Monday, July 29, 2019
Profile of Senator Barack Obama Essay
Barack Obama is one of the top candidates for the democratic nomination in the 2008 presidential election. His political experience has not been as long as some of his competitors, but Obama has served eleven meaningful years as a senator from the state of Illinois. As the son of parents from both the state of Kansas and the country of Kenya, Obama’s diverse background is one of the many desirable qualities that he brings into the presidential race.            Obama has now turned his sights on the presidential race, where he is running as a democrat. He is currently one of the leaders in that race, and is thought by many to hold a slight lead over Senator Hilary Clinton, He was recently endorsed by powerful talk show host Oprah Winfrey, who has lent her support in private for a long time now. Though Obama does not have the long political record that some of the other candidates have, he makes up for that by providing a fresh outlook and exciting perspective in a race that greatly needs such attributes.            Obama has taken some hard line stances on many of the biggest issues of this year’s campaign. The senator has consistently supported the woman’s right to choose in regards to abortion. His pro-choice mentality is something that sets him apart from many of the candidates in the race. One of the issues that Obama has concentrated on is immigration reform. According to the senator’s official website, â€Å"Barack Obama has played a leading role in crafting comprehensive immigration reform. Obama believes the immigration issue has been exploited by politicians to divide the nation rather than find real solutions†(Obama).            One of the most important issues in this election is the war in Iraq. On that, Obama has consistently stood by his pledge to bring the soldiers home and work to end the conflict. His ideas on foreign policy have been the subject much speculation over the last couple of months. An Associated Press article stated that â€Å"Obama, closing the three-hour policy forum, said a president should be unafraid to meet with tyrants, and must restore the nation’s moral authority by ending torture, closing Guantanamo Bay’s military prison and helping fight global poverty and AIDS†(Babington).            Obama has fought with competitor Hilary Clinton on a number of issues in debates and in the press on a number of issues, but none has been more common than health care. According to Timothy Noah of The Slate, â€Å"Obama’s plan creates various mechanisms to make both private and public health insurance more readily available†(Noah). This plan puts the responsibility on the American people to make their own choices about healthcare, while many universal healthcare plans make the decision for the people. This is one of the issues where Obama has received high marks from prospective voters.            Thus far, Barack Obama has performed very well in debates, both formal and off of the stage. Though poll numbers have fluctuated based upon whom one asked, Obama has stayed mostly strong through the duration of his campaign. As the campaign has progressed, Obama’s positions have continually been challenged on a number of issues and he has consistently had to defend them against challengers. With the endorsement form Oprah in his back pocket and the primaries on the horizon, Obama looks to have taken momentum into a very important part of the campaign. Works Cited Obama, Barack. Obama ’08: Official Website. â€Å"Immigration and the Border†. Babington, Charles. (AP) Obama Touts new Diplomatic Approaches. 28 November 2007. Noah, Timothy. Obama vs. Clinton on Universality. 30 November 2007. Â
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