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How Barack Obama made history

Obama benefited from blunders committed by the Clinton camp, among them the failure to appreciate the importance of the Iowa caucuses; an expectation the race would end swiftly, leaving the candidate flat-footed and broke when it didn’t; and, perhaps above all, Clinton’s decision to run as the candidate of experience at a time when Democratic voters were ravenous for change. “The question was, was Hillary Clinton really the remedy? It was our supposition, based on everything we could see, and intuition, that Barack represented the starkest departure from Bush and from the kind of politics that people were really recoiling from in Washington,” said Obama’s chief strategist David Axelrod.

Obama benefited from blunders committed by the Clinton camp, among them the failure to appreciate the importance of the Iowa caucuses; an expectation the race would end swiftly, leaving the candidate flat-footed and broke when it didn’t; and, perhaps above all, Clinton’s decision to run as the candidate of experience at a time when Democratic voters were ravenous for change.

“The question was, was Hillary Clinton really the remedy? It was our supposition, based on everything we could see, and intuition, that Barack represented the starkest departure from Bush and from the kind of politics that people were really recoiling from in Washington,” said Obama’s chief strategist David Axelrod.  (Barbara Davidson / Los Angeles Times)

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Obama Iowa

Obama’s win in the overwhelmingly white state of Iowa was crucial in sending a message to black voters.

“That took what everyone presumed would have been a Clinton asset — the support of the African American community — and turned it into an Obama asset,” said Bill Carrick, a Democratic strategist and South Carolina native, who stayed neutral in the nominating fight.

It can be strongly argued that Hillary Clinton’s third-place finish in Iowa marked the beginning of the end of her candidacy, which had always been predicated on a string of early wins.  (Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times)

Super Tuesday

One big break for Obama came in South Carolina from an unlikely source: former President Clinton, who soured some voters on the Clintons and their combative style of politics by injecting race into the campaign, underlining Obama’s promise to bring a fresh approach to Washington.

In their private calculations, the Obama camp expected their candidate to end Super Tuesday trailing Clinton by about 100 elected delegates. Instead, he won 13 of the 23 states and finished with a lead of 30 elected delegates.  (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

Pastor Jeremiah Wright

A flap over Obama’s incendiary ex-minister, the Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright, scared away some voters in the last few states, but not superdelegates. Undeterred, they steadily streamed toward the presumptive nominee.  (Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images)

Harold Ickes

Clinton was dealt a setback Saturday when the Democratic National Committee agreed to give Michigan and Florida delegates a half-vote at the convention. The motion, particularly the Michigan plan, was vehemently fought by her representative, Harold Ickes, center.  (Susan Walsh / Associated Press)

Endgame

Clinton campaigned too long and too loftily as a front-runner, following the old rules of politics, emphasizing the past, downplaying her own attempt to make history as the nation’s first woman president. It was no match for Obama’s message of hope and change, embodied by his breaking of racial barriers and the new blood he drew into the political system.

“We didn’t have the burden of expectations and a life-long career path,” said David Plouffe, Obama’s campaign manager. “We were very much, ‘If it works out, it works out.’”  (Emmanuel Dunand / AFP/Getty Images)

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