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The United States Senate career of Barack Obama began on January 4, 2005 and ended on November 16, 2008. He resigned his seat in the Illinois Senate upon being elected President of the United States. Obama won the seat in an election against Alan Keyes who replaced Republican Primary election winner Jack Ryan. Prior to his election but after Ryan withdrew from the race, he rose to national prominence by delivering the 2004 Democratic National Convention keynote address. Upon his election, he became the fifth African American Senator in U.S. history, the third to have been popularly elected. As a Senator, he served on a variety of committees and chaired the United States Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on European Affairs. His bill sponsorship and voting records indicates that he was a loyalist to the Democratic Party. He was considered to be among the most liberal by various analyses. In his first session (109th Congress), he was involved in immigration reform. Legislation bearing his name was passed for armament reduction and federal transparency as well as relief aid. In the first year of the 110th Congress, he worked on lobbying and campaign finance reform, election reform, climate control and troop reduction. In the second year, he legislated for oversight of certain military discharges, Iran divestment and nuclear terrorism reduction, but President George W. Bush vetoed his legislation for State Children's Health Insurance Program-related military family job protections. His resignation and the procedural appointment of his replacement led to the Rod Blagojevich corruption charges with eventual impeachment of the Governor of Illinois Rod Blagojevich. Subsequently, Roland Burris was appointed to replace Obama, and Burris was involved in a United States Senate ethics probe regarding his association with Blagojevich. ==U.S. Senate campaign== In mid-2002, Obama began considering a run for the U.S. Senate, enlisting political strategist David Axelrod that fall and formally announcing his candidacy in January 2003. Before deciding to run, Obama met with Jesse Jackson Jr., who was known to be considering a bid for the seat. "He said, 'Jesse, if you’re running for the U.S. Senate I’m not going to run,'" Jackson said in recounting the conversation to ''The New York Times'' in 2008. Jackson told Obama he had already decided not to run.〔Becker, Jo and Drew, Christopher, ("Pragmatic Politics, Forged on the South Side" ), ''The New York Times'', May 11, 2008, retrieved July 28, 2008〕 Decisions by Republican incumbent Peter Fitzgerald and his Democratic predecessor Carol Moseley Braun not to contest the race launched wide-open Democratic and Republican primary contests involving fifteen candidates.〔 〕 Obama's candidacy was boosted by Axelrod's advertising campaign featuring images of the late Chicago Mayor Harold Washington and an endorsement by the daughter of the late Paul Simon, former U.S. Senator for Illinois. He received over 52% of the vote in the March 2004 primary, emerging 29% ahead of his nearest Democratic rival.〔 See also: 〕〔(Official results from the Illinois State Board of Elections )〕 Obama's expected opponent in the general election, Republican primary winner Jack Ryan, withdrew from the race in June 2004. In August 2004, with less than three months to go before Election Day, Alan Keyes accepted the Illinois Republican Party's nomination to replace Ryan. A long-time resident of Maryland, Keyes established legal residency in Illinois with the nomination. Through three televised debates, Obama and Keyes expressed opposing views on stem cell research, abortion, gun control, school vouchers, and tax cuts.〔For debate transcripts and video, see ''Alan Keyes Archives'': 〕 Obama was criticized by Keyes, as he had also been by rival pro-choice candidates in the Democratic primary, for a series of "present" votes on late-term abortion and parental notification issues.〔 See also: 〕 The charge that Obama's "present" votes suggested he was not firmly pro-choice was refuted by two lobbyists for pro-choice groups (including Planned Parenthood).〔 In the November 2004 general election, Obama received 70% of the vote to Keyes's 27%, the largest victory margin for a statewide race in Illinois history.〔 〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「United States Senate career of Barack Obama」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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