Paper Example - The 2008 Obama Elections

Barack Obama was elected the 44th president of the US in November. He was the first black president in the history of the US. His opponent was a Republican from Arizona, Senator John McCain, a former prisoner of war who was at the time making a second bid for the presidency (Segal, 2016). Barack Obama benefitted from a large turnout of voters, particularly among the African Americans and Hispanic voters. Obama led the Democratic Party in a decisive sweep of Congress, putting his party in control of both the Senate and the House by overwhelming numbers. His campaign was marked by the promise to get the country out of Iraq, to cut taxes for most Americans, and the expand health care besides repairing a badly broken economy. This paper will examine the 2008 presidential elections in-depth, particularly the circumstances surrounding President Obama’s historic 2008 election and the impact of his successful use of social media on the Democratic and Republican approaches to the 2016 campaign.

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An Important Victory for Minority Races

In the 1903 book titled The Souls of Black Folk, William Du Bois proposes that the problem of the twentieth century is the problem of the color-line. He explained that all aspects of life in America could only be understood by understanding the relations between the races (Bois, 1903). The book also offered a frank assessment of the progress of the race, the encompassing obstacles, and the future possibilities for the progress as the country progressed in the twentieth century.

In the last chapter, Du Bois demonstrates his pessimism by hinting that he wonders if his dead son is not better off than growing up in a country dominated by the color-line. In essence, Du Bois saw a world where the majority were underrepresented and misrepresented on top of being locked out of important social and economic roles in the leadership of the nation. However, the 2008 Obama elections signaled new dawn in the race relations in America with the overwhelming victory of the first black president.

The election itself signaled a pivotal moment in the race relations as demonstrated by the huge voter turnout and enthusiasm from the minority groups. The enthusiasm among minority voters was a sign that history was happening. For example, throughout the north part of Pittsburg that is a major black district, voters lined up in the dark and cold morning to vote. The enthusiastic voters kept coming and lining up before dawn. In particular, the election also stirred up the cooperation of young black voters, most of them first-time voters.

Most of these young voters from the minority races would otherwise not have been interested in politics and elections at all had it not been for the presence of a black presidential candidate (Burnham, 2009). Barack Obama got the attention of these voters. It was these passionate young voters from the minority groups, especially the black community that led to Obama’s victory in key battleground states such as Ohio, Virginia, and Pennsylvania. It was the greatest voter turnout in almost a hundred years in the majority of the states. The voter turnout is some of the key states were so high that organizers feared that there would be slow lines and lack of ballots (Burnham, 2009). In the end, Obama beat his opponent by almost six million votes in the popular vote.

In contrast to the pessimistic mood set by Du Bois, the 2008 Obama elections were a historic win for race relations because they galvanized the previously overlooked racial groups in American politics. His election attracted the interest and political participation of Black and Hispanic demographics not witnessed in the recent past. Besides, apart from winning the approval of 90% of the Black votes, Obama won votes from the predominantly white community (Burnham, 2009). In particular, he won a significant number of votes from the white male voters, especially those from the working-class demographic. Hence, the 2008 election victory was not simply for Obama alone but also for the Black, Hispanic, and Asian minority races in America.

Overcoming the Challenge Posed by the Latino

By winning 67% of the votes cast by the Latino population, Obama overcame a considerable challenge posed by the Latino voters in America (Burnham, 2009). The Latino population in the US is very diverse and complex. In the end, Obama won the majority of votes from all Latino demographics including from every state, age, gender, and nativity. To understand the complexity of the Latino vote, one needs to dissect the words of Sergio Bendixon, a man who served as the Latino pollster and strategist for Hillary Clinton’s campaign.

Bendixon explained that the Hispanic voters had previously not shown a lot of affinity or willingness to support a black candidate. He went on to stress that the political decision-making of the typical Latino was rooted in racist sentiments towards the black community (Carr, 2008). This problem would later be called Obama’s “Latino Problem” to demonstrate the challenge posed to his victory by the diverse Hispanic population.

Citing the tension between Latino and black communities, Natasha Carillo of East Los Angeles simply explained that many Hispanics were not ready in 2008 for a person of color. In particular, Carillo argued that the older generation was likely to ignore an African-American candidate and vote for a white one. However, she noted that the trend was changing among young Latinos. In other words, the problem of Obama for the Latino community was because he is black. However, as it turned out, this bias was either absent or overstated. Often, the statements were an indication of individual prejudices.

