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Barack Obama 2012 presidential campaign

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Obama for America
Campaign2012 United States presidential election
CandidateBarack Obama
President of the United States
Joe Biden
Vice President of the United States
AffiliationDemocratic Party
StatusAnnounced Candidacy: April 4, 2011
Presumptive Nominee: April 3, 2012
Official Nominee: September 6, 2012
Won Election: November 6, 2012
Headquarters130 East Randolph Street
Chicago, IL 60601[1]
Key peopleJim Messina (Campaign Manager)
David Axelrod (Senior Strategist)
Stephanie Cutter (Deputy Campaign Manager)
Brent Colburn (Communications Director)
Matthew Barzun (Finance Chairman)
Ben LaBolt (National Press Secretary)
ReceiptsUS$738,503,770 (2012-12-31[2])
SloganForward
Website
www.barackobama.com
2012 U.S. presidential election
Democratic Party
Republican Party
Minor parties
Related races
← 2008 2012 2016 →
This article is part of
a series about
Barack Obama
Personal
Illinois State Senator and U.S. Senator from Illinois
44th President of the United States
Tenure
Policies
Appointments
Presidential campaigns
Barack Obama's signature
Seal of the President of the United States

The 2012 reelection campaign of Barack Obama, the 44th President of the United States, was formally announced on April 4, 2011.[3][4] Along with his running mate, Vice President Joe Biden,[5] Barack Obama was opposed in the general election by former Governor Mitt Romney, of Massachusetts, along with various[6][7] minor candidates from other parties. The election took place on Tuesday, November 6, 2012.

Obama's campaign headquarters was in Chicago and key members of Obama's successful 2008 campaign, such as Jim Messina and David Axelrod, returned to staff it.[8] On the day of the announcement, the campaign released a promotional video showing supporters of Obama organizing for the re-election effort.[6] As The Guardian newspaper noted, this was the first U.S. presidential re-election campaign to use Twitter and Facebook for promotion.[7]

Between the beginning of 2011 and June 30, 2012, the Obama campaign and supporters spent approximately $400 million, according to the Federal Election Commission.[9] Obama won his re-election bid by a margin of 51.06%-47.21%.[10] This was the first time since 1944, when President Franklin D. Roosevelt won re-election, that a Democratic president had won by a majority of the electoral votes and over 51% of the popular vote twice.[11]

Early stages

See also: Presidency of Barack Obama and Political positions of Barack Obama

On January 20, 2009, Barack Obama was inaugurated as the 44th President of the United States. On April 4, 2011, President Obama officially announced his candidacy for re-election.[7] The announcement was made via an online video titled "It Begins With Us", posted on his campaign website. The President also filled out official forms with the FEC at that time.[12]

President Obama did not face a significant challenge in the Democratic primaries, with no other candidate on the ballot in all but seven states. On April 3, 2012, Obama won the Maryland and District of Columbia primaries, giving him more than the required 2778 delegates to secure the nomination.[13] On April 30, 2012 the campaign announced that its slogan would be "Forward".[14]

The campaign was based in Chicago in One Prudential Plaza, instead of in Washington, D.C., where all other modern incumbent presidents had their re-election headquarters.[15][16] The decision to base the campaign outside of Washington was said have been taken so as to ensure grassroots support for the re-election.[17]

Fundraising

Main article: Fundraising for the 2012 United States presidential election

The campaign began accepting online donations on April 4, 2011, the day Obama announced his candidacy. In the first 24 hours after online donations began to be accepted, over 23,000 online donations of $200 or less were made.[18] President Obama headlined his first campaign fundraiser in April 2011 in Chicago. He also headlined fundraisers in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and New York in April 2011.[19] On April 29, 2011, it was announced that Matthew Barzun, the United States Ambassador to Sweden, would serve as finance chairman.[20] Many sources claim that the campaign may be the first campaign in U.S. history to raise more than one billion dollars.[21][22][23][24] In March 2011, Campaign Chairman Jim Messina asked a group of 450 top donors to raise $350,000.[25] During the second fundraising quarter of 2011 (the first of the campaign), the campaign raised a record amount of $86,000,000.[26] As of May 3, 2012, Obama and his team have held 130 fundraisers.[27]

