Sen. Barack Obama (D) Elected 2004, 1st term up 2010
Born:	Aug. 4, 1961, Honolulu, HI
Home:	Chicago
Education:	Attended Occidental College, 1979-81; Columbia U., B.A. 1983; Harvard Law Schl., J.D. 1991
Religion:	United Church of Christ
Marital Status:	married (Michelle)
Elected  Office:	IL Senate, 1996-2004.
Professional Career:	Dir., Illinois Project Vote!, 1992; Practicing atty.; Lecturer, U. of Chicago, 1993-2004.
DC Office	713 HSOB20510, 202-224-2854; Fax: 202-228-4260; Web site: obama.senate.gov
State Offices	Chicago, 312-886-3506; Marion, 618-997-2402; Springfield, 217-492-5089.
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Barack Obama, Illinois's junior senator, was a national political celebrity even before he was elected to the Senate in November 2004. His background is unusual, quite different from that of most black politicians, yet as quintessentially American as that of Tiger Woods. Obama's father was from Kenya, his mother from Kansas; they met in Hawaii, where her parents had gone to live and where Barack Jr. was born in 1961. When he was 2, Obama's father left to get a degree at Harvard, then returned to Kenya where he was a prominent politician and then, after a downward spiral, died in an auto accident in 1982; Obama recalls meeting him only once, when he was 10. Obama's mother married an Indonesian, and the family moved there; he attended both Muslim and Catholic schools for two years, then went back to Hawaii to attend Punahou Academy and live with his maternal grandparents. Hawaii was even then very much a multiracial background, but Obama mused long about his background, as he recounted in his 1995 autobiography Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance. He went east to college, first to Occidental College in Los Angeles, then to Columbia University in New York. After graduation he worked as a community organizer in Chicago from 1985 to 1988. He then attended Harvard Law School, where he graduated magna cum laude and was the first black president of the Harvard Law Review (and was also a classmate of Bush 2004 campaign manager and Republican National Chairman Ken Mehlman). He and his wife, also a Harvard Law graduate, then moved to Chicago, her hometown, where in 1993 he became a lecturer at the University of Chicago law school.

Politics always seems to have been on his mind. In 1992 he worked on voter registration for the Democratic ticket. In 1996 he ran for the state Senate and was unopposed in the decisive Democratic primary. Next came a political misstep: in 2000 he ran in the primary against 1st District Democratic Congressman Bobby Rush, who the year before had lost the February 1999 race for mayor to incumbent Richard M. Daley by 72%-28%. Obama was attacked for missing a vote on a gun control measure sought by Daley and Governor George Ryan because he was in Hawaii, visiting family, and one of his daughters was ill. Rush was endorsed by Bill Clinton and won 61%-30%. Obama compiled an impressive record in the state Senate. He played important roles in welfare legislation, on the earned income tax credit and on the 2003 ethics legislation. In 2003 he pushed successfully for a law requiring electronic recording of interrogations and confessions in homicide cases; prosecutors resisted it, but he argued persuasively that it would insure convictions in the large majority of cases.

Looming not too far ahead was the 2004 Senate race. Illinois has one of the earliest filing deadlines and state primaries in the nation, in December 2003 and in March 2004 in this case, and the incumbent senator, Republican Peter Fitzgerald, was obviously in trouble. Elected in 1998 in large part because of the ethical shortcomings of incumbent Democrat Carol Moseley Braun, he had compiled an attractive record on ethics himself, challenging Ryan on the financing of the Abraham Lincoln Library and Museum, bringing in an out-of-stater, Patrick Fitzgerald (no relation) as U.S. Attorney in Chicago, opposing cozy political deals by old-style politicians. But Fitzgerald would have to run in an increasingly Democratic state, and without the support of leading Illinois Republicans; in November 2002 Congressman Ray LaHood said, "I'm thinking about trying to make sure that Peter has an opponent" in the Republican primary, and the Republican state committee declined to support Fitzgerald for reelection. In 1998 Fitzgerald had largely self-financed his campaign, but his wealth would have been serious diminished by another such race, and in April 2003 he announced he would not seek reelection.

