Election Center 2008: Candidates - Election & Politics News from CNN.com

Hot Topics » Health Care in America • Commentary • Political Ticker • more topics »

Main

Barack Obama	Bio \| Career \| Other Facts \| Primary Results
	Please wait while we retrieve the data. Current job: U.S. senator from Illinois Birth date: August 4, 1961; Honolulu, Hawaii Family: Married Michelle Robinson (1992-present); Children: Sasha (2001) and Malia Ann (1999) Religion: Christian Education: Columbia University, B.A., 1983; Harvard University, J.D., 1991 Campaign Web site: www.barackobama.com 1990s: Practiced civil rights law and taught constitutional law at the University of Chicago Law School. 1997-2005: Illinois state senator, representing the 13th District. 2000: Ran for a U.S. House seat but lost primary to former Black Panther Bobby Rush. July 27, 2004: Delivered keynote address at the Democratic National Convention. November 2004: Won the U.S. Senate seat in Illinois, defeating Alan Keyes. It was the first time in history a Senate general election race was between two African-American candidates. He is author of "Dreams From My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance" (1995); "The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream" (2006) and "It Takes a Nation: How Strangers Became Family in the Wake of Hurricane Katrina" (2006). Obama won a Grammy Award in 2006 for best spoken album for his reading of "Dreams From My Father." In his 1995 autobiography, Obama confessed to experimenting with marijuana and cocaine as a teenager. In 2006, he toured five African countries, including a visit to Nyangoma-Kogelo, Kenya, his late father's hometown. He was the first African American to be president of the Harvard Law Review.

Other candidate: John McCain »

In Their Own Words
	America, this is our moment. This is our time. Our time to turn the page on the policies of the past. Our time to bring new energy and new ideas to the challenges we face. Our time to offer a new direction for this country that we love. -- from his June 3, 2008, speech declaring his win as Democratic candidate

Video Highlights

Transcripts and Speeches

From the Blogs: Controversy, commentary, and debate

Supporters

Some supporters, who may have also contributed to other candidates, include:

Adam Arkin Actor Donated $250
Jodie Foster Actress Donated $1,000
Jamie Foxx Actor Donated $2,300
Tom Hanks Actor Donated $4,600
Paul Newman Actor Donated $4,600
Tom Skerritt Actor Donated $1,000
Will Smith Actor Donated $4,600
Isaiah Washington Actor Donated $2,300
Joanne Woodward Actress Donated $4,600

* Money figures are according to FEC

Advisers

Some of the top and notable advisers, according to the campaigns and/or media reports.

David Axelrod Senior strategist A former Chicago Tribune political reporter who advised Edwards during his 2004 presidential bid.
David Plouffe Campaign manager Former executive director of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and senior aide to House Minority Leader Richard Gephardt.
Pete Rousee Chief of staff Former chief of staff to Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle
Julianna Smoot Finance director A former finance director for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, raised more than $25 million in the first fundraising quarter of 2007.
Jim Margolis Senior adviser A media strategist with close ties to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.
Steve Hildebrand Campaign adviser and strategist An "early state" expert who served as Iowa director of Vice President Al Gore's presidential run
Robert Gibbs Communications director A former communications director at the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee
Betsy Myers Chief operating officer Clinton administration official, sister of former Clinton press secretary Dee Dee Myers

* Special Notes

• Delegate counts represent CNN's most recent estimate for each candidate. For Democrats, the figures include pledged delegates and superdelegates. For Republicans, the figures include pledged delegates and unpledged RNC member delegates. There are currently 4,234 total delegates to the Democratic National Convention, including 3,409 pledged delegates and 825 superdelegates. The total number of delegate votes needed to win the nomination is 2,118. There are currently 2,380 total delegates to the Republican National Convention, including 1,917 pledged delegates and 463 unpledged delegates. The total number of delegate votes needed to win the nomination is 1,191. More about the delegate selection process
• Needed to Win: This refers to the total number of delegate votes needed by a candidate to win the party's nomination.
• States won: This refers to CNN's projected winner for each race until a final result has been determined. How CNN projects winners

Barack Obama Fundraising

TOTAL through June 2008
Raised:	$349,716,137
Spent:	$278,045,813
Cash-on-Hand:	$71,670,323
provided by FEC
more Fundraising data »

Obama on the Issues

Abortion
Supports abortion rights.

Immigration
Supported Bush-backed immigration reform legislation, which would have increased funding and improved border security technology, improved enforcement of existing laws, and provided a legal path to citizenship for some illegal immigrants. Voted to authorize construction of a 700-mile fence along the U.S.-Mexican border.

Iraq
Opposed use of military force in Iraq. Voted for war spending bill that would have withdrawn most U.S. troops by March 2008. Supports phased redeployment of U.S. troops. Opposed Bush's plan to send additional troops to Iraq. Had once called for troop withdrawal to begin by the end of 2006.

Same-sex marriage
Opposes same-sex marriage, but also opposes a constitutional ban. Supports civil unions.

Social Security
Opposes Bush plan allowing workers to divert some Social Security payroll taxes into private retirement accounts.

Taxes
Opposed extending 2003 Bush tax cut law through 2010. Supports eliminating marriage penalty and extending child tax credit. Supports scaling back capital gains and dividends tax cuts and re-examining tax benefits for the top one percent of earners.

all Candidates on the Issues »