More than 550,000 individuals donated towards the campaign in the second quarter of 2011, which is a much larger number than the 180,000 individuals who donated to Obama's 2008 campaign during the first half of 2007.[28] From the beginning of the campaign to December 31, 2011, more than 1.3 million individual donated to the campaign.[29] The LGBT community had donated a record amount so far to the campaign.[30] As of March 31, 2012, the campaign had raised $191.7 million.[31]

On May 10, 2012, Obama attended a fundraiser in the Los Angeles home of actor George Clooney, which raised over $15 million. The fundraiser was initially estimated to raise about $10 million, but after Obama's historic announcement of his support for same-sex marriage, the amount went up significantly. Many believed that the LGBT community and activists would donate historic amounts after the announcement.[32]

Obama's campaign is also supported by Priorities USA Action, an independent expenditure PAC founded by several former Obama campaign officials, but legally prohibited from coordinating with the candidate or his campaign.[33][34][35]

Getting out the vote

Obama thanking his volunteers on Election Day

The Obama campaign was highly effective in getting out the vote, in using technology to identify voters, and in capitalizing on growing segments of the voting population. "President Obama won re-election, not by going after independent voters, but by going after emerging groups in the U.S. population. By race, age and gender, voters made clear that America is made up of many parts, and the Obama team captured more of them, and delivered more of them to the polls."[36]

Events leading up to the election

Presidential debates

Main article: United States presidential election debates, 2012

Hurricane Sandy

Main articles: Hurricane Sandy and Political impact of Hurricane Sandy

Hurricane Sandy affected the presidential campaign as well as local and state campaigns in storm-damaged areas, as it hit the New England coast a week before the election. New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, one of Mitt Romney's leading supporters, praised President Barack Obama and his reaction to the hurricane and toured storm-damaged areas of his state with the president.[37] Obama signed emergency declarations on October 28 for several states expected to be impacted by Sandy, allowing them to request federal aid and make additional preparations in advance of the storm.[38] According to Karl Rove and Bill Clinton, the hurricane and its aftermath ended up helping Obama; the hurricane drew attention away from the campaigns and Obama was able to take a bipartisan position and be "presidential".[39][40] The event sparked debates and discussions on climate change, which had been ignored by both parties prior to the event.[41]

Election

On November 6, 2012, Obama was re-elected for his second term as President of the United States. He won 65,899,660 popular votes and 332 electoral votes, two states short of his 2008 victory. In his victory speech in Chicago, he promised to "sit down with" Mitt Romney to discuss a bipartisan future for the United States.[42]

Structure

Campaign staff and policy team

Many key people from the successful 2008 campaign returned. David Axelrod, who was in charge of Media in 2008 and who worked in the White House as a Senior Advisor to the President from 2009 until 2011, returned to Chicago to work on the campaign as the top communications official.[43] Jim Messina, who worked in the White House as Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations from 2009 until 2011, moved to Chicago to serve as campaign manager.[44][45][46] Matthew Barzun, the United States Ambassador to Sweden, served as finance chairman.[20] Jennifer O'Malley Dillon, who worked at the Democratic National Committee as an executive director, was named deputy campaign manager.[47] The other deputy campaign manager was Julianna Smoot, who was the 2008 finance director and was briefly the White House Social Secretary.[48] Ben LaBolt served as national press secretary. LaBolt worked for Sherrod Brown's 2006 Senate campaign, as Obama's senate press secretary, for the 2008 campaign, as a deputy White House Press Secretary, and for Mayor of Chicago Rahm Emanuel,[47] Katie Hogan and Adam Fetcher, who each worked on the 2008 campaign, served as deputy press secretaries.[43][49] Rahm Emanuel was expected to play a role in the campaign. Emanuel served as White House Chief of Staff from January 2009 until October 2010 and worked on President Bill Clinton's successful 1992 and 1996 campaigns.[50] Rufus Gifford served as Finance Director, Elizabeth Lowery served as Deputy Finance Director, Jeremy Bird served as National Field Director, Marlon Marshall served as Deputy National Field Director, Mitch Stewart served as battleground state Director, and Elizabeth Jarvis-Shean served as Research Director.[47] Katherine Archuleta was named political director.[51]

