Current Presidential Candidates Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Current Presidential Candidates - Essay Example Due to the significance of the presidency as defined by the constitution and the history of the United States, presidential elections have been one of the most significant process and event in the nation. Presidential candidates have been working very hard to ascend to the office of the president. Since the country’s electoral process operates within the democratic tenets, presidential candidates are required to campaign in ways that promote constitutionalism and democracy (McClelland 44). Mainly, the campaigns revolve around the individual candidate’s own political vision for America; party affiliation; political ideology; religious affiliation, and the general personal life and history. This is an election year and currently there are five presidential candidates: Barrack Obama, Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich, Ron Paul, and Rick Santorum. This paper will focus on Barrack Obama, the incumbent President and who is seeking re-election to the office of the president in this y ear’s elections. He was born on August 4, 1961 in Hawaii to a white American mother and a black Kenyan father. He attended Columbia University and later on Harvard Law School where he became the Harvard Law Review’s first African-American editor (Mendell 31). Prior to pursuing a political career, Obama was a civil rights lawyer mostly representing employment discrimination and housing victims, as well as working on rights of voting legislation. Besides, he taught at the University of Chicago Law School. He is married to Michelle and has two children. He is a Christian. In regard to his party affiliation, he is affiliated to Democratic Party and was elected to the United States Senate as a Democrat, representing Illinois. After only four years experience of national experience, he ran for presidency in 2008 and won. He was sworn in January 2009 as the United States’ 44th President. He holds liberal political ideology and articulates and pushes for policies from t he liberalist perspectives. While party affiliation and political ideology will play critical role in determining how people vote for Obama, his track record over the last four years of his presidency will also be a determining factor (McClelland 56-57). Barrack Obama has had quite a remarkable political career as evidenced by his political history. He started his political career as a state senator of Illinois from 1997 to 2004 (Dave 67). Chicago political circles knew him as using hard political tactics. During his stint as a state senator he is credited for being instrumental in passage of several bills and reforms such as reformation of campaign finance, elimination of racial profiling, and allocation of tax credits for the poor. In 2004, he was elected to the Congress as the United States Senator for Illinois. During his stint as a Senator, he served in several Senate Committees. His keynote speech at the Democratic National Convention in Boston was well-received and this enabl ed him to gain national attention and is touted as one of the springboards that propelled him to presidency in 2008 (Remnick 82). His mannerism has been useful in his leadership and as a presidential candidate. So, what are the factors behind Obama’