Barack Hussein Obama

From Conservapedia
This is an old revision of this page, as edited by ElliottRosewater (Talk | contribs) at 20:22, February 17, 2008. It may differ significantly from current revision.

Jump to: navigation, search

Barack Hussein Obama (b. August 4, 1961) is the junior Senator from Illinois, elected to the United States Senate as a Democrat in 2004. Obama is currently the only African American serving in the United States Senate, where he serves his first term.

Senator Barack Obama
Mr. Obama is one of the few members of the Senate to have opposed the Iraq War before actual hostilities began in March of 2003.[1]

Despite a lack of military, executive or foreign policy experience,[2] he is the favorite of the leftist fundraiser "MoveOn.org" for the Democratic nomination for President of the United States in the 2008 election,[3] campaigning to the left of Hillary Clinton.[4] Some examples border on the absurd: Obama has no background in physics, yet it is claimed that "Obama analyzed and integrated Einstein's theory of relativity, the Heisenberg uncertainty principle, as well as the concept of curved space as an alternative to gravity, for a Law Review article that Tribe [for whom Obama worked as a research assistant] wrote titled, 'The Curvature of Constitutional Space'." [5] Obama's "research" for Constitutional Law Professor Tribe on this article also raises issues about preferences, as Obama had not yet even completed any law school courses[6] on the Constitution.[7]

Both Democrats and Republicans have accused him of avoiding controversial stands in an apparent attempt to make it easier to be elected to higher office. The prime example being, as a state senator in Illinois, he voted "present" rather than "aye" or "nay" 129 times.[8] However, this is not unusual given the nature of the Illinois Senate as each senator votes through the use of three buttons, green for yes, red for no, and yellow for present. As Illinois political writer and blogger Rich Miller has said, "not all 'present' votes are cowardly, including those cast by then-state Sen. Obama."[9] Chris Mooney, a professor of political science at the University of Illinois, Springfield, sheds further light on the situation: "Mooney and other state capitol watchers and players say Illinois lawmakers often vote 'present' as part of a larger party or issue bloc strategy."[10] During that same period, he was planning to run for the House of Representatives, which was unsuccessful, and then successfully for U.S. Senate, in which he defeated Republican candidate Alan Keyes, also an African American.[11]

Early Life and Education

Senator Obama was born in Honolulu, Hawaii to Barack Obama, Sr., and Ann Dunham in 1961. In 1967 he moved to Jakarta, Indonesia, with his mother and new stepfather. He attended an Indonesian Public School followed by a Catholic school until he returned with his mother to Hawaii. There he attended the Punahou School, a private preparatory school until 1979, the year of his graduation.

Obama continued his education at Occidental College in Los Angeles, California, before graduating with his Bachelor of Arts from Columbia University in New York, New York. After working as a community organizer in New York City and Chicago, Illinois, Obama enrolled at Harvard Law School. He was elected the first African American president of the Harvard Law Review, and graduated magna cum laude with his J.D. in 1992.

Legal Career

Following law school, Obama continued his work as a community organizer in Chicago as Director of Illinois Project Vote. In 1993 he was hired as an associate at the Chicago law firm Miner, Barnhill & Galland, P.C., and began lecturing in Constitutional Law at the University of Chicago Law School. He remains on the faculty on leave of absence through today. During this time he wrote his first book, Dreams from My Father, detailing his background, his youth, and his education. Dreams was published in 1995.

Senate Career

Obama was elected to the Illinois State Senate for the first time in 1996 and served there for the next eight years. Following a failed campaign for the House of Representatives, Obama ran for the open Senate seat from Illinois in 2004. Obama rose to national prominence following his keynote address at the 2004 Democratic National Convention. He defeated his opponent, Alan Keyes, and was elected to the 109th Congress.

