Senator Barack Obama has made history by becoming the first African-American to secure the presidential nomination of a major U.S. political party. To win the Democratic nomination, Obama has endured a grueling1 battle with Senator Hillary Clinton. But in a recent announcement, the Clinton campaign says Hillary will“thank her supporters and express her support for Senator Obama and party unity.”
Obama’s victory is a true milestone. Political analyst Larry Sabato of the University of Virginia said Obama’s historic an achievement the United States can be proud of. “I think it speaks to the fact that, in America you really do get an opportunity to do anything, if you have the talent and ability and you work hard enough,” he added.“So, it’s bound to improve the American image abroad. I think it improves the American image internally. I think Americans feel better about their country knowing, whether they are for Obama or not, that someone with his background can be in a position to become president.”
At a time of economic uncertainty, an unpopular war in Iraq, and soaring2 gasoline prices, many Americans will be looking for change. Considering the ages of the candidates, with Obama, 47, and Republican John McCain, 71, the vote will also be about whether the country wants to usher3 in a new generation of leadership.
Early Years
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. Barack’s mother, Ann Dunham, grew up in small-town Kansas and then 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.
The College Years
Remembering the values of empathy4 and service that his mother taught him, Barack put law school and corporate life on hold5 after college and moved to Chicago in 1985, where he became a community organizer with a church-based group seeking to improve living conditions in poor neighborhoods.
The group had some success, but Barack had come to realize that in order to truly improve the lives of people in that community and other communities, it would take not just a change at the local level, but a change in laws and in politics.
He went on to earn his law degree from Harvard in 1991, where he became the first African-American president of the Harvard Law Review. Soon after, he returned to Chicago to practice as a civil rights lawyer and teach constitutional law.
A Rising Political Star
Barack Obama, a Democratic newcomer, was sent to one of the Illinois’s two seats in the U.S. Senate in 2004. Obama’s landslide victory in Illinois was significant on several fronts. Firstly, he became the Senate’s only African American lawmaker when he was sworn into office in January 2005, and just the third black U.S. senator to serve there since the 1880s. Moreover, Obama’s political supporters came from a diverse range of racial and economic backgrounds, which is still relatively rare in American electoral politics.
It has been the rich and varied experiences of Barack Obama’s life—growing up in different places with people who had differing ideas—that have animated6 his political journey.
In the Illinois State Senate, this meant working with both Democrats and Republicans to help working families get ahead by creating programs like the state Earned Income Tax Credit, which in three years provided over $100 million in tax cuts to families across the state. He also pushed through an expansion of early childhood education.
In the U.S. Senate, he has focused on tackling the challenges of a globalized, 21st century world with fresh thinking and a politics. His first law was passed with Republican Tom Coburn, a measure to rebuild trust in government by allowing every American to go online and see how and where every dime of their tax dollars is spent. He has also been the lead voice in championing ethics reform.
Obama-Mania7
Now Barack Obama has been transformed from a promising Democratic party candidate into a phenomenon.
So what is the secret to his appeal? Part of it is undoubtedly his ethnicity. Americans are waking up to the historic possibility that they may see a black president—not just within their lifetime, but within the year.
Obama’s main theme has been change—healing the polarized political culture in the US that has evolved over the last eight years.
In a country fighting an unpopular war and facing an economic downturn, 71 percent believe it is on the wrong track. Obama’s message of hope and change is clearly popular.
Obama would represent a break with the Bush years. He has been at pains to emphasize that he was against the Iraq war from the beginning and wants to bring the troops home. He would also change America’s policies on global warming and social security.
His stance8 on foreign policy is based around the idea of coalition9-building. In a recent speech, he talked about “sending a message to the rest of the world that you matter to us—we want to work with you”.
Now the American media are likening Obama to John F. Kennedy, an optimist10 who lifted America’s spirits in 1960s. Like Kennedy, Obama would be a youthful president and come into the White House with young children.
