http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmp...llinois_senate
Obama Headed to Senate After Easy Win
47 minutes ago
By CHRISTOPHER WILLS, Associated Press Writer
CHICAGO - Barack Obama, the son of a Kenyan father and an American mother who shot from obscurity to political stardom in mere months, trounced Republican Alan Keyes (news - web sites) on Tuesday to claim a Senate seat in Illinois. He will be just the third black U.S. senator since Reconstruction.
The resounding victory is the latest chapter in a rags-to-riches story for a man who grew up on the beaches of Hawaii and the streets of Indonesia barely knowing his father but has gone on to become a linchpin of the Democratic Party's future.
He gave the keynote address at the Democratic National Convention this year, delivering a message of national unity in a stirring speech that made him an overnight political sensation. National news shows and magazines profiled him, and the 43-year-old state senator from Chicago became a top draw for other Democrats' campaigns nationwide.
Obama will replace Republican Sen. Peter Fitzgerald (news, bio, voting record), who declined to run for a second term.
The campaign was one of the strangest races in state history — a contest between a liberal political superstar and a conservative former ambassador who had never lived in Illinois. And Keyes was far from the GOP's top choice.
Investment banker-turned-teacher Jack Ryan won the Republican primary in March, but dropped out of the race three months later after records were released from his divorce with "Star Trek: Voyager" and "Boston Public" actress Jeri Ryan. The documents revealed embarrassing allegations that the candidate took his wife to sex clubs in Paris, New York and New Orleans and tried to get her to perform sex acts with him while others watched.
The GOP searched for a replacement candidate but was turned down by a string of former governors, state senators and even Chicago Bears legend Mike Ditka. Only in August did the Republican Party settle on a replacement candidate, offering the role to Keyes, a conservative Maryland resident and two-time presidential candidate.
Keyes also is black. It was the first U.S. Senate election in history in which two black candidates represented the major parties.
Keyes, 54, focused his campaign on morality and argued that abortion and homosexuality threaten the country. He criticized what he called the "socialism" of Obama's positions.
Keyes quickly demonstrated a willingness to say whatever was on his mind. He said homosexuals, including Vice President Dick Cheney (news - web sites)'s daughter, are "selfish hedonists." He argued that Jesus would not vote for Obama. And he likened abortion to the evil committed by terrorists.
Before entering politics, Obama was the first black president of the prestigious Harvard Law Review and a civil rights lawyer in Chicago.
The United States has had four black U.S. senators in its history and two since Reconstruction: Edward W. Brooke of Massachusetts and Carol Moseley Braun (news - web sites) of Illinois.
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