Barack Obama presidential campaign, 2008

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Obama campaign


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Barack Obama, the junior United States Senator from Illinois, announced his candidacy for President of the United States in Springfield, Illinois, on February 10, 2007.[1],[2] On August 27, 2008 he became the nominee[3] of the Democratic Party for the 2008 presidential election.

Primary Campaign

See also: Barack Obama presidential primary campaign, 2008

Obama's keynote speech to the 2004 Democratic National Convention sparked expectations that he would run for the President of the United States.[4] Speculation on a 2008 presidential run intensified after Obama's decisive U.S. Senate election win in November 2004. At that time he told reporters: "I can unequivocally say I will not be running for national office in four years."[5]

However, in an October 2006 interview on the television program Meet the Press, Obama appeared to open the possibility of a 2008 presidential bid.[6] Illinois Senator Richard Durbin and Illinois State Comptroller Daniel Hynes were early advocates for a 2008 Obama presidential run.[7] Many people in the List of entertainment industry topics|entertainment community have also expressed readiness to campaign for an Obama presidency, including celebrity television show host Oprah Winfrey, singer Macy Gray, rap artist Common, and film actors George Clooney, Halle Berry, and Will Smith.

Barack Obama's primary election was by no means a landslide. In early March, the Obama campaign faced a large setback when ABC News, after reviewing dozens of Jeremiah Wright's sermons, excerpted parts which were subject to intense media scrutiny.[8][9] It was not until the beginning of June that Obama secured the nominationOn June 3, the day of the final primaries in South Dakota and Montana, Obama rolled out about sixty superdelegate endorsements. Those endorsements, together with the pledged delegates awarded in the final primaries, put him well over the "magic number" of 2,117 delegate votes necessary for a majority at the Democratic National Convention. By early in the evening, all major news organizations had announced that Obama had clinched the Democratic nomination, and Obama claimed the status of presumptive nominee in a speech in St. Paul, Minnesota. Clinton did not concede the nomination in her election night speech, saying that she would be "making no decisions tonight".[10] On the morning of June 5, Clinton posted on her website an open letter to her supporters which had also been sent by email that day. It announced that she would be appearing at an event in Washington D.C. on Saturday June 7 and went on: On Saturday I will extend my congratulations to Senator Obama and my support for his candidacy.

Presidential Campaign for the General Election

Middle Eastern and European tour

In July 2008 Obama traveled to Kuwait, Afghanistan,[11] Iraq,[12] Jordan,[13] the West Bank,[14] Israel, Germany, France, and Great Britain. During the course of this trip he met with assorted international leaders, including President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan,[15] Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki of Iraq, King Abdullah II of Jordan, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Prime Minister of Israel Ehud Olmert, Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany, President Nicolas Sarkozy of France,[16] and Prime Minister Gordon Brown of the United Kingdom, as well as former British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Conservative opposition leader David Cameron.[17]

On July 24, 2008 he gave a speech at the Berlin Victory Column|Victory Column in Berlin before a crowd of estimated 200,000 to 240,000 people.[18]

Vice Presidential selection

Barack Obama's vice presidential running mate had been a subject of speculation since the end of the primaries. As of August 2008, some of the most popular choices for VP included, but were not limited to, New York Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, Delaware Senator Joe Biden, Indiana Senator Evan Bayh, Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius, Virginia Governor Tim Kaine, Colin Powell, New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, and retired General Wesley Clark.

