ "State Legislation Relating to the Breast and Cervical Cancer Prevention and Treatment Act of 2000", National Conference of State Legislatures, July 2002. Retrieved on March 18, 2007.
  33. ^ State of Illinois, 92nd General Assembly. "Bills and Resolutions Sponsored or Cosponsored by Barack Obama". Retrieved on March 18, 2007.
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  36. ^ Mastony, Colleen. "Cops Give Obama Subdued Reception", Chicago Tribune, August 20, 2004. Retrieved on March 18, 2007.
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  57. ^ "Commencement 2006: Sen. Obama to Address Grads", Northwestern University, June 6, 2006. Retrieved on March 18, 2007.
  58. ^ "Sen. Obama Addresses Xavier Graduates", Associated Press, USA Today, August 13, 2006. Retrieved on March 18, 2007.
  59. ^ Committee Assignments. Barack Obama U.S. Senate Office. Retrieved on March 18, 2007.
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  81. ^ H. Josef, Hebert. "Congress Begins Tackling Climate Issues", Associated Press, CBS News, January 29, 2007. Retrieved on March 4, 2007.
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  83. ^ Krystin, E. Kasak. "Obama Introduces Measure to Bring Troops Home", Medill News Service, nwi.com, February 7, 2007. Retrieved on March 4, 2007.
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  85. ^ Larson, Christina. "Hoosier Daddy: What Rising Democratic Star Barack Obama Can Learn from an Old Lion of the GOP", The Washington Monthly, September 2006. Retrieved on February 10, 2007.
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  88. ^ "Obama Meets Shalom, Offers Support for Israel", Associated Press, Israel Insider, January 11, 2006. Retrieved on February 10, 2007.
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  90. ^ Cose, Ellis. "Walking the World Stage", Newsweek International Edition, September 11, 2006. Retrieved on February 10, 2007.
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  92. ^ "Screaming Crowds Welcome U.S. Senator 'Home'", CNN, August 27, 2006. Retrieved on February 10, 2007.
  93. ^ "Obama Slates Kenya for Fraud", News24.com, August 28, 2006. Retrieved on February 10, 2007.
  94. ^ Wamalwa, Chris. "Envoy Hits at Obama Over Graft Remark", The Standard (Nairobi), September 2, 2006. Retrieved on February 10, 2007.
  95. ^ Moracha, Vincent, Mangoa Mosota. "Leaders Support Obama on Graft Claims", The Standard (Nairobi), September 4, 2006. Retrieved on February 10, 2007.
  96. ^ Selby, W. Gardner, David Rauf. "At Least 20,000 People Cheer Barack Obama in Austin", Austin American-Statesman, February 24, 2007. Retrieved on March 1, 2007. Full speech in text (News 8 Austin) and audio (Austin American-Statesman). See also: 20,000 in Austin, Texas (campaign video). Obama for America, Brightcove.com (added February 26, 2007). Retrieved on March 1, 2007.
  97. ^ "Presidential Campaign Announcement", Obama for America, Brightcove.com, February 10, 2007. Retrieved on February 14, 2007.
  98. ^ "MTP Transcript for Oct. 22", Meet The Press, October 22, 2006, p. 3. Retrieved on February 14, 2007.
  99. ^ "Poll: Obama Now Trails Only Clinton on '08 List", CNN, November 2, 2006. Retrieved on February 14, 2007.
  100. ^ Kornblut, Anne E.. "For This Red Meat Crowd, Obama's '08 Choice Is Clear", New York Times, September 18, 2006. Retrieved on February 14, 2007.
  101. ^ Brooks, Scott. "Obama Fever Grips NH", New Hampshire Union Leader, December 11, 2006. Retrieved on February 14, 2007.
  102. ^ "Obama's New Hampshire Trip Sparks Interest in 2008 Presidential Race", NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, PBS, December 11, 2006. Retrieved on February 14, 2007.
  103. ^ Barack Obama at the DNC Winter 2007 Meeting (video). Democratic National Committee (February 2, 2007). Retrieved on February 19, 2007. Full text from CQ Transcripts Wire. Retrieved on 2007-02-19. See also: Harris, Paul. "The Obama Revolution", Guardian Unlimited, February 4, 2007. Retrieved on February 19, 2007.
