VoteCount2008

Barack Obama is the winner of the presidential race from the Democratic party. This bright and extraordinary politician has managed to win popularity not only in the US, but also abroad, over a relatively short time. Senator Joe Biden ties with Obama in the fight for the White House.

Since his youth, Obama has been interested in social issues. After graduating from Columbia University, he worked for a church charity group helping people from poor districts. According to Obama himself, this experience with charity work made him understand that improving people’s lives requires changes in legislation and politics.

After graduating from Harward Law School, Obama practiced law, mostly defending victims of discrimination at courts. Obama’s political career started in Illinois Senate, where he for seven years, in 1997-2004, was the representative of the Democratic Party.

A black deputy from Illinois came under notice on July 29, 2004, when he delivered a memorable speech at the Democrats convention in Boston. In this speech, in particular, he harshly criticized the war in Iraq. After that, Obama’s rating soared, and as a result he was elected to the Congress as a senator from Illinois, gathering 70% of votes during elections. His rival from the Republican Party, Alan Keyes, gained only 27% of votes. During TV debates before the elections to the Senate, Obama showed himself to be a brilliant speaker.

After becoming a senator, Barack Obama hired numerous highly qualified consultants on issues that a new senator may encounter. This measure allowed him to quickly get on the inside and grasp a large number of topics.

Obama has never been a “die-hard” politician. He has cooperated with the Republicans on a number of issues, for instance, when working on legislation on the transparency of government work. Besides, together with the Republican senator from Indiana, Richard Lugar, Obama visited Russia, Ukraine, and Azerbaijan. The visit was dedicated to cooperation in the area of non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. However, in general Obama voted in the Senate in accordance with the liberal line of the Democratic party. The black senator paid special attention to the issue of developing alternative energy sources.

Barack Obama took part in the work of numerous committees, and often offered innovative initiatives. Soon few people doubted that Obama will run for the presidential post. On February 10, 2007, at a meeting in Springfield, Illinois, Obama officially announced that he was joining the presidential race. The long and fierce struggle allowed him to take over his main rival, Hillary Clinton.