The Rise of Barack Obama

1. The Rise of Barack Obama Indecision 2008

2. Profile: Barack Obama • Age: 49 (Aug 4, 1961) • Current Occupation: President of the United States • Previous Occupation: Junior Senator for Illinois • Years Served as Senator: 3 • Party Affiliation: Democratic Party • Education: Occidental College; Colombia University (Political Science with International Relations BA); Harvard Law School (Juris Doctor) • Spouse: Michelle Obama

3. Timeline • August 23 2008 – Obama chooses Biden as his running mate. • August 26 – Obama confirmed as Democratic Party Nominee. • September 26 – October 15 – Presidential Debates. • 4 November – Barack Obama becomes the President-elect of the United States of America.

4. How He Won - Fundraising • Obama’s campaign did not use Matching Funds which would have restricted his spending. He privately financed all of his campaign. • Using Matching Funds would have limited Obama to $84.1mn between the convention and polling day. • He raised more in the first quarter of 2008 than any other candidate ever. A total of $133,549,000. • Most of the donations to his party were small donations of up to $200. Another broken record. • His campaign made use of the internet as a primary source of fundraising. • Obama’s campaign also outspent the McCain campaign significantly due to Matching Funds

5. How He Won – Dubya • By 2008 Bush had become one of the least popular Presidents in the history of the USA with approval ratings of about 27%. • The Obama campaign linked McCain to Bush whenever and wherever possible. E.g. During the first debate Obama mentioned Bush 21 times. • Obama highlighted his opposition to unpopular Bush era policies and decisions such as Iraq and the economy. • The Obama campaign also referenced figures from Congressional Quarterly showing McCain voting for 90% of all Bush’s bills between 2000 and 2007.

6. How He Won – Hope & Change • Obama’s campaign focused on hope and change as its key themes. E.g. Iconic Obama poster with “Hope” beneath. • Obama linked McCain as “more of the same” whilst positioning himself as the candidate of “change”. • Obama’s rhetoric centred on bipartisanship in Congress and raising its approval ratings which garnered him more support than McCain. • Argued in favour of change as opposed to experience, the McCain argument. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fm3-YjBox4I

8. How He Won - Campaign • The Obama campaign was very well organised and made much more use of new media – the internet – than McCain’s campaign. • Obama’s campaign centred on bringing groups of many ethnicities, ideology and ages together through his nonpartisan approach. • The Obama campaign had so much money that it could advertise anywhere, everywhere and as many times as it liked. • Made reference to Biden’s experience in the Senate and Foreign Policy – Obama’s weakest policy area – whilst emphasising Palin’s inexperience in everything.

9. How He Won – Palin Effect • Centred media attention and campaigns on Palin’s inexperience and her “I can see Russia from my house” ideology. • Hypothetical fears of McCain becoming incapacitated during his term and Palin then stepping in scared voters. • Controversies surrounding Palin such as her daughter’s pregnancy seriously damaged McCain’s campaign and strengthened Obama’s. • During the VP debate Biden came across as the more statesman-like and better equipped candidate for the job. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_J0fIF8xl0

10. How He Won – Two term Itch/Incumbency • Only twice since the Civil War has the electorate voted in a President from the same party as the President who has just completed two terms. • Last person to do the above was George H. W. Bush. • McCain not helped by George W. Bush’s unpopularity. • The Republican Party had left the US and the economy is dire straights. A record budget deficit and a seemingly unwinnable war did not play well for McCain. • Therefore chances of McCain succeeding were low.

11. Visual – Where He Won

12. Results – Electoral College votes vs. Popular vote