LAT: High expectations await Senator Obama in his father's Kenya hometown

[DeepModem Mom]

High Expectations Await Obama in Kenya
By Edmund Sanders, Times Staff Writer
August 21, 2006

....You can't fault Kenyan officials for wanting to spruce up a little before the eagerly anticipated visit late this week of Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois, a rising star in the Democratic Party whose late father hailed from this tiny farming town.

Obama mania is sweeping the nation, particularly in the long-marginalized west, which is preparing a hero's homecoming for the half-Kansan, half-Kenyan. Obama, 45, began a 15-day, five-nation African tour last weekend.

Construction workers are racing to complete the new science lab at the recently rededicated Senator Obama Secondary School. A play based on his best-selling autobiography recently took the stage at Kenya's National Theater. Sales of long-popular "Senator" beer, which locals dubbed "Obama" after his election, have doubled since June, brewery officials said.

The Hawaiian-born Obama met his father only once and last visited Kenya 14 years ago. His support for abortion and gay rights would roil most voters here. But none of that matters to locals, who see Obama as their new favorite son....

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-obama22aug22,0,7995689.story?coll=la-home-headlines