Is Barack Obama ready for the U.S.? Is the U.S. ready for Barack Obama?

Barack Obama, the junior U.S. Senator from the state of Illi-nois who is only the fifth African American to ever serve in the U.S. Senate, has announced that he is considering seeking to become the Democratic Party?s nomination for president in 2008. Several public opinion polls identify him as the second most popular choice among Democratic voters for their party?s nomination. Obama?s potential candidacy and his popularity raise interesting questions about the continuing significance of race in U.S. politics and society. This lecture will offer some analyses and insights into Senator Obama?s prospects for winning his party?s nomina-tion and the White House in 2008 or beyond.
Kerry L. Haynie, Ph.D., is the Co-Director of the Center for the Study of Race, Ethnicity, and Gender in the Social Sciences at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina.
Colette Rhoney has worked for AOL, NBC, CNBC and the Washington Post. She also served as an election monitor in the first municipal elections in Bosnia Herzegovina for the OSCE.