THE MAKING OF A SENATOR: BARACK OBAMA AND THE 2004 ILLINOIS SENATE ...
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Although Barack Obama is one of one hundred Senators and a freshman at that he ...... biography and it became a best seller (Obama 1995). ...
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THE MAKING OF A SENATOR: BARACK OBAMA AND THE 2004 ILLINOIS SENATE RACE By John S. Jackson Visiting Professor Page 1THE MAKING OF A SENATOR: BARACK OBAMA AND THE 2004 ILLINOIS SENATE RACE By John S. Jackson Visiting Professor An Occasional Paper Of the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute Southern Illinois University Carbondale Illinois August 2006 Page 2The Making of a Senator: Barack Obama And the 2004 Illinois Senate Race by John S. Jackson IntroductionThe 2004 U.S. Senate race in Illinois may prove to be one of the most significant in American history. Perhaps not since the Senate election of 1858 when Stephen Douglas defeated Abraham Lincoln has one Senate election had such an impact on the national leadership cadre. Although Lincoln lost the election his speeches and debates with Douglas over slavery and the future of the Union ensured his place as a national leader of the young Republican Party and then as a leading contender for the Republican nomination in 1860 (Goodman 2005). Although Barack Obama is one of one hundred Senators and a freshman at that he has quickly become a much sought after speaker and his influence has spread far beyond the usual parameters for a firstterm Senator. Obama is the first AfricanAmerican male Senator to be elected since Edward Brooke of Massachusetts. He is the second AfricanAmerican elected to the Senate from Illinois following former Senator Carol Moseley Braun who was elected in 1992 and then defeated in 1998 (Kenney and Hartley 2003 203209). With the exception of the post Civil War Reconstruction Era Brooke Braun and now Obama are the only three popularly elected AfricanAmerican Senators in American history. The status of being the only AfricanAmerican in the U.S. Senate alone is enough to guarantee Obama a significant platform in American politics if he chose to use it. It is clear that he has been willing to accept the challenge and tries to realize his special 2Page 3opportunity for leadership. Obama became a ...
Source: www.siu.edu
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