<p>From Time Magazine article, Jan. 16, 2008:</p>
<p>Obama was elected to the Illinois state Senate in 1996, when Democrats were in the minority. He proposed hundreds of new laws, including universal health care, tougher gun control and expanded welfare, but saw most of them spiked by Republican leadership.</p>
<p>He did have some successes, though — particularly in passing legislation sharply restricting the gifts that Illinois politicians could accept from lobbyists. Illinois has notoriously weak government ethics laws, and the Gift Ban Act was the first major new restriction since the Watergate era.</p>
<p>Obama also helped set up Illinois’ “KidCare” program that provided health care to children in families that did not qualify for Medicaid.</p>
<p>John Bouman, president of the Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law, said Obama’s work helped make the program more consumer-friendly. He also said Obama was often willing to give up credit for the legislation if that helped win Republican support.</p>
<p>“It tells you something that as a relatively junior member in the minority party, he was an important negotiator,” Bouman said.</p>
<p>When Democrats gained a majority in the Senate, Obama’s political mentor, Senate President Emil Jones, gave him high-profile assignments, including two contentious issues involving police — videotaped interrogations and racial profiling.</p>
<p>Police weren’t happy about recording their interrogations of murder suspects or having to study racial bias in traffic stops. Initially, they opposed both pieces of legislation.</p>
<p>But Obama made clear that something was going to pass with or without their support. Ultimately, police groups endorsed both bills and they won unanimous approval in the Senate.</p>
<p>Obama was generally regarded as an effective and practical, although decidedly liberal, state lawmaker. One of his Republican colleagues was so wowed that he has appeared in an Obama campaign ad, but others aren’t impressed by his legislative record.</p>
<p>“I would say it was run of the mill, honestly,” said Sen. Christine Radogno, R-Lemont, who entered the legislature at the same time Obama did.</p>
<p>Obama was a part-time state senator in that he served in the Illinois legislature at the same time he practiced law. He became a state lawmaker in 1997, four years ahead of Hillary Clinton’s entrance into elected office, as U.S. senator.</p>
<p>When Obama was elected to the U.S. Senate, he said he wished to get things done rather than grab headlines, and cited Hillary Clinton as the sort of workhorse he wanted to be.</p>
<p>He teamed with Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., to study the dangers of nuclear proliferation and pass legislation meant to keep nuclear material from falling into the hands of terrorists.</p>
<p>Obama also joined with Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., after Hurricane Katrina to improve oversight of federal spending.</p>
<p>And he shared billing with a Republican presidential hopeful when he joined Arizona Sen. John McCain in sponsoring legislation that called for sharp, mandatory cuts in greenhouse gas emissions. The effort failed.>></p>
<p>[Obama’s</a> Varied Record - TIME](<a href=“http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1704117,00.html?imw=Y]Obama’s”>http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1704117,00.html?imw=Y)</p>