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American civil rights > Obama > Flashcards

Obama Flashcards

1
Q

brief summary of Obama’s background and childhood

A
  • he was born in Hawaii to a white mother and a black Kenyan father
  • his parents divorced in 1964, with his father returning to Kenya
  • his family moved to Indonesia but his mother sent him back to Hawaii to attend a private school and to live with his white grandparents
  • Obama’s background was much different than other black American politicians
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1
Q

where did Obama work from 1985 and what did he develop

A
  • Obama worked as a community organiser in a black Chicago neighbourhood, where he worked to mobilise the residents to push for better schools and better job training opportunities
  • he developed an affinity with a socially activist black church
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2
Q

when was Obama accepted into Harvard Law school

A

accepted in 1988

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3
Q

how did Obama visiting his fathers village in Kenya effect him

A

It would effect the development of Obamas sense of identity and political outlook

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4
Q

what position did Obama receive in Harvard and why was it important

A
  • Obama became the first black editor of the Harvard law review
  • this was a prestigious publication whose editorship was a springboard to high-profile careers
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5
Q

what were the consequences of Obama becoming the first black editor of the Harvard law review

A
  • he was profiled by the New York Times
  • a publisher commissioned Obama to write his autobiography
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5
Q

what did Obama do in Chicago after his graduation in 1991

A
  • worked on a black voter drive that saw 100,000 registered
  • learned political lessons about grassroots organising
  • married Michelle in 1992
  • worked as a lawyer for a firm that specialised in representing low-income clients in cases involving civil rights and housing discrimination
  • lectured in constitutional law at the University of Chicago
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6
Q

what years did Obama serve in the Illinois senate

A

from 1997 - 2004

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7
Q

what did Obama stand for in 1996

A

He successfully stood in the 13th district (South side and Hyde Park which were predominantly black areas that suffered from poverty) for election to the Illinois senate

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8
Q

what issues did Obama focus on while in the senate and what legislation was he able to pass

A
  • Obama focused on issues that were of particular interest to /black Americans
  • passed legislation to expand healthcare and early-years education programmes for the poor
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9
Q

what was Obama able to push for as the chairman of the Health & Human services commission

A

was able to push for new requirements for the police to video interrogations

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10
Q

with who did Obama work with despite being a Democrat and how was he able to convince them for a new law against racial profiling

A
  • Obama worked with Republicans
  • and he was able to convince the conservatives that the new law for racial profiling would protect the state from expensive law suits over racial discrimination
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11
Q

what did Obama decide to stand for in 2000

A

decided to stand for election to the US House of Representatives as democratic candidate to represent the 1st congressional district of Illinois (district was 65% black)

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12
Q

who was Obamas opponent for the democratic nomination

A

Bobby Rush

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13
Q

why was Bobby Rush a difficult candidate to run against

A
  • he was a founder of the Black Panther Party in Chicago in 1968
  • won the seat for the democrats in 1992 and was re-elected three times
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14
Q

what did Obama decide to stand for in 2004 and how

A

decided to run for the US senate by drawing on lessons from the past, including his time as a community organiser in Chicago

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15
Q

what did Harold Washington provide Obama with

A

he provided Obama with a model for constructing electoral coalitions

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16
Q

who were the main four Democrat opponents for Obama

A
  • Daniel Hynes
  • Blair Hull
  • Maria Pappas
  • Gery Chico
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17
Q

how was Daniel Hynes a serious candidate

A
  • he was more widely known than Obama
  • he was a member of a well-known Chicago political family
  • Hynes father had been a state senator and President of Illinois state senate
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18
Q

how was Blair Hull a serious candidate

A
  • wealthy businessman with a fortune of $131million - $444million
  • in 2002, he financed a number of Democrat campaigns within Illinois
  • he was seen as the early leader in the primary campaign
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19
Q

how was Maria Pappas a serious candidate

A

she was a cook county treasurer

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20
Q

how was Gery Chico a serious candidate

A

he had been chief of staff to Chicago mayor, Dayley

21
Q

what was Obamas disadvantage in running for the democratic primary election

A
  • he was relatively unknown compared to his candidates
  • although he had a good reputation in the Illinois state senate, he wasn’t known much outside his own 13th district
22
Q

how was Obama’s campaign effective for the democratic primary election

A
  • his campaign played on his life story
  • he had natural charisma
  • very photogenic family
23
Q

what did Obama do in regards to TV and the few final weeks of the campaign and how did this differ from Blair Hull