Campaign co-chairs

In February 2012, Obama for America (OFA) announced its list of campaign co-chairs:[52]

  1. Lynnette Acosta – OFA volunteer leader from Florida
  2. Marc Benioff – CEO of Salesforce.com
  3. Michael Bennet – U.S. Senator from Colorado
  4. Julian Castro – Mayor of San Antonio
  5. Lincoln Chafee – Governor and former U.S. Senator from Rhode Island
  6. Ann Cherry – Retired teacher and OFA volunteer leader from North Carolina
  7. Judy Chu – US Representative from the 32nd District of California
  8. Emanuel Cleaver – US Representative from the 5th District of Missouri
  9. Bill Daley – Former White House Chief of Staff to President Obama, former U.S. Secretary of Commerce
  10. Maria Elena Durazo – Executive Secretary-Treasurer of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO
  11. Dick Durbin – U.S. Senator from Illinois
  12. Rahm Emanuel – Mayor of Chicago
  13. Russ Feingold– Former U.S. Senator from Wisconsin
  14. Charles A. Gonzalez – US Representative from the 20th District of Texas
  15. Loretta Harper – High School Counselor and OFA volunteer leader from Nevada
  16. Kamala Harris – Attorney General of California
  17. Sai Iyer – Student at Virginia Commonwealth University and OFA volunteer leader from Virginia
  18. Caroline Kennedy – Author, President of the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation
  19. Eva Longoria – Actress
  20. Felesia Martin – OFA volunteer leader from Wisconsin
  21. Vashti Murphy McKenzie – African Methodist Episcopal bishop
  22. Tom Miller – Iowa Attorney General
  23. Kalpen Modi – Actor, former White House Associate Director for the Office of Public Engagement
  24. John Nathman – Retired U.S. Navy Admiral
  25. Deval Patrick – Governor of Massachusetts
  26. Federico Peña – Former U.S. Secretary of Transportation and U.S. Secretary of Energy
  27. Elaine Price – Retired Ohio resident and OFA volunteer leader from Ohio
  28. Penny Pritzker – Founder and CEO of PSP Capital Partners
  29. John Register – U.S. Army Veteran and Paralympian
  30. Jan Schakowsky – US Representative from the 9th District of Illinois
  31. Jeanne Shaheen – U.S. Senator from New Hampshire
  32. Joe Solmonese – President of the Human Rights Campaign
  33. Alan Solow – Partner at DLA Piper LLP and past Chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations
  34. Ted Strickland – Former Governor of Ohio
  35. Antonio Villaraigosa – Mayor of Los Angeles

Other initiatives

  • Truth Team – growing out of the AttackWatch initiative (launched in September 2011) and Fight the Smears (launched for the 2008 campaign), organized as a "rapid response team" to both counter instances of anti-Obama rhetoric and promote Obama's record with web video and infographics.
  • GottaRegister – site encouraging voter registration.
  • GottaVote – site providing materials to prepare voters to vote on primary days and Election Day.
  • Romney Economics – critical attack on Mitt Romney's record as CEO of Bain Capital and as governor of Massachusetts.

Public perception

Main article: Presidency of Barack Obama § Approval ratings and opinion

Opinion polling

Main articles: Nationwide opinion polling for the United States presidential election, 2012 and Statewide opinion polling for the United States presidential election, 2012

In a March 2011 Pew poll, Obama held an advantage of 47% to 37%, similar to the lead that former President George W. Bush held over an unnamed Democrat in 2003 and larger than the lead former President Bill Clinton held over an unnamed Republican in 1995.[53][54] An August 2011 Rasmussen poll found that in a hypothetical race between President Obama and a generic Republican, 48% backed the generic Republican and 40% backed the President.[55]

In February 2012, Obama held a sizable lead over both Mitt Romney (53–43) and Rick Santorum (53–42) nationally.[56] By the end of March 2012, Obama's lead over Romney had narrowed to approximately 2.4% (46.6–44.2) nationally.[57] An August 2012 CNN/ORC poll found that Obama led Romney 52% to 45%.[58] A Fox News poll conducted nearly the same time placed the two candidates 49% to 40%, with Obama in the lead.[59]

Endorsements

Main article: List of Barack Obama presidential campaign endorsements, 2012

See also

Bibliography

  • Heilemann, John; Halperin, Mark (2013). Double Down: Game Change 2012. New York: Penguin Press. ISBN 1594204403.

