Title: Barack Obama elected as America’s first Black president - HISTORY
Headings: Barack Obama elected as America’s first Black president
THIS DAY IN HISTORY
Barack Obama elected as America’s first Black president
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Content: His team also worked to bring new voters—many of them young or Black, both demographics they believed favored Obama—to become involved in the election. Additionally, the campaign was notable for its unprecedented use of the Internet for organizing constituents and fundraising. According to The Washington Post: “ 3 million donors made a total of 6.5 million donations online adding up to more than $500 million. Of those 6.5 million donations, 6 million were in increments of $100 or less.” In terms of campaign issues, Obama pledged to get the United States out of the war in Iraq and expand health care, among other promises. A crushing national financial crisis in the months leading up to the election shifted the country’s focus to the economy, and Obama and McCain each attempted to show he had the best plan for economic improvement. On November 4, more than 69.4 million Americans cast their vote for Obama, while some 59.9 million voters chose McCain. ( Obama was the first sitting U.S. senator to win the White House since John F. Kennedy in 1960.) Obama captured some traditional Republican strongholds ( Virginia, Indiana) and key battleground states ( Florida, Ohio) that had been won by Republicans in recent elections.