February 10, 2007: Nine Years Later

"On a frigid Springfield day in February 2007, Barack Obama stood before 17,000 supporters 'in the shadow of the Old State Capitol, where Lincoln once called on a divided house to stand together,' and announced his candidacy for President of the United States.

"It had been less than three years since he became a national figure and he'd spent much of that time building an organization that would spread his message and raise money through cutting edge technology and smart analysis of what it would take to win..."

Excerpt from "Kings's Dream: Barack Obama Becomes President of the United States of America"

Today, exactly nine years later, President Obama returns to Springfield to address the Illinois General Assembly to talk about “what we can do, together, to build a better politics - one that reflects our better selves.”

We can't help but appreciate the values displayed by Mr. Obama and his family throughout the past nine years. Especially at a time when the current election is chock full of bombast, dirty tricks, racism and sexism, the contrast between our president and the 'wannabees' is striking.

And we applaud the classiness shown by David Brooks of the New York Times, an opponent of many of the president's policies, in praising Mr. Obama's character and leadership:

"Obama radiates an ethos of integrity, humanity, good manners and elegance that I'm beginning to miss, and that I suspect we will all miss a bit, regardless of who replaces him."

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For a compelling history of the 2008 campaign, as told by news media, politicians, and ordinary people, see King's Dream: Barack Obama Becomes President of the United States of America.

The Artful Smear

In November 2008, when Barack Obama was elected president, the nation’s economy was in shambles, unemployment was high, and two unpopular wars in the Middle East raged. The Onion, a satirical news group proclaimed, “Black Man Given Nation’s Worst Job.”

President Obama has done that job while facing a long list of personal challenges. He has continually faced allegations that he was not born in the U.S. (He was in fact born in Hawaii), is secretly a Muslim (He is in fact Christian), and that he is not a patriot. (Seriously.) The volatile question of Race has consistently dogged him in both overt and insidious ways.

Hillary Clinton’s political campaigns have repeatedly brought Sexism out of hiding. T-Shirts proclaiming “Bros before Hos,” and products like the “Hillary Nutcracker,” spawned humorous media stories and were widely sold on the Internet in 2008. Female politicians “cannot be unkempt…they have to be carefully coifed and scripted at all times…they can’t be too quiet or too loud, too emotional or too cold, too meek or too aggressive.” They should “be pretty, but not too pretty.”

Meanwhile, Mrs. Clinton’s opponent in the 2016 presidential contest enjoys labels like “sincere” and “authentic” in spite of or because of his unkempt hair, ill-fitting suits, and unpolished accent. Everybody’s crazy grandpa Bernie Sanders, is drawing large crowds and calling for “political revolution.”

In 1968, The Beatles’ John Lennon wrote Revolution, a song that the “political left” viewed as a betrayal of their cause. But Lennon was alarmed by anti-war protests that had become extreme (“count me out”) and expressed doubt about destructive political tactics of the time.

In the days before the recent Iowa caucuses, Mr. Sanders’ supporters became extremely vocal with derogatory and misogynistic messages aimed at Mrs. Clinton. And on caucus night the Sanders rally took a “darker turn” with ugly chants of “she’s a liar” and loud boos when her image appeared on the room’s large screens. Indeed, the Sanders staff had to turn off the televisions. And they’ve cautioned the “Bernie Bros” to tone it down.

This week, President Obama made his first visit to a mosque in America, seeking to rebut “inexcusable political rhetoric against Muslim-Americans" from Republican presidential candidates. As a man who spent his childhood partly in Asia among Muslims, Mr. Obama wants to change the world by countering a “warped image of Islam.” As one of his young Muslim-American advisors said, “you can make it if you try in America - no matter who you are or how you pray.”

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For a compelling history of the 2008 campaign, as told by news media, politicians, and ordinary people, see King's Dream: Barack Obama Becomes President of the United States of America.

On January 23, 2008: Don’t Be Fooled

Days before the South Carolina primary in 2008, then-Senator Barack Obama told a crowd gathered in Sumter to be wary of others’ remarks that Mr. Obama could not win the election. He spoke in a style he knew his audience would understand:

“Don’t be confused when you start hearing a whole bunch of this negative stuff. Those are the same old tricks. They’re trying to bamboozle you. It’s the same old okey doke……Don't let people turn you around, because they're just making stuff up! That's what they do. They try to bamboozle you…. to hoodwink you!"

