Black History Month: The Election of Barack Obama
Our series on Black History Month will end with a look at the election of Barack Hussein Obama, who, on November 4, 2008, became the first African-American to be elected President of the United States. Many people were expecting this election to bring about a first, but the "first" those people were expecting was the first female president. Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York was the presumed nominee of the Democratic Party, and with incumbent President George W. Bush hemorrhaging popularity because of an unpopular war in Iraq, criticism of his government's response to Hurricane Katrina, a mortgage crisis and a ballooning debt and deficit, Republicans knew that the odds were against their keeping the White House.
Senators Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama were seen by many as the Democratic candidates with this most support. This did not deter others from seeking the nomination, including former North Carolina Senator John Edwards, Delaware Senator Joe Biden, Connecticut Senator Christopher Dodd and New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson. Edwards was one of the first to formally announce his candidacy for the presidency, on December 28, 2006, making his second attempt at the presidency. Clinton formally announced her intentions to run on January 20, 2007. On February 10, 2007, Obama announced his candidacy in front of the Old State Capitol building in Springfield, Illinois. The location for the announcement was chosen for its symbolism because it was where Abraham Lincoln delivered his historic "House Divided" speech in 1858. In the speech Obama emphasized issues of rapidly ending the Iraq War, increasing energy independence, and providing universal health care. His campaign themes were "hope" and "change".
Clinton led in nearly all nationwide opinion polling until January 2008. In 2008, Florida and Michigan moved their primaries into January against the Democratic Party's rules, and the results of those primaries were disputed. At the start of the year, support for Obama began rising in the polls. He won the Iowa caucus, with John Edwards coming in second and Clinton third. After the Iowa caucus, Biden and Dodd withdrew from the race. Obama became the new front runner. Clinton narrowly won the New Hampshire primary by 2% of the vote, marking the first time a woman had ever won a major party's presidential primary for delegate selection. On January 30, 2008, after placing in third in the New Hampshire and South Carolina primaries, John Edwards announced that he was suspending his campaign.
On Super Tuesday, which took place on February 5, 2008, Obama won 847 delegates to Clinton's 834 from the 23 states that held Democratic primaries. Obama had captured celebrity endorsements that included Oprah Winfrey, Caroline Kennedy and Stevie Wonder. California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's then wife, Maria Shriver, also endorsed Obama. Following Super Tuesday Obama's momentum grew. He won victories in primaries in Louisiana, Nebraska, Hawaii, Wisconsin, U.S. Virgin Islands, the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia as well as the Washington and Maine caucuses. Clinton won the primaries in Ohio, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania and Texas, but Obama won the Texas caucuses held the same day, giving him more delegates from the state than Clinton. Obama had outspent Clinton three to one in Pennsylvania, but his comment at a San Francisco fundraiser that small-town Americans "cling" to guns and religion attracted criticism.
By this point Obama had a higher number of delegates and popular votes than Clinton did and was still in a stronger position to win the nomination. Clinton, however, had received the endorsement of more superdelegates than Obama. On May 6, North Carolina and Indiana held their Democratic presidential primaries. Obama won in North Carolina and lost by only 1.1% in Indiana.
On May 31, 2008, the Rules and Bylaws Committee of the Democratic Party reached a compromise on the Florida and Michigan delegate situation. The committee decided to seat delegates from Michigan and Florida at the convention in August, but to only award each a half-vote.
Clinton formally withdrew as a candidate on June 3, 2008, and endorsed Obama. At first Clinton refused to concede the race, but she finally conceded the nomination to Obama on June 7.
On August 23, Obama announced his selection of Joe Biden as his vice presidential running mate. At the Democratic National Convention in Denver, Colorado, Hillary Clinton called for her supporters to endorse Obama, and she and Bill Clinton gave convention speeches in his support. Obama delivered his acceptance speech at Invesco Field at Mile High Stadium to a crowd of over 75,000. The speech was viewed by over 38 million people worldwide.
During both the primary process and the general election, Obama's campaign set numerous fundraising records, particularly in the quantity of small donations. On June 19, 2008, Obama became the first major-party presidential candidate to turn down public financing in the general election since the system was created in 1976.
In November 2006, Former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani led in polling for the Republican nomination, followed closely by Arizona Senator John McCain. Giuliani remained the frontrunner in the polls throughout most of 2007, with McCain and former Tennessee Senator Fred Thompson fighting for second place. Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, Giuliani, Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, and Texas Congressman Ron Paul announced their candidacies on January 28, February 5, February 13, and March 12, respectively. McCain officially announced his candidacy on March 1, 2007.
