Barack Obama
By Broadside Staff Reporter Joshua St. Louis, Connect Mason Reporter Rachael Dickson
Age: 46
Local Endorsements/Major Endorsements: Governor Tim Kaine, Congressman Bobby Scott, Congressman Rick Boucher, Senator John Kerry
The youngest out of any of the candidates in the race, Illinois Senator Barack Obama gained notable coverage during the 2004 Presidential elections, when he gave the keynote address at the Democratic National Convention. He advocates reaching out to Republicans and has a past track record of bipartisan success in both the Illinois state senate and in Washington. Obama has been against the war in Iraq since its beginning in 2002 and advocates withdrawing the troops and forcing the Iraqi leaders to take responsibility for their country. He wants to reduce America's dependency on foreign oil, looks to raise teacher's salaries, and wants citizens to be better able to track government spending.
Image courtesy of Flickr's "seiu_international" and Creative Commons.