The 2008 Democratic Primaries Barrack Obama’s victory over Hillary Clinton in the 2008 primaries is attributed to many different reasons, some of which are more complicated than others. These reasons range from racial and gender biases to the inefficiencies of Clinton’s campaign, and Obama’s strategic use of resources. Hillary Clinton was a natural choice for nomination due to her political background, name recognition, and heavy funding, however perhaps she started out her campaign a little too confidently, and as a result, inadvertently let Obama take the lead.1 Obama certainly lacked any sort of name recognition, but the reason his campaign snowballed is simply because he had a more appealing angle.2 Obama was the man the American people …show more content…
The possibility of the first black president in the United States could be seen as hope to the African American community (and all minority groups in general).2 It sends the message to the American people that truly anyone can accomplish anything despite their color. And despite the bias in the African American community toward Obama’s campaign, the fact that a woman or a minority can now have a proper chance at winning presidency strengthens American democracy. That being said, Obama naturally won 90 percent of the African American vote, giving him a necessary tool to contest the …show more content…
Obama did not start off in the lead like Clinton did, but his impressive organizational skills ensured that his campaign would grow exponentially. Clinton already had access to big donors through her connections but Obama was popular enough to attract significant donors as well.1 Not only that, he used the power of the internet to consistently fund his campaign through social-networking.1 Obama at this point had significant donors but also a steady flow of cash coming from the internet. By 2007, both Obama and Clinton rose over $100 million dollars each, and Obama eventually out-rose Clinton by more than double in 2008.1 While Obama was receiving over a million dollars a day at this point, Clinton had been forced to take out loans, ignoring the fact that her campaign was severely weakened at this point.1 With Obama growing financially, he did not have to worry so much about important spending decisions as Clinton had, which gave him the edge in terms of
Gilmore argues that African American male political participation between 1890 and 1898 represented a movement toward greater inclusion. She claims that African American males in politics strove for the balance of power between political parties in North Carolina, and that the Populist-Republican victory in 1896 kept African American votes in contention and maintained some African American men in political office for a short period of time. There was an agreement between African Americans and whites that the “Best Men,” middle class African Americans, were to be the only African Americans to hold office. This was because by being dubbed the “Best Men,” they had met certain standards and were suitable for office according to the white politicians. The “Best Men” clashed with the South’s “New White Man,” who sought to re-monopolize voting rights and political power, as well as to completely dominate African Americans. Gilmore attributes the “New White Man’s” goals to these men’s bitterness towards their fathers who were blamed for the defeat in the Civil War, southern underdevelopment, and black progress. Nonetheless, African American men rapidly increased power in politics when many positions became publicly elected.
Although an effort is made in connecting with the blacks, the idea behind it is not in understanding the blacks and their culture but rather is an exploitative one. It had an adverse impact on the black community by degrading their esteem and status in the community. For many years, the political process also had been influenced by the same ideas and had ignored the black population in the political process (Belk, 1990). America loves appropriating black culture — even when black people themselves, at times, don’t receive much love from America.
The whole article compilation, "44 on 44" by Hooper, Sanchez, and Simanga is exclusively African Americans writing about Obama's election. Therefore, these people would definitely view Obama as some kind of hero and his election a momentous point in history. Muhammad, the boy in Simms' article, saw Obama as a superhero: "Obama as Superhero spoke to Muhammad in a language that was familiar" (11). This boy looks up to the newly elected president so much, but with his struggles as a kid - with little practical jokes played on him and more serious accusations thrown at him - anyone would see Obama as a superhero. One poem by Walker called "Obama Shuffle" thanks people for standing in line to the voting booth, with a reference to African American's past: "chained together" (20). Walker states metaphorically that the years of torture and slavery brought upon the African Americans earlier in history were undone by Obama's inauguration - that is the kind of joy that he feels towards Obama being elected. Trethewey in "Another Country" writes about her mom's troubles in the 1960s due to her marriage to a white man. She mentions how thrilled her mom would be if she was still alive and saw an African American man be elected as president (58). She is saying that since her mom went through a rough couple of decades she would be more appreciative of a black president than other people would. All of these writers feel that simply
The election of Barack Obama to the presidency was a fundamental symbol of unity for all races in America. It highlighted the Americans’ willingness to traverse racial boundaries. In the article, there was a comment by an African American woman who stated, “As an American citizen, I am proud that this country has elected a bi-racial president” showing renewed hope in the issue of racism.” There was also a comment by a white female American citizen who stated, “I was deeply moved by his acceptance speech and I 'm proud of our country for finally getting (at least somewhat) past the race issue” highlighting elation at the thought of having a black president. It is clear that the election of Barack Obama acted as a unifying factor for both the white and the black communities as a whole. The movement tends to be seen as a stride towards the end of
The end of the civil war should’ve marked a major turning point for the position of African Americans. The north’s victory marked the end of slavery and in addition, the fourteenth and fifteenth amendment guaranteed African Americans full civil and political equality. However, the end of the civil war and the beginning of the reconstruction era was seen a ‘false dawn for the slaves in the former confederacy and border states.