A
  • a month before the primary, 55% of likely democratic supporters Sid they paid little attention to the race
  • so the final few weeks of the campaign were crucial and Obama conserved his financial resources for these final weeks
  • on the other hand, Hull started running TV adverts 10months before election
24
Q

brief summary of Obama’s final weeks of the campaign and why were they a success

A
  • media coverage emphasised the Obama surge in support
  • there was an effective advertising campaign paid by Obama which recounted his life’s story
  • Obama received very high-profile endorsements, such as from Sheila Simon and Michael Jordan
  • The controversy involving Hull’s divorce helped Obama significantly
25
Q

who was the winner of the Republican primary election and what were some of his key features

A
  • the winner of the Republican primary election was Jack Ryan
  • he won a hard-fought Republican campaign
  • university of Harvard educated
  • married to a TV star, Jeri Ryan
  • won primary election with the 36% of the vote
  • he was a successful business man
26
Q

what were some of the advantages in terms of votes that Obama held over Jack Ryan

A
  • he won 656,000 votes and 52.77% of the vote in the democrat primary election while Ryan only won 36%
  • democrats dominated the vote in Chicago, the largest city in Illinois
  • Republican vote was in decline in the suburban areas surrounding Chicago
  • Obama won well in Champaign County and Sangmon County
27
Q

How did Jack Ryan’s divorce controversy benefit Obama

A
  • accusations by Ryans wife resulted in considerable media coverage
  • this resulted in Ryan withdrawing as the Republican candidate and being replaced by Alan Keyes
28
Q

how did Alan Keyes benefit Obama

A
  • media response across Illinois towards Keyes was negative
  • his campaign failed to win many undecided votes as he was strongly against abortion and gay rights and was also in favour of increasing the role of religion in US society
29
Q

how did Obama contrast with Keyes

A
  • Obama ran an energetic campaign
  • he focused on key social issues
  • he used his experience of community-based projects in Chicago to organise a grass-roots campaign which dealt with local issues
  • he chose to ignore Keyes which enhanced his reputation as he focused on positive campaigning on the issues rather than negative campaigning against his opponent
30
Q

How did Obama being a Keynote speaker at the Democratic Party National Convention benefit him

A
  • gave him considerable positive media publicity
  • made him a national political figure
  • his engaging personality, moderate views, attractive family and wife all endeared him to the electorate
  • he became a sought-after speaker across the nation
31
Q

by how much did Obama win in Nov 2004

A
  • he won with 69.9% of the vote
  • won the vast majority of the votes in Chicago
  • nearly 3/4 of female voters and 2/3 of male voters voted democrat
32
Q

what were the consequences of Obama winning the senate election

A
  • gave him star-wide and national recognition
  • he became a regular guest on TV shows and at political events
  • in 2005 he re-released his autobiography ‘Dreams from my father’ which became a best-seller nationally and made him a millionaire
  • his national career has been established
  • with the democrat senate majority leader, Tom Daschle, loosing his seat, as a young Black American Senator, Obama’s victory was one of the high spots for the Democratic Party
33
Q

how did senator Obama enhance his national profile

A
  • bi-partisan with republicans
  • through high-profile trips abroad, such as to Ukraine and Russia
  • released a new book - ‘the audacity of hope’
  • grassroots work
  • careful management of image by aides
  • his reaction to Hurricane Katrina was important for boosting his profile
34
Q

how was Obama’s reaction to Hurricane Katrina important for boosting his profile

A
  • he visited New Orleans with Bush and Bill Clinton
  • he spoke out on the behalf of those affected by the devastation
  • focused on the more general lack of concern for the poor of all colours
35
Q

how did Obama’s reaction to Hurricane Katrina differ from the reactions of other Black politicians

