HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

On April 4, 2011,
Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...
, the 44th
president of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal government of t ...
, announced his candidacy for re-election as president. On September 5, 2012, he again became the nominee of the Democratic Party for the 2012 presidential election. Along with his running mate,
Vice President A vice president or vice-president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vi ...
Joe Biden Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. (born November 20, 1942) is an American politician who was the 46th president of the United States from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as the 47th vice p ...
, Obama was opposed in the general election by former Massachusetts Governor
Mitt Romney Willard Mitt Romney (born March 12, 1947) is an American businessman and retired politician. He served as a United States Senate, United States senator from Utah from 2019 to 2025 and as the 70th governor of Massachusetts from 2003 to 2007 ...
, along with variousShear, Michael D. (April 4, 2011) minor candidates from other parties. The
election An election is a formal group decision-making process whereby a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold Public administration, public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative d ...
took place on Tuesday, November 6, 2012. Obama's campaign headquarters was in
Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
and key members of his successful campaign in 2008, such as Jim Messina and David Axelrod, returned to staff it. On the day of the announcement, the campaign released a promotional video showing supporters of Obama organizing for the re-election effort. As ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'' newspaper noted, this was the first US presidential reelection campaign to use
Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...
and
Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...
for promotion. Between early-2011 and June 30, 2012, the Obama campaign and supporters spent approximately $400 million, according to the
Federal Election Commission The Federal Election Commission (FEC) is an independent agency of the United States government that enforces U.S. campaign finance laws and oversees U.S. federal elections. Created in 1974 through amendments to the Federal Election Campaign ...
. Obama won his reelection bid by a margin of 51.06 to 47.21%. This was the first time since
1944 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 2 – WWII: ** Free France, Free French General Jean de Lattre de Tassigny is appointed to command First Army (France), French Army B, part of the Sixt ...
, when President
Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), also known as FDR, was the 32nd president of the United States, serving from 1933 until his death in 1945. He is the longest-serving U.S. president, and the only one to have served ...
won re-election, that a Democratic president had won by a majority of the electoral votes and over 51% of the popular vote twice.


Early stages

On January 20, 2009, Barack Obama was inaugurated as the 44th
President of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal government of t ...
. On April 4, 2011, President Obama officially announced his candidacy for re-election. The announcement was made through 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. 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 2,778 delegates to secure the nomination. On April 30, 2012, the campaign announced that its slogan would be "Forward". The campaign was based in Chicago in
One Prudential Plaza One Prudential Plaza (formerly known as the Prudential Building) is a 41-story structure in Chicago completed in 1955 as the headquarters for Prudential Financial, Prudential's Mid-America company. It was the first skyscraper built in Chicago ...
, instead of in
Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...
, where all other modern incumbent presidents have had their re-election headquarters. The decision to base the campaign outside of Washington was said have been taken so as to ensure grassroots support for re-election.


Fundraising

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. President Obama headlined his first campaign fundraiser in April 2011 in Chicago. He also headlined fundraisers in
San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...
,
Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
, and
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...
in April 2011. On April 29, 2011, it was announced that Matthew Barzun, the
United States Ambassador to Sweden The United States ambassador to the Kingdom of Sweden () serves as the official diplomatic representative of the United States to the Monarchy of Sweden, King and the Government of Sweden, Government of the Kingdom of Sweden. Sweden – United S ...
, would serve as finance chairman. Many sources claim that the campaign may be the first campaign in US history to raise more than one billion dollars. In March 2011, Campaign Chairman Jim Messina asked a group of 450 top donors to raise $350,000. During the second fundraising quarter of 2011 (the first of the campaign), the campaign raised a record amount of $86,000,000. As of May 3, 2012, Obama and his team have held 130 fundraisers. 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. From the beginning of the campaign to December 31, 2011, more than 1.3 million individual donated to the campaign. The
LGBT LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, asexual, aromantic, agender, and other individuals. The gro ...
community had donated a record amount so far to the campaign. As of March 31, 2012, the campaign had raised $191.7 million. On May 10, 2012, Obama attended a fundraiser in the Los Angeles home of actor
George Clooney George Timothy Clooney (born May 6, 1961) is an American actor, filmmaker, and philanthropist. Known for his leading man roles on screen in both blockbuster and independent films, Clooney has received numerous accolades, including two Ac ...
, 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. Obama's campaign was also supported by Priorities USA Action, an
independent expenditure An independent expenditure, in elections in the United States, is a political campaign communication that expressly advocates for the election or defeat of a clearly identified political candidate that is not made in cooperation, consultation or ...
PAC Pac or PAC may refer to: Aviation * IATA code PAC Albrook "Marcos A. Gelabert" International Airport in Panama City, Panama * Pacific Aerospace Corporation, New Zealand, manufacturer of aircraft: ** PAC 750XL ** PAC Cresco ** PAC CT/4 ** PA ...
founded by several former Obama campaign officials, but legally prohibited from coordinating with the candidate or his campaign.


