Late June 2004 , after the withdrawal of his GOP opponent , 44-year-old Jack Ryan , found the 42-year-old Obama " assessing his circumstances — the sudden elevation to political superstardom , the cascade of campaign cash , and the favorable , almost fawning , attention " , which soon yielded an invitation to deliver the keynote address at the 2004 Democratic National Convention . By the eve of the July 2004 Democratic National Convention , Terence Samuel 's '' U.S. News & World Report '' article " A shining star named Obama . How a most unlikely politician became a darling of the Democrats " reported that " what was once a long-shot campaign by an obscure state senator with a funny name ... ha d come to resemble a runaway freight train , " with Obama , the lead guest on '' Meet the Press '' , being asked by Tim Russert about comments in Ryan Lizza 's '' The Atlantic '' article " The Natural . Why is Barack Obama generating more excitement among Democrats than John Kerry ? " In contrast , Eli Saslow 's August 2008 '' Washington Post '' article " The 17 Minutes That Launched a Political Star " asserted that " Obama approached the lectern in Boston a virtual nobody , a representative for 600,000 constituents in Illinois ' 13th District . He exited having set the course for an unprecedented political ascent . " According to Saslow , " In the 40 hours before his Tuesday night speech , Obama granted more than 15 interviews , including several broadcast live on television . To Obama and his advisers , it seemed that many of the questions hinted at the same issue : Who , exactly , are you ? And why , exactly , are you delivering a keynote speech ? " Although not broadcast by ABC , CBS , or NBC , over nine million viewers saw Obama 's 2004 DNC keynote address . Saslow said that it " crafted a first impression that still stands at the foundation of his presidential campaign . " Saslow said that " Obama possessed the vision , he said , of ' not a black America and a white America and a Latino America and an Asian America — there is a United States of America . ' " In a December 2006 '' Wall Street Journal '' editorial headlined " The Man from Nowhere , " Ronald Reagan speech writer and Fox News pundit Peggy Noonan advised " establishment " commentators to avoid becoming too quickly excited about Obama 's still-early political career . Echoing the inaugural address of John F. Kennedy , Obama acknowledged his youthful image , saying in an October 2007 campaign speech , " I would n't be here if , time and again , the torch had not been passed to a new generation . " During the 2008 election season , Barack Obama 's experience was a topic of contention . Both Democratic and Republican politicians criticized his experience in regard to whether he was ready to be President of the United States . After his nomination the criticism was mostly from Republican politicians ; many Democratic politicians stated that they believed that Obama was ready . Criticism was almost exclusively centered on his readiness for the position of commander in chief of the armed forces . Hillary Clinton often stated during her unsuccessful campaign for the Democratic nomination that Obama would not be a candidate who 's ready on " Day One " . After conceding the race for the nomination , she endorsed Obama . While campaigning for president , Joe Biden said that he believed Obama was not yet ready for the job of president , but that eventually he would be ready . Biden , who went on to serve as Obama 's vice president , has since revised his position on Obama 's readiness , but his quotes from the 2008 Democratic Debates were used in campaign ads for John McCain
2004 Democratic National Convention
2004 Democratic National Convention
Public image of Barack Obama