The power of a strong organization
A lot has been made of the fact that Obama massively outspent both Hillary and McCain in order to win the presidency. However, looking at the amount of money that was spent is overlooking how that money was raised in the first place - by building and running a top-notch organization. Obama consistently had workers out in the field long before any of his opponents did. During the primary season, Hillary would expand her organization into new states, only to find that Obama already had several field offices up and running. McCain's campaign was learning to incorporate email, while Obama provided his field offices with databases of information on which voters had been contacted by Obama volunteers, when they were last contacted, and what those voters had said. The ground volunteers had ready access to this information in real-time.
Obama has also surrounded himself with an economic team with an impressive pedigree, composed of people that have served under both Democratic and Republican administrations. In addition, he apparently has a history of actually listening to people.
To be honest, I don't vote for a presidential candidate based on their views, because I figure those will change over time. In fact, I HOPE that they would change, as new information comes in. I voted for Obama because he ran a tight, disciplined campaign that held together despite enduring the longest primary season in history, going up against the Clinton and Republican political machines. He's shown that he can put together an effective organization, and that he knows how to hire good people and let them do their work.
Obama has also surrounded himself with an economic team with an impressive pedigree, composed of people that have served under both Democratic and Republican administrations. In addition, he apparently has a history of actually listening to people.
To be honest, I don't vote for a presidential candidate based on their views, because I figure those will change over time. In fact, I HOPE that they would change, as new information comes in. I voted for Obama because he ran a tight, disciplined campaign that held together despite enduring the longest primary season in history, going up against the Clinton and Republican political machines. He's shown that he can put together an effective organization, and that he knows how to hire good people and let them do their work.