2008 Obama: Historic Win for America & African Americans

The successful 2008 Obama campaign was historic in many ways. Barack Obama, a junior United States Senator at the time, declared his intent to run president on the 10th of February 2007. He won the majority of delegates during the Democratic primaries held in 2008 making him the first African American to be nominated to run for the presidency by any major party in the country. On the 4th of November 2008, he defeated Republican's John McCain to become the first African American president in the history of the United States. He also became the third searing senator to win the presidency after John F. Kennedy and Warren G. Harding. Several major events happened during the campaign. However, it is Obama's strategies and ability to juxtapose his strengths against his opponent's weaknesses that made the campaign so effective. First, the population had fallen out of favor with Bush's administration and the need for change was visible throughout the country. Thus, the citizens felt that a change was needed at the White House and that Bush's administration had to be replaced by a Democrat president. President Obama, equated McCain, his main opponent, with Bush to gain an advantage. The strategy worked. Obama also stood for causes that were dear to the Americans' hearts such as the reduction of troops in Iraq and the need for significant health reforms in the country. These strategies helped win states that were previously under the control of Republicans and ultimately won the race for Obama. This paper seeks to thoroughly analyze the fundamental approaches, which allowed him to be successful for the 2008 presidency.

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Reasons for Bush's Fall Out with the Population

The 2004 election had propelled Bush's Republican Party to levels of dominance not seen since the 1920s. However, various decisions and policies by the administration completely altered the political configuration and it was quite easy to predict the outcome of the 2008 general election (Hillygus, 2009). Towards the end of his term, the voters were unhappy with Bush's administration for several reasons. President Bush's approval ratings were at an all-time low of 30% (Hillygus, 2009). The invasion of Iraq stands out as one of the major reasons for the fall out between the population and the administration. It led to negative views regarding his presidency and the image of his party was tarnished. Hostility towards the president and the war among Democrats fuelled Obama's candidacy, gave him an edge over Hillary Clinton, and led to the record-breaking fundraisers. According to statistics, opinions on the president and the war, directly and indirectly, affected the votes in the Democrat primaries as well as in the general election (Jacobson, 2010). The scales tilted to Obama's favor in both situations. Though the decision by the Bush administration alone was not sufficient to hand the presidency to Obama, it certainly affected the outcome (Jacobson, 2010). It also led to the loss of dominance that the Republican Party had enjoyed since the White House was occupied by Obama in 2008 and the Democrats controlled both the House and the Senate by huge margins (Jacobson, 2010).

However, the Iraqi war was not the only reason why the population badly needed a change. The country's economy had been on a slump throughout 2008 and the situation hit the lowest in September. The economic crisis amplified the damage that the war had already caused to the president and his party. The government's response to Hurricane Katrina was also widely criticized. Moreover, the administration had failed to keep the promises made to Americans during the 2004 campaigns (Scott, et al., 2010). For instance, the Republicans had promised reforms, freedom, choice, and a more restrained federal government. Instead, Bush's tenure was characterized by massive overspending, centralization of education, abuses of civil liberties, and the largest expansion of entitlements seen in 40 years (Scott, et al., 2010). The government also intruded into personal freedoms and social issues. The voters, therefore, had all the reasons to call for a change.

Looking at the above reasons, the odds were against John McCain. In the eight-year Republican rule, the administration had consistently turned away young voters, racial minorities, and the more educated voters. It was difficult for him to overcome the hostile economic environment created by his party, and most importantly, he could not distance himself from President Bush who had become increasingly unpopular among the voters. The economic crisis also pushed away the working-class whites, a move that dealt a fatal blow to McCain's chances of succeeding President Bush at the White House (Talbot, 2008). Moreover, he could not convince the voters that he could get them out of the crisis that his party had created. His judgment was further questioned when he chose Sarah Palin, who was largely seen as inexperienced, as his running mate. In turn, the decision alienated more voters from the candidate. His attempts to portray Obama as a socialist who would raise taxes and had ties to terrorist elements pushed away moderate voters. The tough political climate that McCain faced ultimately handed the victory to Obama. Besides, Obama used these flaws to increase his support and wrestle several states from the control of the Republicans (Talbot, 2008).

