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 7, 2008: Hillary’s Emotional Moment

The day before the New Hampshire primary in 2008, pollster John Zogby reported that Barack Obama had “rocketed” to a 10-point lead over Hillary Clinton in that state.

That same day, Mrs. Clinton showed a rare emotional side while speaking to a group of 15 women in a Portsmouth cafe. “It’s not easy,” she said, beginning to tear up. “I just believe so strongly in who we are as a nation so I’m going to do everything I can to make my case and leave it to the voters to decide.”

If that Zogby poll was correct, it seems that more than 15 voters changed their minds about Mrs. Clinton that day. She won the 2008 New Hampshire primary the very next day.

Yesterday, President Obama teared up while talking about gun violence. Pew research from last July shows the public’s broad support for expanded background checks, so the president knew he was speaking to an agreeing audience. But his emotional moment may have changed even more hearts and minds.

The public likes its politicians and presidents to be human and often rewards them for it.


Tonight, 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.”

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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 4, 2008: Hope Over Fear

The day after the 2008 Iowa caucuses, then-Chicago-Tribune reporter Michael Tackett wrote about the win by then-Senator Barack Obama.

“In the end, Iowans voted for a smile,” wrote Tackett, “They chose conciliation over combat, personality over pedigree, hope over fear.”

Tackett noted that voters were “intrigued by a different kind of politics,” and that despite repeated advice pushing Obama to attack his opponent Hillary Clinton, Obama refused.

Throughout his presidency, Mr. Obama has mostly kept smiling - despite a cacophony of despicable words and deeds unleashed by his opponents. Haters gonna hate…

Only time will reveal the true legacy of the Obama Presidency. But after 7 years in office, the president can point to hundreds of accomplishments. And in this his last year, he has pledged to keep working for the American people, and to “leave it out all on the field.”


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.

On January 3, 2008: Iowa Rewards Obama

Then Senator Barack Obama won the Iowa Caucus on January 3, 2008.

While many urged him to go on the attack against Hillary Clinton, he did not. Iowa rewarded him, and with a record turnout. Mr. Obama took 37.6% of the delegates' votes, While Mrs. Clinton had 27.5%. Compared to 2004, nearly twice as many Democrats turned out and they outnumbered Republican caucus voters by more than two to one.

After his win, Mr. Obama spoke at a packed Des Moines, Iowa rally:

"They said this country was too divided, too disillusioned to ever come together around a common purpose. But on this January night, at this defining moment in history, you have done what the cynics said we couldn’t do."

Mike Huckabee scored Iowa's GOP victory, carried largely by evangelical voters.

After receiving only very small percentages of the Iowa votes, Senators Biden and Dodd dropped out of the presidential race.

Come Together

In September 2008, the Barack Obama presidential campaign was foundering - taken off-guard when John McCain's VP pick Sarah Palin began to dominate the news. With prominent Democrats fretting over tight poll numbers, Mr. Obama paid a visit to the master.

Bill Clinton had been a fiercely vocal opponent of Obama during Hillary's run at the nomination but - with the party's best interests in mind - the two former rivals met for lunch and chat at Clinton's office in Harlem on September 11, 2008.

At the Democratic National Convention last week, the Obama campaign once again called on Clinton, who gave a rousing speech in support of Obama that has been lauded by both left and right. Yesterday, Clinton spoke to voters in Florida, and plans additional speeches in other swing states.

Clinton is the only Democrat to serve two presidential terms since Franklin Delano Roosevelt. President Obama hopes to join the club in November.

Bickering and Bouncing

On September 8, 2008, David Remnick of The New Yorker wrote of the historic significance of the Barack Obama vs. Hillary Clinton Democratic Primary campaign: "No banality of cable news commentary - not even the mad bickering among the anchors on MSNBC - could eclipse the meaning and the emotion of their prolonged race, the Party's dramatic reconciliation, and Obama's fiercely eloquent acceptance speech."

In 2012, the Dem and GOP campaigns and party nominations are less historically significant, MSNBC had no bickering anchors (although Chris Matthews made some news), GOP presenters promoted themselves more than their candidate, and the media is abuzz with charges that President Obama's speech was "flat."

Post-convention poll numbers are already rolling in, and as of Friday, September 7, Gallup shows President Obama with a 4-point lead over Mitt Romney, 49% to 45%.

Team of Rivals

Hillary Clinton addressed the Democratic Convention on Tuesday night, August 26, 2008. Though she and Barack Obama had been fierce rivals during the lengthy primary campaign, she declared Obama to be "my candidate and he must be our president." The convention floor became a sea of white "Hillary" signs, soon replaced by signs reading "Unity."

In her speech, she noted that her mother was born before women could vote. "But in this election, my daughter got to vote for her mother for President."

Clinton went on to become President Obama's widely admired Secretary of State. Federal regulations and the State department's ethics rules prevent her from attending the 2012 Democratic Convention.

Obama's Cabinet

In 2008, candidate Obama was inspired by Doris Kearns Goodwin's book about Abraham Lincoln and told Time Magazine's Joe Klein that he wanted a "team of rivals" in his own cabinet.

Todd Purdum examines the issue in a July 2012 article for Vanity Fair.

Vice President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton were Obama rivals during the primary campaign. Ray LaHood, a Republican from Illinois, is Obama's Transportation Secretary. Obama retained Robert Gates from the Bush administration, and selected seeming-non-loyalists Tim Geithner to run Treasury and Leon Panetta to run the C.I.A. (Gates and Panetta later switched jobs.)

Purdum traces the evolution of presidents' cabinets and notes that the power and usefulness cabinet members used to wield is now based in White House staff members, whose numbers have grown through the years.

More Satire

On July 15, 2008, JibJab Media released a hilarious election season parody to "bid farewell to Bush and give Obama and McCain a proper JibJab hazing!"

Enjoy!  jibjab.com/originals/time_for_some_campaignin

Show Me the Money

On June 26, 2008, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton showed each other the money, trading checks at an event designed to help heal the rifts caused in the primary campaign. Read more about it in the new book, King's Dream.