With Democratic Senator Richard Durbin comfortably reelected in 2002 and still in the prime of life, it seemed that another Illinois Senate seat would not come open for many years, perhaps a generation, so a host of candidates--eight Democrats and eight Republicans, many of them capable of self-financing a campaign--entered the 2004 race. Initially Obama did not stand out among them. As an African-American he had an edge with black voters, who would probably make up 25% of the primary electorate. But some prominent black politicians, notably Bobby Rush, endorsed other candidates, though Obama was backed by state Senate Majority Leader Emil Jones, 2d District Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr. and 1984 and 1988 presidential candidate Jesse Jackson Sr. His positions on issues were not particularly distinctive among Illinois Democrats--he favored abortion rights, background checks on all gun sales, and was willing to filibuster Bush judicial nominees. He was for civil unions but against same-sex marriage inasmuch as it is widely opposed in many parts of the country; he backed only the middle-class Bush tax cuts and favored pay-as-you-go budgeting, which is consistent with tax increases on the wealthy.

Other candidates seemed better positioned. State Comptroller Dan Hynes, elected to that office in 1998 at age 30, from a prominent Cook County Democratic family, was backed by Cook County Board President John Stroger and Cook County Commissioner John Daley, brother of Mayor Richard M. Daley. Blair Hull, who sold his trading firm to Goldman-Sachs in 1999 for $531 million, had contributed $260,000 to Governor Rod Blagojevich in 2002 and announced that he was willing to spend $40 million of his own money on his campaign. He imitated Blagojevich's 2002 tactic by buying Downstate TV starting in June 2003 and spent $29 million by the March primary, including $75 a day for anyone who would put up a lawn sign. Also running were Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas and former Chicago School Board President Gery Chico, each with plausible claims on the nomination. But Hull turned out to have serious problems. It was revealed that he had struck his first wife in the shin in 1998 and that she had sought a protection order, calling him "a violent man with an ungovernable temper." His lead in the polls collapsed. Hynes was unable to translate his support from prominent officeholders in the face of Obama's poised performances in endorsement meetings. Obama's opposition to the Iraq war resolution and his dismissive criticism of some Bush policies helped establish a bond with the Bush-hating Deaniacs of his party. And he had some other endorsements--a $10,000 contribution from Michael Jordan and an ad featuring Sheila Simon, daughter of former (1984-96) Senator Paul Simon, a fondly remembered and thoughtful politician who had died in December 2003. Obama was endorsed by the Chicago Tribune, no reflexive backer of Democrats, as "one of the strongest Democratic candidates Illinois has seen in some time"--something of a slap in the face to Senator Durbin and Governor Blagojevich. The March primary was a blowout victory for Obama. He won 53% of the vote in an eight-candidate race, to 24% for Hynes, 11% for Hull, 6% for Pappas and 4% for Chico. In metro Chicago, where 74% of the votes were cast, and where the race received the most coverage in the free media, Obama led Hynes 63%-17%. Hull, benefiting from his early ads, won a plurality of 24% Downstate, but that didn't matter. As Obama said on election night, "I think it is fair to say the conventional wisdom was we could not win. We didn't have enough money. We didn't have enough organization. There was no way that a skinny guy from the South Side with a funny name like Barack Obama could ever win a statewide race. Sixteen months later we are there." Moreover, the primary turnout showed huge Democratic strength. Some 1,242,000 voted in the Democratic primary, while only 661,000 voted in the Republican primary--just a tad bit over the 656,000 votes Obama won.

The Senate race was over except for the shouting--but there turned out to be quite a lot of that. The Republican nominee was Jack Ryan, who led the eight-candidate field with 35% of the vote and, like Obama, had an attractive life story. He had graduated from Harvard Law and Harvard Business Schools, made a fortune working for Goldman Sachs and had then gone to teach in an inner city school. He and Obama might have had a series of civil exchanges on the issues. But Ryan, like Hull, had a divorce problem. Before the primary he released the records of his California divorce from television actress Jeri Ryan, except for some passages which he said would be harmful to his nine-year-old son. After the primary the Chicago Tribune pressed for full disclosure. In June a California judge agreed. It turned out that Ryan had pressed his former wife, against her wish, to go to sex clubs in Paris. Republican party leaders were furious that Ryan had not told them of this vulnerability, and pressed him to get out of the race. After an agonizing interval he did--and then the Republicans had to figure out who to put in his place. The candidates who lost the primary proved either unwilling or unacceptable. Former Chicago Bears coach Mike Ditka thought about it, and said no.