References

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  2. ^ "Candidate (P80003338) Summary Reports – 2011–2012 Cycle". Federal Election Commission. Retrieved July 20, 2015.
  3. ^ (April 4, 2011) "Obama announces re-election bid", United Press International. Retrieved April 4, 2011.
  4. ^ Condon, Stephanie (April 4, 2011) "Obama launches 2012 campaign with web video", CBS News. Retrieved April 4, 2011.
  5. ^ Christian, Ken (March 26, 2012). "Obama, Biden officially begin re-election campaign". wcsh6.com. Retrieved May 4, 2012.
  6. ^ a b Shear, Michael D. (April 4, 2011) Shear, Michael D. (April 4, 2011). "Obama Launches Re-Election Facing New Political Challenge". The New York Times. United States. Retrieved April 4, 2011.
  7. ^ a b c Adams, Richard (April 4, 2011)Adams, Richard (April 4, 2011). "Barack Obama tweets the start to his 2012 re-election campaign". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on April 5, 2011. Retrieved April 4, 2011. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  8. ^ "Obama opens bid for new term, no longer outsider – Yahoo!! News". Yahoo! News. Archived from the original on April 5, 2011. Retrieved April 4, 2011. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  9. ^ http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/05/us/politics/record-spending-by-obamas-camp-shrinks-coffers.html?_r=2&hp Record Spending by Obama’s Camp Shrinks Coffers
  10. ^ "Official 2012 Presidential General Election Results" (pdf). Retrieved March 17, 2013. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  11. ^ Nichols, John (November 9, 2012). "Obama's 3 Million Vote, Electoral College Landslide, Majority of States Mandate". The Nation. Retrieved November 18, 2012.
  12. ^ "Lack of change you can believe in". The Economist. April 4, 2011.
  13. ^ "Obama clinches Democratic nomination". CNN. April 3, 2012. Retrieved April 3, 2012.
  14. ^ Memoli, Michael A. (April 30, 2012). "Obama campaign video teases new slogan: 'Forward'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved May 3, 2012.
  15. ^ Folven, Edwin (April 27, 2011). "2012 Campaign Barrels Through L.A." Parke Labrea News/Beverly Press. Retrieved May 16, 2011.
  16. ^ Zeleny, Jeff (January 20, 2011). "Obama Will Move Political Operations to Chicago". The New York Times. Retrieved May 16, 2011.
  17. ^ Zeleny, Jeff (March 28, 2011). "Obama Campaign Picks Headquarters in Chicago". The New York Times. Archived from the original on April 21, 2011. Retrieved May 16, 2011. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  18. ^ "Obama re-election campaign touts small dollar donations". CNN. April 6, 2011. Archived from the original on January 7, 2012. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  19. ^ Knoller, Mark (April 14, 2011). "Obama heads to Chicago for first fundraisers for his 2012 campaign". CBS News.
  20. ^ a b 1310 News. "Obama taps fundraiser, ambassador to Sweden as 2012 campaign finance chairman". Retrieved May 2, 2011.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  21. ^ "Obama wants to raise 1 Billion Dollars for 2012 campaign". Protopolitics.com. Archived from the original on September 4, 2011. Retrieved September 13, 2011. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  22. ^ Kavanagh, Tom (December 13, 2010). "Obama's 2012 Campaign Fundraising Could Top $1 Billion". Politicsdaily.com. Retrieved September 13, 2011.
  23. ^ Jeanne Cummings (January 14, 2011). "Barack Obama's 2012 cash challenge". Politico.Com. Retrieved September 13, 2011.
