American Democrats Presidential Nominees

Bill Richardson (Democrats)

2008-01-02T22:27:00.000-08:00

William Blaine "Bill" Richardson III (born November 15, 1947) is the current Governor of New Mexico and a candidate for the Democratic Party's nomination to run for the President of the United States in 2008. He has previously served as a U.S. Representative, Ambassador to the United Nations, and as the U.S. Secretary of Energy.[1] He was chairman of the 2004 Democratic National Convention as well as Chairman of the Democratic Governors Association in 2005 and 2006, overseeing the Democrats' re-capturing of a majority of the country's governorships. Richardson has been recognized for negotiating the release of hostages, American servicemen, and political prisoners in North Korea, Iraq, and Cuba. He has been nominated four times for the Nobel Peace Prize.

Bill Richardson was born at the Huntington Hospital in Pasadena, California to William Blaine Richardson Jr. (1891-1972), a banker who lived and worked in Mexico City for decades, and María Luisa López-Collada Márquez (born 1914). He has a younger sister, Vesta. Just before Richardson was born, his mother was sent to California, where her husband's sister lived, to give birth because, as Richardson explained, "My father had a complex about not having been born in the United States."[3][4] Three of his four grandparents were Mexican, and he identifies himself as Hispanic.[3] Richardson was raised in Mexico City. His parents sent him to Massachusetts at age 13 to attend a Boston-area preparatory school, Middlesex School in Concord, Massachusetts, where he played baseball as a pitcher. He attended Tufts University where he continued to play baseball. He was scouted, recruited and told that he would be drafted in the 1966 Major League Baseball amateur draft, but he chose to attend college rather than play professionally. Arm trouble later further prevented him from pursuing a professional career in baseball.[5]

He earned a Bachelor's degree at Tufts, majoring in French and political science and was a brother and president of Delta Tau Delta. He went on to earn a master's degree from Tufts' Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. While still in high school, he met his future wife, Barbara Flavin. They married in 1972 and have no children.

Bill Richardson (Democrats) Video

2008-01-02T22:25:00.000-08:00

Barack Obama (democrats)

2008-01-02T22:21:00.000-08:00

Barack Hussein Obama (pronounced /bəˈrɑːk huːˈseɪn oʊˈbɑːmə/[1]) (born August 4, 1961) is the junior United States Senator from Illinois and a leading candidate for the Democratic nomination in the 2008 presidential election.[2][3] He is the fifth African American Senator in U.S. history, and the only African American currently serving in the U.S. Senate.[4]

Born in Honolulu to a Kenyan father and an American mother, Obama grew up in culturally diverse surroundings. He lived most of his early life in the Pacific island U.S. state of Hawaii and spent four of his pre-teen years in the multi-ethnic Indonesian capital city of Jakarta. A graduate of Columbia University and Harvard Law School, Obama worked as a community organizer, university lecturer, and civil rights lawyer before running for public office. He served in the Illinois Senate from 1997 to 2004, launching his campaign for U.S. Senate in 2003.

Obama delivered the keynote address at the 2004 Democratic National Convention while still an Illinois state legislator. He went on to win election to the U.S. Senate in November 2004 with a landslide 70% of the vote in an election year marked by Republican gains.[5][6] As a member of the Democratic minority in the 109th Congress, Obama co-sponsored the enactment of conventional weapons control and transparency legislation, and made official trips to Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. In the 110th Congress, he has sponsored legislation on lobbying and electoral fraud, climate change, nuclear terrorism, and care for returned U.S. military personnel.

Since announcing his presidential campaign in February 2007, Obama has emphasized ending the Iraq War, increasing energy independence, and providing universal health care as major priorities.[7] He married in 1992 and has two daughters. He has written two bestselling books: a memoir of his youth titled Dreams from My Father, and The Audacity of Hope, a personal commentary on U.S. politics.

