Illinois Senator Barack Obama has now officially declared his candidacy for the United States Presidential Election.

Obama announced his candidacy on the steps of the Old State Capitol in Springfield, Illinois, following in the footsteps of the nation’s 16th President, Abraham Lincoln.

He told a cheering crowd of onlookers: “It was here, in Springfield, where North, South, East and West come together that I was reminded of the essential decency of the American people — where I came to believe that through this decency, we can build a more hopeful America.”

If elected, he would be the nation’s first African-American President.

“And that is why, in the shadow of the Old State Capitol, where Lincoln once called on a divided house to stand together, where common hopes and common dreams still live, I stand before you today to announce my candidacy for president of the United States of America.”

Among the many problems Obama said he would face are: poor schools, economic hardships, oil dependence, and his pledge to provide “universal health care in America by the end of the president’s first term.”

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Barack Obama Official Site

Tags: Barack Obama, campaign, election, president

An election is a decision making process where people choose people to hold official offices. This is the usual mechanism by which modern democracy fills offices in the legislature, and sometimes in the executive and judiciary, and in regional and local government. This is also typically the case in a wide range of other private and business organizations, from clubs to voluntary associations and corporations.

The universal acceptance of elections as a tool for selecting representatives in modern democracies is in sharp contrast with the practice in the democratic archetype, ancient Athens, where elections were considered an oligarchic institution and where most political offices were filled using sortition, also known as allotment.

Electoral reform describes the process of introducing fair electoral systems where they are not in place, or improving the fairness or effectiveness of existing systems. Psephology is the study of results and other statistics relating to elections (especially with a view to predicting future results).

The above is a very dry explanation of ‘election’ from the Wiki. But we’re talking about a presidential election in the good old USA! Let the mudslinging begin.

Djehuty over at Generation Cobweb is building very nice page with all the candidates and links to information about them. I recommend everyone study all the candidates and issues before making a decision on any presidential hopeful.

Tags: election, president, presidential campaign, vote