In his short but illustrious political career, Obama had enjoyed extensive support of the Hispanic community. In fact, in challenging Bobby Rush for the Illinois seat in 2000, Obama had won more Latino votes than those from the black community. In 2004, he had received more votes from the Hispanic community than Gerry Chico, a Latino candidate (Burnham, 2009). Hence, Obama had already faced and dealt successfully with the so-called "Latino Problem" earlier in his political career and had proved that the situation was exaggerated.

As it turned out eventually, while most Latino voters did vote for Clinton in the primary, they still viewed Obama favorably. As more voters got acquainted with Obama eventually, the shift resulted in a significant victory for the Democratic candidate on the day of the elections. In the end, the Hispanics were critical in shifted some traditionally Republican states into the Democratic column including Florida, Colorado, Nevada, and New Mexico. The win for Obama signaled that the Latino demographic would in the future be viewed as an active and vital constituency in the US electorate.

The Young Votes and the Social Media

Obama used social media extensively to attract voters in the US, a strategy that was not lost to the Democratic and Republican approaches to the 2016 campaign. In the 2008 presidential election, young people came out in large numbers to vote. Up to 23 million voters under the age of 30 voted, with over two-thirds of them voting for Obama (Burnham, 2009). In particular, young people acted as translators for their communities, especially the second-generation immigrants. These young voters acted as the link between the American political process and their families.

In particular, the young participants translated phone scripts and interpreted important election information and rules. For example, in Columbus, Ohio, there lives a considerable Somali community that had never before exercised power using the ballot. The young people of the Columbus Somali community came together to organize the Somali vote across the entire state (Burnham, 2009). The community was particularly excited about voting for the son of an African to the presidency. They had to start by translating the election rules to the older Somali generation. They ended up translating all key election documents into the Somali language.

Besides, they organized translators for the whole month of early voting in the state and coordinated rides to the polls. Using their status as bilingual second-generation immigrants, these young people were able to involve their elders and parents in the elections just like other groups across the country in various states that were coming from refugee and immigrant families. Often, such young people have not tended to vote simply because they do not feel that they have anything to do with elections (Burnham, 2009). The 2008 election changed this sense of disconnect for millions of young people because they could connect to his non-nuclear, family identity, international, and multiracial identity.

Apart from translating the language, the youth were also cultural translators. Some of the youth groups organized their communities to align with some electoral propositions alongside some shared values. For example, the young women of California under the name SAFIRE chose to spread their message through a YouTube video. Through the video, they asked eligible voters to use their voice to protect theirs.

To make the message more appealing, they made use of attractive images and beats to ask the question “what would you do if you were in my shoes?” Women would talk about the ramifications of a particular proposition to her family and her life (Burnham, 2009). In the end, this Californian Asian group had built a cultural bridge for its community and its members.

A lot of the connection between the political process and the young generation was built online. The internet and social media played a critical role in the 2008 campaign. Over half the adult population that participated in the elections went online to get news, participate, and search for information about the 2008 campaign (Segal, 2016). Obama was the first presidential candidate in the history of the country to build such an extended brand online (Carr, 2008).

Obama made use of smartphones and social media to connect directly with supporters and bypass traditional media. He captured millions of supporters to create content and aid in distribution through Youtube, MySpace, Twitter, and Facebook among other platforms. At the same time, he saved about a hundred million dollars of TV advertisements by simply using social media. The internet and social media also played a critical role in his funding style as he relied on hundreds of thousands of micro-donors instead of mega donations from high profile individuals.

Implications for the Future

The 2008 campaign and the eventual win meant that future elections would have to be fiercely fought online. While most pundits had focused on his race, Obama’s powerful techn0-democratic appeal won him the 2008 elections (Fraser & Dutta, 2008). His victory signaled a major shift from the old style of appealing to those on top of organizations and the appeal was translated into votes and funds. With as much as 46% of the US population capable of using the web, it meant that future campaigns would fiercely be fought online; setting the tone for the 2016 presidential elections that pitted Donald Trump against Hillary Clinton.

In 2016, the internet and social media proved to be a game-changer again. Both presidential candidates extensively used social media with Clinton announcing her bid on Snapchat and Trump having more social media followers than any other candidate, with a particular preference for Twitter. In the end, Trump produced a digital populism that was unexpected of a Republican candidate (Segal, 2016). Both candidates extensively used social media to outline their vision of America and experience among other things.