The American political culture has gone through a series of interesting and fundamental changes between 2004 and 2012, a major one being a shift in voter turnout and use of social media. The victory of Barack Obama, an African American president reflects the mind of the voter who wanted a change from war, growing oil prices, unemployment and an economy which showed no signs of revival.
In Barack Obama, the new American political voters saw simplicity and optimism for a better America and a hopeful future for the new generation. Needless to say, the Hispanic population, the African Americans played a pivotal role in creating history by electing an African American president, Barack Obama.
Obama was able to connect with the young voters and attract Hispanic votes “like no president before him” (Lister par. 6). His simple slogans promising hope and a constant call for a change appealed to the Americans who were tired of the Bush administration.
The Americans seemed fed up of George W. Bush’s presidency which centered on the Middle Eastern wars and a period of high recession in an economy which was struggling and showed no hope for improvement. With a high federal deficit the Americans were looking for a change from the problems they had been facing through the Bush regime.
New social media played a crucial role in the political polarization and dynamics of the 2008 election results (Zakaria par. 9). The Facebook fundraising campaign by Chris Hughes attracted more than three million donors, proving to be a Masterful operation, leaving Obama with a spending capacity of four to one against McCain (Lister par. 6). The funds made it easy for Obama to target TV airtime as well as online ads.
Young Americans voted in huge numbers to make their choice showing the change technology and social media had brought about in communication. With easier means of communication, Obama, with his simple yet assertive speeches appealed to the American voters instantly.
His call for “hope” and “change” appealed to the people who were looking for a change (Presidential Campaign Slogans, par. 50) in severe contrast to the Bush administration which sidelined the social welfare of its people and centralized foreign policy matters. Overlooking important economic matters such as the tanking stock market, the weakening banking sector and the lack luster of the real estate proved to be the deciding factors of the 2008 elections.
Obama’s victory and re-election is largely based on a high black turnout and large Hispanic vote. With Latinos amounting to “the fastest growing minority, making up 16% of the nation’s population” (Rodriguez par. 2), Obama won with a huge majority. In the 2008 elections too, Latinos accounted for 9% of the electorate and with 19.5 million eligible voters, Obama secured “67% of the Latino vote” (Rodriguez par. 4).
With the growing majority of Latinos and “nearly 24 million Hispanics eligible to vote” the Latinos “made their mark on election night as they voted over Barack Obama over Republican Mitt Romney” (Rodriguez par. 4).
Works Cited
Lister, Richard. Why Barack Obama won. 2008. Web.
Presidential Campaign Slogans n.d. Web.
Rodriguez, Cindy. Latino vote key to Obama’s re-election. 2012. Web.
Zakaria, Fareed. Why political polarization has gone wild in America (and what to do about it). 2011. Web.