Barack Obama Announces Plans to Run for U.S. President

Today, Democratic Senator Barack Obama announced his plans to join the presidential bid for 2008. The video and transcript of his announcement can be found on his personal website, www.barackobama.com. Obama's roots are in Illinois. He said in his speech today, "Years ago, as a community organizer in Chicago, I learned that meaningful change always begins at the grassroots, and that engaged citizens working together can accomplish extraordinary things." On February 10, he plans to be back in his home state to share more about his plans to pursue presidency.

In his speech today, Obama talked about his discontent with the current government and his plans to do things differently if he is elected to office. He said, "The decisions that have been made in Washington these past six years, and the problems that have been ignored, have put our country in a precarious place....Our continued dependence on oil has put our security and our very planet at risk. And we're still mired in a tragic and costly war that should have never been waged."

How would Barack Obama do things differently if he were elected? Apparently, unity, and a decrease in the strife that has "gummed up" politics, is one of Obama's hopes and aims: "...today, our leaders in Washington seem incapable of working together in a practical, common sense way. Politics has become so bitter and partisan, so gummed up by money and influence, that we can't tackle the big problems that demand solutions. And that's what we have to change first. We have to change our politics, and come together around our common interests and concerns as Americans."

Senator Obama is 45 years old and has been in office for just over two years. However, in spite of his relatively short term in office, Obama has already become nationally prominent, his fame set off by the keynote speech he delivered in 2004 at the Democratic National Convention. Though his name is becoming more well known, Obama is likely to be running against other very well-known people in the race for the presidency, including Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton (New York).

Barack Obama, through his own experience and that of his parents, is familiar with different places and cultures. He was born in Hawaii, and while growing up, lived in various parts of the U.S.-from Kansas to New York-as well as in Indonesia. His mother was from Kansas, and his father from Kenya, Africa.

Today, Obama lives with his wife Michelle, and his daughters Malia and Sasha, on the South Side of Chicago.

For more information, see recent article on Barack Obama at: www.abqtrib.com/news.