Technology

The engineering investment of the Obama 2012 campaign was unprecedented, under the leadership of CTO Harper Reed. Reed helped build a team of developers from tech companies like
Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...
,
Google Google LLC (, ) is an American multinational corporation and technology company focusing on online advertising, search engine technology, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, consumer electronics, and artificial ...
,
Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...
,
Craigslist Craigslist (stylized as craigslist) is a privately held American company operating a classified advertisements website with sections devoted to jobs, housing, for sale, items wanted, services, community service, gigs, résumés, and discussi ...
,
Quora Quora is an American social question-and-answer website and online knowledge market headquartered in Mountain View, California. It was founded on June 25, 2009, and made available to the public on June 21, 2010. Users can post questions, answ ...
,
Orbitz Orbitz.com is a travel fare aggregator website and travel metasearch engine. The website is owned by Orbitz Worldwide, Inc., a subsidiary of Expedia Group. It is headquartered in the Citigroup Center, Chicago, Illinois. Background Origi ...
and
Threadless Threadless (stylized as threadless) is an online community of artists and an e-commerce website based in Chicago, Illinois, founded in 2000 by Jake Nickell and Jacob DeHart. Threadless designs are created by and chosen by an online community. E ...
. This approach— hiring technology workers from the tech startups rather than the political realm— was novel. A central component of that work was Project Narwhal, a centralized database of electoral information. Dan Wagner was Chief Analytics Officer, running the 54-person analytics team out of a windowless office known as the 'cave.' His team's predictions were remarkably accurate to the actual election results.


Getting out the vote

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 reelection, 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.


Events leading up to the election


Presidential debates

The
bipartisan Bipartisanship, sometimes referred to as nonpartisanship, is a political situation, usually in the context of a two-party system (especially those of the United States and some other western countries), in which opposing Political party, politica ...
Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD) held four debates for the 2012 US presidential general election, slated for various locations around the
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
in October 2012 – three of them involving the
major party A major party is a political party that holds substantial influence in a country's politics, standing in contrast to a minor party. According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary: Major parties hold a significant percentage of the vote in electio ...
presidential nominees (later determined to be Democratic President
Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...
from
Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...
and former Republican governor
Mitt Romney Willard Mitt Romney (born March 12, 1947) is an American businessman and retired politician. He served as a United States Senate, United States senator from Utah from 2019 to 2025 and as the 70th governor of Massachusetts from 2003 to 2007 ...
of
Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...
), and one involving the vice-presidential nominees (Vice President
Joe Biden Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. (born November 20, 1942) is an American politician who was the 46th president of the United States from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as the 47th vice p ...
from
Delaware Delaware ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic and South Atlantic states, South Atlantic regions of the United States. It borders Maryland to its south and west, Pennsylvania to its north, New Jersey ...
and Representative
Paul Ryan Paul Davis Ryan (born January 29, 1970) is an American politician who served as the List of Speakers of the United States House of Representatives, 54th speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 2015 to 2019. A member of the ...
of
Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...
).Little, Morgan (July 25, 2012
"Presidential debate formats announced, feature town hall"
''
Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...
''. Retrieved July 26, 2012.


Hurricane Sandy

Hurricane Sandy Hurricane Sandy (unofficially referred to as Superstorm Sandy) was an extremely large and devastating tropical cyclone which ravaged the Caribbean and the coastal Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States in late ...
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 Christopher James Christie (born September 6, 1962) is an American politician and former United States Attorney, federal prosecutor who served as the 55th governor of New Jersey from 2010 to 2018. A member of the Republican Party (United States) ...
, one of
Mitt Romney Willard Mitt Romney (born March 12, 1947) is an American businessman and retired politician. He served as a United States Senate, United States senator from Utah from 2019 to 2025 and as the 70th governor of Massachusetts from 2003 to 2007 ...
's leading supporters, praised President
Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...
and his reaction to the hurricane and toured storm-damaged areas of his state with the president. 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. According to
Karl Rove Karl Christian Rove (born December 25, 1950) is an American Republican political consultant, policy advisor, and lobbyist. He was Senior Advisor and Deputy Chief of Staff during the George W. Bush administration until his resignation on August ...
and
Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician and lawyer who was the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, ...
, 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". The event sparked debates and discussions on climate change, which had been ignored by both parties prior to the event.


