We know pretty much everything.
Born August 4, 1961, in Honolulu, Hawaii, to Barack Obama, Sr., and Ann Dunham. Obama and Dunham divorced when Barack was 2 years old. Dunham married Lolo Soretoro and moved with her son to Soretoro's native country of Indonesia. Barack returned to Hawaii when he was ten years old to live with his maternal grandparents.
He admits using marijuana, cocaine, and alcohol during his youth.
He received a B.A. in political science from Columbia University and a law degree from Harvard Law School. He was the youngest President of the Harvard Law Review.
He spent four years between Columbia and Harvard working on the south side of Chicago setting up job training programs and college prep tutoring. He chaired the Annenberg Challenge, a non-profit organization that sought improvements to Chicago's public schools, working alongside former '60s radical William Ayers, while in Chicago.
He attended Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, which was pastored by Dr. Jeremiah Wright, a controversial pastor who often incorporated criticism of American goverment and culture into his sermons for dramatic effect. Wright's sermons grew increasingly passionate through the years, and in 2007 Obama gave a speech in which he denounced some of Dr. Wright's sermons.
He spent seven years in the state senate of Illinois. He introduced and co-sponsored legislation banning racial profiling by police and requiring the videotaping of homicide interrogation. He also worked on ethics and health care reform.
He became Illinois's junior US senator in 2004 after defeated Alan Keys. Keys was a fill-in candidate after primary winner Jack Ryan withdrew from the race as a result of a sex scandal. Obama defeated Keys by the widest margin in a statewide political race in Illinois history. He also delivered the keynote address at the 2004 Democratic National Convention which drew immediate national attention from the media and the general public.
As a US senator, Obama has introduced or co-sponsored legislations on ethics reform, energy policy, and voter protection.
On February 10, 2007, Obama announced his candidacy for the Presidency of the United States at the Old State Capitol in Springfield, Il.
He is a liberal Democrat. He runs on a pro-choice platform. He calls for heavier federal investment in the development of alternative sustainable energy sources. In Illinois he heavily supported subsidies for corn ethanol and wind power. He now seems more focused on the development of cellulosic ethanol, but his support for wind power development remains strong. He advocates for a 16-month, multi-phased drawing down of troop levels in Iraq, but also supports leaving a number of troops in the country for anti-terrorism missions. He supports an increase of ground troops in Afghanistan and sees the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan as the central front in the war on terrorism. He favors a restructuring of the tax code that would result in a higher percentage of taxes being collected from individuals making more than $200,000 and couples making more than $250,000 per year and a lower percentage from couples making less than $150,000 per year. He supports offering individuals the option of purchasing health insurance directly from the government through a system modeled after the health insurance offered to members of Congress, but he does not mandate goverment-run health insurance for all citizens, nor does he propose a shift to a goverment-run health care system. He also does not require individuals to carry health insurance if they choose not to.
His voting record has rarely varied from that of the Democratic party at large, both in the Illinois and United States senate, but he has a track record of co-sponsoring bills with Republican legislators.
And he has my vote.