His voting record places him as the tenth-most liberal member of the U. S. Senate. His composite liberal rating was 86 percent, just seven points behind Ted Kennedy. Among fellow Senate Democrats, he was further left than liberals like John Kerry, Dianne Feinstein, Charles Schumer, Russ Feingold, Carl Levin, Joseph Biden and Harry Reid.[12]

In late 2006, Obama's second book, The Audacity of Hope, was published. The book contains more of Senator Obama's personal story including the roles of both family and politics. Audacity spent 30 weeks on the New York Times Nonfiction Best Sellers list.[13]

Presidential Campaign

Democratic Presidential candidate Barack Obama on the campaign trail with Bill Richardson and Hillary Clinton during the National Anthem. (from Time.com)

Senator Obama announced his candidacy for President of the United States on February 10, 2007, in Springfield, Illinois. His announcement speech largely avoided specific campaign issues and focused on his general political message of hope for the future. It also attempted to strongly invoke the memory of Abraham Lincoln and his "House Divided" speech.[14]

In early April 2007, Obama's campaign announced his first-quarter fund raising figures. The campaign generated over $25 million dollars from over 100,000 contributors. $23.5 million of that money will be available for the Democratic Primary.[15] After the first Democratic presidential debate in Columbia, South Carolina, Obama's image as an "articulate" spokesman came into question after his failure to state right away that he would retaliate in case of further terrorist strikes against the United States.[16][17]

During a fund raising event in Virginia in May 2007 Obama told donors,

“ This week there was a tragedy in Kansas. Ten thousand people died. An entire town destroyed.[18] ”

Obama has said he was tired and misspoke, as in reality the tornado which touched down in Kansas cost the lives of nine people in the town of Greensburg, and twelve overall in Kansas.

By August it appeared Obama was running to be left off the ticket completely rather than the much ballyhooed Hillary/Obama ticket the mainstream media was pushing. After a series of ill-advised foreign policy statements, Obama was openly criticized as a lightweight even by liberals, in much the same vein as John Edwards and Dan Quayle had been depicted. First, Obama said he would have face to face meetings with two of Florida's most fearful enemies, Fidel Castro and Hugo Chavez. Florida is a key state to any presidential ambitions. Then Obama advised he would be willing to invade the sovereign territory of a U.S. ally without prior consultation. Finally, Obama broke the cardinal rule of declaring he would not use nuclear weapons, removing the element of bluff U.S. Presidents had vitally depended upon throughout the Cold War era. The incidents all added up to a picture of a candidate ill-prepared and ill-advised, lacking in a basic understanding of the office of the presidency, and failing to surround himself with appointees able to make up for his deficiencies. However, Obama won the Iowa Democratic caucuses, pushing Hillary Clinton into third place, which gave him a serious chance of becoming the Democratic nominee.

Political Views

Obama's political views have been a matter of controversy even before he put himself forward as a Presidential Candidate. Former House majority leader Tom DeLay has described Obama's record in the Illinois Senate as that of a “Marxist leftist".[19] In May 2007, Obama voted against funding the Iraq War. The funding bill also included an increase in the minimum wage from $5.85 to $7.25, which was intended to help America's most needy individuals.[20][21] Joining Obama in voting against HR 2206 were senators Coburn and Enzi, whose voting rank is among the most conservative in the Senate.

Obama has said, "Doing the Lord's work is a thread that runs through our politics since the very beginning," and "it puts the lie to the notion that separation of church and state in America means somehow that faith should have no role in public life."[22]

Nonetheless, he has defied parents by asserting that elements of sex education should be taught in kindergarten.[23]

Obama spoke at the May 1, 2006, illegal immigration march in Chicago.[24]

We are hungry for change! S.C. January 26, 2008.

Faith and Values

As he describes in The Audacity of Hope Obama grew up in a non-religious environment. When he was a child in Indonesia, he attended a local Muslim school for two years, followed by two years at a local Catholic school. His father was a non-practicing Muslim.

Obama attended a Muslim school but independent news organizations have verified it was not a madrassa.[25].

Obama and his his wife (reared a Baptist) have been active members since 1988 at the Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago. Obama describes his conversion in The Audacity of Hope. The title of this book is borrowed from one of his pastor's sermons. He is at ease quoting Scriptures and speaking to church audiences.

Books

  • Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance.
  • The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream.
  • Barack Obama in His Own Words. (B. Obama and Lisa Rogak)

Published Criticism

On April 11, 2007, staff writers of The Boston Globe reported the criticisms of several black commentators regarding Obama's apparent hesitation to join the race to condemn acclaimed radio personality Don Imus,[26] who made a racially insensitive remark[27] on the air during the April 4 broadcast. Obama did not comment on Imus's remarks until well after prominent civil rights leaders Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson had called Imus to account and after Imus was suspended by MSNBC and CBS Radio. Obama later weighed in on April 10 by saying, "The comments of Don Imus were divisive, hurtful, and offensive to Americans of all backgrounds."