Election and victory

On November 6, 2012, Obama was re-elected for his second term as President of the United States. He won 65,915,795 popular votes and 332 electoral votes, with two states fewer than in 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.


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 The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president ...
as a
Senior Advisor to the President Senior Advisor to the President is a title used by high-ranking political advisors to the president of the United States. Senior advisors to the president do not have formal government decision making authority, but they can have significant infl ...
from 2009 until 2011, returned to Chicago to work on the campaign as the top communications official. Jim Messina, who worked in the White House as Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations from 2009 until 2011, moved to Chicago to be campaign manager. Matthew Barzun, the
United States Ambassador to Sweden The United States ambassador to the Kingdom of Sweden () serves as the official diplomatic representative of the United States to the Monarchy of Sweden, King and the Government of Sweden, Government of the Kingdom of Sweden. Sweden – United S ...
, was finance chairman. Jennifer O'Malley Dillon, who worked at the
Democratic National Committee The Democratic National Committee (DNC) is the principal executive leadership board of the United States's Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party. According to the party charter, it has "general responsibility for the affairs of the ...
as an executive director, was named deputy campaign manager.Trygstad, Kyle (April 7, 2011) The other deputy campaign manager was Julianna Smoot, who was the 2008 finance director and was briefly the White House Social Secretary.
Ben LaBolt Ben LaBolt (born August 20, 1981) is a political advisor who served as the White House Communications Director for President Joe Biden. He succeeded Kate Bedingfield in the role when she stepped down at the end of February 2023. In August 2024, ...
w as national press secretary. LaBolt worked for
Sherrod Brown Sherrod Campbell Brown ( ; born November 9, 1952) is an American politician who served from 2007 to 2025 as a United States senator from Ohio. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the U.S. representative for from 1993 to 2007 and the 47t ...
's 2006 Senate campaign, as Obama's senate press secretary, for the 2008 campaign, as a deputy
White House Press Secretary The White House press secretary is a senior White House official whose primary responsibility is to act as spokesperson for the executive branch of the United States federal government, especially with regard to the president, senior aides and ...
, and for
Mayor of Chicago The mayor of Chicago is the Chief executive officer, chief executive of city Government of Chicago, government in Chicago, Illinois, the List of United States cities by population, third-largest city in the United States. The mayor is responsib ...
Rahm Emanuel Rahm Israel Emanuel (; born November 29, 1959) is an American politician, advisor, diplomat, and former investment banker who most recently served as List of ambassadors of the United States to Japan, United States ambassador to Japan from 2022 ...
, Katie Hogan and Adam Fetcher, who each worked on the 2008 campaign, was deputy press secretaries. Rahm Emanuel was expected to play a role in the campaign. Emanuel was
White House Chief of Staff The White House chief of staff is the head of the Executive Office of the President of the United States, a position in the federal government of the United States. The chief of staff is a Political appointments in the United States, politi ...
from January 2009 until October 2010 and worked on President
Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician and lawyer who was the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, ...
's successful
1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...
and
1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...
campaigns. Rufus Gifford was Finance Director, Elizabeth Lowery was Deputy Finance Director, Jeremy Bird was National Field Director, Marlon Marshall was Deputy National Field Director, Mitch Stewart was
battleground state In United States politics, a swing state (also known as battleground state, toss-up state, or purple state) is any state that could reasonably be won by either the Democratic or Republican candidate in a statewide election, most often refer ...
Director, and Elizabeth Jarvis-Shean was Research Director. Katherine Archuleta was named political director. James Kvaal served as Policy Director.