The Main Events in the Campaign

Traditionally, presidential candidates focus on domestic matters. However, Obama's Middle Eastern tour was one of the main events of the campaign. In July of 2008, the presidential candidate toured Afghanistan, Iraq, Kuwait, Jordan, the West Bank, as well as Israel. The tour, which gained a lot of media attention, was also a potent strategy to win over the electorates. A war that the American citizens did not approve had been raging on the Middle East for years. By visiting the region, therefore, Obama sought to present himself to the voters as the man to solve the problem that the Republicans had created (Layman, Kalkan, & Green, 2014). Among the issues addressed in the tour was the early withdrawal of American troops from Iraq. It also presented the prospect of possible negotiations with Iranian leaders over the rising nuclear threat. These issues resonated well with the American voters, and hence, Obama's popularity soared. He was also scheduled to discuss the possibility of shifting military resources to Afghanistan to Iraq as a way of tackling the al-Qaeda and the Taliban more effectively. The move was also well-received by Americans. The tour also included a visit to Germany and Britain where the candidate laid down his transatlantic policies.

The selection of vice presidents was also a major event in the campaigns. There was a huge conflict between Hillary Clinton Obama over the nomination. Also, a majority of Clinton's supporters were disappointed when she was not chosen as the vice-presidential nominee. However, Obama's acceptance speech helped rally all the supporters behind him. Clinton also asked her supporters to be united behind Obama-Biden ticket. On the other side, McCain surprised the nation when he chose Sarah Palin, who was not known outside Alaska, as his running mate (Baumgartner, Morris, & Walth, 2012). McCain had severally stated that Obama lacked the experience required of a president. However, his decision to pick a person who had not held any important office undercut his campaign strategy. Though she was also seen as a person who would bring the much-needed change in Washington, her poor grasp of various policy matters cast doubts on her ability to assume the presidency. This factor also made the vice presidential debate one of the most followed in history. Palin did not succeed in erasing the doubts regarding her qualifications. The gap between Obama and McCain, therefore, kept widening (Baumgartner, Morris, & Walth, 2012).

The presidential debates also offered Obama another chance to champion his progressive policies and poke holes into McCain's promise of reforms (McKinney & Warner, 2013). There were three major debates pitting the two opponents during the campaign. In these campaigns, Obama increasingly questioned McCain's stand on the financial crisis. Through the debates, for instance, it came to the fore that McCain had no suggestions regarding the best way to fix the economy. It was revealed that neither McCain nor Bush had read Henry Paulson's $700 billion three-page bank recovery plan (Fallows, 2012). Resultantly, the electorates were convinced that Obama was the best candidate to drag the country out of the crisis.

As mentioned earlier, Obama's fundraisers broke several records and played a huge role in the success of the campaign. All the monies used in the campaigns were raised from private donors, and the use of public campaign funds was avoided. Explaining his decision to steer clear of the public financing system, Obama termed the system as broken. According to the Federal Election Commission, approximately $133,549,000 was raised in the first quarter of 2008 and a total of $103,802,537 in 2007 (Corrado & Corbett, 2009). Other than the big donors, the campaign also received small donations from the internet.

Racial issues also played a significant role in the success of the campaign. For instance, opinions on government help for the blacks, affirmative action, and slavery reparations influenced the intentions of the African Americans to vote for Obama. White Americans also rose above prejudice when evaluating the 2008 presidential candidates. The candidacy of Obama offered an excellent opportunity to study the effect of prejudice on black candidates since earlier studies had yielded mixed results. A 2010 study revealed that racial stereotypes were high during the campaign among white voters (Piston, 2010). It was also established that the negative stereotypes about African Americans hurt Obama's support among the white voters. This population chose to punish Obama, not for his party affiliation but for his race. In conclusion, the study determined that the voting decisions of the majority of Independents and a substantial number of Democrats were affected by prejudice (Piston, 2010). Obama was also largely seen as the figure that would heal the racial divisions that had plagued the country for decades. In light of this, understandings and misunderstandings from the 1960s were widely used during the 2008 campaigns. Connections were made between his campaign and the black power and civil movements of the 1960s (Ward, 2011). While some commentators argued that Obama presented a break from this past, others held that he represented a continuity of the same.

The activities of the polling industry were also critical in the campaigns. There was a growing skepticism of the accuracy of the polls as the campaigns progressed. The polls came under fire early in the campaigns after getting the New Hampshire primary wrong (Hillygus, 2009). As expected, the supporters of the trailing contenders questioned the accuracy of the polls and went to great lengths to undermine them. Experts have held that the inaccuracies in the polls were caused by the Bradley effect. According to this phenomenon, the white voters misrepresented their willingness to vote for an African American candidate (Hillygus, 2009). However, despite the concerns, the pollsters got the final outcome right.

Strategies Used in the Campaign

Throughout the course of his campaign, Obama employed various strategies to tilt the odds to his favor. As already mentioned, the Bush's administration had already fallen out of people's favor. All Obama needed to do, therefore, was to present himself as the solution to all the problems that the Bush and his party had created.

The Call for Change

Obama took advantage of the...