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Issue date: 5/1/07 Section: Opinion

Barack Obama: Superhero to some

In 2004, midway through his campaign for Senate, a previously unknown Barack Obama delivered the keynote address at the Democratic National Convention.
Reaction to Obama's speech was spellbinding and he closed to booming applause. Abruptly the anonymous would-be senator was launched into a nationally renowned political celebrity.
Obama was later elected to the U.S. Senate with a landside 70 percent of the vote. He is the fifth black person to ever be elected to the Senate and is the only currently serving. In February the newly elected senator announced his bid for the nation's highest office - the Presidency.
Obama has wasted no time marshalling support in younger crowds, a demographic sorely missed by most candidates. His first bill as senator was the "Higher Education Opportunity through Pell Grant Expansion Act." It did not survive due to the formerly Republican majority.
The senator also co-sponsored a bill to reform stem cell research, which passed both houses of Congress, only to be vetoed by president Bush. Obama condemned the maneuver, saying "Democrats want this bill to pass. Conservative, pro-life Republicans want this bill to pass. By large margins, the American people want this bill to pass. It is only the White House standing in the way of progress - standing in the way of so many potential cures."
Now Obama is busy proving he's no fly-by-night candidate. When Hillary Clinton set a record $26 million campaign fundraising drive last month, the Barack camp answered back with a $25 million drive. News polls rank him as the Democratic dark horse, now a solid second favorite.
The word about Barack Obama spreads beyond his current tenure as senator. He's also the first
black candidate to ever have a real chance at the nomination. In his memoirs "Dreams From My Father," Obama writes, "That my father looked nothing like the people around me - that he was black as pitch, my mother white as milk - barely registered in my mind."
Obama's humble background and multiracial heritage has been labeled an "everyman" story and he's since been contracted to release three more books. One, titled "The Audacity of Hope" remains on the New York Times top 10 best-seller after eight months.
Whether the young, charismatic senator has a future in the Oval Office may be the surest measure of our society. The media spectacle of a serious black candidate exemplifies the fact that some are still decidedly uneasy over issues of race. There may be inherent danger in challenging the status quo, but knowing that it must be challenged, others remain strong behind their unlikely champion.
If nothing else can yet be said, the political power ball of the next year is going to be monumental. The campaign trail can break even experienced politicians and there is some doubt if this fledgling has what it takes. Moreover, can he wrestle the nomination from Hillary Clinton?
Wait and behold, for the future shall reveal why the sea is boiling hot - and whether Barack Obama has wings.

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