Barack Obama (democrats) video

2008-01-02T22:20:00.000-08:00

Dennis Kucinich (Democrats)

2008-01-02T22:17:00.000-08:00

Dennis John Kucinich (IPA: [kuˈsɪnɪtʃ]) (born October 8, 1946) is a Democratic American politician and a candidate for the Democratic nomination for President of the United States in both 2004 and 2008.

Kucinich currently represents the 10th District of Ohio in the United States House of Representatives. His district includes most of western Cleveland, as well as such suburbs as Parma and Cuyahoga Heights. He is currently the chairman of the Domestic Policy Subcommittee of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. He is also a member of the Education and Labor Committee.

From 1977 to 1979, Kucinich served as the 53rd mayor of Cleveland, Ohio, a tumultuous term in which he survived a recall election and was successful in a battle against selling the municipal electric utility before being defeated for reelection by George Voinovich.

Dennis Kucinich (Democrats) video

2008-01-02T22:14:00.000-08:00

Mike Gravel (Democrats)

2008-01-02T22:11:00.000-08:00

Maurice Robert "Mike" Gravel (pronounced /ɡrəˈvɛl/) (born May 13, 1930) is a former Democratic United States Senator from Alaska who served two terms from 1969 to 1981, and is a candidate for the Democratic Party nomination in the 2008 presidential election.

Born and raised in Springfield, Massachusetts to French-Canadian immigrant parents, Gravel served in the United States Army in West Germany and graduated from Columbia University. He moved to Alaska in the late 1950s, becoming a real estate developer and entering politics. He served in the Alaska House of Representatives from 1963 to 1966 and became its Speaker of the House. Gravel was elected to the United States Senate in 1968.

As Senator, Gravel became nationally known for his forceful but unsuccessful attempts to end the draft during the Vietnam War and for having put the Pentagon Papers into the public record in 1971 despite risk to himself. He conducted an unusual campaign for the Democratic nomination for Vice President of the United States in 1972, and then played a crucial role in getting Congressional approval for the Trans-Alaska pipeline in 1973. He was re-elected to the Senate in 1974, but gradually alienated most of his Alaskan constituencies and his bid for a third term was defeated in a Democratic primary election in 1980.

Gravel returned to business ventures and went through difficult times, suffering corporate and personal bankruptcies amidst poor health. He became a passionate advocate of direct democracy and the National Initiative, and in 2006 began a run for President of the United States in part to promote those ideas. His campaign gained an Internet following and national attention from forceful and idiosyncratic debate appearances during 2007, but has consistently shown very little support in national polls.

Mike Gravel (Democrats) Video

2008-01-02T22:09:00.000-08:00

John Edward (Democrats)

2008-01-02T20:43:00.000-08:00

Johnny Reid "John" Edwards[1] (born June 10, 1953), is an American politician who was the Democratic nominee for Vice President in 2004 and a one-term U.S. Senator from North Carolina. Edwards is currently a candidate for the Democratic nomination in the 2008 Presidential election.

He defeated incumbent Republican Lauch Faircloth in North Carolina's 1998 Senate election and during his six-year term sought the Democratic presidential nomination in the 2004 presidential election.

He eventually became the Democratic candidate for Vice President, the running mate of presidential nominee Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts. After Edwards and Kerry lost the election to incumbents George W. Bush and Dick Cheney, Edwards began working full time at the One America Committee, a political action committee he established in 2001, and was appointed director of the Center on Poverty, Work and Opportunity at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Law. He was also a consultant for Fortress Investment Group LLC.

Edwards was born on June 10, 1953 to Wallace Reid Edwards and Catharine Juanita "Bobbie" Wade in Seneca, South Carolina. The family moved several times during Edwards' childhood, eventually settling in Robbins, North Carolina, where his father worked as a textile mill floor worker, eventually promoted to supervisor; his mother had a roadside antique finishing business and then worked as a postal letter carrier when his father left his job.[2]

A football star in high school,[3] Edwards was the first person in his family to attend college. He attended Clemson University and transferred to North Carolina State University. Edwards graduated with high honors earning a bachelor's degree in textile technology in 1974, and later earned his Juris Doctor from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC) with honors.

