A Desirable Party Affiliation and a Tactical Approach

Abstract

There are many factors that contribute to Barack Obama becoming the 44th president of the United States. His personal life was a quintessential aspect in which he won majority to take a term in office. He is an appealing, personable individual to voters, and avoided the alienation of any individual group ensuring that Americans could move forward as a unified nation. He has a background that depicts the typical “American Dream” (Horsley) as his early life is well documented, where he essentially made something out of nothing. And as his personal life came under the microscope during the presidential race, Americans discovered a family man and a dedicated father to two girls. This demonstration of the “American Dream” gave the voters hope (Obama), because if a disadvantaged boy from Hawaii could vie for president then the dreams of any individual could be reached (Rowland, 218).

A Desirable Party Affiliation and a Tactical Approach

The opposing nature of platform and ideology between the Republicans and the Democrats was a salient factor vital to Obama’s election success. His predecessor, George W. Bush, left a bad impression among Americans in contrast with the Clinton Administration, who led a time of prosperity (Inside Gov). Thus, Americans looked forward to beating the financial crisis and improving national welfare with the possibility of another Democratic administration. In addition to publicly expected redirections in fiscal policy (Scotto, 546), Obama’s approach to the election directly contrasted McCain’s campaign tactics, as Obama utilized the instantaneous nature of the Internet to establish a closer relationship with younger voters (Keeter); the person, the image, and his vision were thusly accessible by the entire nation. A comprehensive understanding of who he was throughout the public helped Obama establish a notion of trust, and Obama’s team made sure to capitalize on this through extensive campaigning and constant repositioning (Boyle, 104).

A Newcomer and a Minority

Serving as a two-term state legislator and having only spent two years in the United States Senate, Obama had minimal experience as compared to his republican rival, John McCain. With the number of significant posts McCain had held and the years that had shaped him as a presidential candidate, it can be said that McCain held significantly more experience and knowledge as a politician (Rowland, 215). McCain had become a member of the House of congress in 1987, while Obama never entered the House of Congress, and only joined the Illinois senate in 1997 and the U.S. Senate in 2005. Point in fact; his relatively young political career is one of the major factors that made him an improbable presidential candidate in the 2008 election.

Racism in the form of the traditional hegemony of White males over government office was an inevitable obstacle Obama had to conquer to stand any chance in winning the election. With regards to white skin privilege as described by Cromartie, as well as the social constructs of institutional racism and white nationalism (Cromartie, 1653-1654), Obama was called into question for his racial background twice: once during the Democratic primary battle, and again during the actual Presidential Race. He would encounter many remarks made by Clinton and her campaign that contained severe racial implications, as well as attempted racial fear mongering by the McCain campaign. He faced a political phenomenon known as the Bradley effect, where respondents in pre-election polls select alternate options as compared to their real election choices due to their real preference being perceived as socially unacceptable. He would also encounter problems even at the early onset of his campaign; polls conducted Stanford and Columbia University revealed that a clear bias existed, with high correlations suggesting that race was a deciding factor for a significant portion of the voting population (Cromartie, 1655-1656).