A

other Black Americans blamed racism for the federal governments slow responses

36
Q

why did McCain chose Sarah Palin, the governor of Alaska, as his running mate

A
  • she was a mother and he hoped she would appeal to female votes, particularly to small town ‘hockey moms’ who worked hard to bring up their families
  • hoped that her conservatism would reassure the right wing of the republican party
  • she was photogenic and her youth counter-balanced McCain’s age
37
Q

why did McCains election of Palin prove to be a mistake

A
  • she displayed a worrying ignorance of key policy issues, ranging from supreme court decisions to foreign policy
  • over 70million Americans watched her debates with Joe Biden and were unimpressed by her failure to provide clear answers on how to deal with the financial crisis
  • Palin’s interview with Katie Couric of CBS became a parody on a famous comedy show - SNL
  • Palin’s assertions that Republicans were more patriotic than others alienated independent voters
38
Q

what were the opinions on George Bush and how did this affect McCain

A
  • there was increasing unpopularity towards President Bush
  • he had a lower approval rating than Nixon
  • Bush, a republican, would be associated with McCain by association
  • Obama’s campaign message was that McCain had voted with Bush 90% of the time
39
Q

what did polls show in relation to the economy in 2008

A

that economic problems were the main concerns of nearly 2/3 of the voters

40
Q

what happened in the beginning of 2008 and what was it’s effect

A
  • beginning of 2008, the US entered a recession
  • September 2008, Lehman brothers went into bankruptcy and the Insurance Corporation AIG was loaned $85billion by the government to prevent the financial collapse
41
Q

what were the consequences of the Lehman brothers going into bankruptcy

A
  • it was the fourth largest investment bank in the US
  • it led to the largest fall in the Dow Jones since 9/11
  • led to a shockwave that was felt around the world
42
Q

what were the consequences of the financial crisis in 2008 and how did it effect McCain

A
  • the crisis was widely blamed on the republican administrations failure to more effectively regulate the banking sector
  • McCain lost his lead in the polls the day after the Lehman collapsed, and never regained it
43
Q

what were the changing views surrounding the war in Iraq

A
  • human and financial cost was increasingly unpopular
  • in August 2008, 60% of those questioned in a Gallup poll said they believed it was a mistake sending troops to Iraq
44
Q

what did Obama develop during the primary contest and how did this help him in the 2008 presidential campaign

A
  • he developed an extremely broad donor base
  • he realised he could keep going back to these donors for money
  • he rejected funeral funding and the financial limits that came with it
45
Q

how many donors did Obama’s campaign attract and how much was donated

A
  • obamas campaign attracted more than three million donors
  • who donated around $650million
  • this was more than both presidential contenders in 2004 combined
  • Obama had the money for four times as many campaign offices as McCain
46
Q

how did Obama’s volunteers and staff help with his campaign in 2008

A
  • they developed and exploited a vase database of information about potential donors in key states
  • everyone who visited his website was asked to sign up to receive information
  • and then they received calls or messages asking for money or for assistance
47
Q

how was TV advertising important and how did Obama have the upper-hand

A
  • TV advertising is the life-blood of the campaign which has to span 3.5m square miles and 300million people
  • Obama had no problem with buying airtime
48
Q

how did his team exploit using ads to Obama’s benefit in 2008

A
  • his team tapped into the internet, targeting ads at those online
  • Brough ad-space embedded in video games
  • Obama could afford to campaign in Republican strongholds and force McCain to spread his limited resources even thinner
49
Q

how did Barack’s image and appeal as candidate help him in the 2008 election

A
  • he was a superb orator
  • he could work a crowd in the Bill Clinton tradition
  • Obama’s image of self-made, family man was wholesome
50
Q

how did Obama’s image contrast McCain’s

A
  • McCain divorced his wife who waited for him through the Vietnam war and married a heiress
  • when asked how many houses he had by the media, McCain didn’t know
  • this was perceived as ‘out of touch’ during a financial crisis
51
Q

who did Obama gain the votes of in 2008

A
  • he was able to connect more deeply with diverse voting blocks
  • he struck a chord with younger voters
  • won over the Hispanic and Jewish voters who had been republicans in the past
  • won the black vote like no other president before
  • he placed emphasis on change, which was wanted by 9/10 of Americans who believed that their country was on the wrong track

American civil rights (11 decks)

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