We have seen the first half of an indelible mark in the history being made  on June 3rd 2008, after a grueling 16 months primary battle for the party’s nomination which won by Senator Barack Obama who has become the first black to represent the National Democratic Party in the race for the White  House. This was indeed a historical moment for all.

The Candidate:

Barack Obama, whose name in  Arabic means “Blessed” the same as his father was born  on August 4th 1961 in Hawaii, his Mother is white from Kansas, she met Obama’s father at the University of Hawaii when he had won a scholarship in Kenya to study at the University of Hawaii, but the relationship was short lived when Obama was 2 years old, his father left to attend Harvard and never returned until eight years after, by that time Obama and his mother had already lived  in Indonesia  with his step father Lolo, another University student  she had met after his father left them.

For Obama, this was an early exposure to the harsh realities of third world poverty also; this exposure enabled him to build bridges among different cultures.  In Hawaii he moved in with his paternal grand parents, there he learned to pursue life with zest and enthusiasm and a great sense of responsibility.

He was a Scholarship student at the prestigious Panahou School, a private Academy in Honolulu, the chubby kid grew up listening to Jazz, saxophonist Grover Washington Jnr, Earth Wind and Fire,  and tooled around in grandpa’s old Ford Granada,  he played Golf , poker, sang in church choir, and joined the school’s literary journal.

Obama loved Basket Ball and was given the name Barry- O- Bomber because of his jump shots; he later joined the school’s varsity team which captured the states championship. Because of his biracial roots he started a group while in high school that met weekly called the ethnic corner whose main purpose is to bridge different cultures.

His Education Journey;

After graduating from high school he attended Occidental College in California , then later transferred to Colombia University where he majored in International Relations, and this is one source where he began his journey on foreign policy, here he wrote his senior thesis on a paper on North South relations on International Trade.  After graduating from Colombia University he began writing business news letters.

His Career:

In 1985 Barack arrived in Chicago and refusing high powered jobs, he took a job as a Community Organizer.  After three years he decided to move on to Harvard Law University . While at Harvard Barack has two pivotal, moments, one during his first summer break. He worked at a Chicago Corporate Law firm, and met with another Harvard Law Graduate Michelle Robinson, who would become his wife and mother of their two daughters, Malia and Sasha.  The other was a professional triumph, Obama made headlines when he was elected the first black president of the Harvard Law review, perhaps the most prestigious legal journal in the nation.

Upon graduation Barack was flooded with proposals of high powered jobs including working for the Appellate Court etc, but turned them down to work for a  civil rights law firm, because of his desire to help his people, he ran a voters registration drive and lectured on constitutional law at the University Law School in Chicago as a law professor, 

In 1996 he won a State Senate Seat Representing Hyde Park the South Side neighborhood that encompasses the prestigious University as a well as pockets of deep inner poverty.

Obama helped changed laws governing the death penalty, ethnic and racial profiling, and he won tax

Credits for the working poor.

“Change we believe in”

Obama launched his National Political Career with a stunning keynote address at the 2004 Democratic National Convention, an address that shook the world. Four Months later Obama buoyed by some lucky brake won the US senate seat in a landslide.

Then in Feb 2007, on the steps of the old Capital in Springfield he began the 16 months endurance test.

He now has a staff of 700 employees and his campaign has collected over 265 million dollars, an unprecedented amount.     

Other Issues:

His Policy

The New Electorial College  Map

His projected Victory

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