2008 US Presidential Election.

Last Saturday, in the not new news event of the weekend, Senator Barack Obama made it official. He is running for President. He is a strong candidate and a welcome addition to the race. During his remarks, he said this:

“…I came to believe that through this decency, we can build a more hopeful America.”
Senator Obama sincerely believes in his vision of a better country, a more hopeful and decent place.

But as we checked through the reviews of his announcement, we were filled not with hope, but with concern.

Huffington Post

Senator Barack Obama announced his bid to be America’s first black president by urging an end to the Iraq war and portraying himself as a fresh face capable of leading a new generation.

Obama, 45, the youngest contender among his fellow Democrats, told thousands shivering in the cold at the campaign’s launch in Springfield, Illinois: “Let us transform this nation.”

Although relatively new to national politics, Obama is already considered one of the top challengers in his party to front-runner Senator Hillary Clinton in the 2008 election.

IOL

WATERLOO, Iowa (AFP) - Barack Obama (news, bio, voting record) was taking to the ice-bound campaign trail, a day after launching his 2008 White House bid with a vow to lead a generational drive to purge the cynicism from US politics.

The charismatic 45-year-old senator opened his quest for the Democratic nomination in Illinois, invoking anti-slavery icon Abraham Lincoln as he set his sights on a historic goal — to become the first black US president.

Obama demanded an end to the “tragic” war in Iraq and said he felt a call of destiny to transform his nation.

“Let’s be the generation that ends poverty in America,” Obama told a outdoor crowd of thousands in frigid temperatures in the midwestern city of Springfield, former president Lincoln’s hometown.

Yahoo! News

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. - Barack Obama (news, bio, voting record) announced his bid for president Saturday, a black man evoking Abraham Lincoln’s ability to unite a nation and a Democrat portraying himself as a fresh face capable of leading a new generation.

“Let us transform this nation,” he told thousands shivering in the cold at the campaign’s kickoff.

Obama, 45, is the youngest candidate in the Democrats’ 2008 primary field dominated by front-runner Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and filled with more experienced lawmakers. In an address from the state capital where he began his elective career 10 years ago, the first-term U.S. senator sought to distinguish himself as a staunch opponent of the Iraq war and a White House hopeful whose lack of political experience is an asset.

Yahoo! News

SPRINGFIELD, United States (AFP) - Senator Barack Obama (news, bio, voting record) launched “an improbable quest” to become America’s first black president, audaciously invoking Abraham Lincoln, the US president who ended slavery.

“I want us to take up the unfinished business of perfecting our union, and building a better America,” Obama told a crowd of thousands in temperatures of minus 11 degrees Celsius (13 Fahrenheit) in Lincoln’s hometown.

“You didn’t come here just for me, you came here because you believe in what this country can be,” said the Illinois senator, 45, muscling his way into a packed Democratic field already dominated by New York Senator Hillary Clinton.

Yahoo! News

Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama (news, bio, voting record)’s positions on a sampling of issues:

_Abortion: Favors abortion rights. As Illinois lawmaker, opposed restrictions on public financing of abortions.

_Global warming: Co-sponsored bill that would set mandatory caps on greenhouse gas emissions and raise energy costs. Plan would require emissions to return to 2004 levels by 2012 and to 1990 levels by 2020.

_Health care: Wants universal coverage by 2012; details not specified.

_Immigration: Voted to give illegal immigrants a route to citizenship after they pay fines and back taxes, learn English, satisfy a work requirement and pass a criminal background check. Voted for building a fence along Mexican border, and toughening requirements that citizens be given preference for jobs over guest workers.

Yahoo! News

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. - Democratic Sen. Barack Obama (news, bio, voting record) plans to stand outside Illinois’ Old State Capitol on Saturday, a building indelibly linked to Abraham Lincoln, and tell the world about his 2008 presidential plans.

In a video preview announcement on his presidential exploratory committee’s Web site, Obama said he’s humbled by the enormity of the task ahead and urged supporters to get involved. “Tomorrow, we begin a great journey. A journey to take our country back and fundamentally change the nature of our politics,” Obama said.

For Obama, it will be the start of a long weekend of rallies and events that will take him from Springfield to Iowa and then on to Chicago before he wraps up Monday in New Hampshire.

Yahoo! News

LAS VEGAS - Sen. Barack Obama (news, bio, voting record) is skipping a forum for Democratic presidential candidates in Nevada this month — his first opportunity to share a platform with his rivals for the 2008 nomination.

Seven other announced or expected Democratic candidates, including front-runner Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, have told organizers they will participate in the Feb. 21 forum in Carson City, Nev. It’s the first such candidates forum of the 2008 presidential campaign.

Obama, who is scheduled to be in southern Nevada the same week, couldn’t work the Nevada forum into his itinerary, campaign spokesman Dan Pfeiffer said.

Yahoo! News

Barack Obama smiled when I asked him why white people always call him “unthreatening.” Does a black man have to be “unthreatening” to get elected president in 2008? I asked.

“Well, look, our racial politics are complicated in this country,” Obama said. “There are lots of wounds that are still healing.” I also asked the Democratic senator from Illinois if he were on some kind of crusade, some venture other than getting himself into the Oval Office.

unionleader

Barack Obama smiled when I asked him why white people always call him “unthreatening.” Does a black man have to be “unthreatening” to get elected president in 2008? I asked.

“Well, look, our racial politics are complicated in this country,” Obama said. “There are lots of wounds that are still healing.” I also asked the Democratic senator from Illinois if he were on some kind of crusade, some venture other than getting himself into the Oval Office.

unionleader

WASHINGTON - Democratic Sen. Barack Obama is asking whether he can take money from donors who want him to be president, then give it back later. The Federal Election Commission said Wednesday that it will look into the novel question.

Obama is indicating that he wants to at least keep the option of using the public financing system for his presidential campaign if he becomes the Democratic nominee. To do so, the Illinois senator could not spend any money from contributors for political purposes, but instead use federal funding that is expected to total about $85 million for next year’s general election.

“Senator Obama has long been a proponent of public financing of campaigns and we are asking the FEC to take a step that could preserve the public financing option for the party’s nominees,” said Obama spokesman Bill Burton.

Yahoo! News