But it was Huckabee, who scored the first victory, winning in Iowa. He came in third, behind McCain and Romney in New Hampshire. Giuliani made the mistake of opting out of these contests until the Florida primary. The strategy hurt him as McCain displaced Giuliani as the front runner in New Hampshire. McCain's unexpected victory in New Hampshire gave his campaign momentum after he had been written off by the pundits and polling in single digits less than a month before the race. McCain managed a small victory over Huckabee in South Carolina, followed by a victory over Romney in Florida, which held a closed primary on January 29. Giuliani conceded from the nomination race and endorsed McCain the next day. McCain was also endorsed in February by California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger before the California primary took place on Super Tuesday. On Super Tuesday, McCain won his home state of Arizona, taking all 53 delegates. He also won nearly all of California's 173 delegates, the largest of the Super Tuesday prizes. McCain also scored wins in seven other states, picking up 574 delegates. Huckabee won 5 states and 218 delegates. Romney won 7 states and 231 delegates. Two days later, Romney suspended his presidential campaign. Romney endorsed McCain on February 14. After Super Tuesday, John McCain had become the clear front runner, but by the end of February, he still had not acquired enough delegates to secure the nomination. In March, John McCain clinched the Republican nomination after sweeping all four primaries, Texas, Ohio, Vermont, and Rhode Island, putting him over the top of the 1,191 delegates required to win the GOP nomination. Huckabee then conceded the race to McCain, leaving Ron Paul, who had just 16 delegates, as McCain's only remaining opponent. John McCain was nominated as the Republican candidate at the Republican Convention held from September 1-4 in St. Paul, Minnesota.
McCain surprised many by selecting Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as his running mate. Palin's speech at the Convention was very well received and initially gave the McCain campaign a boost. However a series of embarrassing gaffes in interviews quickly changed public perception of Palin in the minds of many voters from that of someone who would shake up the system to someone who was in over her head. This was especially the impression left in an interview that Palin gave with Katie Couric of CBS.
The war in Iraq was a key issue during the campaign that followed. John McCain supported the war while Barack Obama opposed it. Obama's early opposition to the war helped him stand out against the other Democratic candidates during the primaries. McCain stated that the United States could be in Iraq for as much as the next 50 to 100 years. He meant this as a peacetime presence, but the remark was used by the Obama campaign to tie McCain to the President Bush. McCain's support for the troop 'surge' employed by General David Petraeus, helped McCain in the minds of some voters, but Obama told voters that there would have been no need for a "surge" had there been no war in the first place.
Bush had become increasingly unpopular by this time. In March 2008, Bush endorsed McCain at the White House, but Bush did not make a single appearance for McCain during the campaign. Bush appeared at the 2008 GOP convention by a live video broadcast. McCain expressed his disagreement with Bush on other issues such as climate change. During the campaign, Obama reminded voters that McCain had voted with Bush 90% of the time.
Obama's campaigned on a theme that be would bring change to Washington and to the nation. He promised universal health care. Conversely, McCain contrasted his experience in government with the relative inexperience of his opponent. Polls found the electorate divided on the issue of 'change' vs. 'experience'.
Polls taken in the last few months of the presidential campaign showed the economy as the top concern for voters. In the fall of 2008, many news sources were reporting that the economy was suffering its most serious downturn since the Great Depression. On August 20, John McCain said in an interview with Politico that he was uncertain how many houses he and his wife, Cindy, owned. stating "I think-I'll have my staff get to you." Obama's political ads gave the number as seven, in an effort to portray McCain as unable to relate to the concerns of ordinary Americans. On September 15, the day of the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy, at a morning rally in Jacksonville, Florida, McCain declared that "the fundamentals of our economy are strong," but the perception among voters was to the contrary.
On September 24, 2008, after the onset of the 2008 financial crisis, McCain announced that he was suspending his campaign to return to Washington to help craft a $700 billion bailout package for the troubled financial industry, and he stated that he would not debate Obama until Congress passed the bailout bill. He later decided to attend the first presidential debate on September 26, despite Congress' lack of immediate action on the bill. Days later, a second version of the original bailout bill was passed by both the House and Senate, with Obama, his vice presidential running mate Joe Biden, and McCain all voting for it. The financial crisis caused McCain to experience a large drop in support in mid-September that he never recovered from.
Obama called for universal health care. His health care plan proposed creating a National Health Insurance Exchange that would include both private insurance plans and a Medicare-like government run option. A poll released in early November 2008, found that voters supporting Obama listed health care as their second priority
On November 4, Obama won the presidency with 365 electoral votes to 173 received by McCain. Obama won 52.9% of the popular vote to McCain's 45.7%. He became the first African American to be elected president. Obama delivered his victory speech before hundreds of thousands of supporters in Chicago's Grant Park. A record 131.2 million votes were cast, reflecting voter turnout of about 63.0%, the highest since 1960.