Role of vice president Biden

In October 2010, Biden said Obama had asked him to remain as his running mate for the 2012 presidential election, but with Obama's popularity on the decline,
White House Chief of Staff The White House chief of staff is the head of the Executive Office of the President of the United States, a position in the federal government of the United States. The chief of staff is a Political appointments in the United States, politi ...
William M. Daley William Michael Daley (born August 9, 1948) is an American politician and former banker who served as the 24th White House Chief of Staff from January 2011 to January 2012 under President Barack Obama. Before this, he served as the 32nd U.S. ...
conducted some secret polling and focus group research in late 2011 on the idea of replacing Biden on the ticket with Hillary Clinton. The notion was dropped when the results showed no appreciable improvement for Obama, and White House officials later said Obama had never entertained the idea. Biden's May 2012 statement that he was "absolutely comfortable" with
same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same legal Legal sex and gender, sex. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 38 countries, with a total population of 1.5 ...
gained considerable public attention in comparison to Obama's position, which had been described as "evolving". Biden made his statement without administration consent, and Obama and his aides were quite irked, since Obama had planned to shift position several months later, in the build-up to the party convention, and since Biden had previously counseled the president to avoid the issue lest key Catholic voters be offended. Gay rights advocates seized upon Biden's statement, and within days, Obama announced that he too supported same-sex marriage, an action in part forced by Biden's remarks. Biden apologized to Obama in private for having spoken out, while Obama acknowledged publicly it had been done from the heart. The incident showed that Biden still struggled at times with
message discipline Message discipline is the concept that politicians and other public policy advocates should talk about what is relevant to achieve their aims, and not allow themselves to be sidetracked either by their own thoughts or the questions of press or au ...
, as ''Time'' wrote, "Everyone knows Biden's greatest strength is also his greatest weakness." Relations were also strained between the vice presidential and presidential campaigns when Biden appeared to use his position to bolster fundraising contacts for a possible run for president in
2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...
, and he ended up being excluded from Obama campaign strategy meetings. The Obama campaign nevertheless valued Biden as a retail-level politician who could connect with disaffected blue-collar workers and rural residents, and he had a heavy schedule of appearances in swing states as the reelection campaign began in earnest in spring 2012. An August 2012 remark before a mixed-race audience that Republican proposals to relax Wall Street regulations would "put y'all back in chains" led to a similar analysis of Biden's face-to-face campaigning abilities versus his tendency to go off track. ''Time'' magazine wrote that Biden often went too far and "Along with the familiar Washington mix of neediness and overconfidence, Biden's brain is wired for more than the usual amount of goofiness." Biden was nominated for a second term as vice president at the
2012 Democratic National Convention The 2012 Democratic National Convention was a gathering, held from September 4–6, 2012, at the Time Warner Cable Arena in Charlotte, North Carolina, in which delegates of the Democratic Party nominated President Barack Obama and Vice Pr ...
in September. Debating his Republican counterpart, Representative
Paul Ryan Paul Davis Ryan (born January 29, 1970) is an American politician who served as the List of Speakers of the United States House of Representatives, 54th speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 2015 to 2019. A member of the ...
, in the vice-presidential debate on October 11 he made a spirited and emotional defense of the Obama administration's record and energetically attacked the Republican ticket.


