A new comer to the U.S. Senate now less than half way through his first term there, Barack Obama hopes to use his political star power to move into the White House.
Born in 1961, Barack Obama’s childhood and adolescence were filled with cultural diversity. His father was from Kenya, a black man, and his mother was a white American woman from Kansas. He grew up in Hawaii where his mother attended college. He spent four years as a preteen in Indonesia’s capital city, Jakarta, with his mother and his Indonesian step-father.
After graduating from Columbia University and Harvard School of Law, Obama worked as a civil rights lawyer before taking a seat in the Illinois State Senate in 1997. His campaign for a U.S. Senate seat in Illinois propelled him to Democratic Party stardom and he delivered the keynote address at the 2004 Democratic Party Convention - before winning a seat in the Senate by a wide margin.
Abortion and Stem Cell Research
Obama has been a firm supporter of pro-choice positions. He has voted for increased federal funding for stem cell research, against a law that would require parental notification before minors could get an abortion, and in favor of funding for increased access to contraception for teens.
Education
While his own children attended private school, Obama is an advocate of higher pay for public school teachers and increased funding for No Child Left Behind. He has suggested a program of free access to public higher education for students who maintain a “B” average. He voted in favor in increasing the Pell Grant in 2007.
Health Care
The Obama campaign promises “quality, affordable health care for all by the end of Barack Obama’s first term…” He proposes to do this by modernizing the U.S. health care system and by improving prevention and public health efforts in the U.S. Obama says his plan “builds upon and improves our current insurance system.” Obama also plans to make health care “portable” so that Americans can take it from job to job. Obama would expand S-CHIP and Medicaid and create a national program to cover those without access to health insurance.
Immigration
Obama has called the current immigration system “broken” for legal immigration. He has supported increased border patrols and a border fence. He is in favor of a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants. He voted against declaring English the official language of government in America. He voted for the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2007.
Taxes and Social Security
Obama has proposed increasing the payroll tax for wealthy Americans. He is an opponent of efforts to privatize social security. He favors at least a partial repeal of the Bush Administration’s tax cuts.
Gay Marriage
Obama has suggested that America should “disentangle” gay rights from the idea of marriage. He is an advocate of stronger civil union laws and of benefits for gay partners. Obama feels that marriage is a religious issue that should be left up to religious denominations to decide. He voted against the constitutional amendment banning gay marriage.
The Iraq War
Obama is an opponent and critic of the war in Iraq, but would remove troops gradually. He has set 2013 as the tentative date for the complete removal of U.S. forces from Iraq.
Conclusion
Obama’s campaign is as much about charisma as it is about issues. He has wide appeal. Obama is generally considered one of three frontrunner for the Democratic nomination. Obama’s biggest weakness is probably in the area of foreign policy experience; several of his foreign policy statements have been criticized as “naïve.” He is gaining strength in national polls and hopes that the Iowa Caucus and South Carolina Primary will boost him to true frontrunner status.
Barack Obama's Official Site: http://www.barackobama.com