Senators Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama were seen by many as the Democratic candidates with this most support. This did not deter others from seeking the nomination, including former North Carolina Senator John Edwards, Delaware Senator Joe Biden, Connecticut Senator Christopher Dodd and New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson. Edwards was one of the first to formally announce his candidacy for the presidency, on December 28, 2006, making his second attempt at the presidency. Clinton formally announced her intentions to run on January 20, 2007. On February 10, 2007, Obama announced his candidacy in front of the Old State Capitol building in Springfield, Illinois. The location for the announcement was chosen for its symbolism because it was where Abraham Lincoln delivered his historic "House Divided" speech in 1858. In the speech Obama emphasized issues of rapidly ending the Iraq War, increasing energy independence, and providing universal health care. His campaign themes were "hope" and "change".
Clinton led in nearly all nationwide opinion polling until January 2008. In 2008, Florida and Michigan moved their primaries into January against the Democratic Party's rules, and the results of those primaries were disputed. At the start of the year, support for Obama began rising in the polls. He won the Iowa caucus, with John Edwards coming in second and Clinton third. After the Iowa caucus, Biden and Dodd withdrew from the race. Obama became the new front runner. Clinton narrowly won the New Hampshire primary by 2% of the vote, marking the first time a woman had ever won a major party's presidential primary for delegate selection. On January 30, 2008, after placing in third in the New Hampshire and South Carolina primaries, John Edwards announced that he was suspending his campaign.
On Super Tuesday, which took place on February 5, 2008, Obama won 847 delegates to Clinton's 834 from the 23 states that held Democratic primaries. Obama had captured celebrity endorsements that included Oprah Winfrey, Caroline Kennedy and Stevie Wonder. California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's then wife, Maria Shriver, also endorsed Obama. Following Super Tuesday Obama's momentum grew. He won victories in primaries in Louisiana, Nebraska, Hawaii, Wisconsin, U.S. Virgin Islands, the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia as well as the Washington and Maine caucuses. Clinton won the primaries in Ohio, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania and Texas, but Obama won the Texas caucuses held the same day, giving him more delegates from the state than Clinton. Obama had outspent Clinton three to one in Pennsylvania, but his comment at a San Francisco fundraiser that small-town Americans "cling" to guns and religion attracted criticism.
By this point Obama had a higher number of delegates and popular votes than Clinton did and was still in a stronger position to win the nomination. Clinton, however, had received the endorsement of more superdelegates than Obama. On May 6, North Carolina and Indiana held their Democratic presidential primaries. Obama won in North Carolina and lost by only 1.1% in Indiana.
On May 31, 2008, the Rules and Bylaws Committee of the Democratic Party reached a compromise on the Florida and Michigan delegate situation. The committee decided to seat delegates from Michigan and Florida at the convention in August, but to only award each a half-vote.
Clinton formally withdrew as a candidate on June 3, 2008, and endorsed Obama. At first Clinton refused to concede the race, but she finally conceded the nomination to Obama on June 7.
On August 23, Obama announced his selection of Joe Biden as his vice presidential running mate. At the Democratic National Convention in Denver, Colorado, Hillary Clinton called for her supporters to endorse Obama, and she and Bill Clinton gave convention speeches in his support. Obama delivered his acceptance speech at Invesco Field at Mile High Stadium to a crowd of over 75,000. The speech was viewed by over 38 million people worldwide.
During both the primary process and the general election, Obama's campaign set numerous fundraising records, particularly in the quantity of small donations. On June 19, 2008, Obama became the first major-party presidential candidate to turn down public financing in the general election since the system was created in 1976.
In November 2006, Former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani led in polling for the Republican nomination, followed closely by Arizona Senator John McCain. Giuliani remained the frontrunner in the polls throughout most of 2007, with McCain and former Tennessee Senator Fred Thompson fighting for second place. Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, Giuliani, Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, and Texas Congressman Ron Paul announced their candidacies on January 28, February 5, February 13, and March 12, respectively. McCain officially announced his candidacy on March 1, 2007.
