Department of Political Science

Transcription

1 Department of Political Science Congress and the Obama Presidency Amber Dees At the outset of the 2008 nomination season, New York Senator Hillary Clinton was expected to capture the Democrat Party nomination for president without much contest. Due to the political climate of the nation at the time, winning the nomination would have almost guaranteed her the presidency. The Democrat Party base was energized, the economy was deteriorating, and George W. Bush faced record levels of unpopularity. Instead, Barack Obama, a little know first term Illinois Senator, would rise from the back of the pack to not only win the Democrat Party nomination, but also become the nation s youngest and first nonsouthern Democrat president since John F. Kennedy reigned over Camelot. More importantly, he would also become America s first African American president. This paper will look at the political, social, and demographic factors that led to Barack Obama s history making rise to President of the United States of America.

2 James Cochran The election of our country's forty fourth President, Barack Obama is a unique and special one to say the least. It's amazing for a multitude of reasons, most obvious being the fact that he broke down the race barrier that had been long established in the United States, by becoming the first black man to lead our great country. It was a special moment in our history that November night. President Obama's election was the most unprecedented election in the history of our country, from the mans unique background, not having even served a full Senate term, and of course him being the first black man to receive a major party's Presidential nomination. It was everything that was and still is great about this country. However beyond the obvious external factors of the 2008 Presidential election, what were the political, social, and demographic factors that cultivated the environment for the election of Barack Obama? In essence how was this man elected? What allowed to him to correctly maneuver the undriven path to being the first black man in the oval office? And, what led to his many opponents meeting their ultimate demise?

3 Ashley Kendrick There are many factors that led up to the election of President Barack Obama some that were for the good of his victory and some that were bad, but for the most part the journey was good and lead to a successful victory over Senator John McCain. He ran a very good campaign rising over $750 million. Some have called the election of 2008 The Election of Our Lifetime meaning that the achievements that President Obama made were ones that no one had ever seen and or may never see again, because if the amount of money he raised. The next Presidential election will be very hard to meet the same standards that President Obama meet and accomplished. The times that Obama are facing are hard and Americans are looking for a change and need something new in areas of healthcare and the recession. There are many different factors that led to President Obama s election in the areas of political, social, and demographic trends. President Obama was going to succeed President George W. Bush when he would be elected, a man whose approval ratings were high when he was elected and were very low by the time Barack Obama would be elected and people were looking to someone who had a plan for change that would better the country in areas of healthcare, the recession, and the war. President Bush had to make hard decisions on the War Against Terrorist, the economy, and the Hurricane Katarina. Some Americans were in favor of his decisions but there were some who thought that Obama could come in and change how things were working and that he would do a better job in other situations. Obama campaigned that he would be pulling troops out of the Middle East and that he would only raise taxes on the upper class American. That sounded great to the people and they were excited about electing him into office.

4 Vanessa Lewis On November 4, 2008, millions of Americans went to the polls to vote for the candidate who would become the 44th president of the United States of America. To not only the nation but the world s astonishment, Barack Obama won and his ground-breaking victory made history as the young senator overcame centuries of racial prejudice to become the first African American president. His victory however, was not easily won. Obama first had to secure the Democratic Party s nomination for president in a close primary race against Senator Hilary Clinton. Once this was accomplished, Obama went after the big title. With his financial advantage, Obama used unprecedented fundraising to campaign all over the country, getting his message of change out and mobilizing the youth and minority groups. The political environment of 2008, including the economy, the wars and disapproval of Republican President George Bush, also gave Obama an advantage. Other factors such as the issues, the media, and Obama s appealing personality affected voters on election day. This combination of political, social and demographic trends culminated in his favor and paved the way to the White House for Barack Obama.

5 Rose Kennedy This paper exemplifies the successful strategies Obama utilized during his presidential campaign to capture the votes of many Americans, which led to his election as the 44th President of the United States. History was made on November 4, 2008 when America elected its first African American President. The thesis identifies the political, social, and demographic trends that led to President Obama s successful election. Finally, this 21st century campaign will always be remembered as the election that woke up America s youth through its innovative media and Web strategies to enthuse Americans to get out and vote.

6 Robert Nichols This paper will reexamine data from the 2008 presidential election and will refute the conventional wisdom that a racial bias negatively impacted Barack Obama s successful bid for the presidency. This paper will offer an alternate thesis that President Obama benefited from a racial bias from black voters that is continually present for a Democrat candidate over a Republican candidate. Exit poll statistics will be used to show that President Obama s received an even greater benefit than normal from this bias and that if the perceived racial bias existed, it manifested itself in low voter turnout amongst white voters and support for the Republican candidate.