Barack Obama
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Barack Obama
2008 Presidential Candidates
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[click to hear Obama at Change to Win convention]
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BARACK OBAMA
U.S. Senator, Illinois
Sen. Barack Obama is serving his first term as an Illinois Senator in the United States Senate, having been elected in 2004. Prior to running for the U.S. Senate, Obama was a member of the Illinois State Senate for seven years. He currently serves on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions. Obama is a lawyer and has taught constitutional law at the University of Chicago Law School and worked as a community organizer in Chicago, Illinois.
"I want to campaign the same way I govern, which is to respond directly and forcefully with the truth,"
- Barack Obama, 11/08/07
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Who is Barack Obama?
You've heard about him on the news, but where does he stand on the issues important to working people? The official Obama '08 website has some great resources to learn about the issues and his positions. Be sure to check out Obama's "Blueprint for Change," his plan for America.
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UFCW for Obama
UFCW organizer Ursa Vincent is voting for Barack Obama. She said of daughter Asha, pictured above with her mother, "She just turned five. We've been at war her whole life. We believe that Barack Obama fights for working families, tells the truth, and stands by his promises, and we believe he's the best candidate to end the war in Iraq."
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In His Own Words
"We're ready to take the offense for organized labor. It's time we have a President who didn't choke saying the word 'union.' We need to strengthen our unions by letting them do what they do best --- organize our workers. If a majority of workers want a union, they should get a union. It's that simple. We need to stand up to the business lobby that's been getting their friends in Congress and in the White House to block card check. That's why I was one of the leaders fighting to pass the Employee Free Choice Act. That's why I'm fighting for it in the Senate. And that's why we'll make it the law of the land when I'm President." Barack Obama, Dubuque, IA, November 13, 2007
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March 18, 2008
A More Perfect Union
Philadelphia, PA
"This was one of the tasks we set forth at the beginning of this campaign - to continue the long march of those who came before us, a march for a more just, more equal, more free, more caring and more prosperous America. I chose to run for the presidency at this moment in history because I believe deeply that we cannot solve the challenges of our time unless we solve them together - unless we perfect our union by understanding that we may have different stories, but we hold common hopes; that we may not look the same and we may not have come from the same place, but we all want to move in the same direction - towards a better future for of children and our grandchildren. " >>>Read Full Text
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March 11, 2008
Fairless Hills, PA
The Employee Free Choice Act, I'm a huge supporter of, and I intend to sign it when I'm President of the United States of America...
One of the things I think you're seeing in the union movement is a greater maturity and understanding that if the company doesn't make a profit, it doesn't matter what your contract says, they're gonna shut down. Right? So the union has to constantly be working with management to figure out how do we make the company more profitable, how do we make it more efficient, how do we innovate, how do we incorporate new technologies. And if you've got that attitude, then I trust the American workforce. I believe we can compete with anybody in the world...
What we do have to be sure of is that our strategy for long-term economic growth is not just to drive down wages, eliminate benefits, and boost corporate profits at the expense of workers. That's not a recipe for long term economic growth. A strategy for long-term economic growth is making sure that workers, alongside management, are continually adding value, and getting more skills, getting better training, creating new, innovative technologies; that's gonna be the recipe for long-term success. And my job as President is going to be to encourage that partnership and to continually invest in workers."
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February 13, 2008
Janesville, WI
"It was nearly a century ago that the first tractor rolled off the assembly line at this plant. The achievement didn't just create a product to sell or profits for General Motors. It led to a shared prosperity enjoyed by all of Janesville. Homes and businesses began to sprout up along Milwaukee and Main Streets. Jobs were plentiful, with wages that could raise a family and benefits you could count on.
Prosperity hasn't always come easily. The plant shut down for a period during the height of the Depression, and major shifts in production have been required to meet the changing times. Tractors became automobiles. Automobiles became artillery shells. SUVs are becoming hybrids as we speak, and the cost of transition has always been greatest for the workers and their families.
But through hard times and good, great challenge and great change, the promise of Janesville has been the promise of America - that our prosperity can and must be the tide that lifts every boat; that we rise or fall as one nation; that our economy is strongest when our middle-class grows and opportunity is spread as widely as possible. And when it's not - when opportunity is uneven or unequal - it is our responsibility to restore balance, and fairness, and keep that promise alive for the next generation. That is the responsibility we face right now, and that is the responsibility I intend to meet as President of the United States. " ...Read More
Connect with Others
Want to get involved with other Obama supporters? Connect with others in your community and join the grassroots movement at MyBarackObama.com.
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Growing Up
from www.barackobama.com
Barack Obama was born in Hawaii on August 4th, 1961. His father, Barack Obama Sr., was born and raised in a small village in Kenya, where he grew up herding goats with his own father, who was a domestic servant to the British.
Barack's mother, Ann Dunham, grew up in small-town Kansas. Her father worked on oil rigs during the Depression, and then signed up for World War II after Pearl Harbor, where he marched across Europe in Patton's army. Her mother went to work on a bomber assembly line, and after the war, they studied on the G.I. Bill, bought a house through the Federal Housing Program, and moved west to Hawaii.
It was there, at the University of Hawaii, where Barack's parents met. His mother was a student there, and his father had won a scholarship that allowed him to leave Kenya and pursue his dreams in America.
Barack's father eventually returned to Kenya, and Barack grew up with his mother in Hawaii, and for a few years in Indonesia. Later, he moved to New York, where he graduated from Columbia University in 1983. >>>Read More
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This page paid for by United Food and Commercial Workers International Union Active Ballot Club, ufcw.org which is responsible for some content on this page. This page is not authorized by any candidate or candidate’s committee.
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