参议员巴拉克·奥巴马创造了历史——他成为第一位获得美国主要政党之一——民主党总统候选人提名的非洲裔美国人。为了赢得民主党提名，奥巴马与参议员希拉里·克林顿经历了一场激战。但在最近，希拉里阵营宣布：希拉里 “感谢粉丝的支持，（她自己）将支持参议员奥巴马（竞选总统）、希望看到民主党团结。”
奥巴马的胜利确实是一个里程碑。弗吉尼亚大学的政治分析家拉里·萨巴托说，奥巴马的历史性胜利足以让美国感到自豪。“我认为这一无可争辩的事实说明，在美国你真的有机会成就任何事业——只要你有才干、有能力，只要你工作够努力！”他补充说，“这肯定会改善美国在海外的形象。我认为这也会提升美国在国人心目中的形象。我觉得美国人——无论他们支持奥巴马与否，在得知以奥巴马的背景都可以竞选总统之后，对自己的国家更会信心满满。”
在这个经济存在不确定性的时代，在这个伊拉克战争不受欢迎的时代，在这个油价飙升的时代，许多美国人都在盼望变革。看看两位候选人的年龄吧——奥巴马（民主党） 47岁；麦凯恩（共和党） 71岁——就可以看出美国公民的投票将决定美国是否欢迎新一代领导。
早年生活
巴拉克·奥巴马1961年8月4日出生在夏威夷。他的父亲老巴拉克·奥巴马出生于肯尼亚一个小村庄并被抚养长大。奥巴马的母亲安·邓纳姆成长于堪萨斯州一座小镇，后来西迁至夏威夷。
奥巴马的父母正是在夏威夷大学相遇的。当时他的母亲是一名学生，他的父亲赢得了奖学金才有了资本离开肯尼亚到美国追求“美国梦”。
奥巴马的父亲后来返回肯尼亚，他随母亲在夏威夷长大，期间在印度尼西亚呆过几年(缘于母亲再婚)。后来，他搬到纽约，1983年毕业于哥伦比亚大学。
大学岁月
牢记母亲教导的理解他人、服务社会等价值观念，大学毕业后奥巴马暂时放弃了攻读法学学位和经商的念头，于1985年迁至芝加哥，成为一个组织者，率领一个教会支持的团体寻求改善贫民社区的生活条件。
该团体取得了一定成功，但奥巴马逐渐意识到：要真正改善该社区和其他社区人民的生活条件，不仅仅需要进行基层变革，更需要进行法制和政治性改革。
1991年他在哈佛大学获得法律学位，就读期间他当选全美最权威的法学杂志《哈佛法学评论》的总编辑——对于非洲裔美国人来讲这是破天荒第一次。不久，他回到芝加哥，成为民法律师并教授宪法。
政治新星
民主党的新秀奥巴马于2004年作为伊利诺伊州的两个代表之一进入美国参议院。奥巴马在伊利诺斯州压倒性的胜利具有非凡的意义，表现在：其一，2005年1月宣誓就职时他是参议院这个立法机构中惟一的非洲裔国会议员；自19世纪80年代算起他是第三位。其次，奥巴马的政治支持者来自不同的种族，经济背景迥异，这在美国政党大选中相当罕见。
奥巴马丰富的生活阅历——他成长于不同的地方、生活在意见相左的人群当中：正是这一切使他的政治之旅充满朝气。
在伊利诺伊州参议院，他要同时与民主党人和共和党人共事，通过所得税抵免等计划帮助工薪家庭与社会同步发展。所得税抵免计划在3年内帮助全美家庭减税达1亿美元以上。他还推动了扩大幼儿教育的发展计划。
在美国参议院，他提出要以全新的思维模式与政治手段应对二十一世纪全球化挑战。他和共和党人汤姆·科伯恩共同提出的第一部法案获得通过——该法案旨在重树人民对政府的信任，允许每一位美国人从网上了解到他们纳税的每一分钱是怎么花的、花在了哪里。他还是道德改革的倡导者。
奥巴马热
现在的奥巴马已经从一位前途无量的民主党总统候选人变成了一个热议的现象。
那么，他魅力的秘诀是什么？显而易见，他的种族背景干系不少。美国人正意识到一种历史性可能——他们有生之年可能看到黑人做总统，而且就在今年。
奥巴马的竞选主题是变革——通过变革以愈合过去八年中形成的两极化政治文化。
在一个卷入一场不得人心战争、经济面临下滑的国度，71 ％的美国人认为美国正运行在一条错误的轨道上。奥巴马传达的希望与变革自然大受欢迎。
奥巴马可能与布什时代决裂。从一开始他就反复强调自己反对伊拉克战争，希望把士兵撤回家。他还希望改变美国在全球气候变暖问题上的立场、改革美国的社会保障制度。
他的外交立场立足于建立盟友关系。在最近一次讲话中，他谈到：“我们要向全世界传达出这样一个信息：那就是你们对美国至关重要，我们希望与你们合作”。
美国媒体现在开始把奥巴马比作约翰·肯尼迪——后者是一个乐观主义者，在20世纪60年代振奋了美国精神。奥巴马有可能成为带着年幼子女入主白宫的年轻总统——这一点也像肯尼迪。
1. grueling adj. 严厉的，残酷的
2. soar v. 狂涨
3. usher v.（常与in连用）预报…的到来，宣告
4. empathy n. 移情，同感
5. put sth. on hold 把…搁在一边
6. animate v. 使有生气
7. mania n. 狂热
8. stance n. 立场
9. coalition n. (政党等的)联合，联盟
10. optimist n. 乐观主义者