Eight years later, on January 20, 2016, President Obama visited the Detroit Auto Show. He wanted to shine a light on Detroit and the recovery of the automobile industry, but the water crisis in nearby Flint, Michigan - a largely poor, African American community - dominated the news.

When Flint officials changed the water supply source two years ago, residents almost immediately began complaining about the color and smell of the water. Their concerns were repeatedly ignored until it became a full blown crisis featuring lead poisoning and resignations from the governor’s office. Authorities had tried to bamboozle the people, but the people pressed on.

People have been rising up against other “okey dokes” too.

Police mistreatment and killing of African Americans in cities around the country, and the recent outrage at the all-white list of Oscar nominees, have spotlighted ongoing wrongs that people apparently aren’t letting go anymore.

Recently, Tavis Smiley - no friend of President Obama - wrote a book showing how Black Americans have lost ground on every leading economic issue over the past 10 years. And GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump tweeted: “President Obama, an African-American, has done a terrible job for African-Americans.”

Those charges will get sorted out over time. But for now, we see people fired up against injustices, calling out the “okey dokes,” and getting results.

The day after President Obama told the people of Flint he ‘had their back,’ one of the prisoners freed in the recent Iran Deal arrived home. In an ironic twist, Amir Hekmati came home to Flint, Michigan.

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For a compelling history of the 2008 campaign, as told by news media, politicians, and ordinary people, see King's Dream: Barack Obama Becomes President of the United States of America.

#StopGunViolence

“It’s not where you do it, it’s what you do.”

With those words aimed at gun sellers, President Obama announced yesterday morning new executive actions targeted at background-check reporting for gun sales on the Internet and in gun shows.

He also spoke directly to critics who “try to twist my words around.” “I get it,” he said, “but I also believe we can find ways to reduce gun violence consistent with the Second Amendment.”

The president became emotional when speaking of over a dozen mass shootings during his 7 years in office, in particular the shootings of first graders at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut.

“The gun lobby is loud and it is organized in defense of making it effortless for guns to be available for anybody, anytime,” said Mr. Obama. “Well, you know what? The rest of us, we all have to be just as passionate. We have to be just as organized in the defense of our kids.”

Tomorrow night, President Obama will appear on CNN television for a one-hour live town hall on the subject of gun control. The program begins at 8pm ET. It is titled “Guns in America.”

The gun issue will no doubt also be raised in the president’s upcoming final State of the Union address on January 12, and during the Democratic and Republican Debates to be held the last weeks of January.

Actual voters have their turn to speak starting in February when the 2016 Caucus and Primary season begins.


Source of the president's speech: Washington Post


For a compelling history of the 2008 campaign, as told by news media, politicians, and ordinary people, see King's Dream: Barack Obama Becomes President of the United States of America.

On January 1, 2008: Milestone Money - The Race is On

As revelers rang in the new year of 2008, Democrats Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton had each surpassed the $100 million fundraising mark in their presidential campaigns. According to the Washington Post, this was the first time two candidates had eclipsed that milestone before a single primary/caucus vote was cast.

Today, as the 2016 campaign begins in earnest, no single candidate - Democrat or Republican - has raised $100 million*. Due to the "Citizen's United" ruling in 2010, half of the reported money so far has come from donations to groups like "Super PACs" (that are not subject to limits) rather than to individuals.

Republican Jeb Bush and his PACs have raised the most money so far ($133 million) but he is polling at only 4% in the latest National Quinnipiac Poll. The unlikeliest candidate, Donald Trump, tops the poll at 28%, but has been personally financing his campaign. On the Democratic side, Mrs. Clinton leads rival Bernie Sanders in both money raised ($98 million vs. $42 million) and the latest poll numbers (61% vs. 30%).

Compared to the current presidential campaign, the 2008 election seems almost quaint. Today's dollars are mind-boggling (over $560 million for 23 candidates so far). And although the concept of politics-on-social-media got its start at the turn of the century, today's campaigns live there. Tweets fly and the nightly news is made.

For the rest of this year, we plan to post interesting contrasts and comparisons between this election and 2008. We hope you will follow along.


*Source: Candidate reports filed with the Federal Election Commission on finances through September 30. "Which Presidential Candidates are Winning the Money Race," New York Times, October 15, 2015.

For a compelling history of the 2008 campaign, as told by news media, politicians, and ordinary people, see King's Dream: Barack Obama Becomes President of the United States of America.