Over the weekend, Illinois Senator Barack Obama officially announced his candidacy [1] for President of the United States of America.

"As Lincoln organized the forces arrayed against slavery, he was heard to say: 'Of strange, discordant, and even hostile elements, we gathered from the four winds, and formed and fought to battle through,'" Obama said to some 15,000 people gathered in Springfield. "That is our purpose here today. That's why I'm in this race. Not just to hold an office, but to gather with you to transform a nation."

His announcement [2] has stirred debate as to whether or not the United States is ready to vote for its first minority president. Obama is the son of a Kenyan man and a woman from Kansas.

The popular Obama enters the fray with a host of viable contenders for the Democratic nomination including former Vice Presidential candidate John Edwards and New York Senator Hilary Clinton.

SOUND OFF: Does race or sex matter at the polls? Will voters send a black man to the top office in the country? What about a woman?