| Obama for America | |
|---|---|
| Campaign | 2008 Democratic primaries 2008 U.S. presidential election |
| Candidate | Barack Obama U.S. Senator from Illinois (2005–2008) Joe Biden U.S. Senator from Delaware (1973–2009) |
| Affiliation | Democratic Party |
| Status | Announced: February 10, 2007 Presumptive nominee: June 3, 2008 Official nominee: August 27, 2008 Won election: November 4, 2008 Inaugurated: January 20, 2009 |
| Headquarters | 233 North Michigan Avenue Chicago, Illinois 60601 |
| Key people | David Plouffe (manager) Penny Pritzker (finance) David Axelrod (media) Michael Slaby (chief technology officer) Robert Gibbs (communications) Bill Burton (spokesman) Henry De Sio (chief operating officer) Claire McCaskill (co-chair) Tim Kaine (co-chair) Paul Hodes (co-chair) |
| Receipts | US$670.7 million (November 24, 2008) |
| Slogan |  |
| Chant | Yes We Can Fired up! Ready to go! |
| Website | |
| www.barackobama.com (Web Archive) | |
 2008 U.S. presidential election | |
|---|---|
| Democratic Party | |
| Republican Party | |
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Personal
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Barack Obama, then junior United States senator from Illinois, announced his candidacy for president of the United States on February 10, 2007, in Springfield, Illinois.[1] After winning a majority of delegates in the Democratic primaries of 2008, on August 23, leading up to the convention, the campaign announced that Senator Joe Biden of Delaware would be the vice presidential nominee.[2] At the 2008 Democratic National Convention on August 27, Barack Obama was formally selected as the Democratic Party nominee for president of the United States in 2008.[3] He was the first African American in history to be nominated on a major party ticket.[4] On November 4, 2008, Obama defeated the Republican nominee, Senator John McCain of Arizona, making him the president-elect and the first African American elected president.[5][6]
Obama was the third sitting U.S. senator, after Warren G. Harding and John F. Kennedy, to be elected president. Upon the vote of the Electoral College on December 15, 2008, and the subsequent certification thereof by a Joint Session of the United States Congress on January 8, 2009, Barack Obama was elected as president and Joe Biden as vice president, with 365 of 538 electors.[7][8] He also became the first president to not be born in the contiguous United States, as he was born in Hawaii.
Many pundits have considered Obama's 2008 campaign to be one of the greatest political underdog stories in U.S. history.[9][10] The campaign is credited for shifting the status quo of the Democratic platform, especially on issues such as healthcare reform. Prior to 2007, Obama was largely unknown on a national level outside of his Senate constituency in Illinois. His primary victory over Hillary Clinton is considered one of the greatest political upsets of all time, as Clinton had an early lead in the polls and was expected to secure the nomination early on.[11] In the general election, overwhelming backing by two-thirds of voters aged 18–29 and minority voters (66% of Hispanic voters and 95% of Black voters) were considered the most crucial demographic victories for Obama.[12] Analysts also praised his campaign's effective use of the Internet in general and social media in particular, and considered their utilization of both a crucial factor in Obama's victory.[13]
- ^ "Obama Launches Presidential Bid," BBC News, February 10, 2007. Retrieved on January 14, 2008. Video Archived July 4, 2008, at the Wayback Machine at Brightcove.TV.
- ^ "Joe Biden!". BarackObama.com. Archived from the original on August 27, 2008. Retrieved August 28, 2008.
Breaking news: the text message is out and it's official ... Barack Obama has selected Joe Biden to be his running mate!
- ^ Adam Nagourney (August 28, 2008). "Obama Wins Nomination; Biden and Bill Clinton Rally Party". The New York Times. Archived from the original on April 25, 2009. Retrieved October 17, 2008.
- ^ Jeff Zeleny, "Obama Clinches Nomination; First Black Candidate to Lead a Major Party Ticket," The New York Times, June 4, 2008. Retrieved July 5, 2008.
- ^ "Barack Obama wins presidential election". CNN. November 4, 2008. Archived from the original on November 4, 2008. Retrieved November 5, 2008.
- ^ Nagourney, Adam (November 5, 2008). "Obama Wins Election". The New York Times. Archived from the original on April 25, 2009. Retrieved November 5, 2008.
- ^ "Congress meets to count electoral votes". NBC News. January 8, 2009. Retrieved January 8, 2009.
- ^ Nagourney, Adam (November 4, 2008). "Obama Wins Election". The New York Times. Archived from the original on December 9, 2008. Retrieved November 5, 2008.
- ^ "From underdog to alpha". Los Angeles Times. June 4, 2008. Retrieved April 29, 2024.
- ^ Gavrilovic, Maria (July 8, 2008). "Obama: I'm the "Underdog" - CBS News". www.cbsnews.com. Retrieved April 29, 2024.
- ^ "2008: Clinton, Obama in an epic duel". NBC News. July 29, 2019. Retrieved June 12, 2024.
- ^ "Inside Obama's Sweeping Victory". Pew Research Center. November 5, 2008. Retrieved June 12, 2024.
- ^ Stirland, Sarah Lai (June 2, 2015). "The Obama Campaign: A Great Campaign, Or The Greatest? | WIRED". Wired. Archived from the original on June 2, 2015. Retrieved June 12, 2024.