While this was going on, Obama delivered the keynote speech at the Democratic National Convention. In quietly elegant prose, with echoes of the rhythms of black preachers, Obama proclaimed to delegates of a party that tends to divide its ranks into discrete constituencies, "There's not a liberal America and a conservative America, there is the United States of America. There's not a black America and white America and Latino America and Asian America, there is the United States of America." Drawing on his own experiences campaigning in Illinois, he said, "We worship an awesome God in the Blue States, and we don't like federal agents poking around in our libraries in the Red States. We coach Little League in the Blue States, and yes, we've got some gay friends in the Red States." And, echoing Bill Cosby, he spoke about the black community. "Go into any inner city neighborhood, and folks will tell you that government alone can't teach our kids to learn--they know that parents have to teach, that children can't achieve unless we raise their expectation and turn off the television sets and eradicate the slander that says a black youth with a book is acting white. They know these things." Immediately, and not without justification, commentators were hailing this state senator from Hyde Park as a national leader and possible future president.

Republicans still did not have a candidate against him, and it was clear none could do very well. As Peter Fitzgerald said, "Taking the Republican nomination in Illinois for the U.S. Senate would be akin to accepting a cancer transplant." Cultural conservatives, including 16th District Congressman Don Manzullo, put forward the name of Alan Keyes, the fiery conservative who had run for president in 1996 and 2000. Keyes is a Harvard Ph.D. who believes that the purpose of America is defined by the Declaration of Independence and that abortion is a violation of the Declaration's principle of respect for life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. He had run for the Senate twice before, in Maryland, losing 62%-38% to Paul Sarbanes in 1988 and 71%-29% to Barbara Mikulski in 1992. Inconveniently, he still lived in Maryland and in 2000 had sharply criticized Hillary Rodham Clinton's move into New York to run for the Senate. But this was different, Keyes said; he was being invited to run by the Illinois Republican party. On August 4 he became its nominee.

In a state where liberal cultural views had moved critical suburban votes to the Democrats, Keyes chose to campaign primarily on abortion and same-sex marriage. Polls showed Obama with huge majorities, and the state Republican party sent out mailers omitting Keyes's name. Former Governor Jim Thompson said he wouldn't vote for him; former Governor Jim Edgar and Speaker Dennis Hastert said they'd vote for the Republican ticket; Manzullo said he was still for Keyes, but "I don't like the way he says some things"; state Republican Chairman Judy Baar Topinka said one of his comments was "idiotic." In mid-October the FEC fined Keyes $23,000 for receiving $180,000 in illegal donations to his 2000 presidential campaign. Obama meanwhile was confident enough to contribute $283,000 to other campaigns and send volunteers into Wisconsin to campaign for the Kerry-Edwards ticket.

Obama won 70%-27%, the widest victory margin in Illinois history. Keyes carried 9 heavily Republican counties in southern Illinois; Obama carried the other 93. Obama carried blacks 92%-8% and whites 66%-31%; he won 70% or more from all income groups; Keyes carried Republicans by only 56%-40% and, in a state where there are almost as many liberals as conservatives, carried conservatives by only 61%-33%. Keyes declined to call Obama with congratulations, saying it would be a "false gesture," and promised to remain active in Illinois politics. Obama appeared on Meet the Press and This Week and was featured on the cover of Newsweek. Obama predicted this attention would be fleeting, and his voting record in the Senate is likely to be less distinctive from those of his Democratic colleagues than his speech at the Convention was to standard Democratic oratory. Still he stands out, and seems likely to be a major American politician for a generation to come.

Committees

• Environment & Public Works: Clean Air, Climate Change & Nuclear Safety; Fisheries, Wildlife & Water.
• Foreign Relations: African Affairs; East Asian & Pacific Affairs; International Economic Policy, Export & Trade Promotion; Near Eastern & South Asian Affairs.
• Veterans' Affairs.

Election Results (More Info)
	Candidate	Total Votes	Percent	Expenditures
2004 general	Barack Obama (D)	3,595,299	70%	$14,532,493
	Alan Keyes (R)	1,389,850	27%	$2,545,325
	Other	153,158	3%
2004 primary	Barack Obama (D)	655,923	53%
	Daniel Hynes (D)	294,717	24%
	Blair Hull (D)	134,453	11%
	Maria Pappas (D)	74,987	6%
	Gery Chico (D)	53,433	4%
	Other	29,483	2%
1998 general	Peter Fitzgerald (R)	1,709,041	50%	$17,678,198
	Carol Moseley-Braun (D)	1,610,496	47%	$7,200,895
	Other	74,984	2%