The Globe reported that Obama's perceived delay in addressing Don Imus's remarks was described by Melissa Harris Lacewell, a professor of politics and African-American studies at Princeton University, as "miss[ing] an opportunity to prove himself to blacks and white liberals who would have wanted Obama take the lead in denouncing Imus."[28][29]

In June 2007 the Chicago Sun-Times reported Obama had actually received nearly three times more campaign cash from indicted slum landlord Tony Rezko[30] and his associates than Obama has publicly acknowledged.[31]

See Also

Further reading

Sources

References

  1. ↑ http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=18363
  2. ↑ "Fresh doubts over Barack Obama's foreign policy credentials were expressed on both sides of the Atlantic last night, after it emerged that he had made only one brief official visit to London – and none elsewhere in Western Europe or Latin America. ... Mr Obama had failed to convene a single policy meeting of the Senate European subcommittee, of which he is chairman."[1]
  3. ↑ MoveOn.org reportedly favored Obama by 70-30% over Clinton. [2]
  4. ↑ For example, Obama promised not to use nuclear weapons against terrorists, a promise Hillary Clinton refused to make. [3]
  5. ↑ http://cbs2chicago.com/politics/barack.obama.harvard.2.334825.html
  6. ↑ Obama did not start his second year of law school until September 1989, the earliest he could have taken constitutional law, yet this article must have been written, submitted and accepted prior to that time to be published in the November 1989 issue of the Law Review.
  7. ↑ The liberal Professor Tribe saw the best law students for several decades, yet insisted that Obama was the "best student I ever had" and the "most exciting research assistant." [4]
  8. ↑ http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/20/us/politics/20obama.html
  9. ↑ http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=18348437
  10. ↑ http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=18348437
  11. ↑ http://www.ilsenate.com/default.asp
  12. ↑ [5]
  13. ↑ New York Times Best Sellers Non Fiction
  14. ↑ "Obama declares he's running for president" 11 February 2007, www.CNN.com
  15. ↑ Obama Shows His Strength in a Fund-Raising Feat on Par With Clinton, 4 April 2007, Jeff Zeleny and Patrick Healy, The New York Times
  16. ↑ Clinton Campaign Tries to Keep Heat on Obama Over Debate Response, Dan Balz, Washington Post April 28, 2007.
  17. ↑ Chicago Sun-Times, 'I was a little nervous' at debate', Lynn Sweet, April 29, 2007,
  18. ↑ Transcript: 'Special Report with Brit Hume,' May 9, 2007, retrieved from FOX News, 06/13/07.
  19. ↑ Rock Star Obama Whines About His Ears, RushLimbaugh.com, December 13 2006
  20. ↑ HR 2206 - Emergency Appropriations, Kathy Gill, Your Guide to U.S. Politics: Current Events. May 26 2007.
  21. ↑ Votes - H.R. 2206: Iraq Supplemental, May 28, 2007. Retrieved from Deeper Inside the Mountain, June 4, 2007.
  22. ↑ Obama says religion has place in politics, By Todd Dorman, Sioux City Journal, June 18, 2007.
  23. ↑ "Barack Obama reaffirmed to Planned Parenthood this week that he believes elements of sex education should begin in kindergarten." (ABC News) July 20, 2007
  24. ↑ Immigration marches
  25. ↑ http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/01/22/obama.madrassa/
  26. ↑ Obama's silence on Imus alarms some blacks, Rick Klein and Joseph Williams, The Boston Globe, April 11, 2007.
  27. ↑ over Imus puts heat on other broadcasters, Daniel Trotta, Reuters, 2007-04-12.
  28. ↑ Obama's silence on Imus alarms some blacks, Rick Klein and Joseph Williams, The Boston Globe, April 11, 2007.
  29. ↑ Obama, Race, and The Election, Real Clear Politics.com
  30. ↑ Barack Obama and his slumlord patron, Tim Novak, Chicago Sun-Times, April 23, 2007.
  31. ↑ Rezko cash triple what Obama says, Chris Fusco and Tim Novak, Chicago Sun-Times, June 18, 2007.


v • d • e
2008 Presidential Candidates
Barr • Clinton • McCain • Nader • Obama • Thompson • Biden • Gravel • Paul • Giuliani • Keyes • Huckabee • Romney • McKinney
Retrieved from "https://conservapedia.com/index.php?title=Barack_Hussein_Obama&oldid=389661"