Campaign co-chairs

In February 2012, Obama for America (OFA) announced its list of campaign co-chairs: #Lynnette Acosta – OFA volunteer leader from Florida #
Marc Benioff Marc Russell Benioff (born September 25, 1964) is an American internet entrepreneur and philanthropist. Benioff is best known as the co-founder, chairman and CEO of the software company Salesforce, as well as being the owner of ''Time (magazine ...
– CEO of Salesforce.com #
Michael Bennet Michael Farrand Bennet (born November 28, 1964) is an American attorney, businessman, and politician serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States Senate, United States senator from Colorado, a seat he has held sinc ...
– US Senator from Colorado # Julian Castro
Mayor of San Antonio The following is a list of mayors of San Antonio, Texas. San Antonio operates under a council–manager form of government.Kriston CappsWhy Julián Castro's Record as Mayor of San Antonio Doesn't Necessarily Tell Us Much About His Future at HUD ...
#
Lincoln Chafee Lincoln Davenport Chafee ( ; born March 26, 1953) is an American politician. He was mayor of Warwick, Rhode Island, from 1993 to 1999, a United States Senator from 1999 to 2007, and the 74th Governor of Rhode Island from 2011 to 2015. He was a ...
Governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...
and former US Senator from Rhode Island #Ann Cherry – Retired teacher and OFA volunteer leader from North Carolina #
Judy Chu Judy May Chu (born July 7, 1953) is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for . A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, she has held a seat in Congress since 2009, representing until redistricting. ...
– US Representative from the 32nd District of California # Emanuel Cleaver – US Representative from the 5th District of Missouri # Bill Daley – Former
White House Chief of Staff The White House chief of staff is the head of the Executive Office of the President of the United States, a position in the federal government of the United States. The chief of staff is a Political appointments in the United States, politi ...
to President Obama, former
United States Secretary of Commerce The United States secretary of commerce (SecCom) is the head of the United States Department of Commerce. The secretary serves as the principal advisor to the president of the United States on all matters relating to commerce. The secretary rep ...
#Maria Elena Durazo – Executive Secretary-Treasurer of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor,
AFL–CIO The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) is a national trade union center that is the largest federation of unions in the United States. It is made up of 61 national and international unions, together r ...
#
Dick Durbin Richard Joseph Durbin (born November 21, 1944) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States senator from the state of Illinois, a seat he has held since 1997. A member of the Dem ...
– US Senator from Illinois #
Rahm Emanuel Rahm Israel Emanuel (; born November 29, 1959) is an American politician, advisor, diplomat, and former investment banker who most recently served as List of ambassadors of the United States to Japan, United States ambassador to Japan from 2022 ...
Mayor of Chicago The mayor of Chicago is the Chief executive officer, chief executive of city Government of Chicago, government in Chicago, Illinois, the List of United States cities by population, third-largest city in the United States. The mayor is responsib ...
#
Russ Feingold Russell Dana Feingold ( ; born March 2, 1953) is an American politician and lawyer who served as a United States Senate, United States Senator from Wisconsin from 1993 to 2011. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, h ...
– Former US Senator from Wisconsin # Charles A. Gonzalez – US Representative from the 20th District of Texas #Loretta Harper – High School Counselor and OFA volunteer leader from Nevada #
Kamala Harris Kamala Devi Harris ( ; born October 20, 1964) is an American politician and attorney who served as the 49th vice president of the United States from 2021 to 2025 under President Joe Biden. She is the first female, first African American, and ...
Attorney General of California The attorney general of California is the state attorney general of the government of California. The officer must ensure that "the laws of the state are uniformly and adequately enforced" ( Constitution of California, Article V, Section 13). ...
#Sai Iyer – Student at
Virginia Commonwealth University Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) is a Public university, public research university in Richmond, Virginia, United States. VCU was founded in 1838 as the medical department of Hampden–Sydney College, becoming the Medical College of Virgin ...
and OFA volunteer leader from Virginia #
Caroline Kennedy Caroline Bouvier Kennedy (born November 27, 1957) is an American author, diplomat, and attorney who served as the List of ambassadors of the United States to Australia, United States ambassador to Australia from 2022 to 2024. She previously serv ...
– Author, President of the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation #
Eva Longoria Eva Jacqueline Longoria Bastón ( Longoria; born March 15, 1975) is an American actress, producer, director, and businesswoman. After several guest roles on television, she became recognized for her portrayal of Isabella Braña on the CBS day ...
– Actress #Felesia Martin – OFA volunteer leader from Wisconsin # Vashti Murphy McKenzieAfrican Methodist Episcopal bishop # Tom MillerIowa Attorney General # Kalpen Modi – Actor, former White House Associate Director for the Office of Public Engagement # John Nathman – Retired
United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...
Admiral Admiral is one of the highest ranks in many navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force. Admiral is ranked above vice admiral and below admiral of ...
#
Deval Patrick Deval Laurdine Patrick (born July 31, 1956) is an American politician who served as the 71st governor of Massachusetts from 2007 to 2015. He was the first African Americans, African-American Governor of Massachusetts and the first Democratic Pa ...
Governor of Massachusetts The governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is the head of government of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The governor is the chief executive, head of the state cabinet and the commander-in-chief of the commonw ...
#
Federico Peña Federico Fabian Peña (born March 15, 1947) is an American politician and attorney who served as the 12th United States secretary of transportation from 1993 to 1997 and the 8th United States secretary of energy from 1997 to 1998, during the pres ...
– Former
United States Secretary of Transportation The United States secretary of transportation is the head of the United States Department of Transportation. The secretary serves as the principal advisor to the president of the United States on all matters relating to transportation. The secre ...
and
United States Secretary of Energy The United States secretary of energy is the head of the United States Department of Energy, a member of the Cabinet of the United States and fifteenth in the United States presidential line of succession, presidential line of succession. The po ...
#Elaine Price – Retired Ohio resident and OFA volunteer leader from Ohio # Penny Pritzker – founder and CEO of PSP Capital Partners #John Register –
US Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of the United Stat ...
Veteran and Paralympian #
Jan Schakowsky Janice Schakowsky ( ; née Danoff; born May 26, 1944) is an American politician who has served as the United States House of Representatives, U.S. representative from since 1999, and she previously served as a member of the Illinois House of Re ...
– US representative from the 9th District of Illinois #
Jeanne Shaheen Cynthia Jeanne Shaheen ( ; née Bowers, born January 28, 1947) is an American politician and former educator serving since 2009 as the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States Senate, United States senator from New Hampshire. A ...
– US Senator from New Hampshire # Joe Solmonese – qqPresident of the
Human Rights Campaign The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) is an American LGBTQ advocacy group. It is the largest LGBTQ political lobbying organization within the United States. Based in Washington, D.C., the organization focuses on protecting and expanding rights for L ...
#
Alan Solow Alan P. Solow, founder of Grover Strategies LLC, is a public affairs consultant, political advisor, not-for-profit activist and former lawyer. He is a former chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations and was ...
– Partner at DLA Piper LLP and past chairman of the
Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations The Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations (CoP; commonly Presidents' Conference) is the umbrella organization for the American Jewish community. Comprising 53 national Jewish organizations across the political spectrum, ...
# Ted Strickland – former
governor of Ohio A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the type of political region or polity, a ''governor'' ma ...
# Antonio Villaraigosa
Mayor of Los Angeles The mayor of Los Angeles is the head of the executive branch of the government of Los Angeles and the chief executive of Los Angeles. The office is officially Non-partisan democracy, nonpartisan, a change made in the 1909 charter; previously, ...


