Barack Obama's Virtues

Barack's virtues are based off of the opposite of what he saw in corrupt politicians.  He saw how the political system made it hard for the politicians to stay true to their virtues, even Democrats. In fact, the Democrats' recent loss in power made them more likely to fall into corruption and bribery, just to maintain electability. In his book he states,"I think Democrats are wrong to run away from a debate about values, as wrong as those conservatives who see values only as a wedge to pry loose working-class voters from the Democratic base." (52)  

Barack also claims that he learned most o his values from his mother, and that he takes these values and applies them in his decision making in office.  He wrote,
"Like most of my values, I learned about empathy from my mother. She disdained any kind of cruelty or thoughtlessness or abuse of power ....Whenever she saw even a hint of such behavior in me she would look me square in the eyes and ask, "How do you think that would make you feel?" ... I find myself returning again and again to my mother's simple principle -- "How would that make you feel?" -- as a guidepost for my politics."(79)  Barack uses the morals he grew up with and learned as a child and applies them to his adult life.  This works well because I believe that children are innocent, and adults are not. So by using what he learned as a child, he can help to 'purify' our nation with the innocence of children.  Barack is very interesting when he comes to politics; not every politician would turn to his childhood for guidance.