As a service to those readers who are planning on voting in the 2008 election, I will running a series over the next few days to introduce each major candidate in the ‘08 election. I will also bring some of the lesser known candidates to light and evaluate their messages. The reasoning behind this new series is simple. Americans tend to vote without being fully informed, when they vote at all. While this looks to be an exciting race that I’m sure will inspire many Americans to venture to the polls, the majority still will not really know exactly what each candidate stands for. The key to an efficiently run country is the choosing of great leaders, and this can’t be accomplished unless the public is familiar with each. I never encourage voting along party lines, and I feel that you should evaluate each candidates message before choosing one. With that being said, I would like to introduce you all to Barack Obama.
Who is Barack Obama?
Barack Obama, 46, is a Democratic senator of Illinois who was elected in 2004. Born Barack Hussein Obama Jr. in Honolulu, Hawaii, Obama was raisedin Chicago, Illinois. He attended Columbia University, and later graduated from from Harvard Law School. While at Harvard, he served as the head of the prestigious Harvard Review. Some people say that he owes his election to the Illinois senate to luck, as both his rivals were plagued by scandals. Obama is married to Michelle Robinson and has two young daughters. He is a Christian who attends the Unitd Church of Christ.
What Does He Stand For?
Strengthening America Overseas - Obama wants to create a safe world environment for America to thrive in. In order for this to occur, America has to fix many things that it has been doing wrong. First, Obama wants to renew our world relations. He outlines five goals that will ultimately lead to the renewal of relations. These five goals are: (1) An end to the war in Iraq. (2) The rebuilding of the military. (3) A global effort to stop the spread of weapons of mass destruction. (4) Reaffirming alliances with other countries. (5) Strengthening of weak and poverty stricken countries that serve as a breeding ground for terrorists. In addition to renewing world relations, Obama is committed to ending the conflict in Congo, the genocide in Sudan, and bringing Charles Taylor to justice. For those of you who don’t remember who Taylor is, he is the former president of Liberia whose forces committed brutalities in Sierra Leone.
War in Iraq - Barack Obama has opposed the war in Iraq from the beginning, and his voting record proves it. Since the vote, he has taken steps to create a plan to move forward from Iraq. In particular, Barack favors a timetable for withdrawal from Iraq, and has called for countries neighboring Iraq, as well as countries globally, to aid Iraq in attaining stability.
Health Care - In order to improve the health care system, Obama wants to create a report card system for hospitals in order to give consumers more information about the quality of their hospitals. He wants to make prescription drugs cheaper by calling for government renegotiation in order to make medication affordable for the poor. He plans to combat AIDS through education, condom distribution, and other methods. One of his controversial issues is that approval of genetic medicine, which will certain require stem cell research.
Environment - Obama will try to cut down on carbon emissions by pointing government investment towards clean fuels such as ethanol and biodiesel. He plans to increase Hybrid car production by using government funds to shoulder some of the automakers’ health care costs. Obama also favors a limit on greenhouse emissions from factories and manufacturing plants.
Education - Obama believes that teachers should receive more money, and wants to implement a reward system where high performing teachers can receive an increase of 10-20% of their base salaries. He also wants to help college students pay off their debts by increasing funds for the Pell Grant that over five million students use nation wide.
Homeland Security - Obama sees chemical plants as a prime terrorist target and wants to set stricter security regulations for these facilities. He also believes that the US needs to keep better track of its spent nuclear fuel, as three facilities in the last five years have reported missing fuel. He will try to improve US emergency response and evacuation plans and agencies, with a focus on reuniting families after disaster.
Immigration - Obama wants to strengthen our border security by adding more border agents and equipping them with better technology. He also wants to deter illegal immigration by cracking down on those who employ illegal immigrants. He says that he wants to create more efficient legal avenues for immigrants to enter the US, and he supports a system where illegals in the country would have to pay a fine and other penalties if they confess their illegal status. They would still be allowed to stay in the US, but would be put at the back of the line for citizenship.
Religion - Obama, himself a Christian, says that Americans need to translate their own faiths into global values rather than religious specific values.
Additional Info
For more information about Obama, he has written two books; The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream, Dreams from my Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance. Obama does not mention anything about his stance on abortion, though we can only assume that he is pro-choice. As far as religion, he is a born-again Christian. If you want to do your own research, here are some links:
My Personal Opinion
After reading about Obama in depth, I honestly still have some questions that I hope will be answered in the future. We still don’t know where he stands on abortion, or at least no position that he has specifically stated. Abortion is an important issue to me, as I am pro-choice. I liked how he has stated that stem cell research is important, since you don’t often see candidates make their positions clear on hot-button issues. For the very conservative among you, he does seem to be a religious man, though (appropriately) he sees the need to enforce only global values. He really doesn’t seem to have much to say about education, which is one area that our country is visibly failing in. It is painfully obvious that my brother and sister are not receiving the same education that I did from the same school system that I attended less than ten years ago. In addition, his plans to help students pay for college are (as my Scholarships for White Students article touched upon) are more directed towards low income and minority students. What he should be focusing on is cutting tuitions for everyone, nationwide. His environmental policies are not very innovative, and his plan for the economy was nowhere to be found. While the economy is doing fine right now, the deficit we are running with the war in Iraq needs to be fixed. Overall, Obama looks like a well-rounded candidate. He doesn’t have many ambitious goals, but he does highlight things that need to be tweaked. Most of all, he wants to impose a timetable for withdrawal on Iraq. While he would be the first minority president, his race does not seem to be harming him in public opinion, at least in the Northeast, though I can’t gauge opinion in the conservative South. It almost seems to me as if his race is playing no role in this campaign. I hope you enjoyed this article on Obama, and maybe have a new understanding of the man we hear about everyday. If I can educate one voter, than this series will be a success.
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