During the November 2000 presidential elections, two children tried to make daddy proud. First there was Albert Gore Jr. – the son of a powerful and respected senator of Tennessee – who was no stranger to politics and privilege. As a child he attended the prestigious St. Alban’s School and while growing up, it was common to see then Vice President Richard Nixon as a guest at the family dinner table. Then there was George W. Bush – a third-generation politician, with his grandfather a former senator, his brother the governor of Florida, and his father being former president. The November 2000 presidential elections would become the battle of dynastic supremacy. Whose silver spoon was shiniest? In the end, Bush’s spoon was voted most polished (at least by the electoral standards, certainly not by the popular) and was given the presidential seat. The election had many Americans frustrated, echoing columnist Lars-Erik Nelson’s protest, “Bush’s spectacular career rebuts the notion that America has become a meritocracy, in which we are all born equal and then judged upon our intelligence, talent, creativity, and aggressiveness” (qtd. in Maass 10).
Now that we have a black president, some people tend to believe that we can now move forward and forget about the past. Yes, we made ...
For many years, American Presidents were viewed as being white and powerful leaders. Why were they only white? Is it because Americans felt Blacks were not smart enough to run a country on their own? African Americans were viewed as less dominate people and have been discriminated because of the color of their skin. In 2008, Barack Obama was elected President of the United States making him the first black president ever. In this paper, I will discuss how Barack makes a change and if America can accept him as our first black president.
... to existing problems for many minority groups that eventually changed of over time even if those changes may have took a long time. Many individuals whom have passed on, may have wished that they would have witnessed the day when it really doesn’t matter what your race, color or creed is would have love to be here today. However small amounts of discrimination still exist today race, color, gender , national origin, religion, creed, age, marital status, sexual orientation sad to say, but we are not all the way there as yet, everyone is entitled to equal protection under the law. No one ever believed that we would have ever have a black president (Commander and Chief of the US Military) and we have one now President Barrack Obama, Change is always good when it is for the people in regards to Equal rights and Justice for all.
Large campaign contributions from individuals, groups, and corporations have always been a hot topic in politics. Money and popularity are how elections are won. Whomever has the most money, and the most contributions is able to get their name out into the eye of the public. Usually, in American presidential elections, the most well funded parties are the Republican, and Democratic parties. By November 26, 2011, Barack Obama along with the democratic party, and Priorities USA Action Super PAC raised 1072.6 million dollars for their campaign, while Mitt Romney, the Republican party and Restore Our Future Super PAC raised 992.5 million dollars total for their campaign. Almost
...een achieved. The first African American president was elected in 2008. A black man could never dream of being in such a high office during the 1960s. It is illegal to segregate in America. Every man is granted the same rights.
It is hard to believe that after electing a minority president, the United States of America can still be seen as a vastly discriminatory society. A question was posed recently after a viewing of Dr. Martin Luther King’s “I have a dream…” speech of whether his dream has become a reality. After consideration, a majority of the viewers said no. Although many steps have been taken to improve racial equality in America, there is still no way to legislate tolerance. Dr. King’s message of equality for all has been lost in a black and white struggle over the taken meaning of his context. Until our society can allow all people to live in peace we will never truly achieve King’s dream. Case in point, referring to President Obama as our "our First Black President" should not be considered a statement of pride over how far we have come. Placing this racial qualifier, even in a positive light, only serves to point out his minority status, not the fact that he is the President of the United States. According to Dr. King's dream, a man or woman, black or white, would be viewed as President without qualifying their differences from mainstream America.
The Democratic presidential nomination process has changed over time. The 1984 election led the Republican candidate, Ronald Reagan, to victory with 49 states, while the Democratic nominee, Walter Mondale, only won the electoral votes in two states. Due to the 1984 election, the Democrats were left “defeated and dispirited” (Valelly, 2010). The Democrats then figured out that the party reforms were controlled by...
Social media including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Youtube, Flicker, internet websites, and blogs are becoming mainstream attracting a younger more technology savvy voter. Many candidates in the last elections learned to use these mediums so not to overlook tech savvy voters and learned how to use these to their advantage. Candidates took to the internet to raise awareness, state views, and even successfully raised donations. Social media was able to provide instant feedback on the standing of a candidate often days or weeks sooner than a more traditional poll.
Voting rights was one of the number one issues that black people had to face because those who were in charge of the voting poll made it hard for black folks. For example, they ...