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
infographic Infographics (a clipped compound of "information" and "graphics") are graphic visual representations of information, data, or knowledge intended to present information quickly and clearly.Doug Newsom and Jim Haynes (2004). ''Public Relations Wr ...
s. * GottaRegister – site encouraging
voter registration In electoral systems, voter registration (or enrollment) is the requirement that a person otherwise Suffrage, eligible to Voting, vote must register (or enroll) on an electoral roll, which is usually a prerequisite for being entitled or permitted ...
. * 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 Bain Capital, LP is an American Investment company, private investment firm based in Boston, Massachusetts, Boston, Massachusetts, with around $185 billion of assets under management. It specializes in private equity, venture capital, credit, p ...
and as governor of
Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...
.


Public perception


Opinion polling

In a March 2011 Pew poll, Obama held an advantage of 47% to 37%, similar to the lead that former president
George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...
held over an unnamed Democrat in 2003 and larger than the lead former president
Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician and lawyer who was the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, ...
held over an unnamed Republican in 1995. An August 2011
Rasmussen The surname Rasmussen () is a Danish and Norwegian surname, meaning ''Rasmus' son''. It is the ninth-most-common surname in Denmark, shared by about 1.9% of the population.CNN Cable News Network (CNN) is a multinational news organization operating, most notably, a website and a TV channel headquartered in Atlanta. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable ne ...
/
ORC An orc (sometimes spelt ork; ), in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth fantasy fiction, is a race of humanoid monsters, which he also calls "goblin". In Tolkien's ''The Lord of the Rings'', orcs appear as a brutish, aggressive, ugly, and malevol ...
poll found that Obama led Romney 52% to 45%. A
Fox News The Fox News Channel (FNC), commonly known as Fox News, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Conservatism in the United States, conservative List of news television channels, news and political commentary Television stati ...
poll conducted nearly the same time placed the two candidates 49% to 40%, with Obama in the lead.


Endorsements


See also

*
Barack Obama 2008 presidential campaign Barack Obama, then junior United States senator from Illinois, announced his candidacy for president of the United States on February 10, 2007, in Springfield, Illinois. After winning a majority of delegates in the Democratic primaries of 2008, ...
* Nationwide opinion polling for the 2012 United States presidential election * 2012 Democratic Party presidential candidates *
2012 Democratic National Convention The 2012 Democratic National Convention was a gathering, held from September 4–6, 2012, at the Time Warner Cable Arena in Charlotte, North Carolina, in which delegates of the Democratic Party nominated President Barack Obama and Vice Pr ...
*
Mitt Romney 2012 presidential campaign The 2012 presidential campaign of Mitt Romney officially began on June 2, 2011, when former Governor of Massachusetts, Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney formally announced his candidacy for the Republican Party (United States), Republican Part ...


References


Further reading

*


External links


Barack Obama acceptance speech

Obama for America
official campaign site * {{DEFAULTSORT:Barack Obama Presidential Campaign, 2012 * Barack Obama Presidential campaign, 2012 Obama, Barack Webby Award winners African-American presidential campaigns