But it was Huckabee, who scored the first victory, winning in Iowa. He came in third, behind McCain and Romney in New Hampshire. Giuliani made the mistake of opting out of these contests until the Florida primary. The strategy hurt him as McCain displaced Giuliani as the front runner in New Hampshire. McCain's unexpected victory in New Hampshire gave his campaign momentum after he had been written off by the pundits and polling in single digits less than a month before the race. McCain managed a small victory over Huckabee in South Carolina, followed by a victory over Romney in Florida, which held a closed primary on January 29. Giuliani conceded from the nomination race and endorsed McCain the next day. McCain was also endorsed in February by California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger before the California primary took place on Super Tuesday. On Super Tuesday, McCain won his home state of Arizona, taking all 53 delegates. He also won nearly all of California's 173 delegates, the largest of the Super Tuesday prizes. McCain also scored wins in seven other states, picking up 574 delegates. Huckabee won 5 states and 218 delegates. Romney won 7 states and 231 delegates. Two days later, Romney suspended his presidential campaign. Romney endorsed McCain on February 14. After Super Tuesday, John McCain had become the clear front runner, but by the end of February, he still had not acquired enough delegates to secure the nomination. In March, John McCain clinched the Republican nomination after sweeping all four primaries, Texas, Ohio, Vermont, and Rhode Island, putting him over the top of the 1,191 delegates required to win the GOP nomination. Huckabee then conceded the race to McCain, leaving Ron Paul, who had just 16 delegates, as McCain's only remaining opponent. John McCain was nominated as the Republican candidate at the Republican Convention held from September 1-4 in St. Paul, Minnesota.
McCain surprised many by selecting Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as his running mate. Palin's speech at the Convention was very well received and initially gave the McCain campaign a boost. However a series of embarrassing gaffes in interviews quickly changed public perception of Palin in the minds of many voters from that of someone who would shake up the system to someone who was in over her head. This was especially the impression left in an interview that Palin gave with Katie Couric of CBS.
The war in Iraq was a key issue during the campaign that followed. John McCain supported the war while Barack Obama opposed it. Obama's early opposition to the war helped him stand out against the other Democratic candidates during the primaries. McCain stated that the United States could be in Iraq for as much as the next 50 to 100 years. He meant this as a peacetime presence, but the remark was used by the Obama campaign to tie McCain to the President Bush. McCain's support for the troop 'surge' employed by General David Petraeus, helped McCain in the minds of some voters, but Obama told voters that there would have been no need for a "surge" had there been no war in the first place.
Bush had become increasingly unpopular by this time. In March 2008, Bush endorsed McCain at the White House, but Bush did not make a single appearance for McCain during the campaign. Bush appeared at the 2008 GOP convention by a live video broadcast. McCain expressed his disagreement with Bush on other issues such as climate change. During the campaign, Obama reminded voters that McCain had voted with Bush 90% of the time.
Obama's campaigned on a theme that be would bring change to Washington and to the nation. He promised universal health care. Conversely, McCain contrasted his experience in government with the relative inexperience of his opponent. Polls found the electorate divided on the issue of 'change' vs. 'experience'.
Polls taken in the last few months of the presidential campaign showed the economy as the top concern for voters. In the fall of 2008, many news sources were reporting that the economy was suffering its most serious downturn since the Great Depression. On August 20, John McCain said in an interview with Politico that he was uncertain how many houses he and his wife, Cindy, owned. stating "I think-I'll have my staff get to you." Obama's political ads gave the number as seven, in an effort to portray McCain as unable to relate to the concerns of ordinary Americans. On September 15, the day of the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy, at a morning rally in Jacksonville, Florida, McCain declared that "the fundamentals of our economy are strong," but the perception among voters was to the contrary.
On September 24, 2008, after the onset of the 2008 financial crisis, McCain announced that he was suspending his campaign to return to Washington to help craft a $700 billion bailout package for the troubled financial industry, and he stated that he would not debate Obama until Congress passed the bailout bill. He later decided to attend the first presidential debate on September 26, despite Congress' lack of immediate action on the bill. Days later, a second version of the original bailout bill was passed by both the House and Senate, with Obama, his vice presidential running mate Joe Biden, and McCain all voting for it. The financial crisis caused McCain to experience a large drop in support in mid-September that he never recovered from.
Obama called for universal health care. His health care plan proposed creating a National Health Insurance Exchange that would include both private insurance plans and a Medicare-like government run option. A poll released in early November 2008, found that voters supporting Obama listed health care as their second priority
On November 4, Obama won the presidency with 365 electoral votes to 173 received by McCain. Obama won 52.9% of the popular vote to McCain's 45.7%. He became the first African American to be elected president. Obama delivered his victory speech before hundreds of thousands of supporters in Chicago's Grant Park. A record 131.2 million votes were cast, reflecting voter turnout of about 63.0%, the highest since 1960.