It's Official: Barack Obama For President in 2008

This morning in the Old State Capitol of Springfield, Illinois, U.S. Senator Barack Obama announced that he will be seeking the Democratic Presidential Nomination in 2008. Thousands of people awaited Barack's announcement in the sub-freezing temperatures to witness a historic moment for the most charismatic and inspiring candidate since John F. Kennedy.

Obama chose this very location to follow the footsteps of the sixteenth President, Abraham Lincoln, who made his famous "House Divided" speech in 1858. Trying to respond to the excitement of the audience, Barack announced "It was here, in Springfield, where North, South, East and West come together that I was reminded of the essential decency of the American people - where I came to believe that through this decency, we can build a more hopeful America". He then continues "And that is why, in the shadow of the Old State Capitol, where Lincoln once called on a divided house to stand together, where common hopes and common dreams still live, I stand before you today to announce my candidacy for president of the United States of America."

Obama spent his childhood in Hawaii and later attended Occidental College and Columbia University where he received his B.A. in Political Science in 1983. In 1985, he became a community organizer in urban Chicago. He attended Harvard Law School in which he became the first African American to be elected president of the prestigious Harvard Law Review. Upon graduating from Law School in 1991, Obama worked as a civil rights lawyer and taught consitutional law at the University of Chicago.

In 1996, Obama became an Illinois State Senator representing Chicago's 13th district. Obama ran for the U.S. House of Representatives in 2000 but lost to Bobby Rush, a four-term incumbent. In 2004 Barack Obama won a successful bid for the U.S. Senate in Illinois. This same year, he delivered the keynote address at the Democratic National Convention in Boston. This famous speech showed America what would later become his campaign message for the Presidency: an undivided America living the American Dream.

There has been an overwhelming amount of enthusiasm and support for Barack Obama from college students across the country. What started as a facebook organization, Student For Barack Obama is now a nationwide grassroots organization that aims to convince college students to join the movement to make Barack Obama the next President of the United States.

Senator Obama has been criticized for not having enough experience. Obama acknowledged that even though he has not been a U.S. Senator in Washington for long, he knows the city enough to turn it around. He also added that "People who love their country can change it."

Barack Obama is one of the most charismatic and exciting presidential candidates in history. As successful as Obama has been, he is equally genuine in his words and in his actions. The Senator wants to end partisan bickering and take on the true issues of our society, such as education, energy needs, health care, governmental corruption, and the Iraq War. As I heard him pledge to act in a bipartisan way and to represent all Americans, I realized that this is what we truly need in our next President.