While at UNC, he met Elizabeth Anania, who is four years his senior. They married in the summer of 1977 and had four children. Wade, was born in 1979, Cate in 1982, Emma Claire in 1998, and Jack, born in 2000. Their son Wade was killed in a car accident when strong winds swept his Jeep off a North Carolina highway in 1996. Edwards and his wife began the Wade Edwards Foundation in their son's memory; the purpose of the nonprofit organization is "to reward, encourage, and inspire young people in the pursuit of excellence." The Foundation funded the Wade Edwards Learning Lab at Wade's high school, Broughton High School in Raleigh, along with scholarship competitions and essay awards. Just weeks before Wade died, he had been honored at the White House by First Lady Hillary Clinton for an essay he wrote on entering the voting booth with his father.[4][5]

On November 3, 2004, Elizabeth Edwards revealed that she had been diagnosed with breast cancer. She was treated via chemotherapy and radiotherapy,[6] and continued to work within the Democratic Party and her husband's One America Committee. On March 22, 2007, Edwards and his wife announced that her cancer had returned; she was diagnosed with stage IV breast cancer, with newly discovered metastases to the bone and possibly to her lung.[7][8] They said that the cancer was "no longer curable, but is completely treatable"[9] and that they planned to continue campaigning together with an occasional break when she requires treatment.

John Edwards (Democrats) video

2008-01-02T20:40:00.000-08:00

Christopher Dodd

2008-01-02T20:35:00.000-08:00

Christopher John Dodd (born May 27, 1944) is an American lawyer and politician from Willimantic, Connecticut who is currently serving as a Democrat in the U.S. Senate.

Dodd served as a U.S. Representative from Connecticut from 1975 until 1981, when he became a U.S. Senator. He served as general chairman of the Democratic National Committee from 1995 to 1997. He is now the state's senior Senator. He currently serves as Chairman of the Senate Banking Committee.

Dodd was born in Willimantic, Connecticut. His parents were Grace Mary Dodd née Murphy and U.S. Senator Thomas Joseph Dodd; all eight of his great-grandparents were born in Ireland.[2] Dodd is a Roman Catholic. He is the fifth of six children;[3] his eldest brother, Thomas J. Dodd Jr., is an emeritus professor of the School of Foreign Service of Georgetown University, and served as the U.S. ambassador to Uruguay and Costa Rica under President Bill Clinton.

Dodd attended Georgetown Preparatory School, a Jesuit boys school in Bethesda, Maryland. He graduated with a bachelor's degree in English Literature from Providence College in 1966. He served as a Peace Corps volunteer in a small rural town in the Dominican Republic until 1968. While there, he became fluent in Spanish. [4] Dodd then joined the U.S. Army Reserve, and served until 1975.

In 1972, Dodd earned a Juris Doctor at the University of Louisville, where he served as vice magistrate of the law school's student body. The following year, he was admitted to the Connecticut bar, and began practicing law in New London.

Chris Dodd (democrats) video

2008-01-02T20:34:00.001-08:00

HILLARY CLINTON (DEMOCRATS)

2008-01-02T20:29:00.000-08:00

Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton (born October 26, 1947) is the junior United States Senator from New York, and a candidate for the Democratic nomination in the 2008 presidential election. She is married to Bill Clinton—the 42nd President of the United States—and was the First Lady of the United States from 1993 to 2001.

A native of Illinois, Hillary Rodham attracted national attention in 1969 when she delivered a controversial address as the first student to speak at commencement exercises for Wellesley College. She began her career as a lawyer after graduating from Yale Law School in 1973, moving to Arkansas and marrying Bill Clinton in 1975, following her career as a Congressional legal counsel; she was named the first female partner at Rose Law Firm in 1979 and was listed as one of the one hundred most influential lawyers in America in 1988 and 1991. She served as the First Lady of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and 1983 to 1992, was active in a number of organizations concerned with the welfare of children, and was on the board of Wal-Mart and several other corporate boards.

