Barack Obama was born in Hawaii
in 1961 the son of a Kenyan father and
an American mother from Kansas he spent
part of his childhood in Indonesia and
later attended Columbia University and
Harvard Law School
sister Maya Satara Inge says Obama's
life experience makes his candidacy a
great opportunity for America to have
someone who is fair who has a strong
respect for the Constitution who has a
strong respect for not only the cultures
within the United States but but also
the world at large Obama's political
career was shaped in part by his years
as a community organizer and poor
neighborhoods of Chicago and as a member
of the Illinois State Senate he was
elected to the US Senate in 2004 the
same year he delivered the keynote
address to the Democratic National
Convention
I stand here knowing that my story is
part of the larger American story that I
owe a debt to all of those who came
before me and that in no other country
on earth is my story even possible that
speech propelled Obama into the national
spotlight Frank mankiewicz was press
secretary and advisor to the late
Senator Robert F Kennedy
he says Obama has the intellect and
imagination to be an effective leader
and clearly has great motivations and
certainly anybody who's read his books
particularly his first book has a clear
understanding about this is a man with
deep emotions and serious thoughts he
doesn't just pick up slogans and run
with them so in that sense I think he
he'll do all right Obama supporters
praise him for speaking to the hopes and
ideals of us voters one such moment came
after he won the Democratic Party caucus
in Iowa in January they said this day
would never come
they said our sights were set too high
they said this country was too divided
too disillusioned to ever come together
around a common purpose but on this
January night at this defining moment in
history you have done what the cynics
said we couldn't do Oh bomb ax has
endured criticism including for saying
he would meet with iranian President
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad without conditions
he has also faced questions about the
church he belonged to in Chicago his
former pastor there the Reverend
Jeremiah Wright made inflammatory
remarks about white people and race in
America Obama denounced those remarks
then recently left the church Frank
mankiewicz says Obama's biggest
challenge may be connecting with
working-class Americans Obama has to
worry about health insurance and the
price of gasoline and what's happening
mortgages and foreclosures and all the
other things that are really
preoccupying Americans now and of course
the war Obama received some good news as
the Democratic primary season came to a
close a new voter opinion survey shows
if the elections were held today Obama
would beat Senator John McCain the
presumed Republican nominee by 47 to 44%
robert rafael VOA news