Barack Obama presidential campaign, 2008

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Barack Obama, the junior United States Senator from Illinois, announced his candidacy for the presidency of the United States and in turn, his intention to seek the nomination of the Democratic Party for the 2008 presidential election in Springfield, Illinois on Saturday, February 10, 2007.^[1][2] He announced at the Old State Capitol building where Abraham Lincoln delivered his "House Divided" speech in 1858.^[3]

Contents 1 Campaign development 1.1 Pre-announcement 1.2 Presidential bid 1.3 Opinion polling 2 Support 2.1 Internet supporters 2.2 Endorsements 2.3 Fundraising 3 Controversies 3.1 Comments by Australian Prime Minister John Howard 4 See also 5 References 6 External links

[edit] Campaign development

[edit] Pre-announcement

Obama's keynote speech to the 2004 Democratic National Convention sparked expectations that he would run for the presidency.^[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] Senator Richard Durbin (D-IL) and Illinois State Comptroller Daniel Hynes were early advocates for a 2008 Obama presidential run.^[7][8] Many people in the entertainment community have also expressed readiness to campaign for an Obama presidency, including celebrity television show host Oprah Winfrey, film actors George Clooney and Halle Berry.^[9][10]

In September 2006, Obama was the featured speaker at Iowa Senator Tom Harkin's annual steak fry, a political event traditionally attended by presidential hopefuls in the lead-up to the Iowa caucus.^[11] In December 2006, Obama spoke at a New Hampshire event celebrating Democratic Party midterm election victories in the first-in-the-nation U.S. presidential primary state, drawing 1,500 people.^[12][13]

[edit] Presidential bid

On January 14, 2007, the Chicago Tribune reported that Obama had begun assembling his team for a 2008 presidential campaign to be headquartered in Chicago. His team includes Chicago-based political consultant David Plouffe, who is serving as campaign manager, and Plouffe's partner, David Axelrod, who is serving as a media consultant. Former Commerce Secretary and Gore campaign chairman William Daley is expected to serve in an as-yet-unspecified senior adviser role.^[14]

On January 16, Obama announced via a video on his website that he had formed a presidential exploratory committee. On February 10, he formally announced his candidacy for the presidency. In his announcement speech, Obama evoked the legacy of Abraham Lincoln, saying;

"It was here, in Springfield, where North, South, East and West come together that I was reminded of the essential decency of the American people - where I came to believe that through this decency, we can build a more hopeful America. And that is why, in the shadow of the Old State Capitol, where Lincoln once called on a divided house to stand together, where common hopes and common dreams still live, I stand before you today to announce my candidacy for President of the United States."^[15]

[edit] Opinion polling

Following Obama's interview on Meet the Press, opinion polling organizations added his name to surveyed lists of Democratic candidates. The first such poll (November 2006) ranked Obama in second place with 17% support among Democrats after Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY) who placed first with 28% of the responses.^[16] A Zogby Poll released on January 18, 2007, showed Obama leading the Democratic contenders in the first primary state of New Hampshire with 23% of New Hampshire Democrats supporting Obama. Senator Hillary Clinton and former Senator John Edwards were tied for second place with 19% each.^[17] A Washington Post/ABC News poll on February 26-27, 2007 placed Obama in second place with 24% among likely Democratic primary voters, with Hillary Clinton garnering 36% as the leader.^[18].

Opinion polls in April 2007 differ widely from each other: Obama has been listed in third place nationwide, 24% behind Hillary Clinton and 2% behind John Edwards ^[19] according to an Angus-Reid poll, whereas he has been listed in second place with 29% just 5% behind Clinton and 14% ahead of Edwards in a Rasmussen-Reports poll ^[20]

Polling analysts are expected to take note of whether opinion polling statistics regarding Obama prove to be accurate, or are ultimately subject to the so-called "Bradley effect" observed in some previous American elections.^{[21][22][23][24]} The Bradley effect occurs when a smaller percentage of Caucasian voters, by a statistically significant margin, actually vote for an African American candidate than the percentage of those voters who claimed they were likely to vote for that candidate during pre-election opinion polling.

[edit] Support

[edit] Internet supporters

Many commentators have noted Obama's strong support among social networking sites, such as MySpace and Facebook.com.^[25] Chris Hughes, a Facebook co-founder, called the online surge backing Obama "unprecedented".^[26] One group on Facebook, called "Barack Obama (One Million Strong for Barack)" has become the fastest growing organization on the site with over 318,000 members. On February 2, 2007, Obama attended a rally at George Mason University organized by "Students for Barack Obama", a group that began on Facebook, with several thousand in attendance.^[27] Obama's official website has networking elements, allowing supporters to create their own profile and blog, as well as talk and plan events.

