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Barack Hussein Obama, Jr.

Candidate for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination

by Liz Olson

Barack Obama Related Links Barack Obama's campaign website Michelle Obama Facts about Senators Campaign 2008

As a political newcomer, Barack Obama faces an uphill battle in convincing voters that he is ready to lead the nation. Indeed, throughout the campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination, he has trailed frontrunner Hillary Clinton in both polls and fundraising.

In addition, Clinton has attracted wide support from registered black Democrats. According to CNN national polls she is leading Obama among black registered voters 57% to 33% and registered black women favor Clinton over Obama 68% to 25%.

With the recent endorsements of Oprah Winfrey and Massachusetts's governor, Deval Patrick, however, Obama has the potential to gain wide support from the black community. Observers have also speculated that he could rally the many undecided female voters if his wife, Michelle, takes a more active role on the campaign trail.

Formative Years

Obama was born in Hawaii to a Kenyan father and American mother. His father was raised in a small village in Kenya where he herded goats until he earned a scholarship to study in America. After his parents divorced, Obama's Harvard-educated father then returned to Kenya, where he worked in the economics ministry. Obama was raised by his mother in both Hawaii and Jakarta, Indonesia. He later moved to New York City to attend Columbia University, where he earned his undergraduate degree.

Obama moved to Chicago after college and worked extensively in the inner city to improve living conditions and reduce the unemployment rate in high-crime neighborhoods. He then attended Harvard Law School, graduated magna cum laude, and served as the first African-American president of the Harvard Law Review. After receiving his degree from Harvard Law School, he returned to Chicago and practiced as a civil rights lawyer.

Personal Life

Obama is married to Michelle Obama, a Chicago native who also graduated from Harvard Law School. Barack and Michelle met in Chicago, where they both worked for the law firm Sidley and Austin. Michelle worked in corporate law for three years before pursuing a career in public service. She has worked for the city of Chicago, and she co-founded Public Allies, which helps young adults acquire skills to work in the public sector. In 2005 she was appointed vice president of community and external affairs at the University of Chicago Medical Center. Barack and Michelle have two daughters, Malia Ann and Sasha.

Political Career

His advocacy work on the local level in Chicago led to a run for the Illinois State Senate. Obama served for eight years as a state senator and used his position to create programs such as the state Earned Income Tax Credit that provided more than $100 million in tax cuts to families over three years. He also generated an expansion in early childhood education and worked to pass legislation that requires all interrogations and confessions in capital cases to be videotaped.

Obama's eloquent keynote speech at the 2004 Democratic National Convention earned him wide praise him and cemented his reputation as one of the party's freshest and most inspirational new faces. In 2004, he was elected to the U.S. Senate, winning with 70% of the vote against the conservative black Republican, Alan Keyes. Obama became the only African-American serving in the U.S. Senate (and the fifth in U.S. history). Obama's idealism, commitment to civil rights, and telegenic good looks generated enormous media attention for his Senate campaign. He has worked with Republicans on issues such as weapons control and ethics reform, yet voted with other Democrats against President Bush's surge of 20,000 troops to Iraq and in favor of a resolution that required combat troops to be fully withdrawn by March 2008.

He serves on the Senate's Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee; the Foreign Relations Committee; the Veteran's Affairs Committee; and the Environment and Public Works Committee.

2008 Presidential Election

Running as the candidate of change and potentially the country's first black president, Obama has made hope the center of his campaign. His platform focuses on advocating for working families and poor communities, education, caring for the environment, and ethics reform.

Obama believes the country needs a change, but with so little experience it remains to be seen if he's ready for such an enormous undertaking.

• More from Campaign 2008