He's not president yet - but he's got his own shoe

Sitting on the steps of one of the largest American private schools on the Hawaiian island of Honolulu in 1976, Barry concluded he did not believe he would see a black president of the United States during his lifetime. But more than thirty years later, Barack "Barry" Obama is singing a different tune.

In a student body of 3,600 Obama was one of four black pupils that spring and was enrolled thanks to a financial endowment in the elite, white-majority private school Panahou.

Writing for The Sunday Times Magazine David James Smith revealed the many struggles of the democratic presidential hopeful in his youth. To begin, the story of this wild card candidate is far different than of those past.

As a young teen, Obama struggled to fill the void of an absent father and a somewhat nomadic mother, who supported Obama and his half-sister Maya with food stamps as they were growing up. He also revealed struggles to accept his multicultural background growing up with a father from Kenya and a white American mother from Kansas. Growing up in Hawaii and Indonesia did not help to ground Obama. He wrote in his 1995 memoir, "Dreams From My Father" that he dabbles in booze, marijuana and "maybe a little blow" so he could "push questions of who I was out of my mind," level "out the landscape of my heart, blur the edges of my memory."

As a presidential candidate, Obama is a far cry from standard candidates of the past. George W. Bush's rap sheet read more like the traditional choice. The son of former president George H. W. Bush has had oil money trailing his trousers since his father created Zapata Offshore in 1953 and is Ivy League educated.

But as his approval ratings reached their lowest at 19 percent in February, according to American Research Group, it is safe to say America's loyalty seems to be swaying towards the wild-card candidate and rejecting the standard, monied elitist leader that has traditionally been elected in the past.

After graduating with a BA from Columbia University and law degree from Harvard, Obama married Michelle Robinson in 1992 with whom he has two daughters, Sasha, 7, and Malia, 9. When the pair met in the 1990s, Obama was practicing civil rights law and teaching constitutional law at the University of Chicago Law School. After which he was elected Illinois state senator in 1997. In 2004, Obama delivered the keynote address at the Democratic National Convention and later that year was the first African-American to win a seat in the U.S. Senate as a senator in Illinois. So what is it about this man that has Patrick Wintour of the The Guardian describing his magnetism as 'Obama magic'?

Among the murmurs of American society it is clear that the 2008 presidential election will be positive in and of itself, if only to rid the country of a very unpopular president. One who is seen to have severely damaged foreign relations for the United States, to a degree that some feel is irreparable. The American people want change, and if anyone is the hallmark for that movement it is Barack Obama.

Among the most prominent issues of this election include the American economy and plans for economic stimulus, the Iraq War, health care, immigration and taxes. According to a CNN telephone poll, when asked "what of the following issues will be the most important to you when you decide how to vote for president?" the most important factor with 42 percent was the economy, followed by 21 percent for the war, and 18 percent health care. With the threat of an impending recession CNN outlines OBama's plan to attack the problem, which includes "pumping $75 billion into the economy and in addition $45 billion in reserves that can be injected quickly in the future if the situation continues to deteriorate." Regarding the economy, Obama also intends to take measures to lighten the burden by offering tax relief to the middle class, working Americans. On his website, Obama declared he intends to "restore the fairness to the tax code and provide 150 million workers the tax relief they need."

Ranking most crucial of the issues for some includes potential plans to either remain or pull out of Iraq. Obama's campaign has been rather pristine, but those individuals wary to give him their vote often claim it is because they are concerned how he will fare in mending America's broken foreign image and policies. His plan to immediately begin to remove American troops from Iraw is supported by Obama's opposition to the use of military force in Iraq from the beginning and his vote for a war spending bill that would have withdrawn most U.S. troops by March 2008, according to the website.

Health care reform is the big issues for 47 million Americans who simply do not have any. At a Democratic debate in Cleveland in February Obama laid out his plan to create a national health insurance program for those who do not have employer-provided health care. This national health insurance program would require those employers who do not provide their employees with health care to pay into the scheme. According to CNN's election center, it will also be funded by eliminating Bush tax cuts for those earning over $250,000. Regarding health care, Obama made the remark at another debate in February saying, "we can't do anything at home with $12 billion a month in Iraq."

It is also important to consider how Obama will potentially be received internationally if he is elected president. There is talk that relations between Obama and Gordon Brown are strained. Tom Baldwin, reporting for Washington for The Times said, "Gordon brown is frantically trying to forge links with Barack Obama, having previously turned down the chance of a high-profile meeting with the US presidential contender at Downing Street last summer. The Times understands there are concerns at the highest level in Whitehall that Britain does not have the relationship that it wants with Mr. Obama."

Baldwin reported that "Mr. Brown was worried about being seen to help Mr. Obama at a time when Mrs. Clinton appeared to be likely- even inevitable- nominee." Much to Whitehall's dismay, "it has been noted that President Sarkozy of France - who has already made inroads into Britain's traditional role as America's most prominent European ally - offered Mr. Obama an official welcome at the Élysée Palace."

While Baldwin noted that "Mr. Obama is said to be "relaxed" about Mr. Brown's apparent lack of enthusiasm last summer" it is something that will inevitably be on the radar of those trying to interpret whether Obama will be a success internationally, and especially with America's most important allies.

As I have watched his campaign with anticipation since he announced his candidacy in 2007 I stand convinced that is Obama has one quality working in his favour, it is his ability to remind Americans that they are all in this together. In an article written for The Independent, Cass. R. Sunstein, a colleague of Obama's for 15 years wrote "as president, Barack Obama would be a genuine uniter. If he proves able to achieve great things, for this national and for the world, it will be above all for that reason."