On March 5, 2007, a video mashup was posted on YouTube, mostly comprised of footage from Macintosh's famous 1984 commercial but with Hillary Clinton's face and words in place of Big Brother's. The clip received widespread coverage in the press and has been viewed over 1 million times as of March 21. Barack Obama's campaign has denied responsibility for the ad.^[28]

[edit] Endorsements

Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley endorsed Obama hours after his announcement, abandoning his tradition of staying neutral in Democratic primaries.^[29] A day later, Obama traveled to Ames, Iowa where he was endorsed by Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller and State Treasurer Michael Fitzgerald.^[30] Two sitting governors have endorsed Obama so far, Virginia Governor Tim Kaine and Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich.^[31][32] Additionally, former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-SD) endorsed Obama, citing his "great capacity" to unify the country.^[33] On March 29, 2007 civil rights leader Jesse Jackson announced that he would support Barack Obama for President saying Obama "has my vote". Jackson ran for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1984 and 1988.^[34]

[edit] Fundraising

Chicago billionaire Penny Pritzker currently serves as the national finance chair of the campaign; Pritzker served on the finance committee for Obama's 2004 Senate run. Obama has said he will not accept donations from federal lobbyists or political action committees during the campaign.^[35] While he started to collect private donations for a general election account, Obama asked the Federal Election Commission if he could later return the money if he decided to take public funds. In response, the FEC allowed presidential candidates to take contributions for a general election campaign even if they later decided to accept public money.^[36]

Alan D. Solomont, who led a group that raised $35 million for John Kerry in 2004, has signed on with the campaign, saying Obama "is the sort of person America wants in the White House right now."^[37] Other fundraisers that have joined the campaign include David Geffen, Jeffrey Katzenberg, and Mark Gorenberg.^[38]

On April 4, 2007, Obama's campaign announced that they had raised $25 million in the first quarter of 2007, coming close to Hillary Clinton's $26 million in first quarter contributions. Over 100,000 people donated to the campaign and $6.9 million was raised through the Internet. $23.5 million of Obama's first quarter funds can be used in the primary, the highest of any candidate.^[39]

[edit] Controversies

[edit] Comments by Australian Prime Minister John Howard

Within a day of Obama's campaign announcement, Australian Prime Minister John Howard spoke against Obama's campaign and Democrats in general. He commented on Australia's Channel Nine program Sunday that the Democrats' stance on the Iraq War and Obama's proposed legislation to remove all U.S. soldiers from Iraq by March 2008 would encourage terrorists, saying that al-Qaeda in Iraq should circle March 2008 on their calendar and pray for victory by Obama and the Democratic Party.^[40][41]

Obama responded by saying “I think it's flattering that one of George Bush's allies on the other side of the world started attacking me the day after I announced (my candidacy), I would also note that we have close to 140,000 troops in Iraq and my understanding is Mr Howard has deployed 1400. If he's ginned up to fight the good fight in Iraq, I would suggest he calls up another 20,000 Australians and sends them to Iraq. Otherwise, it's just a bunch of empty rhetoric."^[42]

Kevin Rudd, leader of the opposition Australian Labor Party stated "Mr Howard must not allow his personal relationship with President Bush to impact on Australia's long-term alliance relationship with the United States, The alliance … has prevailed with such strength and certainty because it has always been above party politics."^[43]

Representative Duncan Hunter (R-CA), who is seeking the Republican nomination in 2008, supported Howard's statement and said "I think the Aussies have earned a right to comment on the world stage about their partner in this endeavour because they've been fighting side-by-side with us in Iraq."^[44] However, Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) stated "I would prefer that Mr. Howard stay out of our domestic politics and we will stay out of his domestic politics."^[45]

An article by John Nichols of The Nation says that John Howard singled out Obama due to his African-American heritage. He further states that Howard's criticism of Obama was consistent with a pattern of racial insensitivity and race-baiting campaign tactics from Howard, stating that "Howard came to prominence in Australia as a outspoken critic of multiculturalism and moves to respect and foster diversity. In the 1980s, he pointedly criticized moves to challenge South Africa's apartheid system."^[46]

[edit] See also

• Political positions of Barack Obama

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Official Campaign Website
• Washington Post - The Presidential Field - Barack Obama
• Barack Obama Presidential Campaign at the Open Directory Project (suggest site)

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