Barack Obama is creating a ground swell for the Democratic party that it hasn't seen in years.  His political views and background ranges from ordinary to extraordinary.  Most extraordinary of all is his momentum after winning the Iowa caucuses despite being considered a secondary candidate to the likes of Hillary Clinton.  The momentum he created after the Iowa caucus continued to grow through a grass roots campaign that has lead to him eventually becoming the democratic candidate for President.

Background 

    Barack Hussein Obama was born in Honolulu on August 4, 1961 to a Kenyan father and American mother.  He grew up in a multicultural environment that took him to many places, including Indonesia and Kenya (where he still has family today - see video below).  His early pursuits lead him to Columbia University and eventually, Harvard Law.  His work as a Civil Rights Attorney very likely set the stage for him to become the junior Senator from Illinois in 2004 after a stint serving in the Illinois state legislator.  Being the fifth African American U.S. Senator and one of the few state legislators to ever give a keynote address at a Democratic National Convention, it is clear that he has tremendous political talent.

Political Viewpoints

Economic

    Free Markets - Barack Obama is an avid believer in free markets, yet he still follows many of the principles set forth by Roosevelt's New Deal (which puts much of the economic control into the US governments hands - SEC, Social Security, etc). 

    Tax System - Like many other candidates now and in the past, Obama claims he will reform the IRS.  Although a popular stance, this is not quite as far as other 2008 presidential hopefuls like Mike Huckabee, who plans to abolish the IRS altogether.  Despite this, some of his more popular plans include eliminating taxes for many senior citizens, restricting offshore tax havens, and a cap and trade auction system for carbon emissions.

    A more complete fiscal policy can be found on Barack Obama's website.  The short story of it all is that he has a rather typical democratic, anti-Bush stance on fiscal discipline.  He proposes to make special-interest earmarks more transparent (cut pork barrel spending), reversing the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy,  and decreasing wasteful spending by the government.

Iraq

    Although not an adversary of utilizing force, Obama was a voice against the Iraqi invasion of 2003.  Unfortunately it is unclear how the political environment of the Senate would have effected his views as he was not yet a member when the vote to invade was conducted.  Despite this, he currently proposes a phased withdrawal plan from the country.  Due to the overall public opinion on the war, his track record is a strong campaigning tool for him:

    "I opposed this war from the beginning. I opposed the war in 2002. I opposed it in 2003. I opposed it in 2004. I opposed it in 2005. I opposed it in 2006. I introduced a plan in January to remove all of our combat brigades by next March. And I am here to say that we have to begin to end this war now.”

Energy

    The highlight of Obama's stance on climate and energy concerns is to reduce carbon emissions by 80% by 2050.  He furthers stipulates that he will push for a new energy grid and carbon neutral, energy efficient home construction that would lead to a 50% increase in energy efficiency by 2030.  Although he has not made clear this clear on his campaign site, Barack Obama believes in the ratification of the Kyoto protocol and creating new international forums with the U.N. and G-8 to tackle climate change.  Finally, like most candidates Obama states he will rid the US of its dependence on oil.

Healthcare

    Healthcare is an extremely hot issue during this election year and Obama has no shortage of initiatives.  His plan is quite long and includes the following:

• Modernizing healthcare by investing $10 billion a year in Electronic Health Information Technology
• Providing national health coverage to all Americans
• Forcing employers to make a contribution to employees health plan costs
• Creating a watchdog organization to ensure health insurance companies provide affordable, fair, and accessible services
• Promote patient safety by ensuring providers deliver quality care
• Reform medical malpractice

Homeland Security

    Barack's plan focuses around securing chemical and nuclear plants around the country.  He proposes to create a system to accurately track waste nuclear fuel.  Obama has also proposed, and in some cases, secured funding to provide security funding for high risk targets (e.g. cities like Chicago, transit systems, and the water supply system).

Immigration

    Barack Obama believes in bringing the illegal immigrants in the United States out of the shadows by creating a system that allows those in good standing to get in the back of the line to attain U.S. citizenship after paying a fine and learning English.  Otherwise, his policies include reforming the U.S. immigration system, cracking down on employers that hire illegals, and working with Mexico and border states to create infrastructure along the borders.

Technology and Innovation

    Obama is rather unique in this area.  He has proposed that if he were President, he would appoint a Chief Technology Officer of the country.  He also supports net neutrality, an increase in H1-B visas, and keeping the Internet tax free.

Notable Speeches

Barack Obama's Victory Speech after the Iowa Caucuses

Just Words? 

A More Perfect Union (Philadelphia, PA) 

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