  24. ^ Steve Peoples (March 17, 2011). "GOP Has New 2012 Target: Obama's $1 Billion Campaign". Rollcall.com. Retrieved September 13, 2011.
  25. ^ Zeleny, Jeff (March 17, 2011). "$350,000 Goal Is Set For Re-election Donors". The New York Times.
  26. ^ Chase Davis (July 14, 2011). "Obama's California Fundraisers: How Much Money Exactly?". The Huffington Post. Retrieved September 13, 2011.
  27. ^ Frequent Fundraiser: Obama Sets Record – ABC News. ABC News.com (May 3, 2012). Retrieved July 30, 2012.
  28. ^ "Obama takes 2012 fundraising lead with $86M". CBS News.
  29. ^ Obama leads presidential money chase in two-thirds of states –. USA Today. (February 15, 2012). Retrieved July 30, 2012.
  30. ^ Ben Smith and Maggie Haberman (May 9, 2011). "Gay donors fuel President Obama's 2012 campaign". Politico.Com. Retrieved September 13, 2011.
  31. ^ Presidential Campaign Finance. Fec.gov. Retrieved July 30, 2012.
  32. ^ Gay marriage: Clooney fundraiser a hint of coming Obama money boom (+video). The Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved July 30, 2012.
  33. ^ "About Us". Priorities USA Action. Retrieved July 9, 2012.
  34. ^ Draper, Robert (July 5, 2012). "Can the Democrats Catch Up in the Super-PAC Game?". The New York Times. Retrieved July 9, 2012.
  35. ^ Grier, Peter (January 18, 2012). "Will Jon Stewart go to jail for running Stephen Colbert's super PAC?". The Christian Science Monitor.
  36. ^ Renee Montqgne; Cokie Roberts (November 7, 2012). "Obama Capitalizes On Emerging Voter Groups". NPR. Retrieved November 18, 2012.
  37. ^ Horsey, David (October 31, 2012). "Chris Christie and Hurricane Sandy give Obama a timely boost". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved November 2, 2012.
  38. ^ "It's watch and wait as Hurricane Sandy approaches". CNN. October 28, 2012. Retrieved October 29, 2012.
  39. ^ Camia, Catalina (November 15, 2012). "Romney: Clinton said Hurricane Sandy helped Obama". USA Today. Retrieved November 30, 2012.
  40. ^ Michael Leahy; Sean Sullivan (November 2, 2012). "Hurricane Sandy helped Obama politically, Karl Rove says". The Washington Post. Retrieved November 30, 2012.
  41. ^ "Transcript of President Obama's News Conference". The New York Times. November 14, 2012. Retrieved November 14, 2012.
  42. ^ "President Obama's Victory Speech 2012". ABC News. November 6, 2012. Retrieved November 18, 2012.
  43. ^ a b Sam Stein (April 15, 2011). "Obama 2012 Campaign Names National Press Secretary". The Huffington Post. Retrieved September 13, 2011.
  44. ^ "Obama 2012 team in Chicago: Messina scouting HQ, courting donors". Chicago Sun-Times.
  45. ^ Kevin Spak (February 24, 2010). "Obama Team Already Planning for 2012". Newser.com. Retrieved September 13, 2011.
  46. ^ "The World's Billionaires". Forbes. Retrieved April 12, 2012.
  47. ^ a b c Trygstad, Kyle (April 7, 2011) "Shop Talk: Obama's 2012 Campaign Team Is Shaping Up". United States: Roll Call. Retrieved May 2, 2011.
  48. ^ Balz, Dan (March 5, 2011). "Obama's 2012 reelection team gets moving". The Washington Post.
  49. ^ Geman, Ben (July 16, 2012). "Interior spokesman joins Obama campaign". The Hill.
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  52. ^ Obama campaign announces co-chairs. Politico.Com. Retrieved July 30, 2012.
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  55. ^ "Election 2012: Generic Presidential Ballot". Rasmussenreports.com. September 6, 2011. Retrieved September 13, 2011.
  56. ^ "2012: Battleground Poll: GOP president's race takes toll, Obama inches up". Politico. February 27, 2012.
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