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He’s a somewhat fresh face in American politics, but once again The Biography Channel fails to produce unique information about a 2008 presidential hopeful.

It took years before Illinois Sen. Barack Obama knew his path in life. As a child, he moved around, from Hawaii to Indonesia and back again as his mother struggled through failed marriages. Once he decided that he wanted to make a difference when it came to poverty in the U.S., he settled into a busy life as an attorney and college professor in Chicago.

He married his wife, Michelle, in the early 1990s, and she shouldered the disappointment with him when he lost his first Congressional race. According to this Biography Channel special about the politician, he won his Senate seat by accident, when actress Jerri Ryan’s ex-husband - and Obama’s opponent and Republican golden boy - was exposed as a pervert who wanted his wife to perform sex acts at a nightclub.  The Republicans made a tactical error in choosing ultra conservative radio talk show host Alan Keyes to run against Obama, and handed the seat right over to the Democrat.

Obama’s charisma led top Democrats to snag him in 2004 as a prominent speaker at the convention. And since then, Obama’s star continued to rise within the party and public perception.

This Biography Channel special on Barack Obama was a little better than the one for his Republican opponent John McCain, but it still wasn’t an incredible watch.

Maybe we are so plugged in that it is difficult to find unique facts about public figures - unless, of course, it is a bleeding headline that will lead to their downfall. While I found this documentary more interesting than the one about McCain - which featured decade-old footage throughout - it still didn’t offer up anything that made it stand out from the average evening news segment. There were few interviews with Obama or his wife, and I couldn’t be certain just how much was from AP stock footage and what was actual unique from The Biography Channel.

That said, I did find Obama’s accidental rise into politics rather interesting. I didn’t realize he’d lost his first election, and he was really considered the token minority for the Democratic party, which needed a fresh, non-white face to attract a new stream of voters for election rejuvenation. I wish they had specifically asked him how he feels about being that person for the party. It’s also funny that his first book, Dreams From my Father, was a flop until after his speech at the Democratic convention in 2004.

If you are searching for answers about today’s presidential candidates, just Google. It’s cheaper than buying these DVDs. But if you don’t want to sit at the PC all day, then The Biography Channel’s profile of Obama (and McCain)  might be a good way to get the same information while you do housework.

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