How well do you know Barack Obama? Here are 10 surprises - 11 Jan 2008 - NZ Herald: World / International News

How well do you know Barack Obama? Here are 10 surprises - 11 Jan 2008 - NZ Herald: World / International News: "How well do you know Barack Obama? Here are 10 surprises" US Senator Barack Obama's face is everywhere these days - on front pages and TV, magazine covers and blogs. But how well do people really know him? Obama, born in Hawaii, is the son of a white woman from Kansas and a black man from Kenya who left the family when Obama was two. Ten facts about Obama that might come as a surprise: RENEGADE: The code name used for Obama by his Secret Service detail. He was given his choice of several names starting with R, and that is the one he picked. Aside from former first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton, Obama is the only presidential candidate with Secret Service protection. Obama was placed under protection in May 2007, the earliest ever for a presidential candidate, at his own request after the urging of fellow Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin and others. Obama indicated at the time that some of the threats against him were racially motivated. Clinton has a Secret Service detail provided to all former first ladies. MALCOLM X: Today Obama quotes Martin Luther King Jr, but in his college days it was the autobiography of militant Malcolm X that grabbed his attention more than any other black writer. "His repeated acts of self-creation spoke to me," Obama has said. This also was the period when Obama stopped using the nickname "Barry" in favour of his full name. NEVER FACED A SERIOUS OPPONENT: Running in heavily Democratic Chicago, Obama never faced a significant Republican foe in his state Senate races. In his US Senate race, the original Republican nominee dropped out, and Republican leaders brought in commentator Alan Keyes from Maryland. Keyes had little money and managed to alienate voters from both parties. Years earlier, Obama got his first opponents knocked off the ballot. He challenged the petition signatures that three rivals filed, and election officials concluded he was the only one with the proper paperwork, leaving him unopposed in the 1996 Democratic primary. NO SMOKING: His wife, Michelle, used her leverage when the couple was discussing whether he should run for president. She would agree only if Obama agreed to give up smoking, a vice he had been hiding from the public. So far, he hasn't been spotted relapsing. ROBERT KENNEDY'S DESK: Obama's desk in the Senate is the same one used by Bobby Kennedy, the former attorney general, New York senator and 1968 Democratic presidential candidate who was assassinated in Los Angeles. Other senators who had the desk included Henry Cabot Lodge Jr. of Massachusetts, Bill Bradley of New Jersey and Paul Simon of Illinois. RELIGION: Obama grew up without any particular religious beliefs. His mother was not religious, and his father was an atheist. Obama joined the United Church of Christ as a young man in Chicago, saying he was inspired by the good work of Christians he had met and "felt God's spirit beckoning me." ___ Please visit the link at the start of this story for the other 5 surprises. Please note that Phillip is the Web Administrator & Site Owner of Shopping Mall PC in DC is for Hillary Clinton to win the party election and go on to Nov. 2008 to win and be a fine Hard working President of changes for all of us. The Issues rased in the story about Obama are good reasons why you too should vote for Hillary!!! (The links in this foot note are to HillayClinton.com and ShoppingMallPC.com in DC.)