Barack Obama is the Democratic candidate.

Here you see the Democratic candidate for president, Barack Obama. Obama is 47 years old, and was born in Honolulu, Hawaii. His mother was a white woman from Kansas and his father was a black man from Kenya. They met at the University of Hawaii. But Barack's father left the family when Barack was two years old, and returned to Kenya. Barack's mother remarried a man from Indonesia, and the family lived there until Barack was ten. How do you think living in such different places affected Barack Obama growing up?

As a young man, Obama went to Harvard Law School, and graduated near the top of his class. After graduating, he wrote the book you see here. In it he wrote about his childhood and how it influenced him. Would you be interested in reading this book? Why or why not? Obama went to work for the city of Chicago, working with several community groups helping poor people and getting people registered to vote. Why do you think Obama chose to do this? He also taught at the University of Chicago Law School.

Obama entered politics in 1997 when he was elected to the Illinois state Senate. In 2003, he made a speech against going to war in Iraq. In 2004 he was elected to the U.S. Senate. He gained national attention in 2004 when he gave a stirring speech at the Democratic National Convention. Do you think Barack Obama would make a good choice for president?