  104. ^ Obama (2006), p. 159.
  105. ^ Franklin, Ben A.. "The Fifth Black Senator in U.S. History Makes F.D.R. His Icon", Washington Spectator, June 1, 2005. Retrieved on February 18, 2007.
  106. ^ Harkin, Tom, with Byron Dorgan, Richard Durbin, Tim Johnson, and Barack Obama. "Harkin Urges Bush to Stop Undercutting U.S. Ethanol Production", Harkin U.S. Senate Office, May 9, 2006. Retrieved on February 18, 2007. See also: Silverstein, Ken. "Barack Obama Inc.: The Birth of a Washington Machine", Harper's Magazine, November 2006. Retrieved on February 18, 2007.
  107. ^ Obama, Barack. "Remarks by Senator Barack Obama on the Paris Hilton Tax Break", Obama U.S. Senate Office, June 7, 2006. Retrieved on February 18, 2007.
  108. ^ Gogoi, Pallavi. "Can Barack Wake Up Wal-Mart?", BusinessWeek.Com, November 16, 2006. Retrieved on February 18, 2007. See also: "Sen. Obama: 'You Gotta Pay Your Workers Enough'", WLTX-TV 19 (Columbia, SC), November 16, 2006. Retrieved on February 18, 2007.
  109. ^ Pickler, Nedra. "Obama Calls for Universal Health Care within Six Years", Associated Press, Union-Tribune (San Diego), January 25, 2007. Retrieved on February 18, 2007.
  110. ^ Obama, Barack. "Remarks of Illinois State Sen. Barack Obama Against Going to War with Iraq", BarackObama.com, October 26, 2002. Retrieved on March 18, 2007.
  111. ^ Obama, Barack. "A Way Forward in Iraq", Chicago Council on Global Affairs, November 20, 2006. Retrieved on February 18, 2007. (in PDF and audio). Available in HTML text at BarackObama.com. Retrieved on 2007-03-18. For Obama's 2004 Senate campaign remarks on possible missile strikes against Iran, see: Mendell, David. "Obama Would Consider Missile Strikes on Iran", Chicago Tribune, September 25, 2004. Retrieved on February 18, 2007.
  112. ^ Transcript of remarks by Senator Barack Obama at the AIPAC Policy Forum, Chicago, Illinois, March 2, 2007, Israel Insider 3 March 2007
  113. ^ Terdiman, Daniel. "Congress Catching on to the Value of Blogs", CNET News.com, January 26, 2006. Retrieved on February 18, 2007.
  114. ^ Obama, Barack. "Network Neutrality", Obama U.S. Senate Office, June 8, 2006 (text and audio). Retrieved on February 18, 2007.
  115. ^ Sweet, Lynn. "After Cautious, Bipartisan Year, Obama Opens New Chapter", Chicago Sun-Times (FindArticles.com), January 22, 2006. Retrieved on February 18, 2007.
  116. ^ a b Kornblut, Anne E. "A Senate Newcomer, Helping Fellow Democrats on the Trail and Drawing Big Crowds", New York Times, November 1, 2006. Retrieved on February 18, 2007.
  117. ^ Lerner, Michael. "U.S. Senator Barack Obama Critiques Democrats' Religiophobia", Tikkun Magazine, July 3, 2006. Retrieved on February 18, 2007.
  118. ^ Sen. Barack Obama: Call to Renewal Keynote Address. Beliefnet (June 28, 2006). Retrieved on January 21, 2007.
  119. ^ Gibson, Manda. "At Global AIDS Summit, Churches Challenged to Take the Lead", PurposeDriven.com, June 28, 2006. Retrieved on February 26, 2007.
  120. ^ Obama, Barack. "Race Against Time–World AIDS Day Speech", Obama U.S. Senate Office, December 1, 2006. Retrieved on February 26, 2007.
  121. ^ "Rick Warren/Barack Obama AIDS Partnership Must End, Say Pro-Life Groups", Christian Newswire Press Release, November 28, 2006. Retrieved on February 26, 2007. See also: Van Biema, David. "The Real Losers in the Obama-Warren Controversy", TIME, December 1, 2006. Retrieved on February 26, 2007.
