"The pundits like to slice-and-dice our country into Red States and Blue States; Red States for Republicans, Blue States for Democrats. We are one people, all of us pledging allegiance to the stars and stripes, all of us defending the United States of America. "

Barack Hussein: A Good Blessing!

Barack Obama was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2004. He gained national recognition for his keynote address at the 2004 Democratic National Convention and for winning the U.S. Senate race in Illinois by a large margin, during a time of Republican dominance.

The fifth African American senator in U.S. history, Barack Obama stands out. Born of a racially mixed union between his black Kenyan born father (Barack Obama Sr.) and white mid-western born mother (Ann Dunham), Obama stands 6'2", with a handsome face and baritone voice. He was born in Honolulu, Hawaii and moved to Jakarta with his mother and step-father for four years. He returned to Hawaii at the age of ten where he lived with his mother until his high school graduation.

Obama was named after his father, Barack Hussein Obama, Sr. The name Barack is a Swahili word originally from the Arabic language, meaning "blessed." His middle name, Hussein, which was his grandfather's first name, is also of Arabic origin and means "good" or "handsome one." The name Obama is not uncommon among the Luo tribe, one of the three largest ethnic groups in Kenya.

Obama studied political science and international relations at Columbia University where he earned his bachelor's degree in 1983. After graduating, he worked for a church-based non-profit organization for three years before going to Harvard Law school in 1986, where he was elected the first black president of the Harvard Law Review. He received his law degree magna cum laude in 1991.

Obama then returned to Chicago and taught constitutional law at the University of Chicago Law School from 1993 until 2004. In 1995, he published a book of memoirs, Dreams from My Father. He served the Illinois State Senate for seven years before being elected to U.S. Senate in 2004. In 2006 he published The Audacity of Hope, a detailed account of his political positions on various issues.

Upon election to the Illinois state Senate in 1996, Obama aided in the authorship of the Earned Income Tax Credit, a tax break for the working poor. In 2000, Obama ran for a seat on the U.S. House of Representatives against incumbent and former Black Panther, Bobby Rush, and lost. Obama ran unopposed in the 2002 reelection for state Senate. He then, authored a law that requires video documentation of interrogations and confessions for crimes punishable by death. His legislation efforts also include law mandating insurance companies to cover the cost of routine mammograms and gun control measures.

Since his election to the U.S. Senate, the media attention given to Obama has greatly increased. In addition to his obvious qualities as a politician, the two things about Obama everyone seems to notice are: his talent for eloquent speech and the color of his skin. On October 18, 2006 Obama appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show, where fellow Chicago resident Oprah Winfrey publicly declared Obama her personal representative and favorite U.S. senator. Speculation about the possibility of an Obama presidential candidacy increased from there.

A prolific fundraiser for the Democratic Party, Obama's leadership political action committee is one of the top donors, giving $374,000 to federal candidates in the 2006 election.

Obama is proud of his mixed heritage but does not regard himself as a vigilante for the advancement of African American ideals. Obama has publicly criticized President George W. Bush for his administration's poor handling of Hurricane Katrina but turned away from joining groups like the Congressional Black Caucus when it asserted that Bush does not care about African Americans.

Obama has criticized the Bush administration for starting the war in Iraq, an inadequate health care system, and inattention to global warming. He has campaigned against making temporary estate tax cuts permanent and to maintain a $0.54 per gallon tariff on imported ethanol. He termed the estate tax cut the "Paris Hilton tax break" because it would benefit citizens who are already wealthy. The ethanol tariff is in place to protect Illinois farmers from foreign competition for imported sugar used to make ethanol.

Obama was one of the first national politicians to engage the public with interactive technology, podcasting from his official U.S. Senate website.

Obama's also admits to inhaling. In a passage from his book Dreams From My Father, Obama admits to using marijuana and trying cocaine.

During one of his exercises in non-partisan politics, when Obama was to join Republican Senator John McCain in writing a bill on lobbying reform, McCain criticized Obama for his "disingenuousness" and "self-interested partisan posturing," when Obama changed his mind and decided to write a Democratic version of the bill.

Countering the national media fervor over Obama, there has been speculation of impropriety with Obama's connection to Antoin "Tony" Rezko; a sketchy fundraiser accused of fraud and swindling of group investors. Obama bought a house and a pricey portion ($625,000) of an empty lot next to it from Rezko in 2006.

On June 3, 2008, Obama won the Democratic party presidential nomination, defeating Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton following a long Democratic party primary contest. Obama chose Senator Joe Biden of Delaware as his running mate in the presidential race against Senator John McCain and his running mate Alaska Governor Sarah Palin. Obama and Biden won the general election on November 4, 2008.

Obama is married to Michelle Robinson, vice president for community and external affairs for the University of Chicago Hospitals. They have two daughters, Malia (1999) and Sasha (2001).

Barack Obama Poll Results

This poll ran from February 25 to March 4, 2007.

Mondo Stars Poll Results

Are Americans ready to elect a black president? Yes 1289/45% No 1555/55%

Votes: 2844

Speaking on February 13, 2007, South Carolina state Senator Robert Ford said that he seriously doubts Senator Barack Obama can win the 2008 US presidential election. According to Ford, "Every Democrat running on that ticket next year would lose - because he's black and he's top of the ticket. We'd lose the House and the Senate and the governors and everything." Ford also said that "the media made this guy bigger than life. This guy isn't tested and they made him a rock star." Ford was widely criticized for his comments and later apologized.

Obama, speaking at Claflin University on February 17, Obama said "At every turn in our history, there's been somebody who said we can't. Some people said we can't do this, we can't do that, so we shouldn't even try. If I have your support, if I have your energy and involvement and commitment and ideas, then I'm here to tell you, 'Yes we can.'"

This poll ran from April 28 to May 4, 2008.

Mondo Stars Poll Results

"Americans won't vote for a black man for president." True 893/43% False 1168/57%

Votes: 2061

Ahmad Ghoreishi, professor emeritus in the department of national security affairs at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California. As reported by Ryan Morgan in the article "World watches presidential contest," published in the April 11, 2008 issue of the Boulder Daily Camera, Ghoreishi said of Senator Barack Obama:

"The world is fascinated by him -- by a first-generation black man running for president. When it comes down to it, the vast majority of people don't think Americans will do it -- once they're in the voting booth, they won't vote for a black man."