As First Lady of the United States, she took a prominent position in policy matters. Her major initiative, the Clinton health care plan, failed to gain approval by the U.S. Congress in 1994, but in 1997 she helped establish the State Children's Health Insurance Program and the Adoption and Safe Families Act. She became the only First Lady to be subpoenaed, testifying before a federal grand jury as a consequence of the Whitewater scandal in 1996. She was never charged with any wrongdoing in this or several other investigations during her husband's administration. The state of her marriage to Bill Clinton was the subject of considerable public discussion following the Lewinsky scandal in 1998.

Moving to New York, Clinton was elected to the United States Senate in 2000, the first time an American first lady ran for public office and the first female senator from that state. There she initially supported the George W. Bush administration on some foreign policy issues, which included voting for the Iraq War Resolution. She has subsequently opposed the administration on its conduct of the Iraq War and has opposed it on most domestic issues. She was re-elected by a wide margin in 2006. Long described as a polarizing figure in American politics, during 2007 she has consistently been the front-runner in polls for the 2008 Democratic nomination for president.

HILLARY CLINTON (DEMOCRATS) video

2008-01-02T20:27:00.000-08:00

JOE BIDEN (DEMOCRATS)

2008-01-02T20:24:00.000-08:00

Joseph Robinette Biden, Jr. (born November 20, 1942) is an American lawyer and politician from Wilmington, Delaware. He is a member of the Democratic Party and the incumbent senior U.S. Senator from Delaware. Biden is currently serving his sixth term and is sixth-longest serving among current Senators (fourth among Democrats) and Delaware's longest-serving Senator. He is the Chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations in the 110th Congress. Biden has served in that position in the past, and he has served as Chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary. He has officially filed as a candidate for the Democratic Party's nomination in the 2008 presidential election.

Biden was born in Scranton, Pennsylvania, the son of Joseph R. Biden, Sr. and Catherine Eugenia Finnegan.[1] He was the first of four siblings and proudly identifies with his Irish Catholic heritage.[2][3] Joe has two brothers James Brian Biden and Francis W. Biden, and a sister Valerie Biden (Owens).[4] The Biden family moved to Delaware when Biden was 10 years old, and he grew up in suburban New Castle County, Delaware, where his father was a car salesman. In 1961, Biden graduated from Archmere Academy in Claymont, Delaware and, in 1965, from the University of Delaware in Newark. He then attended Syracuse University College of Law, graduated in 1968, and was admitted to the Delaware Bar in 1969.[5][6][7]

In 1966, while in law school, Biden married Neilia Hunter. They had three children, Joseph R. "Beau" Biden III, Robert Hunter, and Naomi. His wife and infant daughter died in a car accident shortly after he was first elected to the U.S. Senate in 1972. His two young sons, Beau and Hunter, were seriously injured in the accident, but both eventually made full recoveries. Biden was sworn into office from their bedside. Persuaded not to resign in order to care for them, Biden began the practice of commuting an hour and a half each day on the train from his home in the Wilmington suburbs to Washington, DC, which he continues to do.

In 1977, Biden married Jill Tracy Jacobs. They have one daughter, Ashley, and are members of the Roman Catholic Church. In February 1988, Biden was hospitalized for two brain aneurysms which kept him from the Senate for seven months.

Biden's elder son, Beau, was a partner in the Wilmington law firm of Bifferato, Gentilotti, Biden & Balick, LLC and was elected Attorney General of Delaware in 2006. He is a captain in the Delaware Army National Guard, where he serves in the Judge Advocate General's (JAG) Corps. Biden's younger son, Hunter, works as a lawyer in Washington, DC, serves on the board of directors of Amtrak, and previously worked in the Commerce Department.

Since 1991, Biden has also served as an adjunct professor at the Widener University School of Law, where he teaches a seminar on constitutional law.

JOE BIDEN (DEMOCRATS) video

2008-01-02T20:14:00.000-08:00