On Friday, August 22, KMBC-TV News of Kansas City, Missouri|Kansas City spotted bumper stickers of an Obama/Bayh '08 ticket that were being printed in Lenexa, Kansas. Three sources close to a local printing plant reported that such material was being produced.[19] The image of the bumper sticker circulated on the internet. However, NBC News later quoted sources stating that Bayh had been informed by Obama's campaign that he was not the pick.[20] According to an Associated Press report that same evening, Joe Biden was selected as Obama's candidate.[21] The Associated Press report was confirmed several hours later, on August 23, on Barack Obama's official campaign website and by a mass text message to his supporters.[22]

Allegations regarding Obama and ACORN

As the 2008 presidential campaign enters its final weeks, there is heightened interest in any ties that may exist between ACORN and Barack Obama. The main allegation raised is that Sen. Obama has an extensive previous history with ACORN as a representative and employee.[23]


References

  1. ↑ "Obama Launches Presidential Bid", BBC News]
  2. ↑ Video at Brightcove.TV.
  3. ↑ New York Times
  4. ↑ Sullivan, Amy. "Obama for President," Washington Monthly (guest article), July 28, 2004. Retrieved on January 8, 2007
  5. ↑ Fornek, Scott. "Obama for president? That's 'silly'," Chicago Sun-Times, November 4, 2004. Available at FindArticles.com, Retrieved on January 8, 2007
  6. ↑ MSNBC. MTP Transcript for Oct. 22, Meet the Press, October 22, 2006. Retrieved on January 8, 2007
  7. ↑ Babington, Charles. "Obama's Profile Has Democrats Taking Notice: Popular Senator Is Mentioned as 2008 Contender," Washington Post, June 18, 2006, Page A01 See also: McQueary, Kristen. Obama, Hynes now war buddies, Daily Southtown, December 10, 2006. Retrieved on January 13, 2007
  8. ↑ Dilanian, Ken (2008-03-18). "Defenders say Wright has love, righteous anger for USA", USA Today. Retrieved on 2008-04-02. 
  9. ↑ Adubato, Steve (March 21, 2008). "Obama's reaction to Wright too little, too late", MSNBC. 
  10. ↑ "Obama: I will be the Democratic nominee". CNN. 2008-06-03. http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/06/03/election.democrats/index.html. Retrieved on 2008-06-04. 
  11. ↑ Carlotta Gall and Jeff Zeleny, "Obama Opens a Foreign Tour in Afghanistan," The New York Times, 2008-07-20.
  12. ↑ Liz Sly, "Obama arrives in Baghdad," Chicago Tribune, 2008-07-21. Retrieved 2008-07-31.
  13. ↑ Mike Dorning, "Obama sizes up Mideast stage," Chicago Tribune, 2008-07-22. Retrieved 2008-07-31.
  14. ↑ Mike Dorning, "'Friend of Israel' also woos Palestinians," Chicago Tribune, 2008-07-24. Retrieved 2008-07-31.
  15. ↑ Kim Barker, "Obama, Karzai keep talk 'positive'," Chicago Tribune, 2008-07-21. Retrieved 2008-07-31.
  16. ↑ Jeff Zeleny and Steven Erlanger, "3 Hours in Paris, and Smiles All Around," The New York Times, 2008-07-26. Retrieved 2008-07-31; Elana Schor, "Obama arrives in Paris to meet Sarkozy," The Guardian, 2008-07-25. Retrieved 2008-07-31.
  17. ↑ Peter Walker, "Obama hails US-UK ties after talks with Brown at Downing Street," The Guardian, 2008-07-26. Retrieved 2008-07-31.
  18. ↑ "Obama's Berlin Speech: People of the World, Look at Me". Spiegel Online. 2008-07-25. http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,567932,00.html. Retrieved on 2008-10-23. 
  19. ↑ "Bumper Sticker Could Indicate Bayh Is Obama's Veep", KMBC News (2008-08-22). 
  20. ↑ "Bayh, Kaine out of Obama’s veep race", MSNBC (2008-08-22). 
  21. ↑ Lis Sidoti and Nedra Pickler (2008-08-22). "Obama picks Biden for veep", Breitbart.com. 
  22. ↑ "Joe Biden!". BarackObama.com. http://www.barackobama.com/index.php. Retrieved on 2008-08-23. ""Breaking news: the text message is out and it's official... Barack Obama has selected Joe Biden to be his running mate!"" 
  23. ↑ Independent Business Daily News, October, 2008
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