Obama's Fairytale

A very ordinary American citizen and an African American, Barack Obama lived his dream to become the powerful man on Earth. Here is how Obama climbed the summit.

1) 2004 Democratic Convention Keynote Speech
Barack Obama was an unknown figure outside of Chicago Politics till 2004. To dash into the national scene, Obama won the Democratic Nominee for US Senate from Illinois. Being an African American Candidate for US Senate, Obama got the opportunity to deliver the keynote address during 2004 Democratic Convention to energize the party base. Obama wrote and delivered a stunning speech talking about national integrity and American values which put him instantly on the national spotlight.

2) Book: Audacity of Hope
Following his popular speech, Obama won the US Senate election on a 2 to 1 majority. Shortly after entering the US Senate, Obama wrote his second book titled Audacity of Hope which was a runaway hit. In his Book, Obama put forth his case for Presidency very smartly. The book was the foundation for his aspirations to run for President at an appropriate time in the future. After intense media speculation Barack Obama announced his candidacy for President of United States in early 2007. However Obama was given remote chance and was considered as an underdog candidate at that time.

3) 2008 US Presidential Campaign
American Presidential Election process kicks off by contesting for the major party nominations by the Presidential candidates of both Democratic and Republican Party. John McCain secured the Republican nomination swiftly without any contest. It was widely believed 2008 US Presidential election will be won by the Democratic Ticket due to Iraq war and other failed policies of Republicans and George Bush. On a Democratic side in which Obama is contesting, Hillary Clinton, (former First Lady) Senator from NY was considered as the de-facto winner for the Democratic Nomination.

4) Iowa Caucus and South Carolina primary. (Grassroots level Campaigning)
Party Nomination races takes its course based on early primary state results. Most of the other states just follow suit. Being an underdog, to stay in the race for the long run, Obama campaign went for solid grassroots level campaigning on the streets of Des Moines and Charleston. Obama received a major boost by securing key victories from both the crucial Iowa Caucus and South Carolina Primary election and became a serious contender for the party nomination. At this point, Obama campaign started to raise Funds using innovative internet marketing strategies at the same proportion as Hillary Clinton and Obama was no longer considered an underdog. However Hillary Clinton still remained as front Runner.

5) Focus beyond Super Tuesday States.
Super Tuesday in American elections is when several states including the delegate rich states like CA and NY go for primary elections. Super Tuesday offered mixed results for Hillary and Obama. After Super Tuesday, Hillary Clinton was no longer the front runner and the democratic race was at dead heat and it was very clear it will go down to the wire. Following Super Tuesday’s victories Obama’s campaign started to raise more funds than Hillary Clinton.
At this point Obama’s campaign team outperformed Hillary’s campaign bid efficiently and swept the next eleven states including the Potomac primaries on a trot. Apparently it was the campaign’s strategy to start focusing on grassroots level campaigning on the 11 states well before the Super Tuesday and internal issues within Hillary’s camp helped Obama to reach an enviable position by surpassing Hillary on the critical pledged Delegate count.

6) Reverend Wright Issue
Reverend Wright (Obama’s pastor for 20 years) racial sermons had the impact of killing Obama’s campaign. Obama proactively addressed the Reverend Wright’s Problem by delivering an exemplary speech on Race. When the campaign realized that Wright’s issue may boomerang again during the General Election, Obama distanced himself from Reverend Wright completely.

7) Front Runner Status

Republican Party uses the winner take all concept in many primary state elections. However Democratic Party rules apply proportional distribution for delegates based on popular vote. Losing out the lead in critical Pledge Delegate count, Hillary’s Campaign realized that it is a tough road and vowed to fight back and did win most of the final round contests. However Obama’s lead was substantial enough and it was just not arithmetically possible for Hillary to pass Obama in the pledged delegate count unless she scores 2 to 1 majority victories to cut the lead. Though Obama lost several key states like OH, TX, and PA to Hillary, Obama kept his lead in the pledged delegate count and number of states won by keeping the margin of defeat well within limits there by retains his Front Runner status.

8) Democratic Nominee: Super Delegates & Media backing
In a tight contest like the one witnessed between Hillary & Obama, Super Delegates (Party officials & Leaders) have the final say in influencing the party’s nominations. Barack Obama’s campaign stayed away from mistakes. Hillary was just hanging in hoping that she can convince the Super Delegates using her political clout by exposing Obama’s inexperience and weakness among blue collar workers. Obama was too smart and put forth his case to the Super Delegates along with huge public support and media backing. Finally Hillary has to call it off as the game was over when all the primaries were over and Super Delegates started fleeing to the Obama camp. Eventually Barack Obama won the prize of the Democratic Nomination. Having secured the Democratic Nomination, Obama had the clear advantage over McCain. From here on it was an easy road for Obama.

9) Major Campaign Decision on Public Financing
Breaking his campaign promise, Obama opted out of Public Finance and decided to raise his own Funds to run for the General Election. This decision of his campaign was one of the key reasons why Obama is the 44th president of the USA. Money does play a key role in American Elections. With the help of huge fund raising machinery, Obama campaign dared the strong Republican machinery and showcase Obama as a household name in every remote city and county. In the run-up to the Election day, Campaign Ads on Radio Stations, Local Networks, Nationwide Infomercials made Obama a well known and a comfortable face to most of the Americans to live with.

10) Vice Presidential Choice & Economic Meltdown.
Obama chose Joe Biden as his running mate for Vice President to offset the Foreign Policy experience which was the forte for McCain’s camp. Obama matched McCain and even fared better than him in the crucial 3 Presidential Debates and presented himself as Presidency material to the skeptical voters. When the American swing and independent voters were ready to make their final decision, Economic Meltdown and Recession fears started to hit the ordinary Americans on the main street. Voters were unable to bear the brunt as they watched their Net worth of retirement accounts drop along with lost Home values from the Subprime crisis. Obama campaign stayed course with the campaign ad “More of the Same as Bush” to attack McCain to hit the final nail in the coffin.

11) Wins General Election - Foregone Conclusion
On the Election Day, Result was a foregone conclusion clearly based on the Election Day events planned by both McCain and Obama. When the polls closed, it was very clear Obama will win a Landslide. Within a few hours, Obama crossed the required 270 mark projection for Electoral College Votes. While McCain delivered his concession speech in a star hotel at Arizona, Obama delivered his rousing victory speech at the Grant Park in Chicago.

http://www.change.gov/ comprehensive Presidential Transition internet portal was launched by Barack Obama within days of victory. This clearly indicates how much Obama Team was confident of the victory as they started internally well in advance of the whole Transition process during the final rounds of the election campaign.

This is the kind of fairytale anyone would want to live in life. This is how Barack Obama lived the fairytale of becoming the 44th president of the United States of America.