    Note: Obama's write-in response to a 1998 survey states: "Abortions should be legally available in accordance with Roe v. Wade." "1998 Illinois State Legislative National Political Awareness Test", Project Vote Smart. Retrieved on February 26, 2007. During his 2004 primary run for U.S. Senate, Obama was criticised by a rival Democratic candidate for voting "present" (instead of yea or nay) on Illinois state legislation concerning late-term abortion and parental notification. Peter, Slevin. "Obama Forged Political Mettle in Illinois Capitol", Washington Post, February 9, 2007. Retrieved on February 26, 2007.
  122. ^ For other photos of Obama and family at this event, see: Presidential Campaign Announcement. Barack Obama, Flickr (February 10, 2007). Retrieved on March 5, 2007.
  123. ^ Obama (2006), pp. 327-332. See also: Tucker, Eric. "Family Ties: Brown Coach, Barack Obama", Associated Press, ABC News, March 1, 2007. Retrieved on March 25, 2007.
  124. ^ Obama (1995), p. 440.
  125. ^ Rossi, Rosalind. "The Woman Behind Obama", Chicago Sun-Times, January 21, 2007. Retrieved on February 18, 2007.
  126. ^ "Obama Comes Home for Church", CBS (Chicago), January 28, 2007. Retrieved on February 18, 2007. See also: Obama (1995), pp. 292–295.
  127. ^ Obama (2006), pp. 207–208. Excerpted in: Obama, Barack. "My Spiritual Journey", TIME, October 23, 2006. Retrieved on February 18, 2007. See also: Powell, Barb. "Obama: America Needs to Hear More-Moderate, More-Inclusive Religious Voices", United Church News, August-September 2006. Retrieved on February 18, 2007.; and Guess, J. Bennett. "Barack Obama, Candidate for President, is 'UCC'", United Church News, February 9, 2007. Retrieved on February 18, 2007.
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  141. ^ Crouch continues: "Obama makes it clear that, while he has experienced some light versions of typical racial stereotypes, he cannot claim those problems as his own — nor has he lived the life of a black American." Crouch, Stanley. "What Obama Isn't: Black Like Me", New York Daily News, Alexa (cached copy), November 2, 2006. Retrieved on March 27, 2007. See also: Page, Clarence. "Is Barack Black Enough? Now That's a Silly Question", Houston Chronicle, Alexa (cached copy), February 25, 2007. Retrieved on March 27, 2007.
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  145. ^ Obama (2006), p. 10. See also: Tomasky, Michael. "The Phenomenon", New York Review of Books, November 30, 2006. Retrieved on March 27, 2007.
  146. ^ Sirota, David. "Mr. Obama Goes to Washington", The Nation, June 26, 2006. Retrieved on March 27, 2007.
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Candidates: Brownback • Cox • Giuliani (campaign, views) • Hunter • McCain (campaign, views) • Paul (campaign, views) • Romney (campaign, views) • Tancredo • T. Thompson (campaign, views)

Candidates with exploratory committees: Gilmore • Huckabee

Potential candidates: Gingrich • Hagel • Pataki • F. Thompson

Announced Third party candidates: Amondson (Prb.) • E. Brown (Grn.) • Burns (Lib.) • Hollist (Lib.) • Imperato (Ref.) • Kubby (Lib.) • Milnes (Lib.) • Parker (IGVA) • Phillies (Lib.), (Campaign) • C Smith (Lib.) • Stanhope (Lib.) • Swift (Grn.) • D. Thompson (Cst.)

Notable independent candidates: Moriarty • Schriner • Weltman • Bloomberg (unofficial)
General articles: Opinion polling (D • R) • Election timeline
Other 2008 elections: House • Senate • Gubernatorial
Federal Election Commission: Campaign filings of 2008 Presidential hopefuls
Persondata
NAME Obama, Barack, Jr.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION US Jr. Senator from Illinois
DATE OF BIRTH August 4, 1961
PLACE OF BIRTH Honolulu, Hawaii
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH
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